Music News

Weekly Roundup: Friday 14th September

Friday 14th September, 2018 6:50PM

It's been a crazily crammed week of significant show announcements and impactful music releases as we zoomed ever closer towards the summer festival season. We wrapped up our coverage of returning hero Ruban Nielson's epic tour of Aorearoa with his group Unknown Mortal Orchestra, featuring photos and reviews of their triumphant Auckland Town Hall performance on Saturday and their already legendary last minute afterparty at underground music hub Whammy Bar.

Notable announcements included Philadelphia guitar slinger and ace songwriter Kurt Vile is bringing his band The Violators back to New Zealand for two shows in April, UK songwriting icon Billy Bragg will play a career-spanning trio of shows at Auckland's Hollywood Avondale in November, LA-based expat rising star Lontalius will play a hugely anticipated homecoming tour in October, UMO support artists Australian drone / doom duo Divide and Dissolve are returning for a headline tour of Aotearoa also in October, and Detroit hip hop legend Royce 5'9" will play his first ever New Zealand headline shows in Auckland and Wellington this December.

More huge tour news included UK big beat pioneer Fatboy Slim aka Norman Cook is returning for a five date tour of Aotearoa in early 2019, UK dancefloor innovators Orbital are playing headline slots at Auckland's annual Splore Festival 2019 and Christchurch's Electric Avenue Music Festival, US rap icons Busta Rhymes and Twista are teaming up for a double headline show at Auckland's Logan Campbell Centre this November, US hip hop figurehead Joey Bada$$ is joining the bill for Northland's massive Northern Bass Festival, US-based Silver Scroll nominee Chelsea Jade is playing a keenly anticipated record release tour for her debut album Personal Best, and Dunedin trip-poppers Jaggers x Lines announced a three date release tour for their upcoming debut album Burn Cycle.

This week we presented more features than you can shake a stick at - Dunedin music legend Martin Phillipps talked about his brand new album Snow Bound and more with Wellington-based electronic artist Stef Animal, enigmatic Auckland pop sophisticate Jonathan Bree spoke with Kermath about his fabulous third studio album Sleepwalking, we caught up with Auckland punk innovator P.H.F. about his killer new record I Hate Myself and this weekend's release shows, and Fluffy spoke with visiting Berlin psych-rockers Samsara Blues Experiment ahead of their pair of local shows this week. Speaking of cosmic vibrations, we were thrilled to premiere the jaw-dropping debut album from Auckland thug-psych four-piece sere, who are sadly playing their final show this Saturday at The Wine Cellar - catch them while you can! We also had the privilege of premiering the first ever video from Wellington dream-pop / post-punk unit DEAF, a cinematic clip from Wellington post-rock crew Hiboux, and a darkly mysterious slice of beat-driven dream-pop from Orewa-based duo The Melancholies. On top of all that, songwriting icon Don McGalashan shared his five favourite songs about places in Aotearoa, ahead of his coast to coast Free Flight nationwide tour which started this week.

Our Caught Live video for the week features rising star October, who is playing a headline show at Auckland's Whammy Bar this coming Thursday 20th September with support from Maxwell Young, and is touring Aotearoa in support of Lontalius in early October. Check out brand new footage directed Greg Page of the artist performing three choice cuts from her debut album Ultra Red - ‘All She Does Is Stare’, ‘1000 Eyes’ and ‘Ultra Red’ - in a suitably industrial warehouse location...