The best NZ albums I have reviewed

Following on from Friday's post: the worst Kiwi albums I've reviewed - it's time now (here) for the best Kiwi albums I've reviewed. Not necessarily the best I've heard - but the best I have reviewed (there are other great Kiwi albums I never got the chance to write about).

As with the worst list - this ranges from 2001-2006.

Maybe you liked some of these albums too - or maybe you don't rate them at all. Maybe there are some old albums that will be new to you here; things you will want to go and try. And I'm also interested in hearing about your favourite Kiwi albums from this period.

Barry Saunders
Red Morning

The first thing that leaps out at you listening to Saunders' latest solo album is the production. Mike Gibson and David Long have recontextualised this troubadour, adding strings and warm atmospherics. It's still Barry Saunders, thankfully, singing his songs of our land and his travels and he sounds so comfortable in these surroundings, whether it's the pop-rock of the opening title track, the flat-out country of Rescue Me or the romping Warratahs-like blues instrumental, The Stumbling Man. The overall sound is very different than Barry's previous solo albums, but it's such a subtle shift that this could not possibly upset fans of his earlier work, both solo and with The Warratahs. Here's hoping this is greeted warmly; one of New Zealand's finest songwriters, a capturer of the heartland, has offered a stunning return.

Pacific Heights
Pacific Heights

I was first lured into drum'n'bass by listening to The Omni Trio. The space in their records was the thing I loved. I'm talking five years ago now, and in the wider dance-music genre, things move pretty quickly - an album can be regarded as dated, prior to release - yet I still enjoy listening to The Omni Trio. I'll be adding Pacific Heights to my drum'n'bass playlist. This EP rolls out over six long, glorious and flowing cuts - 42 minutes in total, so it's album-length, but EP-price. Bargain! And it comes to us care of Mr Abrams; you may remember him from such successful projects as Shapeshifter. Live drums work with programmed percussion, weird synths infect coasting basslines; musical landscapes are complete without vocals. One of the finds of the year.

Paul Ubana Jones
Live - The Christchurch Civic

Finally, a Paul Ubana Jones live album! If you've never heard this man's music this is the perfect introduction. If you've heard any of his albums, or seen him play live, this is the perfect summation. Ubana Jones must be heard live - he lives for playing live; the man is a constant traveller - touring nationally and internationally, he's performed with Tuck and Patti, Bob Dylan, Ben Harper and Keb Mo. More importantly he's a consummate artist: a virtuoso guitarist, an incredibly soulful singer, a stunning interpreter of folk and blues tunes, and a wise creator of powerful compositions - tender ballads, shuffling blues and acoustic poetry.

Live at the Christchuch Civic, recorded earlier this year, captures the man in all guises; the interpretations: Dylan's House of the Rising Sun, Muddy Waters' Hoochie Coochie Man; the rich timbres of his voice: his own tune Fools and Kings, and lending extra performance poetry to Gil Scott-Heron's Home Is Where the Hatred Is; the incredible acoustic guitar playing: Raga - Bird Without Song and his possible mission-statement-in-tune, Music Is Why I'm Here; and of course the original compositions, filled with fond, sincere statements of love and life: A Ballad for You, Bone and Sand and Golden Gate.

I remember reviewing Paul Ubana Jones at Bar Bodega a few years back. All I could think to write was that he made anyone who'd never played an instrument instantly wish that they could, and anyone who did play an instrument contemplate putting it down to rest. That still stands true. This live album, wonderfully recorded in front of an enthusiastic audience (never in the way, merely encouraging the performance) is the summation of this man's career to date. It's a must for fans of good music.

Brendyn Montgomery/Mike Considine
Mountain Air

Brendyn Montgomery plays wooden flute and whistle and Mike Considine plays guitar, bouzouki and bodhran (or Celtic drum). And they're good at what they do; offering a mix of reels, jigs and Celtic airs. Very good. Montgomery, at 23, is an extremely talented whistle player. This Dunedin devotee to all that is Celtic knows his reels inside out, running loops of tunes round one another - even composing his own reels that remain completely faithful to the dedication and feel of traditional Irish session players. This is music that is not taught; rather learned by feel and from hours of studying the music as played and when heard. Considine is a great acoustic guitar player - again: faithful to Celtic rhythms and the all-important DADGAD tuning. I really hope this album gets heard - it's something to marvel at: brilliant, bright, engaging music played lovingly by kindred souls. For one person to be turned on to this would make up for the 50 a week that buy some random chart title as seen on TV.

The Warratahs
Collection

There was a Best of The Warratahs released some years back. So this new Collection updates that - including the work of important collaborators Caroline Esther (Rescue Me) and Sam Hunt (Cape Turnagain). For the last 20 years, Barry Saunders and crew have travelled the length and breadth of our country relating tales of travel and songs from the heart as well as the heartland. This collection draws on all five Warratahs albums, including three previously unreleased tracks (Easy Come Easy Go, aka The Interislander Song, and two brand new songs, recorded live earlier this year). There are 18 tracks in total, representing the diverse acoustic-folk/country/blues sound of The Warratahs. Their "hits" include Maureen, Big Sky, Hands of My Heart and Fool's Paradise. But the songwriting of Saunders (and another of NZ's great song-scribes, Wayne Mason) can also account for the rural ditties High and Dry, Taranaki and the rollicking blues-fused instrumental, Bruno's Last Ride; always a concert favourite. Add a lovely cover image (care of NZ artist Grahame Sydney) and you have a wonderful package of songs documenting a part of Godzone's cultural heritage.

Trillion
This World and The Sadvipra Diversion

Jody Lloyd is a clever chap. And through his musical aliases (Dark Tower for quirky fun-filled hip-hop, Trillion for a more mature mix of hip-hop and languid downbeat styles) he has released some suitably intriguing lo-fi gems over the past couple of years. This second Trillion album is a real mix of styles - comprising two separate projects. The first eight tracks constitute This World,  featuring plenty of guests (Leila Adu, Bronwen Robertson, Ben King) with Trillion contributing everything else (vocals, samples, production). SJD's Lost Soul Music has clearly been a template for tracks like Onward Forward Downward and Incomplete Rug - and there's delicately soft snatches of melody that recall Cloudboy. The second half of the album, The Sadvipra Diversion is a satirical set of tunes focusing on the evil of giant corporations and profit-hungry empires, with Crawling Is Easy and Confessions of a Mud-Guard sounding more like Dark Tower; mixing acoustic guitars, rapping, organic instrumentation and samples. For some reason I think of TISM's De Rigueurmortis. Jody Lloyd continues to make fascinating, subversive music that is comfortably diverse, knowingly wise and easy to recommend.

Dark Tower
The Dark World

Hear National Radio's Sean Plunket take on Marian Hobbs or John Campbell challenge Helen Clark - like a living-document soundtrack to a political Celebrity Death Match. These great moments are interspersed with some quirky, inventive beats and loops in the latest Dark Tower record. It f**ks me off no end that this band has been ragged on in the local music press for having Kiwi accents and drawling their vowels. Well I'd rather hear a Kiwi rapper sing about something that actually happened, or is happening here - and while they do so, actually sound like themselves rather than some wannabe gangsta.

Jody Lloyd (Trillion/Dark Tower) is dedicated to preserving the no-frills, lo-fi work ethos, designing record sleeves himself and cutting and pasting from all over the place - working like a sound-collage artist as much as a rapper. He's also the owner/creator of She'll Be Right records releasing his own sound excursions as well as great albums by Jeremy Taylor and Lindon Puffin among others.

Assisting Lloyd in his political diatribes set within unpredictable rhymes is Eli Foley. And when the two can't say it themselves they use said speeches drawn from television news and National Radio and it's fantastic stuff. Funny and wise - and original. And that's what should be important. These guys have been treading the boards for the best part of a decade now and I reckon it's about time they got full credit for pursuing an alternative to mainstream NZ hip-hop. Dark Tower has far more to offer than Scribe or Dei Hamo. And The Dark World is a great record from start to finish - something that cannot be said about many local hip-hop albums. Do these guys a favour, please, and have a listen. They're smart. And on point.

Feelstyle
Break It to Pieces

Mr Futialo has been a busy chap (Kas, Conscious Nagivator, Field Style Orator) and now, among other pseudonyms, he is Feelstyle. Having collaborated with Soanne, King Kapisi, Noise in Effect and DJ Raw (again, among others) this "solo" album showcases plenty of guests - and is another top-notch production effort from Submariner (Andy Morton). There are some great cameo appearances - from Savage to Shayne Carter; soulful vocals from Lapi Mariner; scratches and beats from DJ Raw; and moog and keyboards from Mark De Clive-Lowe. But this is Feelstyle's album: writer/arranger/vocalist, keeper of the Samoan grooves akin to Kapisi's classic Screams from Da Old Plantation (on which he was featured).  Flowing from gentle R'n'B to Summer-cruising hip-hop, this is a real gem of an album: Outside Enclosure is a bona fide pop hit (disguised as a deceptively innuendo-ridden hip-hop cut). Guided by Voices features the funk of Mr De Clive-Lowe - as does If Only She Knew. And opening track Su'ga Ea! is a perfect slice of Samoan soul to provide context. From there Tha Medicine and My Brothers Will Kill You acknowledge the menace of American gangsta-rap, but these Pacific Island versions are tasteful and full of groove. It's late in the year, but this might just be the best local hip-hop release of 2004. It really is a groove-fest. Slick and tasty.

Grayson Gilmour
Phantom Limbs

Phantom Limbs was first released last year, but has been remastered and is being given a proper push this time - good job too, for while it's often challenging, this 21-year-old singer/songwriter/multi-instrumentalist is the type of player, influenced by the vast stimuli of the modern world, that we should be promoting. It's easy to give the thumbs up to Bic Runga and Greg Johnson-influenced singer/songwriters. But where's the challenge? Gilmour plays every sound on this album, every instrument and voice is his. And the songs move from Radiohead-esque paranoid ditties through to twisted cabaret jazz, postmodern retro rock and intricate nu-folk. Gilmour has not played live as a solo artist very much at all, but will be known to many on the local scene for his involvement with So So Modern, truly one of the great recent New Zealand acts. But don't expect too much of that band's bottled frenzy to pop forth from Phantom Limbs; this is more akin to the earliest work by Bright Eyes (Conor Oberst's prodigious songwriting seems in line with Gilmour's compositional aims). It can be a tough listen at times, but that's better than instantly catchy/utterly forgettable pop hooks, right?

Leila Adu
Cherry Pie

This is Leila Adu's second album - and it is a more confident collection of songs than her 2003 album digAhole. I really liked her first album, but it seemed split in half, with one portion of pop songs and a slice of experimentation. That was, no doubt, a conscious move, but this time around the experience seems more integrated - and the songs are stronger as a result. Her tight compositions have places for improvisation that is never indulgent and she appears to be constantly challenging herself. Adu's voice is capable of a wide - expressive - range, and so, on Cherry Pie, she goes from deep groans (duetting with a baritone sax) and dirge-like moans to light and catchy pop melodies. It's an album with plenty of secrets. There are moments when Leila and band allow their free-jazz background to dominate the songs - but it is done skilfully. Comparisons to Joni Mitchell and Kate Bush might seem obvious, trite even. But I feel they are valid - compositionally, more so than vocally. Like Mitchell, Leila likes to put confessional lyrics down against sprawling, jazzy arrangements that roll and undulate. And like Kate Bush she seems intrigued by the chance to allow mysticism and magic into bite-sized pieces of her music. The result, like Bush's best work, means that the songs are sweet but never sugary. 

Mestar
Shut the Squizwot Factories Down

For a band that's all over the map (with members scattered around New Zealand and the world), Mestar have managed to retain a tight sound that belies their geographic disparity. Following on from 2002's Porcupine, this rather more absurdly titled album sticks to the knitting of creating fuzzy-toned power pop and alternative rock. Like label mates Fang, and though not quite as cosmic, Luke Buda, Mestar are dedicated to providing thinking man's alternative rock music; music that is - for want of a better word - good. Consistently good. Solid, dynamic and yet quirky enough to sit outside the envelope; so this is not a bland radio-ready sound. It is a set of songs that is aching to be performed live; nine tracks that burst out ready to rock and are full of lo-fi indie stylings and wonderful Kiwi colloquialisms (Konked Out). It's a very short album - but some of the best albums are (Nick Drake's Pink Moon, for example) and that'll just give you more of a chance to play it again and again. I recommend thrashing this album three times in a row every time you put it on the stereo. Very soon you'll love it. And that's a fact.

Module
Remarkable Engines

Module (Jeremiah Ross) has been working on Remarkable Engines on and off for the past three years. It's been a long time coming - or has seemed that way - due to his impressive work with Rhian Sheehan, Jess Chambers and a host of great gigs under his Module moniker over the past few years. Formerly of Palmerston North, Ross has immersed himself in the Wellington music scene. And like Sheehan's Tiny Blue Biosphere, Remarkable Engines picks up and runs with space themes in an update of the seminal works of Brian Eno and even Jean Michel Jarre. The production is exquisite, and Module's flair for creative synth lines, adding textures, is apparent every step of the way. Jess Chambers (also a Sheehan collaborator) offers a fine vocal and restrained piano melody for one of the standout tracks, Twilight Stolen. Gramsci's Paul McLaney is on hand for Love and Not the Lesson and Sheehan's acoustic guitar provides the mood for Fragments of You. But this is Module's album - and from the Kraftwerk-esque structure of Look Down (Calling) to the deep dub-meets-electronica of Better Than Something and Slowly and Silently, Remarkable Engines is a superb and constantly innovative album. The lush sound affords it one giant tick, but Ross has chops as a composer also. And for those in doubt of the actual musicianship involved over programming, one listen to the accompanying disc, Movement, should solve that debate. Here Ross sets seven beautiful original piano pieces down to rest in their own space; shades of Satie and Philip Glass abound. And there's pathos as well as shining grace behind each note.


The Phoenix Foundation
Pegasus

Wellington's indie-heroes have made the leap on to a major label; their sound is further polished - but they retain the rustic charms that made their debut (Horse Power) so special. The lilting opener, Morning Pages is like a trailer-teaser, hooking you in for the sublime All in an Afternoon and the great instrumental single Hitchcock. From there, Phoenix Foundation suggests influences from such great modern acts as Wilco, Grandaddy and Sparklehorse. There are traces of Superchunk and more alt-country-oriented writers like Jay Farrar and Mark (E) Everett. And then Damn the River with its Mark Knopfler-meets-David-Kilgour guitar riff - and the charming instrumental joy of Sea World arrive as mid-album uppers. There's even a "Bruce Springsteen track" with cooing vocals eerily reminiscent (in an off-key tribute kind of way) of The Boss's I'm on Fire.  What a superb album this is. The review's nearly over and yet I'm just working up to a big rave...this is the best local indie-rock release of this year (hands down) and one of the finest records that I've heard in a long time - and for all the external influences, Phoenix Foundation manage to hold on to their Kiwi twangs and occasional Flying Nun references.

The Labcoats
Acid & Alkaline

Featuring some of Wellington's hardest-working musicians: Toby Laing (Fat Freddy's Drop, Black Seeds), Anthony Donaldson (Six Volts, Village Idiots, Front Lawn), David Long (Mutton Birds, Six Volts) and Riki Gooch (Trinity Roots), The Labcoats' debut album is an interesting amalgam of electronic improvisation and free noise ramblings. Anthony Donaldson's heavy-groove drums and tinkering percussion anchor the large brass sounds of Toby Laing and Steve Roche. David Long ignores his guitar, offering banjo and theremin, with Ricky Gooch's MPC sampling and David Donaldson's use of field recordings. Stale Smoke/Sweet Ferment offers the sort of junkyard scrap-metal groove that Tom Waits might intone a Captain Beefheart-like wail atop. But here, as an instrumental, this sound is really effective. David Long's elastic banjo stretches in and out of tunes, mixing melodies between harsh traces of static noise and soulful horns. The Demons of Poneke features other stalwarts of the Wellington improvising scene, Jeff Henderson (Baritone Sax) and Chris O'Connor (brushes and tympani). Henderson's creepy, lurking, deep saxophone honks add to the eerie soundtrack-like feel of this collection. Adventurous, moody and often (particularly in thanks to the whipping squeal of the Theremin) Acid & Alkaline is a surreal and evocative piece of soundscaping.

Bailter Space
Bailterspace

This self-titled compilation is a necessary purchase for fans - either of Bailter Space, or noisy sci-fi pop/rock in general. Timing is everything and with the three members of Bailter Space spread over different continents, this collection is a telling reminder of just how great this Kiwi power-trio were/are. Originally The Gordons, the name change to Bailter Space kept the same personnel (outside of a brief run with Hamish Kilgour on the drum-stool) but Bailter Space was always a completely separate entity from The Gordons.

The probing rhythms of pixie-imp bassist John Halvorson and thunder-thug drummer Brent McLachlan allowed Alister Parker plenty of room for his sheets of sprawling effects-laden guitar noise and introverted, repetitive lyrics. A flagship Flying Nun band (proving huge influence on the likes of HDU and Jakob), Bailter Space firmly embraced the noisy-pop Flying Nun ethic and ethos. Beginning with X, this collection moves through plenty of shining moments: Splat, Robot World, Tanker and Shadow - including some rare gems: GlimmerDot and at5 (a reworking of At 5 We Drive). Bailter Space was one of the best live bands I ever saw, on more than one occasion. Parker was so weird but shyly charismatic as a frontperson. McLachlan looked like he resented his drum-kit and was trying to destroy it piece by piece every chance he got. And Halvorson was a nasty presence pushing lush grooves forward, occasionally offering his own wild vocals. Argonaut is still, to me, the group's crowning glory, summing up the strong points of both HDU and Dimmer before either band was around. This best-of album presents 18 luminous sonic treasures.

The Brunettes
Mars Loves Venus

The tongue-in-chic retro act that The Brunettes have been living and loving for quite some time now finds it way on to their second full-length album. If it ain't broke, don't fix it, right? And also, they're making songs that sound like they were made back in the pre-Protools era - so it would be hard to fix it at any rate. Jonathan Bree's songs fidget and fluff about in a way that touches on the twee-pop of Belle & Sebastian, but with a major nod towards the classic Phil Spector and Brian Wilson early-60s productions. Indeed, Mars Loves Venus, with its themes of innocence, love, lust is very similar to their debut, Holding Hands, Feeding Ducks. But The Brunettes have created a niche and are now filling it; sounding very comfortable, as the title track here and Loopy Loopy Love (a live favourite) will immediately attest. Heather Mansfield's vocals still sound gorgeous: her delivery is filled with wide-eyed wonder and the band continues to play off the duelling/duetting Mansfield and Bree. In fact, Jonathan Bree's laidback delivery recalls another Jonathan: that famous indie weirdo wunderkind, Jonathan Richman. And like Richman, Bree's songs combine a shiny positive outlook with touches of occasional pathos. Recorded in Bree's shed, Mars Loves Venus is the sound of 40 years ago, with a postmodern spin. And Brunettes fans will not tire of this band's endless fascination with updating the past.

The Mint Chicks
Anti-Tiger EP

One of the better new New Zealand guitar-based acts, The Mint Chicks' second EP, Anti-Tiger is full of pleasant surprises (like the prepared piano closing the title song and the improvised guitar of Prelude). Moving from solid post-punk influences (The Minutemen; Pixies) on the short, sharp blast of Blue Team Go! to a new form of new wave on Opium of the People, which should be a massive hit; that it probably won't just means that fans of The Mint Chicks can enjoy this gem of a track without growing tired of it. From there, Fake Up's fast 90-second-furry again recalls the likes of Pixies and Violent Femmes, but channels more energy than the Femmes could ever maintain. And then, closing track The Perfect Machine comes over all moody post-Goth. The lollipop bassline suggests time spent listening to Joy Division, before the squall of guitars makes you realise that these guys have taken in plenty of Jesus and Mary Chain...and that's really the great thing here, the mix of British and American influences, as well as touches of old Flying Nun, of course. I'm still not sold on the band's name, but these Mint Chicks are clever dicks indeed.

Pine
Akira Sunrise

Lo-fi trio Pine have had no worries with the supposedly difficult second album. Akira Sunrise begins with Bottlenecks, ushered in with the plaintive acoustic guitar strum of a thousand Kiwi summers...but, the formerly very-acoustic trio have adapted their sound-palette to include plenty of electric guitars and keyboards, full drums and a much more clearly defined "band" sound; in doing so they retain their trademark charms (bright, hummable melodies, loose pop-rock feels and tight song construction). Seasaw sees them touch on the sound of label-mates Fang, and Easy (sung by Hannah Beehre) will appeal to fans of Stereolab. Closing track Upside Down is another highlight, a majestic piece of pop-rock guaranteed to put a smile on the dial. Akira Sunrise is a joyous, sun-filled summer treat of an album. Stephen McCarthy, Aaron and Hannah Beehre have created a dozen original songs that still touch on classic Kiwi trends of songwriting (from Neil Finn and Muttonbirds through to the likes of Fang and Mestar) while showing the wider influence of British and American lo-fi bands, with traces of inspiration and influence from poppy electronica acts such as Broadcast and Stereolab. A highlight of the local roster.

Audible 3
Audible 3

Auckland-based Audible 3 consists of Marc Chesterman, John Kennedy and Paul Winstanley, all talented electro-acoustic composers and improvisers. The three have been performing as Audible 3 since 1999 and after a handful of CD-R releases (from home recordings and live performances) this self-titled release is - in effect - their debut album-length project. It reaches back to incorporate ideas and arrangements from the band's beginnings and you get the sense listening to this album that they are very much a live, performance-oriented vehicle. But this is a great album with a carefully structured unity. You would never guess that this has been pieced together as there's an intelligent flow. Similar to last year's The Lemon of Pink by The Books, Audible 3 seem to occupy whatever sonic space they please, stretching from Captain Beefheart to Stockhausen, filling plenty of gaps in between and naturally leaving plenty of space along the way. Programmed sequences of drum-tracks merge with filtered passages of recorded dialogue and previous band performances. From ambient textures (clack) that suggest Eno's Discreet Music as attempted by Richard D. James, through to crushing waves of static and heavily processed rhythms, this is an ever-evolving modern ambient epic. The closing rush of baby planet sounds like Boards of Canada jamming with Kinski. Low-key in aesthetic but very layered and focused, this is a worthy addition to the collection of anyone interested in musical deconstruction, post-rock ambient stylings and the wider spectrum of free-improvisation. Highly recommended.

Alec Bathgate
The Indifferent Velvet Void

Chris Knox's partner in crime (Toy Love; Tall Dwarfs) returns with his first solo album since 1996's Gold Lame. He's moved from 4-track to protools, but you would hardly notice as this retains the lo-fi meanderings best associated with the duo. And immediately, opening track In tThe Shadows has me thinking of Knox. It is not just an obvious comparison - it shows how much the two have influenced (given and taken from) one another across three decades. The only other vocalist I think of is George Harrison (which is funny, since Knox is - sporadically - a dead-ringer for John Lennon).

Alec Bathgate's jangle-pop and D.I.Y one-man-band antics showcase all the obvious influences (Beatles, Kinks, Beach Boys) and from that bygone era, the cover of The Yardbirds' overundersidewaysdown has Bathgate's guitar drawing oily circles in the air, tracing the power-pop riff. Broken Cup again recalls The Quiet Beatle, matching The Dark Horse's instinct for under-achieving melodies. The title track sets the drum machine to a Knox-ian polka and blasts out a riff that could have been on Polyphoto Duck Shaped Pain. But Bathgate's guitar playing has subtle blues inflections and despite modest protestations, he really is a great musician; maybe one of this country's unsung heroes?

Fear & Loathing marries Beatles vocals to back-shed punk replete with Velvets-citing "ostrich guitar". The waltzing drum-machine of New Day covers up a purloined Art Garfunkel melody (honestly, it's Bright Eyes if sung by The Byrds!) but sparkling glockenspiel updates the arrangement to sound like Badly Drawn Boy before another smudge of Lou Reed-like blues-guitar. Closing Down is the perfect coda, a 60-second fragment - and a subtle reminder of the joy of this album. Fifteen tracks in total, most barely scratching three minutes...the only disappointment is that this is just his second solo album. I want more. Immediately. 

Grand Prix
The Way of the Racer

Grand Prix's The Way of the Racer is a smart, lo-fi mix of alt-country and alternative-pop. Andrew McKenzie (guitar, vocals) is joined by Michael Banks (bass), Davey Geard (drums, percussion) and Viv Treweek (trumpet) for this seriously cool - but always low-key - set of 11 McKenzie compositions. Recorded in Wellington last year, The Way of the Racer has songs that sound like Nick Cave (circa No More Shall We Part) jamming with Calexico on old Lee Hazelwood tunes. Closing track What Kind of Man Is He? has this exact feel. At other times, the sound is more distinctly country-rock, thanks to the drunken-guitar-swagger of The Way of the Racer or the wafting trumpet of Sea of Cars, which could one day be put to use in a Tarantino film. There are touches of bar-room blues on Vigilante and Fireproof and the overall cohesion of the album is impressive. It's well played and sounds great - certainly. But the main strength of this band is the conviction with which McKenzie approaches his songwriting and his vocal performances. A local gem.

Ghostplane
Beneath the Sleepy Lagoon

It's been a long time coming for Ghostplane's debut long-player. Their EP, The Panther Valley Country Club, was an assured debut but they've raised the bar here. Thanks, in part, must go to new member Mike Scudder, whose trombone, keyboards and percussion add extra textures to the alt-country meets indie-rock song templates. Touchstones are sometimes obvious (traces of Beck and The Beta Band permeate Lazy Bones) but most often hinted at (Southern Hill combines the feel of Calexico's musical tumbleweeds with the indie Kiwi approach of Mestar and Fang). Holy Mother uses shimmering feedback to achieve its Daydream Nation-styled goal; Guided by Lights takes its time to move past gentle atmospherics, a Thurston Moore-like voice is eventually joined by hushed band harmonies. Wash of Gold is a piano-driven snatch of Wilco (circa Yankee Hotel Foxtrot) and the closing Half a Glass carries this tone on, with flashes of the earlier Uncle Tupelo, a sleepy voice even suggesting The 3Ds.

Elsewhere there are traces of The Pixies, Superette, The Mutton Birds and - to my ears - Robert Wyatt (In Blue Light) but to mention too many other band names suggests a magpie approach when, actually, Ghostplane are so much more than the sum of many disparate influences. These tunes are lovely and well-realised, perfectly executed - and like their local contemporaries, The Phoenix Foundation, Ghostplane are a band that have worked hard to consistently hone their approach. In my opinion, though a different beast in many ways, Beneath the Sleepy Lagoon should sit alongside Phoenix's Pegasus as one of the albums of the year. And it's a bonus that we can consider them locals.

Upper Hutt Posse
Legacy

New Zealand's most influential hip-hop act returns with a double-album, boasting 21 tracks. Most of the first disc features English language lyrics, disc two is entirely in Te Reo - including Ko Te Tino Aroha Nui, which you may recognise in its original form (The Greatest Love of All). At the head and heart of Upper Hutt Posse is Dean Hapeta (aka D-Word/Te Kupu). I feel proud listening to Legacy. This, to me, is Aotearoa hip-hop. Where the likes of P-Money, Savage, Dei Hamo and Scribe arrive at their sound by mentioning NZ names and places within American-derived beats and even using some international faces to gain acclaim, Hapeta and crew are actually using the genre to suit their own purpose. Upper Hutt Posse has created their own sound. I don't always agree with the lyrical content, and of course I don't understand every word - but there are some great grooves here (the reggae roots of the band are prominent). And Emma Paki's beautiful voice blends well with the sound of this highly talented crew. The scope of this project is worthy of praise in itself - and the band's longevity is testament to the pioneering vision of Hapeta.

Murk108
The Murkwon LP

Murk108 is better known as Imon Star from Rhombus. He was born Ahmen Mahal (his father is blues guitar slinger and Just Juice singer, Taj). Ahmen is a gifted musician. Now based in New Zealand, he has turned his hand to electronica and hip-hop, rapping for Rhombus and as a guest on various projects and creating MPC-driven beats and bobs under the name Murk108. The Murkwon LP is a nice step forward for New Zealand hip-hop; there is no way this is ripping off the sad traditions inherent in American gangsta-rap and soft-pop rap. Instead, The Murkwon LP comes from the British side of hip-hop (Roots Manuva) and the underground US artists such as Antipop Consortium and Beans. Vitality shows Murk's interest in pushing lyrics out beyond predictable rhymes - using rhyme as a meter to judge rhythm. And The Soldier, with its propulsive, edgy groove and politically fired lyrics just might be the best hip-hop track to ever come out of this country. I'm impressed with Murkwon LP. It's an album that doesn't just grow; it writhes and twists. It twirls and loops in on itself. It's a new benchmark in local hip-hop/electronica.

Darren Watson
South Pacific Soul

Ten new songs here from blues-based singer/songwriter and guitarist Darren Watson. The erstwhile Smokeshop singer is in fine form here, evoking Elvis Costello on This Fool's Advice and Robert Cray on All Going Wrong. Rick Bryant adds his Van Morrison-meets-B.B. King growl to Got No Soul. Watson's idea of the blues is further-reaching than just the standard generic 12-bar shuffle and the slow blues ballad. And though, when he wants to, he can do either of those styles - with ease and flair - he's best when he showcases songs that traverse the pop terrain, taking influence from Costello and John Hiatt among others. The stellar cast of South Pacific Soul includes the steady backbeat of Darren Mathiassen, the exploratory electric bass of Elliotte Fuimaono and the benevolent producer's wand, as waved by Nick Bollinger (also adding backing vocals and double bass). If you like Joe Cocker, The Windy City Strugglers, Paul Ubana Jones and any of the other artists mentioned here - and of course all points in between - then try a slice of South Pacific Soul, a refreshing recasting of the blues.

Kevin Clark Trio
Live - The Sandbar Sessions

Kevin Clark's jazz trio has been playing the Sandbar in Paremata for a few years now, gaining a regular audience and featuring a range of talented local guests. Following on from his "Tui" award winning 2003 album (Once Upon a Song I Flew) the trio recorded over a couple of nights for this live album - featuring guests. The result is an exciting document of a sharp and adaptable trio (Clark's piano is expertly cushioned by Richard Wise's on-point drumming and Rowan Clark's thoughtful bass) with many of the songs featuring at least one guest musician. Beginning with Cole Porter's So In Love Clark takes in Jobim's Favela (with Wade Sharp's fluent guitar and Lance Philip's crisp percussion); Nawor's Waltz (a Clark original) spotlights Alex Nyman's soprano sax playing and the traditional Dark Eyes features some stunning interplay between Sharp's guitar and Clark's mellifluous piano runs. Talented young vocalist Hannah Griffin guests on three numbers, Good Bait being a slinky highlight. Colin Hemmingsen's soprano sax rounds out the album (The Chase). Touches of Latin jazz, Afro-Cuban figures, softer ballads and post-bop bounce, The Kevin Clark Trio can do it all. And it is all well worth hearing.

Edmund Cake
Downtown Puff

Bressa Creeting Cake's self-titled album was one of the great New Zealand-artist releases of recent years. Their well-crafted, quirky, hook-laden pop retained the earnest Flying Nun spirit, adding playful melodies and eccentric lyrics. It was a real shame the trio folded. Since then Ed Cake has been plying his trade; he collaborated with Neil Finn on the Rain soundtrack. And apparently took 4-5 years to create Downtown Puff, his debut solo record. Cake's fragile, quavering voice recalls Neil Young on the album's opener, Secret Girl, or possibly Wayne Coyne is a better touchstone, since the strange lyrics of We Live Like Kings and My Son the Harpist would be better realised on The Soft Bulletin than After the Goldrush. Recording the album alone, accompanying himself on tack-piano (again, a nod to Neil Young, particularly Sleeps with Angels), piano, keyboards and bass - Edmund Cake has created a gentle, pop-tinged album full of dream-like lyrical snatches and infectious melodies. Less than 40 minutes long, Cake manages to say a lot without saying too much.

Lawrence Arabia
Lawrence Arabia

Lawrence Arabia just might be New Zealand's greatest modern songwriter - with one foot determinedly in the past (Beach Boys, VU, Beatles, Byrds) and one foot inching towards neighbourhood chums Ryan McPhun & The Ruby Sons and The Brunettes, Arabia is capable of becoming an antipodean Elvis Costello (I mean the EC of the 1970s and early 1980s of course, but relative to his own context) and this broad songwriting stance sees him confident enough to channel McGlashan (circa Front Lawn) by opening this album with the superbly Kiwi phrase, "everyone was mucking in". Lawrence Arabia has already unearthed plenty of pop-gems as part of The Reduction Agents - their Beatles-meets-Bubblegum pop crossed with drowsy country-folk informs the tone of this self-titled debut. But Arabia is able to reach further in this environment. Half the Right Size is Ed Cake; Talk About Good Times has a Jonathan Richman croon over half of a Nancy Sinatra melody; The Joke Is in Your Hand is the unlikely pairing of John Lennon working with Iron & Wine; and spectral closer The Thinnest Air has the lo-fi pop of Voom and Tokey Tones, but seems so much larger than either band was ever capable of. On its own, this album is very close to absolute genius and taken in tandem with The Dance Reduction Agents it's a stunning one-two punch.

Phil Judd
Mr Phudd & His Novelty Act

Fragile mental states leading to breakdowns, fragile sexual relationships leading to breakdowns in communication...leading to...breakdowns, Phil Judd's subject matter has not changed a lot in 30 years. From Split Enz's masterpiece, Mental Notes, through his last solo album 23 years ago (Private Lives) and the very Oingo-Boingo-like Schnell-Fenster albums of the late 1980s and early 1990s, Judd has been banging his own drum and waywardly marching to his own paranoid beat. What makes this man rise above being a mere parody of his former self, or our version of a Syd Barrett, Peter Green or Daniel Johnston-type figure, is the fact that his music is infectious and almost effortlessly filled with groovy pop-hooks. Mr Phudd & His Novelty Act allows Judd to indulge a vaudevillian persona and realise his finest collection of songs - possibly ever. The confessional lyrics are quirky, of course, but these look-over-your-shoulder observations and stream-of-altered-consciousness thoughts are supported by chiming mandolins, acoustic guitars and ukuleles - all gloriously layered to provide an emotional and literal resting-place for Judd's fragile lyrical world-view. This marks a triumphant return from Judd; fingers crossed he can beat a lifelong fear of performance and schedule some shows to support this exciting return to song. The most rocking moments here recall The Swingers at their best and really this is the one erstwhile Enz figure still making music most synonymous with the sound he first found in an Auckland flat many years ago as a keen arts student.

Don McGlashan
Warm Hand

For his first solo album, McGlashan revisits the accessibility of The Muttonbirds immediately with album-opener This Is London. It's followed up by one of the album's highlights, Toy Factory Fire, which recalls the darker side of McGlashan's last band, echoing the feel of the eerie monologue on The Mutton Birds' debut album's most startling track, A Thing Well Made. Backed by some superb musicians (SJD, Ross Burge - NZ's finest pop/rock drummer and an erstwhile Mutton Bird also, Miranda Adams from Bravura adding mournful violin, Tatiana Lanchtchikova, also from Bravura, providing accordion) and with the alchemic touch of Ed McWilliams (aka Ed Cake) McGlashan has realised an absolute masterpiece. That his songwriting has never been questioned is obvious and fair - but on the back of the successful score to No.2 it is great to see (the) Don (of NZ songwriting) back doing what he does best: writing pop/rock ditties that comprise prose-poem lyrics and haunting, evocative slices of music. His harmonic sense, his way with a lilting melody; hallmarks of a sound honed with time through several diverse musical situations. Miracle Sun and I Will Not Let You Down recall McGlashan's finest Front Lawn ballads; most important, with just 10 songs stretching out to just under an hour, there's the very definite feeling that this album was laboured over, with love. Nothing is here that shouldn't be - and there's nothing extraneous whatsoever. Last year Dobbyn proved his continued worth with Available Light, until Neil Finn returns to (overdue) solo work, this is a new benchmark.

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