Music News

Weekly Roundup: Friday 24th August

Friday 24th August, 2018 6:39PM

Anticipation is rising to fever pitch for Auckland's multi-venue block party The Others Way next week, with the festival timetable and much-teased lineup for the all ages stage presented in collaboration with Girls Rock! Camp Aotearoa being revealed today. The organisers also announced a special preview show, The Night Before The Others Way, which will give punters a chance to catch acts that they might miss at the main event proper.

We shared more mega tour announcements than you can shake a stick at, with legendary NYC hip hop battalion Wu-Tang Clan hitting New Zealand in December for shows in Auckland and Christchurch, UK indie darlings Bloc Party will play their 2005 classic Silent Alarm in full this November in Auckland and Wellington, local rock legends Shihad are heading out on a 30th anniversary tour of Aotearoa in October, and Glasgow power-pop trailblazers Teenage Fanclub are returning in February to play at Auckland's Powerstation.

That's just the tip of the iceberg - acclaimed US songsmiths Waxahatchee and Kevin Morby are co-headlining a show at Auckland’s Whammy Bar in November, Onehunga rap juggernauts SWIDT announced they’ll “shut October down" with their first national headline tour featuring Melodownz and Illbaz, Melbourne soul-blues quartet The Teskey Brothers are returning in October, rising NZ pop star Theia is embarking on a three date 'pop up' tour in September, Australian drone / doom duo Divide and Dissolve will support ex-pat psychedelic superstars Unknown Mortal Orchestra for their upcoming tour of Aotearoa, and beloved Iron Maiden frontman Bruce Dickinson is touching down in Auckland this October for a one-man show, to talk about his 2017 autobiography What Does This Button Do.

We were thrilled to chat with Auckland’s indie pop band of the moment The Beths about their internationally acclaimed debut album Future Me Hates Me, and shoot the breeze with long-running NYC rock mainstays Interpol about their latest studio record Marauder, which dropped today. We also shared an illuminating conversation between Kiki Van Newtown of Wellington witch rockers Hex and visiting Going Global Music Summit speaker Brian Zabinski, exploring the intricacies involved in musicians applying for touring artist visas.

Local release highlights included a catchy cut from ex-pat dream-poppers Yumi Zouma, the cathartic debut single from Auckland-based ex-Team Ugly member Ary Jansen, the biting seventh instalment from Lawrence Arabia's 2018 Singles Club ‘Meaningless Words', a killer club track from the fabulously named DJ Simon Dallow heralding the release of Christchurch independant label The Big Fresh Collective's compilation Footmahi Vol. #002, and the buzzed-out latest album from Dunedin guitar-slingers Koizilla.

Our Caught Live video for the week features South Island-based folk artist Holly Arrowsmith, whose A Dawn I Remember album release tour continues this weekend at Christchurch's Summer Historic Chapel on Saturday. Here's superb recent footage of Arrowsmith playing a sumptuous rendition of her song 'Autumn' from the record at RNZ's Auckland studios...