Music News

Weekly Roundup: Friday 9th August

C.C. / Friday 9th August, 2019 7:35PM

We kicked off the week with the earth-shaking news alt-rock pioneers Pixies are returning to Aotearoa in early 2020, for a can't miss headline event at Tāmaki Makaurau's Spark Arena. Black Francis and the gang (sans Kim Deal) will be performing both their seminal 1987 EP Come On Pilgrim and their 1988 debut album Surfer Rosa in full for the very special occasion – read all about it right here.

A whole bunch more exciting upcoming events were also revealed over the past seven days. NZ alt-pop icons Blam Blam Blam (who are touring NZ in August and September) will be be playing an intimate Auckland headline event before they appear at this year's The Others Way 2019 multi-venue extravaganza, the same evening as the festival's The Night Before The Others Way bonus mini-fest. On a related note for lovers of bleeding edge sounds, a zazzy lineup of local rising stars will be performing at Tāmaki Makaurau's inaugural Deep Dive Festival in mid-August.

International notables heading our way include Swedish / Chilean DJ and producer Dinamarca (head of dance imprint Staycore) will be bringing the heat to Tāmaki Makaurau this October, and Berlin-based experimental musician, performer and poet Mary Ocher will be visiting Aotearoa for a four date tour this September. Iconic names hitting Aotearoa in the near future include Canadian alt-country pioneers Cowboy Junkies are making their long-awaited return to Aotearoa for the first time in over two decades this May, Janet Jackson, 50 Cent and Black Eyed Peas are amongst the mega-stars performing at Auckland's Friday Jams Live 2019 festival in mid-November, and the first lineup for Mangawhai's Northern Bass festival was revealed – featuring Freddie Gibbs, TOKiMONSTA, Ladi6 and many more summer-friendly acts.

We had the privilege of speaking with Valentine Nixon of Coromandel-based dreamscape duo Purple Pilgrims, whose sublime second studio album Perfumed Earth is out today and is easily a local release highlight of 2019 – you can read her illuminating conversation with Chris Cudby about the record over here. Last up – we dare you to explore our freshly unveiled August playlist, featuring an awesome selection of fresh cuts from Aotearoa and beyond, plus a sprinkling of high quality office faves in the mix too.

Our Caught Live feature for the end of this week features Swedish Black Metal masters Dark Funeral, who'll be tearing open gateways to the infernal void with their malignant riffage and diabolical stage presence at Auckland's Whammy Bar and Wellington's Valhalla in September. Experience vintage 1994 live footage of the band unleashing a scorched earth rendition of 'My Dark Desires' (which would later appear on 1996's The Secrets of the Black Arts), inside an ominously candlelit venue in Oslo, Norway...