Weekly Round-Up: Friday 14th March

This week brought us a whole bunch of interesting newsy tidbits… especially from the legends. Earlier in the week it was announced that The Stooges are releasing an album sans Iggy. Stooges guitarist James Williamson announced the record of covers, named Re-Licked, will feature guest vocalists including Ariel Pink, Mark Lanegan and Jello Biafra. Classic rockers Led Zeppelin are poised to release the first three of their albums which have been re-mastered by guitarist Jimmy Page. The godfather of grunge Neil Young launched his hi-fi PonoPlayer campaign at South By Southwest Festival and within a day had smashed his $800,000 Kickstarter goal he needed to get the project off the ground. And a video was released for Johnny Cash’s song ‘She Used To Love Me A Lot’ to coincide with the soon-to-be released album of lost recordings from the 1980s called Out Among The Stars.

There have been lots of good things happening locally too. Electronic house producer Suren Unka has announced he is releasing his 10-track debut album El Chupacabra in April. Multi-instrumentalist Conrad Wedde (Phoenix Foundation) will be launching his second solo album, named Space World, into the digital realm on the 21st March. Auckland-based duo Team Cat Food have unveiled a collection of ambient tunes under the album name Bag of Tracks. The garage-punk girls that form Piece War are streaming their debut album Apathy, which is also available on a strictly limited 10” vinyl. Die! Die! Die! quietly released a gem of a track called ‘Crystal’ from their upcoming album S W I M, which will be out later this year. Psychedelic rockers Husk released a fantastically broody song called 'Black Moth' as a preview to their upcoming debut EP. And noise trio Lost Rockets unleashed ‘Hundred Year Cough’ from their upcoming cassette. Whew!

Caught live this week we have Iggy Pop and Bernard Sumner (New Order) banding together to cover seminal track ‘Love Will Tear Us Apart’ by Joy Division. Definitely worth a look…

WEEKEND GIG PICKS

Friday

Auckland: Neko Case, The Powerstation
Auckland: @Peace Album Release, Monte Cristo Room
Auckland: Mothra, Lord of Tigers and Big Punch, Kings Arms
Wellington: Baths, Bodega
Wellington: Orchestra of Spheres and Audio Tears, Mighty Mighty
Christchurch: Clap Clap Riot, Dux Live
Christchurch: Machina Rex, Winter, Coate and Steven Bell, Darkroom
Dunedin: Adam Page, Chicks Hotel

Saturday

Auckland: Baths, Kings Arms Tavern
Auckland: The Eversons, The Wine Cellar
Wellington: @Peace Album Release, Bodega
Wellington: Yo La Tengo, The Opera House
Christchurch: Leila Adu, Darkroom
Dunedin: Clap Clap Riot, Chicks Hotel
Dunedin: Kilmog, Seafog and Sonny Carver, Taste Merchants

Head over to our gig guide for HEAPS more great gigs and/or grab our iPhone or Android App.

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