Music News

Weekly Roundup: Friday 24th January

C.C. / Photo credit: Connor Crawford / Friday 24th January, 2020 4:42PM

It was a doozy of a week for announcements in the lead up to St. Jerome’s Laneway Festival 2020 – featuring new additions to the bill Marlon Williams and Holly Herndon – taking over the leafy surrounds of Tāmaki Makaurau's sure to be roasting Albert Park this coming Monday. Highlights included "The Most Evil Band in Japan," Tokyo black metal / thrashers Abigail will be obliterating Aotearoa audiences in July, US bluesman Jerron "Blind Boy" Paxton revealed a bonus NZ headline event to round off his upcoming summer tour of our shores, Jersey Club queen UNIIQU3 will play her first ever Aotearoa event in late January, and Sydney guitar-pop crew Borneo are bringing their sunny anthems back our way for four NZ dates in March.

Aotearoa's two night punk rock and ska blowout Punk It Up V revealed a jam-packed lineup of local legends and rabble-rousing fresh faces for May, Los Angeles-based Street Chant songwriter Emily Edrosa returns to Aotearoa this summer for a homecoming headline event, NZ new wave pop pioneer Andrew Fagan (The Mockers) is playing a Tāmaki Makaurau's launch party for his new solo album Act Normal in mid-February, and Pōneke's Dartz and Doons are teaming up for their two date Taking Care Of Business autumn North Island tour.

We were thrilled to share an in-depth conversation between Australian songwriting superstar Julia Jacklin (performing at Laneway 2020 next week) and our own Nadia Reid, whose highly-anticipated album Out Of My Province releases in March – read their insightful interview here. We also featured Sam Longmore's (mf/mp, Audio Foundation) illuminating interview with visiting club experimentalist Eartheater, and Chris Cudby tracked down rapidly rising Tāmaki Makaurau electronic artist Leaping Tiger for a chat about his stellar debut album Porcelain Orca Whales. That's not all – reviewer Ali Nicholls and photographer Connor Crawford captured the sights and sensations of Flying Lotus' 3D spectacular at Auckland Town Hall, and we proudly premiered the honking great debut single from super city all-stars Thee Golden Geese, featuring members of The Conjurors, Magic Factory, Fever Party and Hang Loose!

This week's Caught Live clip features Aussie psych-rock heavyweights King Gizzard and the Lizard Wizard, who'll be tearing it up in Tāmaki Makaurau on Monday for Laneway 2020 – plus any excuse to feature Connor Crawford's mind-blowing image of the band in action (above, at Whammy Bar in late 2017), amirite? We can't wait to see them bust out songs from 2019's environmentally focussed thrash opus Infest The Rats Nest – prep your eyes and ears for the insanity to come, with guitar-mangling recent live footage of the double-drums hellraisers playing 'Venusian 1' for KEXP...