*FREE RAVEZ 4 U AND HAPPY FRIENDS*

 

So Disasteradio tweeted away zip files of his first 5 albums. 

Western Digital 

Synthtease 

DSIR: Dance Self-Instruction Record 

System That Never Falls 

DISASTERADIO 

In the list that appears under album details, search for the 'whole item' format of your choice and click the link under 'size' to commence download. You'll then need to unzip when they've downloaded. 

I haven't listened to them yet because the mental preparation for my expectations will take at least one more week. 

Hope you are well, I am lazy, Luke is diligent comma, studious. 

See you next [month/week/semester]. 

Naomi 

Kings of Swedish Pop

I have been waiting so long for this.
Acid House Kings began making music in the early 90s with a systematic plan for world domination; to release an album every 5 years, giving time for the songs to ripen and the band's sound to grow. A small chronological playlist of their best singles shows undeniable improvement over the years, each album more refined and magical than the last. It is with great anticipation, therefore, that Music Sounds Better With You is received.

Speculations

 

With the internal countdown frighteningly running out of days and the clouds fortunately deciding to let all the rain out in preparation, Campus A Low Hum 2011 speculations have begun to pour in as fast as a Ponsonby socialite can gossip.

As a way to present the new right-click-to-download song gifting system here at Underdead (and a little introduction we had our close friend Ash Ketchum record for us), I have decided to indulge in rumours and assist in building your excitement for the big weekend.
(NB: I understand and love the Campus tradition of keeping the lineup secret until the festival; this article's intention is simply to spur excitement and give a taste of what's to come).

Dusty Podcasts #2

 

3 weeks after the Halloween podcast I went to Home Bay with a group of friends and drank a lot of gin. Then I had to show up to the bfm studios with a last-minute selection of tracks and a furby, still quite drunk. This marked the downside of our new 11pm-1am timeslot, and quality of conversation may slightly reflect our messy shabby squashed mess of a segment. 

Enjoy! 

Track list: 

NewVillager - Genghis On 

Glass Vaults - New Space 

The New Wine - Revolving Cylinder

Jong Pang - New Order 

The Fresh & Onlys - Diamond In The Dark

Stream below or download from here. 

Dusty Podcasts #1

Not too long ago, I was given a segment on a radio show to play and talk about 5 tracks relating to a weekly theme, and I said I'd upload the podcasts on this blog each week. As it turns out, the process of securing the recordings of this show is a little tricky, so I finally took things into my own hands and recovered a few past shows. 

Listening to this after three months is a little strange, I feel like it's very amateurish and hope the recent ones are a little better- however it received sweet feedback and in case anybody out there wanted to hear my second ever segment, I thought I'd document it here. 

This was recorded the night of Halloween, so that was our weekly theme. 

Track list is as follows: 

AWESOME JOKE WITH ODD MICROPHONE EFFECT 

Memory Cassette - Ghost In The Boombox 

Ghost Wave - Gold 

Cool Cult - Beach Love 

Capsul - Auckland Haunts My Dreams 

The Rural Alberta Advantage - Don't Haunt This Place

I'll be backtracking a few more in the days to come.

You can play it here, or download from here.

Favourite 10 of 10

Rather than compiling a list of "best albums of 2010" we have together discussed what we enjoyed the most this year. Packing two against two, no voting, no disputing, just sharing our respective highlights of the year.

Cul8a2k10!

On the left: Naomi | On the right: Luke

10.

Beach House - Teen Dream | How To Dress Well - Love Remains

Naomi: This album came out early on, and found its way into a playlist I carefully crafted for listening to on the bus to Auckland- that sentimental, coming-of-age trip where I moved away from home. The album reminds me of the start of the year as well as the start of a new life.

Luke: Chillwave? Chill...core? This record leaves reviewers in an odd position. Pfork and the AVClub gush over this album in ways I can't even begin to explain. Yet I don't disagree. Whether or not it's 'influenced by ethereal contemporary R&B' this is a wonderful record for sinking into sleep with, or relaxing with after a long day. Forget the labels and listen to the record for what it is- intricately structured noise.

9.

Edward Sharpe & the Magnetic Zeros - Up From Below | The National - High Violet

Naomi: Was captivated by Home, when I finally got around to the rest of the album I wasn't disappointed. These guys are going to kill live, and in the future.

Luke: This is what we expect from Matt Berninger and co. now. It'd have been a surprise if this album wasn't wonderful, in fact. An introspective record, sure, but one that is more accessible than The Boxer, and hence, a more rewarding listening experience.

8.

Broken Social Scene - Forgiveness Rock Record | Wavves - King Of The Beach

Naomi: These guys did kill live. Not their best album to date, but upon its release I found All to All was a sweet jam to fake a summer to. Art House Director and Texico Bitches both scream singalong, and World Sick is a pretty genuine anthem for the modern day. It's quite a valuable album.

Luke: Wavves 2009: WEED WEED WEED write a pop song WEED WEED WEED fuck it up with distortion WEED WEED WEED wreck gigs by being a douche
Wavves 2010: WEED WEED WEED write a pop song WEED WEED WEED don't fuck with a good thing WEED WEED WEED produce a great record, sell weed grinders with a smoking cat on them, profit

7.

Secret Knives - Affection | Crystal Castles - Crystal Castles (II)

Naomi: Secret Knives got some awesome publicity for this album via the worldwide blogosphere, and the songs prove why. Perhaps not the only NZ band who deserve the attention, but this album places highly due to my national pride and hope that 2011 brings more exposure for these hard-working amazing locals.

Luke:The mere fact that this is better than their debut leaves me floored, still. Yes, there are weak moments. 'Birds' messes with the CC formula by introducing random power chords. 'Vietnam' is too long. 'Violent Dreams' is like getting stuck in a groove on an LP for 5 minutes. But the rest of the album...wow. Doe Deer I Am Made Of Chalk Fainting Spells Intimacy Not In Love Empathy Pap Smear even the names of these songs make me excited, months later. Like sleeping with Alice Glass, but less bruising the morning after.

6.

Jaded Hipster Choir - Pill Weekend | Street Chant - Means

Naomi: As lols as their name is, this album defines a lot of 2010. Bit of unexpected rapping, bit of droning guitars, 2 meke hipster and 2 minute songs. And it's actually pretty genius.

Luke: FUCK THE MAINSTREAM
FUCK NEW ZEALAND MUSIC AWARDS
FUCK THE NAKED AND FAMOUS
FUCK SUBURBIA
FUCK BEING A 'NEW ZEALAND TEENAGER'
this is the music I would make if I were even remotely as talented as these three. Amazing,

5.

So So Modern - Crude Futures | Straight Arrows - It's Happening

Naomi: Good. So good. Plus it brought Luke and Eddie together via the Not So Moderns. Please, SSM, keep getting better and better, you deserve hall of fame status.

Luke: Do you remember that time you saw a film set in the '60s and the gramophone was playing the Kinks and it was like listening to a thrice-copied cassette through a walkie-talkie down the end of a hallway? This record is that sound plus the urgency to rush through side A of an LP in less than 13 minutes. 'Something Happens' is a night on the town through the fuzz of the next morning. 'Bad Temper' is the time you snuck into a relative's liquor cabinet and passed out 20 minutes later. This record is timeless, yet quintessentially 2010.

4.

Arcade Fire - The Suburbs | Die! Die! Die! - Form

Naomi: I did listen to this album a lot. Above all, the video for We Used To Wait was the best of the year, and I say that knowing full well that this is up against Kanye's full-length Runaway. Pretty tight album, incredibly relatable, incredibly catchy.

Luke: Music doesn't need wonderful lyrics to be great. It doesn't need a trained 'singer'. It doesn't need hi-fi recording. It needs energy. It needs the will to beat a drum kit until it breaks, to flip off bass drums without losing your cool, to crowdsurf without shame, to be above all, in the moment. This record, therefore, is music at it's basest. An incredible record.
PS: Is it just me or is this record mixed far too quietly? TURN IT UP KIDS AND ANNOY THE SLEEPING NEIGHBOURS

3.

Johnny Flynn - Been Listening | Sleigh Bells - Treats

Naomi: The water sustains me without even trying, just the way that Johnny Flynn's unique storytelling sound calms me with a seemingly effortless new album. At first glimpse of the album cover I doubted the choice of photo, but after finding myself accidentally looking at a similar view one reflective day, I started humming a few of the tracks, and it kinda made sense.

Treetops are incredible.

Luke: This record, like Naomi's no.10, reminds me of a time in my life. However mine was a less-exciting and more-boring time, one of frantic study balanced against other commitments where I had almost no space to simply be myself. The 'almost' comes from this album- a collection of songs that are immediate and (incredibly) loud, creating a soundscape of jagged, distorted noise that, for 32 fantastic minutes, let me escape the monotony of everyday life. Though there may be better riffs than 'Kids', better beats than 'Crown on the Ground' and better hushed, frantic whispers than those on 'Rachel'. What makes this record so special is everything it signified- there could be a 'pop' in 'noise pop'. There could be sub-shattering bass in on an 'indie' record. There could be that moment in 'Infinity Guitars', where the Noise (befitting its capital letter) begins, when all that mattered was you, your headphones, and the emptiness around you.

2.

Bombay Bicycle Club - Flaws | Weezer - Pinkerton (Deluxe Edition)

Naomi: Bombay Bicycle Club can put no foot wrong. Pure beauty, acoustic yet so full of sound, the accompanying videos are shot with such good quality while keeping the intimacy intended in showing you the boys' childhood homes and favourite areas. The songs are a lot more mature than the teenage-infused lyrics from breakthrough album I Had The Blues But I Shook Them Loose. Seriously close call between Flaws and the number one album!

Luke: Normally I wouldn't consider a reissue worthy for a top-ten list- even Exile on Main St. wouldn't have made my (hypothetical) 'list' last year. However there's something so enduring, so inexhaustibly listenable about Pinkerton that its reissuing seems a perfect time (though you should never need an excuse) to sit down and drift into Rivers Cuomo's mind circa 1996. From the four cymbal crashes that open 'Tired of Sex' to the haunting acoustics of 'Butterfly', everything about this album is incredible. Whether it's Cuomo's longing for the mysterious '18-year old girl who live in small city of Japan' on 'Across the Sea', his frustration at his own shortcomings on 'Falling for You' ('what could you possibly see in little old three-chord me?') or apologies for his own weaknesses on 'Butterfly' ('I told you I'd return when the robin makes his nest...I ain't ever coming back'), each song is a portal into a tired, confused, sexually frustrated, not-quite-teenage-but-not-yet-adult mind. And that's something we can all relate to.
PS: Bonus tracks-wise, the B-sides are excellent, alternate versions are interesting but not essential, live tracks are easily skippable, also there's far too many versions of 'The Good Life' on this disc.

1.

Kanye West - My Beautiful Dark Twisted Fantasy

Naomi: Definitely. Yes. Yes yes yes yes yes. I listened to this album on my birthday. I listened to this album on Christmas. I have found it so hard to listen to anything else since the release of this masterpiece. Kanye West is the artist of our generationnnnnnn.

Luke: I haven't listened to anything else since November 22nd. My friends turn on Sleigh Bells. They turn on Street Chant. But all I want is some more 'Ye. Hell, I put down fucking Pinkerton for this record. This record is amazing. Hands-down album of the year, no questions asked. Should one man have all that Power? Yes.

Pressure To Be

The first time I heard this, the songs were muffled through a bedroom door where I thought some friends had gathered to vibe out to some 90s grunge. I couldn't say what band the tracklist was up to, nor is it a strict genre to define the music on Pressure To Be by, but it is a pretty good indication of what this compilation accomplishes.


The underage music scene in New Zealand is really good. The music coming from <18s tends to transcend age; that is to say, it is not only good 'for their age', but is good in any circumstance. Some of the music being written is more mature than what many of the fully grown musicians of our country are currently producing, an opinion that Underdead has mentioned before. 


After Nicole Gaffney was inspired by her discovery of an under-21 Olfactory Records compilation album sitting under a pile of sale CDs in Real Groovy one time, she teamed up with other half James Stuteley of Papaiti Records and they began working on a necessary testament to the great scene we've become stuck in. The album, Pressure To Be (apparently named from Nevernudes lyrics), is a showcase of teens who have proved their genius on the wider scale, who give us a reason to support NZ Music (+Month), who have played gigs tirelessly and incessantly to bare us their souls and provoke a response. Some bands featured are no longer teens, some have split up, some have just released albums, some still have years until any bar will let them play without parental supervision. 

Row, Row, Row Your Boat

Papaiti Records' newest signing (if you could call a free-download service a 'label') is possibly its most exciting yet. Papaiti cut its teeth earlier this year, offering a series of excellent-quality bootlegs of local shows- including a particularly ferocious Bandicoot gig at Mighty and the So So Modern album release at the Bath House.

However, come September, Papaiti hit the metaphorical jackpot, 'signing' incredible young talent Eddie Johnston AKA Shipwreck. What is there to say of Eddie that hasn't been said before? Knowledgeable and talented beyond his 13 years, Johnston produces consistently-excellent tracks that echo Disasteradio at his most chilled, weave two distinct soundscapes onto one simple programmed drumline or even fuse Times New Viking-esque fuzz with 50s rockabilly spirit. He's also a genuinely nice guy whose immersion in the Wellington scene is absolutely incredible for someone so young. Where were you when you were 13? I know I definitely wasn't listening to decent music nor playing shows at Mighty with Cutting Shapes!



Honestly, Jane Yee (yes, that Jane Yee from our early-teenage C4-watching years) put it best when she said of Eddie: 'I have grown adult musician friends who make music that is far more crap than [his]'. Okay, so not the highest of direct praise but from a 30-something woman to a 13-year-old bedroom musician, it's like winning a fucking Grammy. or a Pitchfork Award or something. Does Pitchfork even give out awards? Would winning one destroy any chance a band has at either keeping underground cool or breaking the mainstream? Maybe this is like getting on thesixtyone homepage?

...Okay this is getting offtopic (though I highly recommend thesixyone) and all that needs to be said is that you absolutely must listen to Eddie's music. Download his tracks below, and hit up his bandcamp for more. He's pretty prolific too- two fantastic EPs and a single in the last couple of months leads me to believe there's many more songs rattling around in his head.


Shipwreck - Bertha Lou
Shipwreck - You're Overreacting