Music News

Weekly Round-Up: Friday 8th November

Friday 8th November, 2013 1:30PM

This week has been the week in which incredibly talented, young musicians have made us feel like totally inadequate fools, but hey, at least we have their excellent sonic output to ease our sorrows! Daniel McBride A.K.A Sheep Dog and Wolf won the NZ Music Awards Critics' Choice Prize at a showcase event on Wednesday night, with an exceptional, multi-disciplinary performance (saxophone, guitar, bass, hand clicks and clacks, all looped together in a cacophony of explosive, punk-infused emotion) of singles from his 2013 debut album, Egospect. And equally talented Wellington-based musician Grayson Gilmour is readying a 2014 follow-up to his critically-acclaimed 2010 album Constellation, and has shared the first single, 'Minus Times Infinity'. The track comes complete with a BBC Music Video Festival-included clip by Jessie Taylor-Smith (there's a dinosaur!).

The big tour news this week comes off of the back of Soundwave Festival in the form of WestFest a two night show at Auckland's Vector Arena featuring the likes of Korn, Eagles of Death Metal, Megadeth and more. The people responsible for that song 'Thrift Store' you can't get out of your head no matter how hard you try, Macklemore and Ryan Lewis, will return to New Zealand next March to play shows in Auckland and Wellington with Tinie Tempah.

Locally, The Map Room announced a solid nationwide tour in support of their recently-released self-titled album, as did T54 who are celebrating the release of their long awaited debut album In Brush Park, while Rhythm and Alps announced the second part of their line-up with David Dallas, Zane Lowe, The Veils and a bunch more heading down to the beautiful Cardrona Valley for the New Years' festival.

Release-wise Flying Nun have a couple of forthcoming releases to get excited about, including Grayson Gilmour's aforementioned album, Surf Friends' sophomore record Endorphins (listen to new single 'The Sea' and check out tour dates here), and the the reissue of label stalwarts The Verlaines debut album while the debut record from Astro Children, called Proteus, is out next Tuesday on Muzai Records. Internationally, DZ Deathrays will release a new LP in early 2014 and have shared 'Northern Lights', while Phil Elverum will release his new record, Pre-Human Ideas, as Mount Eerie on his own label (P.W. Elverum & Sons) on November 12th and you can listen to it in full here.

In "stuff that wasn't relevant enough to post as individual pieces but we think you will enjoy nonetheless" news, Annie Clarke A.K.A St. Vincent has reviewed Arcade Fire's Reflektor by noting down the things she Googled after listening to it (porno), while David Bowie has both met Lorde and gone down that controversial road of appearing in a perfume commercial this week. If you needed another reason to find Chris Brown ridiculous, he's currently counter-suing Frank Ocean's cousin over a parking spot (yep). Finally, in Russia-related news, Grimes is playing a private show in the notoriously anti-Gay country (a law has been passed banning "propaganda of nontraditional sexual relationships to minors" - please read Stephen Fry's letter to David Cameron and the IOC asking for a ban on the 2014 Russian Winter Olympics for this reason), and imprisoned Pussy Riot member Nadezhda Tolokonnikova has apparently gone missing during her transfer to a Siberian prison camp.

Because life is about balance, read all about that rather depressing international news above, and then escape by taking in one of our live music picks this weekend.

WEEKEND GIG PICKS:

Friday

AUCKLAND: PCP Eagles, the DHDFD's, The Conjurors + More, Whammy Bar
AUCKLAND: Beach Pigs, F Bar
WELLINGTON: SJD and Craig Terris Group, San Francisco Bathhouse
WELLINGTON: The Members, Bodega
CHRISTCHURCH: Beastwars, Churchills
CHRISTCHURCH: Parents, Darkroom
DUNEDIN: The Bats, Chicks Hotel
DUNEDIN: Psychic Maps, Peter Gutteridge and more, Queens

Saturday