NZMusic4U

Winners of #summershot2013

All candidates in the #summershot2013 draw are very good at what they do. That is why I made it a random draw. Too difficult to choose. The three winners on the day were:

Janine & The Mixtape
The Golden Awesome
Watercolours

Congratulations! You can now buy approximately 50 fish and chip meals!

With one of the strongest commercial prospects from the awesomely good "Christopher" album (although it seems there are not many of us who think so), The Ruby Suns storm in with "In Real Life", a track that seems to combine early-mid 1980s Tears for Fears, Scritti Politti, Climie Fisher and Aha, finishing that off with a sprinkling of Nile Rodgers strings. Having grown up in that era, it is easy for me to detect that initial DNA. But this song is original and is its own. And I love it. I strongly recommend this album, and as with KidsOf88's "Modern Love", I hope it is getting the push that it needs to succeed. I can imagine "In Real Life" on high rotate on radio stations, but we all know it needs more than a good song performed and recorded well. The video is very good, appropriately ironic for this band, but I am not sure it is the right one for such a great song. That being said, it is fun. You can buy The Ruby Suns "Christopher" and older material at the links below.

http://www.memphis-industries.com/artist/the-ruby-suns/
https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/christopher/id575279730

The Ruby Suns - "In Real Life" (Official Music Video)

KidsOf88 - The Drug

KidsOf88 were on my preliminary list for #summershot2013, but on the decision to support "up and comers", as opposed to "those artists who are established with some sort of momentum", they fell out of the candidate list. Clearly KidsOf88 have momentum, although I am not sure if it is enough, considering the quality of 2012's album "Modern Love". I hope they are getting the push they need. I suppose the album is not quite as obvious as the first, but it is chock-full of sly little hooks and riffs that make a habit of working their way into one's subconscious. This is the third single off the album, and probably the most obvious...and least interesting. But "Modern Love" is a very good album and recommended, my favourite track being "Tucan", previously posted on NZMusic4U. Today's video was directed by Sam Kristofski. You can buy "Modern Love" at the links below.

http://www.amplifier.co.nz/release/91538/modern-love.html
https://itunes.apple.com/nz/album/modern-love-deluxe-version/id561349985

I thought I would include Scott Kara's review of "Modern Love" from The NZ Herald, linked below:

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10841179

KidsOf88 - The Drug (Official Video)

Over the Atlantic - Jen

I recently posted a video from Wellington-based Signer (Bevan Smith). Bevan was one of the two members of "Over the Atlantic", a band that was making waves locally roughly 6 years ago. The other member was Nik Brinkman who we now know as Junica (the name of Over the Atlantic's first album of two), having just released an album under that moniker. You can definitely hear Junica in this track "Jen" from 2009. I love this song, and the video is pretty special as well, self-directed by Nik. I can't help thinking that Nik's music is crying out to be part of a John Hughes movie soundtrack, and it seems others have had the same idea well before me (see the review posted below from 2006). I suppose they just came along a couple of decades too late ;) . Of course both Over the Atlantic and Junica owe a huge debt to their 1980s forebears, but have also improved on much of that decade's "production-line" music. These are definitely songs I would have liked to hear back in that musical sweet spot, 1981-1986. You can buy Over the Atlantic's music at the link below.

https://itunes.apple.com/us/artist/over-the-atlantic/id191397704

That review I was referring to is here. http://www.treblezine.com/reviews/1668.html

Over the Atlantic - Jen

The Make Believe - Give It A Million

Hailing from Christchurch, The Make Believe have surged through the industry, ending up with a US-sourced funding deal (Three Piece Productions) which has enabled them to record a bunch of songs in order to (hopefully) be picked up by one of the US majors. It's an impressive trajectory, and there is no doubting how they have been able to do this. Tyler Vivian, Mike Lake and Matt Andrews are talented individuals writing songs that a large proportion of the young adult and "tween" population like to hear. They started off playing a mix of covers and originals, but "Give It A Million" is theirs, and it is clearly commercial gold (at time of writing, 147,000 Youtube views). Power pop is definitely not my genre, but I cannot deny this is not just good for its genre, it is world class. I also have a few problems resisting that (song) break! Nice work. I know I have heard this on the radio and just assumed it was an offshore act. Easy to imagine these guys getting signed, and going on to stateside success. The band was brought to my attention by Logan Swinkels, who did a very good job on this video, a video that is appropriate for the act, the audience and its genre, and was probably very cost efficient. You can contact Logan at www.loganlightscreative.com.

The Make Believe 'Give It A Million' OFFICIAL VIDEO

Third3ye - Moments

One of my favourite beats releases of 2012 was Third3ye's "Earth Raps" EP. And "Moments" is a suitable track in which to invest in a video release, showing off Angelo King, MelowDownz and producer SwervinMervin at their best. But the EP is a superb release overall. I also like "P3ace" off the same EP, which features Edward Waaka on vocals, and what an amazing, soulful voice he has. Edward makes a further contribution to the EP by producing "Heart Decide", another superb track. (OK all the tracks are very good!). I downloaded the album last year, and have been listening to it on a regular basis since. If you have a proclivity for the beats genre, this is highly recommended. Despite the injustice of getting such great music for free, you can indeed download "Earth Raps" for free at the link below.

http://third3ye.bandcamp.com/

Third3ye - Moments

Signer - Set Piece

After all that training...fell apart on the day! [see video]. It seems The Ruby Suns have much talent in their orbit. My introduction to Signer was through a Facebook post by Ryan McPhun today introducing this track, and it was with some anticipation that I leaped onto Youtube...not to be disappointed. After a little research a further piece of the jigsaw that is the New Zealand music scene clicked into place for me. Bevan Smith, who is Signer, was a member of Over the Atlantic, a precursor to one of my favourite recent acts, Junica. He is a noted collaborator with Ryan McpPhun, a virtual member of The Ruby Suns, and also releases on the Aspen moniker. He is/was also one of the Skallander crew, noted for their output through Loop. He is currently signed to Carpark Records it seems, and today's track was on their recent free Christmas album. There are some rather old links below, that despite their age, provide some good background to the 2013 Bevan Smith, and his history with Skallander and The Ruby Suns.

http://www.nzmusician.co.nz/index.php/ps_pagename/article/pi_articleid/1881
http://www.lumiere.net.nz/reader/item/1706
http://nativetongue.co.nz/bevan-smith.html

Here is a link to Signer's Facebook page.

https://www.facebook.com/pages/signer/95475572444

Old Bandcamp here:

http://signer.bandcamp.com/

You can buy his more recent releases here:

https://itunes.apple.com/nz/artist/signer/id5664525

Signer - Set Piece

Jupiter Project - Celebration

Ok, I wanted to post "Hook Up Girl", but just couldn't quite get there. Why? At >300,000 Youtube views, the band are probably putting together a young and vigorous following. There are probably many who would disagree with me, some vehemently! "Hook Up Girl" is a pleasant song...but to me, it was just, well, a little flat. I think a good proportion of that might be attributed to the vocals sitting slightly too low in the mix. But there is also a lack of dynamics to the song. I think "Celebration" works much better with a good hook, strong production values, and what looks to be an excellent, cost efficient video, shot by Bradley Scott and edited by Adam King and Craig Gainsborough. This video better puts this very camera-ready duo where they should be - taking on international acts in that pop niche that they do very well. A great summer pop song. For more on Jupiter Project, and to buy their music, please go to the link below.

http://www.jupiter-project.com/

Jupiter Project - Celebration

Sarah Brown - That's The Thing

From the 2012 album "The Great Heart Robbery", Sarah Brown has released this new video for "That's The Thing". Historically she has done well with her videos, most being of reasonable to high quality. But I have had a dilemma in posting her music on NZMusic4U (as I have with a range of other NZ artists). The material and delivery is too middle-of-the-road, an irony where the reason they have been chosen by A&R people is because they are supposed to commercialize the New Zealand "average", and for that very reason they don't really enjoy success beyond NZ's shores. Sarah Brown is a little different. She writes good, sometimes very good songs. She has won quite a few accolades from "the industry", and others. Her material does tend to be positioned around one of the series of demographic sweet spots that exist in the NZ marketplace, but I can't help liking much of what she has done. And "The Great Heart Robbery" is actually pretty good. I only post music/videos I like, and I like "That's The Thing". You can buy Sarah Brown's music at the link below.

http://www.sarahbrown.co.nz/

'That's The Thing' Sarah Brown.

Minuit - Last Night You Saw This Band

One of my favourite NZ bands of the last fifteen years - Nelson's Minuit. With a happy, lively and relaxed vibe relative to historical material, and a wonderful, slightly anarchical Wellington-focused video (NZMusic4U's oft-missed hometown), Minuit have once again redefined their sound with "Last Night You Saw This Band", the name of this song, and the new album. I have just bought the album, which should tell you something. The review linked below, from the NZ Herald's Lydia Jenkins, will help you understand why.

You can buy Minuit's material at the following link:

http://minuit.bandcamp.com/

Lydia Jenkin's album review link is below.

http://www.nzherald.co.nz/entertainment/news/article.cfm?c_id=1501119&objectid=10859306

LAST NIGHT YOU SAW THIS BAND - MINUIT

Pages