Music News

Weekly Roundup: Friday 3rd May

Friday 3rd May, 2019 4:55PM

NZ Music Month 2019 launched on Wednesday and immediately kicked into high gear – we've already witnessed a tidal wave of significant local releases merely three days into our yearly celebration of Aotearoa's musical community in all its multitudinous manifestations. To provide listeners with an accessible entry point to start exploring the deluge of fresh local tuneage, we've created a special edition of our UTR playlist which we'll keep updated throughout the month [we've already updated it since Wednesday! – Ed]. Open your ears and dive into the stream right here.

If you thought the rest of the world were just taking a load off and twiddling their thumbs during NZ Music Month, you better think again buddy! International tour announcement highlights for the week include amazing US soul experimentalist and visual artist Lonnie Holley is heading to Aotearoa this June for a pair of unmissable events in Auckland and Wellington, Sydney metalcore unit Northlane are returning to NZ in October to treat local fans to the sounds of their upcoming album Alien, and San Diego garage soul titans The Schizophonics announced an extra Auckland date as part of this month's tour of NZ, as their previously announced super city gig is practically sold out.

More overseas heavy hitters wending their way to Aotearoa include UK dance trailblazer The Streets is returning to NZ this coming July for two headline events, California dream-rockers Warpaint are playing a Wellington headline show and supporting Foals in Auckland this July, Britpop legends Gomez are playing their first local event since 2012, and UK shoegaze veterans Ride are gearing up to make their first New Zealand headline appearance in over 25 years. More local events to note in your diary with a big fat permanent marker include Aotearoa guitar-pop heroes Soaked Oats are touring their sizzling new Sludge Pop EP in July, songwriting super-trio Nadia Reid, Liam Finn and Anna Coddington are teaming up with Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra (APO) for a special night of kiwiana in June, and the full lineup of speakers for 2019's NZ Music Month Summit was revealed, featuring four panel sessions over one day exploring the wild world of live performance.

We shared an insightful conversation between Marissa Paternoster of New Jersey punks Screaming Females and Auckland's Ary Jansen ahead of the US band's tour of New Zealand, kicking off in late May. We were also stoked to touch base with Pyramid Club's Nell Thomas (Orchestra of Spheres) about this weekend's multi-day experimental music mega-fest Pyramid Power, and caught up with Emma Hall-Phillips aka DJ Aw B of Aotearoa's Moments collective, who are presenting this weekend's Discwoman mini-tour, DJ workshops and free panel discussions!

Our Caught Live video for the week features legendary New Zealand troubadours Delaney Davidson and Barry Saunders (The Warratahs), who are currently touring their superb collaborative album Word Gets Around throughout Aotearoa, playing tonight and tomorrow at Auckland's Wine Cellar, and on Sunday at Leigh Sawmill Cafe. Experience recent footage of the pair doing their incomparable thing in the storied studios of RNZ, rattling off a live-to-air rendition of 'Nineteen Days', the lead track to their new LP...