[{"id":211725189271,"handle":"3ds","title":"3Ds","updated_at":"2022-01-24T14:35:15+13:00","body_html":"\u003cdiv style=\"text-align: center;\"\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0450\/3165\/3527\/files\/3Ds_Flying_Nun-3_1024x1024.jpg?v=1598675162\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e3Ds were the biggest ‘third wave’ Flying Nun band, formed by musicians from earlier FN groups. Starting out in Dunedin in 1988, they recorded three albums and several EPs, the best-known being \u003ca href=\"http:\/\/flying-out.myshopify.com\/collections\/the-3ds\/products\/the-3ds-the-venus-trail\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Venus Trail\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e (1993). They achieved worldwide critical and commercial success, and toured extensively overseas from 1992-95.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe 3Ds\u003c\/b\u003e came into being in Dunedin in mid-1988, after the male members all relocated from Auckland in search of cheap rent, booze and 24 hour-a-day rock’n roll. Their arrival swelled the ranks of many bands, including \u003cb\u003eSnapper\u003c\/b\u003e,\u003cb\u003e Chug\u003c\/b\u003e and \u003cb\u003ePlagal Grind\u003c\/b\u003e, but they all became best-known as members of the 3Ds.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAfter initially forming as a trio (hence the name) they were joined in early 1989 by David Mitchell. He introduced a third song-writer and singer, as well as the twin-guitar attack which became the defining feature of the group. Mitchell’s intricate and demented artwork also featured memorably on most of their record covers and posters. Once you’ve seen an entire city sodomised by giant rats, you never forget it.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWith the completion of the alchemical transformation from a loose jamming agglomeration to the 3Ds, and the band immediately began their assault on New Zealand’s then-burgeoning underground rock scene. They stood out from the start in their ability to sway both the critics and a broader audience. The 3Ds were a band with something for everyone - a knock-out combination of over-loaded guitars, horror-show imagery and toothsome vocal harmonies. While the Pixies were often cited as a formative influence, it’s more correct to see them as the bastard offspring of Black Sabbath and Fairport Convention. Their point of difference was the unique combination of Celtic lilt with berserk metal fury.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eTheir first recordings were delayed by over a year as the band tried twice to secure CreativeNZ funding support, amazingly without success. Their first recordings were a bunch of demos, one of which, \u003ci\u003e‘Meluzina Man’\u003c\/i\u003e became their first release on the 1990 compilation Xpressway Pile-up. The band recorded their Flying Nun debut \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eFish Tales\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e in early 1990, starting a long close association with Dunedin’s Fish St Studios. Their second EP (\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eSwarthy Songs for Swabs\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e) and debut album (\u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eHellzapoppin’\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e) followed over the next two years, the latter spawning the unstoppable single \u003ci\u003eOuter Space\u003c\/i\u003e. After the first record all their sessions were produced by their live engineer of choice, Tex Houston.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe first three records saw US release under licence to First Warning, an RCA-affiliate that almost immediately went pants-up, rather negating the crazed wave of critical adulation that greeted their release. The band first toured the US in 1992, followed by an Australian tour with the\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eLemonheads\u003c\/strong\u003e. They were among the first New Zealand bands to take advantage of the international connections established in the later 1980s to tour and release records in both the US and the UK.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eTheir second album\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cspan style=\"text-decoration: underline;\"\u003e\u003cem\u003eThe Venus Trail\u003c\/em\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e(1993) has proved to be their classic. This included their best known singles\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003eHey Seuss\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eand Beautiful Things. It was released in the US by\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMerge\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e(train-spotters please note, the Merge single of\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eBeautiful Things\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e \u003c\/span\u003eis an entirely different version, sung by Denise), and also in the UK by Flying Nun, once more to a critical response akin to that given to a free cigarette-scramble in a prison yard.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe year 1994 was dominated by a three-month tour to the UK and the US. While in England they recorded a Peel session and were widely lauded by the music press. Their extensive US tour included gigs with the likes of \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong\u003ePavement\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e, but proved a gruelling effort. Still, this was pretty heady stuff for a New Zealand band of that era. The following year they recorded the stop-gap \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cem\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCaterwauling\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/em\u003e\u003cspan\u003e four song EP and toured Australia as part of the main stage action at the Big Day Out festival. They also scored the NZ supports on the massive Zoo TV tour by U2, typically taking advantage of the opportunity to plunder the headliners’ liquor rider. This led to a handwritten thumbs-up from Bono and the gift of yet further top-shelf liquor in recognition of their contribution at the shows.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cmeta charset=\"utf-8\"\u003eFinally in 1996 the 3Ds managed one more LP, the darkly-morose \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eStrange News From The Angels\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e. This was well-received but contained no singles to match their previous efforts. The band, feeling that the fun had gone out of the experience, announced their split in early 1997. Coaxed from retirement to perform at the 20th anniversary Merge Fest in 2009, they followed this in early 2010 with a series of shows in New Zealand and a UK appearance at All Tomorrows Parties. Future plans are unclear.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cem\u003eBy Bruce Russell (The Dead C)\u003c\/em\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp style=\"text-align: left;\"\u003e\u003ciframe width=\"560\" height=\"315\" src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/ePvmxGA2vqU\" frameborder=\"0\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" allowfullscreen=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","published_at":"2020-08-09T18:29:03+12:00","sort_order":"best-selling","template_suffix":"","disjunctive":false,"rules":[{"column":"tag","relation":"equals","condition":"3Ds"}],"published_scope":"global","image":{"created_at":"2020-08-12T21:56:57+12:00","alt":null,"width":1000,"height":1000,"src":"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0450\/3165\/3527\/collections\/hero_thumb_a1307.jpg?v=1598675175"}},{"id":211725320343,"handle":"able-tasmans","title":"Able Tasmans","updated_at":"2021-11-15T09:11:59+13:00","body_html":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0450\/3165\/3527\/files\/Able_Tasmans_Flying_Nun_Records_1024x1024.jpg?v=1598091205\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eNamed after the Dutch explorer Abel Tasman (who was first European to visit New Zealand in 1642) the band themselves were avid explorers limited only by their imagination. Their songwriting and arrangement crossed lines between baroque and indie-pop integrating field recordings and bringing keyboards to the forefront of their music.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Auckland-based group went through a number of line-up and mood changes since they first surfaced in 1984 as a trio whammying things up for the kids on the dancefloor with a very '60s fun organ-bass-drums sound and songs with titles like \"Nelson the Cat?!!\".\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\"Nelson\" was one of six songs which appeared on the Ables' 1985 debut EP for Flying Nun, The Tired Sun. The EP featured the quietly expanding Ables line-up, with the original trio of Graeme Humphreys (keybaords and vocals), Dave Beniston (bass) and Craig Baxter (drums) being augmented by Peter Keen on vocals and future Headless Chicken, Anthony Nevison, who lent a hand on guitar and vocals.\u003cbr\u003eRecorded with thanks to 'the marvels of modern steam recording' at Auckland's Progressive Studio over Easter, 1985, The Tired Sun was a lively psych-out, admired for its strong singing and punchy upbeat feel.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe following year, the Able Tasmans released the sparse and eccentric 7\" single \"Buffalos\", which was backed with \"Relapse\", a song performed by Peter Keen's first band, Raucous Laughter. The classic organ pop frolic \"Carolines\" also appeared on the Radio B compilation, Outnumbered By Sheep in 1986.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe Ables released their first full-length album in 1987, A Cuppa Tea And A Lie Down -- which featured an expanded line-up of six people. Leslie Jonkers (who was responsible for the front cover art of The Tired Sun and had been writing Ables tunes since the early days without appearing on stage!) was playing organ, and Peter Keen was now full-time on vocals and Graeme Humphreys playing guitar and singing. Dave Beniston still played bass but Stuart Greenway replaced the Australia-bound Craig Baxter on drums. Additional instrumentation was provided by Jane Leggott (flute) and Dave Tennent (some guitar). The Ables confused plenty of people by including 23 associates (from studio and live sound engineers to album cover artists and dancers -- the band was now involved with providing music for the Te Kani Kani dance group) in the group photo on the back of the album...\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eA Cuppa Tea... remains the Able Tasmans most eclectic recording to date. In Melody Maker, the album was described as \"a strange beast indeed... winding, melodic, theatrical, folky, with more than a string of acerbic guitars in its tail... Jaunty tunes, blissful rock-outs, sixties throwbacks with whining violins and catchy cowboy singalongs.\"\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIt was three years and more line-up changes (naturally) until a new Able Tasmans recording appeared on Flying Nun. Released in 1990, Hey Spinner! was a denser album, with tunes that continued the Ables' curious line in lyrical kiwiana -- a trend begun on the previous album, which had built local geography and custom into songs like \"And We Swam the Magic Bay\" and \"Evil Barbeque\". Hey Spinner! matched these with \"Grey Lynn\" and \"Michael Fay\" -- a Dickensian tale where \"It was Christmas day\/When Michael Fay gave all his money away\".\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe band line-up now featured the songwriting core of Humphreys, Jonkers and Keen, with former Verlaine Jane Dodd playing bass and Craig Mason, longtime Ables associate and singer-guitarist in Auckland's Sombretones, on drums. Another new full-time member and longtime associate was Ron Young, adding a curtain of analogue synth nonsense and more vocals to the songs. The Ables' Hey Spinner! sound was rounded out by regular live clarinetist, Donald Nichols, and extra trumpet, cello and violin.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe \"baroque folk rock\" (Colin Hogg) of Hey Spinner! gave way to something a little wilder and weirder by the time of the 1992 release, Somebody Ate My Planet. The album, recorded with the same settled line-up as Hey Spinner! at Auckland's Lab Studio with engineer Victor Grbic, sees the Able Tasmans fully extending their sound over eleven songs packed with warm noise and cool ideas. It's the best commie astronomer clever lover environmentally friendly rock you'll enjoy in a good while -- proof that the Able Tasmans have grown to a position where they're comfortable and popular musical adventurers on this planet, even if \"somebody\" is making a mess of their own...\u003c\/p\u003e","published_at":"2020-08-09T18:30:30+12:00","sort_order":"created","template_suffix":"","disjunctive":false,"rules":[{"column":"tag","relation":"equals","condition":"Able Tasmans"}],"published_scope":"global","image":{"created_at":"2020-08-22T22:12:17+12:00","alt":null,"width":993,"height":992,"src":"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0450\/3165\/3527\/collections\/Able_Tasmans_Flying_Nun_Records-2.jpg?v=1598091137"}},{"id":211726106775,"handle":"alec-bathgate","title":"Alec Bathgate","updated_at":"2021-11-15T09:11:59+13:00","body_html":"\u003cspan\u003e\"50,000,000 Elvis fans can't be wrong, I guess they knew it all along\u003c\/span\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIf you want to be a star, go today - buy a suit of gold lamé.\"\u003c\/span\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003eIn 1956, Elvis Presley burst upon the music scene. Within two years he had produced 14 consecutive million-selling records. In the course of doing so he had changed the course of popular music and culture forever. His spectacular success, popularity amongst music fans and notorious sex appeal remain unparalleled in American entertainment history. Elvis's $2,500 gold lame suit was created by Nudie's of Hollywood, tailor to the stars. First worn by Elvis on his 1957 tour performances, the gold suit is one of the most famous costumes in rock'n'roll history.\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlec Bathgate's musical career hasn't exactly led him to buy a suit from Nudie's, but 19 years after The Enemy burst onto the unsuspecting Dunedin music scene in 1977 (a spectacular and ground-breaking arrival in its own right, we might add) with young Alec on guitar, it is about bloody time that we had an album full of his songs and voice.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eRight from the moment that Alec formed The Enemy with fellow art student Mick Dawson and talented misfit \u003ca href=\"https:\/\/web.archive.org\/web\/19990225095814\/http:\/\/flyingnun.co.nz\/bands\/knox.html\"\u003eChris Knox\u003c\/a\u003e, he's been involved with Chris in one of this country's most enduring and original songwriting partnerships. Alec and Chris were the Enemy's songwriting core and after the group evolved into Toy Love in 1979, they were hammering out classic tunes for a band who were rapidly becoming the most highly-rated act in the land. Toy Love was over less than two years later, but Chris and Alec were straight into a new project, Tall Dwarfs.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAfter one EP on the Furtive label, the Tall Dwarfs hooked up with Flying Nun and ten records later they remain creative stalwarts of the label. The duo are now legends in the world of four-track home-recording — they were invited to headline the inaugural Fast Forward home-recording festival in Holland where they were joined by the likes of Sebadoh. Of course, since Chris bought an eight-track, they're practically a regular studio band now....\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eMost Tall Dwarfs recordings occur in Chris Knox's Auckland home, with Alec travelling up from Christchurch to work for a few days on songs which are built up from guitar riffs, vocal melodies or rhythm loops made from whatever is at hand and sounds interesting enough. Alec has brought that same attitude to the solo album that people have been bugging him to make for years.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe 16 songs that make up \u003cb\u003eGold Lamé \u003c\/b\u003ewere recorded onto a four-track over the space of a year by Alec alone in his garage. Away from Chris Knox, Alec still gives us many of the great stylistic touches at the core of the Tall Dwarfs on his own album, from crunching riffs over rhythm loop rumbles to fairground psychedelia. \u003cb\u003eGold Lamé \u003c\/b\u003eis stacked with good moods and undeniably sweet sixties melodies right from the moment its first track, \"Win Your Love\", descends into something like a Beach Boys' \u003ci\u003eSmile \u003c\/i\u003eout-take. Later we get Alec picking up the voice of Velvets-era Lou Reed on \"Ain't It Strange\" and the Knox-Bathgate Beatles touchstone appears nicely-done on \"Slow Parade\". As with the best of Tall Dwarfs' output, \u003cb\u003eGold Lamé \u003c\/b\u003eso often feels like a gem left out in the forest in 1969....\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAlec's experienced recording hand is immediately evident in arrangements like \"Carl's Arrows\", where the four-track recording is not necessarily \"lo-fi\" and encompasses voice, guitars, toy xylophone and piano. There's extensive use of casio keyboard tones and rhythms on many songs including a cover of reggae classic, \"Train To Skaville\". Deft backwards sounds punctuate \"Run\" alongside a nice electric guitar melody. Elsewhere, songs make room for Alec's big guitaring — his fantastic strumming on acoustic at the heart of tunes like the title track and a burr of solid electrics on others like \"Pet Hates\".\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe latter is one of two \u003cb\u003eGold Lamé \u003c\/b\u003esongs released on a seven inch vinyl single late last year by Flying Nun. \"Pet Hates\" and \"Happy Hound\" drew an excellent critical response, no better than in Wellington's \u003ci\u003eSalient\u003c\/i\u003e, who said \u003ci\u003e\"This sweet slab sounds exactly like the Tall Dwarfs without Chris Knox. Surprisingly. And some would like that. His vox put him up as a chipper Bing Crosby to Knox's more croonful Frank Sinatra.\"\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor those of us who've loved the handful of tunes Alec has managed to get his tonsils round in the Tall Dwarfs, \u003cb\u003eGold Lamé \u003c\/b\u003eis an album full of White Christmases. We should add that it also cost less to make than Elvis's suit, which means that in recording craft and creativity value, Alec Bathgate is a home-recorded rock'n'roll king in our book. \u003cb\u003eGold Lamé \u003c\/b\u003eis a long overdue item and all us Tall Dwarfs fans can't be wrong — Alec Bathgate is the star.\u003c\/p\u003e","published_at":"2020-08-09T18:39:24+12:00","sort_order":"best-selling","template_suffix":"","disjunctive":false,"rules":[{"column":"tag","relation":"equals","condition":"Alec Bathgate"}],"published_scope":"global","image":{"created_at":"2020-08-23T22:27:34+12:00","alt":null,"width":1333,"height":1333,"src":"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0450\/3165\/3527\/collections\/0012660518_10.jpg?v=1598178454"}},{"id":211726925975,"handle":"bike","title":"Bike","updated_at":"2021-11-15T09:12:00+13:00","body_html":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0450\/3165\/3527\/files\/Bike_Flying_Nun_1024x1024.jpg?v=1598177722\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Wicked in ways, I don't know how many ways, the circus kids have come to our town\".\u003cbr\u003eSomething wicked this way comes, indeed, as Andrew Brough's Ray Bradbury-inspired lyric kicks off this brilliant single. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eCircus Kids brings Andrew Brough's classic touch once more to a song based around his angelic voice, chiming guitars and a truly spine-chilling chorus. If Bike's 1996 debut single Save My Life, or Straitjacket Fits' timeless hit Down In Splendour didn't have you convinced already, Circus Kids shows Andrew Brough to be our premier writer of majestic guitar pop.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe three-piece sound of Bike is the perfect vehicle for these songs. Andrew formed Bike in Auckland in 1995 to work on songs written in the two-year hiatus since he had left Straitjacket Fits. He wanted a band that combined simplicity and power, that would drive these new songs along in the same way he had enjoyed in the Straitjackets and, before that, the Orange.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBike recorded Save My Life and three other songs to make up an EP in 1995. York Street studio producer Malcolm Welsford (Shihad, Supergroove) was at the controls and Andrew found a real chemistry with Malcolm as they built Bike's studio sound into a huge wall of guitars, especially spectacular on Old \u0026amp; Blue.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSave My Life was a finalist for APRA's Silver Scroll songwriting award for 1996, and also earned Bike a nomination as Most Promising New Band at the NZ Music Awards. Bike's performance of that song at the televised Music Awards was considered by many a highlight of the evening.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eBike and Malcolm Welsford reunited at York Street at the end of 1996 to record the band's debut full-length album. As the first indicator of those sessions, Circus Kids is fully convincing with its spell-binding, world-class sound. Neil Finn, a regular visitor to York St, heard this song and commented that it's \"Proof again that Andrew Brough writes a damn good tune\".\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e","published_at":"2020-08-09T18:47:10+12:00","sort_order":"best-selling","template_suffix":"","disjunctive":false,"rules":[{"column":"tag","relation":"equals","condition":"Bike"}],"published_scope":"global","image":{"created_at":"2020-08-23T22:15:37+12:00","alt":null,"width":1333,"height":1333,"src":"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0450\/3165\/3527\/collections\/Bike_Flying_Nun.jpg?v=1598177738"}},{"id":211728302231,"handle":"cul-de-sac","title":"Cul de Sac","updated_at":"2021-11-15T09:12:01+13:00","body_html":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0450\/3165\/3527\/files\/Cul_De_Sac_600x600.jpg?v=1598949185\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"There's this band that I like called Cul De Sac - very ambient, very cool\". Lou Reed, Mojo, March 1996\u003cbr\u003eRobin Amos - keyboards \u003cbr\u003eChris Fujiwara - bass \u003cbr\u003eGlenn Jones - guitars \u003cbr\u003eJon Proudman - drums\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eKrautrock, space rock and especially post rock are the cool terms to drop at the moment, often lazily applied to bands impossible to categorise. Cul De Sac are one of these bands. China Gate is their third album.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhen the band's second album I Don't Want To Go To Bed was released last year, Cul De Sac were grouped in with all the other so-called post rock\/Krautrock bands. Yet for all their experimentalism and Germanic influences(Faust, Neu and of course Can), this powerful and unique instrumental Boston four piece combine so many elements of different musical genres (sixties psychedelia, Jazz and 20th Century American folk(!)) they are impossible to catagorise as either. They have created a sound, which as English critic David Stubbs explains, \"isn't post or anti-rock, but one which opens up a whole index of directions in which rock music could go right now\".\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAs with their two previous albums I Don't Want To Go To Bed and Ecim (1992 - to be re-released later this year) the 20th Century American folk influence remains an important touchstone on China Gate, elevating the vocals and melodies from the deep krautrock grooves and thus the band from the good to the very special. According to the band, the basic concept of China Gate was to combine Glenn Jones's melodic sensitivity (he writes most of the songs) with idiosyncratic guitar playing (Hendrix and Fahey influenced) and Amos's orgy of electronic experiments, whilst making sure that a sharp, propulsive groove generated the whole process.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eFrom the furious excitement of 'Colomber', the heartbreak of 'Nepenthe' and the late night driving grooves of 'Utopia Parkway' and the reworking of 'Doledrums' (first featured on I Don't Want To Go To Bed) China Gate is Cul De Sac's most far-ranging musical expedition yet.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eChina Gate hears Cul de Sac playing with a greater assurance than on previous records, delivering all the components of a good diverse album. Whereas I Don't Want To Go To Bed was recorded on one microphone a four track in a tiny practice space, China Gate was treated to proper production and mixing, which, apparently had its problems. Bassist Chris Fujiwara recalls the album as a 'post produciton nightmare, but yet worth it, because without detriment to the spontaneity of the playing, we got these dense textures in which sound move around in interesting ways - each instrument beautiful and hypnotic in itself. Everyone played on the album at fever heat\", he continues, \"in fact we were all quite delirious.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eAlbums listened to during the recording of China Gate were John Coltrane's Ascension and the Breakfast At Tiffany's soundtrack.\u003c\/p\u003e","published_at":"2020-08-09T19:01:46+12:00","sort_order":"best-selling","template_suffix":"","disjunctive":false,"rules":[{"column":"tag","relation":"equals","condition":"Cul de Sac"}],"published_scope":"global","image":{"created_at":"2020-09-01T20:34:00+12:00","alt":null,"width":1000,"height":1000,"src":"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0450\/3165\/3527\/collections\/Cul_De_Sac_SQUARE.jpg?v=1598949240"}},{"id":268276400279,"handle":"flying-nun-vinyl","title":"Flying Nun and Related Vinyl","updated_at":"2022-01-27T15:15:06+13:00","body_html":"","published_at":"2021-06-03T19:09:24+12:00","sort_order":"created-desc","template_suffix":"","disjunctive":false,"rules":[{"column":"tag","relation":"equals","condition":"Flying Nun"},{"column":"tag","relation":"equals","condition":"Vinyl"}],"published_scope":"global"},{"id":392313798900,"handle":"flying-nun-catalog","title":"Flying Nun Catalog","updated_at":"2022-01-27T15:45:23+13:00","body_html":"","published_at":"2021-12-04T16:32:39+13:00","sort_order":"created","template_suffix":"","disjunctive":true,"rules":[{"column":"tag","relation":"equals","condition":"Flying Nun Catalog"},{"column":"tag","relation":"equals","condition":"Flying Nun"}],"published_scope":"global"},{"id":211730530455,"handle":"garageland","title":"Garageland","updated_at":"2021-11-15T09:12:02+13:00","body_html":"\u003cp\u003e \u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0450\/3165\/3527\/files\/Garageland_Flying_Nun-6_1024x1024.jpg?v=1598674582\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAuckland's Garageland made a big splash with their debut record \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eCome Back Special\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003ein August 1995. The BFM favourites came out with five fresh pop songs that suggested a new wave of musicians were clutching the classic Flying Nun catalogue for inspiration and taking off to the garage to jam.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWith their guitars turned up to warm reverb and tossing off words not just with the lazy abandon so favoured by the modern American underground but in the way that great NZ bands have always mumbled their way through a catchy tune, Garageland were mining a rich musical vein.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eIn order of appearance, these songs also suggest that\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003e(1) the line \"come back, all is forgiven\" is something worth shouting at the rooftops if you truly believe a former loved one doesn't know what they're missing,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003e(2) Billy Joel is an arsehole,\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003e(3) you can't go wrong if you try and write thundering riffs like The Clean.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003e(4) ditto on the riff -- but add some guitar squall for tasty spicing, and\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cul\u003e\n\u003cli\u003e\u003cspan\u003e(5) Sonic Youth should maybe lay off the weed and try a pop cigar if they really want to stay young.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/li\u003e\n\u003c\/ul\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe band's released their full-length debut in 1996, \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eLast Exit to Garageland\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e, and broke into the Top Five on the country's charts. The Auckland-based band moved to England in early 1997, but Debbie Silvey chose to stay behind. Once the group settled in, they met guitarist Andrew Claridge, who promptly joined on for several tours that year. \u003cspan class=\"Apple-converted-space\"\u003e \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe group returned to New Zealand for a tour in early 1998 and the US, but it wasn't till early 1999 that second album \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eDo What You Want\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e was recorded and the band relocated home. Repeating their debut's success, it went gold in New Zealand, and was release in the US and picked up by U.K. music publications including Melody Maker and NME.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eThe band released their third and final album \u003cb\u003e\u003ci\u003eScorpio Righting\u003c\/i\u003e \u003c\/b\u003ein 2002 before calling it a day, however they did re-form for a one-off gig in Auckland in November 2007.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","published_at":"2020-08-09T19:16:26+12:00","sort_order":"created","template_suffix":"","disjunctive":false,"rules":[{"column":"tag","relation":"equals","condition":"Garageland"}],"published_scope":"global","image":{"created_at":"2020-08-29T16:15:41+12:00","alt":null,"width":1000,"height":1000,"src":"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0450\/3165\/3527\/collections\/Garageland_Flying_Nun-24_SQUARE.jpg?v=1598674541"}},{"id":211731546263,"handle":"high-dependency-unit","title":"High Dependency Unit","updated_at":"2021-11-15T09:12:03+13:00","body_html":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0450\/3165\/3527\/files\/HDU_Flying_Nun_1024x1024.jpg?v=1598524839\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe Dunedin-based trio of Tristan Dingemans (guitar\/vocals), Neil Phillips (bass) and Dino Karlis (drums) join forces with long-standing sound recorder Dale Cotton and pick up the thread of their muse in five extended songs, drawing each into a taut epic of alternating light and dark.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eInvoking all the sound and the fury imaginable in the post-rock idiom, high dependency unit offer up another slab of sonic splendour to rival their two previous epics, \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003eAbstinence: Acrimony\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e (1995) and \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003eThe Sum Of The Few\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e (1996).\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFrom the opening strains of the first track \"Babaya\" the adrenaline is rising until it's like drowning in an ocean of pure sound. Musical tension is coupled with a compelling sense of calm that allows you to just drift in the beauty of noise. The following track \"Fauxtekra\" unleashes the power of hdu live, drum and bass attempting to hold down a guitar hellbent on the deconstruction of all rock axioms.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe slabs of noise subside briefly with the third track, appropriately entitled \"Lull\". The drums relax into a shuffle beat alongside a more introspective guitar line before hdu return to their heavy duty as the apocalyptic journey of \"Dune\" unfolds. Dense and foreboding, the track just relentlessly drives on before its oppressive grind breaks like a wave.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd so to the close where \"Space Is The Place\" winds out to uncover a reverbed soundscape of chilling beauty. In space, it may be that no-one can hear you scream, but with higher hdu make another passionate case for the quality of the dark emotions they express in music and sound. In ten years time, high dependency unit will be a name that resonates with the 'underground' prestige that groups such as the Gordons and Skeptics command today. Live, there's not a band around today that can touch them. This is the sound of the 'dark side' of Flying Nun in full sonic severity.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003ccenter\u003e\n\u003ci\u003e\"high dependency unit maakt namelijk psychedelica ten voeten uit.\" Rif Raf Musiczine.\u003c\/i\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Distorted, dangerous and often devastating, New Zealand band hdu journey headlong into free-form noise and sonic terror.\" Rolling Stone (04\/97)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003e\"hdu's mix of disciplined musical muscle and compelling sense of tension make them simply breathtaking.\" Russell Baillie, NZ Herald\u003c\/i\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003c\/center\u003e","published_at":"2020-08-09T19:23:15+12:00","sort_order":"best-selling","template_suffix":"","disjunctive":false,"rules":[{"column":"tag","relation":"equals","condition":"High Dependency Unit"}],"published_scope":"global","image":{"created_at":"2020-08-27T22:23:55+12:00","alt":null,"width":1000,"height":1000,"src":"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0450\/3165\/3527\/collections\/HDU_Flying_Nun-SQUARE.jpg?v=1598523836"}},{"id":211732168855,"handle":"king-loser","title":"King Loser","updated_at":"2021-11-15T09:12:04+13:00","body_html":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0450\/3165\/3527\/files\/King_Loser_Flying_Nun_1024x1024.jpg?v=1598346542\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan face=\"arial\" style=\"font-family: arial;\"\u003eHow many times has the sweet tasting wine escaped your trembling lips? Taking in the glam, the sham and their righteous poseuring, these fascist infidels of fanaticism give you their third album Caul of the Outlaw.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan face=\"arial\" style=\"font-family: arial;\"\u003eA dirty dozen of original songs by four original people, this album is something of a watershed for our King Loser; no roulette of drummers, no trawling of previous recordings. Straight up, Downtown, Nowhere. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan face=\"arial\" style=\"font-family: arial;\"\u003eHeazlewood sits at the helm, having recorded and engineered most of this at K.L.H.Q. over a couple of months. O'Reilly plays some of the best guitar since Adam learnt the E major chord in the Garden of Eden. Celia comes on like a chanteuse changing her mind while Tribal Thunder lays down the demon beat.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan face=\"arial\" style=\"font-family: arial;\"\u003eA personal crusade through Hell while laughing at the top of their lungs, this is Necessary Evil. You know you want it. Elemental and primitive yet sophisticated, leather clad of cloven hoof, these cats will blow the roof then ask to be bought drinks. What have you got to do?\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan face=\"arial\" style=\"font-family: arial;\"\u003eNot a Surf Band, not here anyway; take one part indomitable spirit, one of rebellion, and another of attitudinal flux. Mix with an endearing obnoxiousness and appetite for obstruction and you have four from the dark side. Itching to set the night on fire but reduced to playing with matches and a can of lighter fluid, they summon the power of a rock'n'roll band. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan face=\"arial\" style=\"font-family: arial;\"\u003eAncient rites of forgotten primitivism get mixed up with 21st century blues. Ride the Arcane. Mixed up with mixed up kids, nurture strength of spirit cruel and kind, nothing stops your surrender into time........to be cont'd.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0450\/3165\/3527\/files\/King_Loser_Flying_Nun-3_1024x1024.jpg?v=1598866995\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","published_at":"2020-08-09T19:27:40+12:00","sort_order":"best-selling","template_suffix":"","disjunctive":false,"rules":[{"column":"tag","relation":"equals","condition":"King Loser"}],"published_scope":"global","image":{"created_at":"2020-08-25T21:09:34+12:00","alt":null,"width":1000,"height":1000,"src":"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0450\/3165\/3527\/collections\/King_Loser_Square.jpg?v=1598346575"}},{"id":211732234391,"handle":"labradford","title":"Labradford","updated_at":"2021-11-15T09:12:04+13:00","body_html":"\u003cp\u003eConsisting of bassist Robert Donne, guitarist\/vocalist Mark Nelson, and Carter Brown on keyboards, \u003cstrong\u003eLabradford\u003c\/strong\u003e are an experimental ambient\/post-rock group from Richmond, Virginia. Incorporating electronics as well as non-traditional arrangement and production techniques, the group's soundtrack-y, effects-heavy sonic landscapes operate in a vein closely allied with groups such as Experimental Audio Research, Flying Saucer Attack, and Gastr del Sol, and have earned the group high praise among a diverse variety of different audiences. The trio have released material through American indies \u003cstrong\u003eMerge\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eKranky\u003c\/strong\u003e, as well as \u003cstrong\u003eFlying Nun\u003c\/strong\u003e and \u003cstrong\u003eStereolab's Duophonic\u003c\/strong\u003e imprint.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThough occasionally incorporating vocal and rhythmic elements, the group rely most often on the drone aesthetic, mixing looping guitar effects and long keyboard passages with snippets of barely-audible voice and assorted found objects on records like 1994's \u003cstrong\u003ePrazision\u003c\/strong\u003e.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003ciframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/WfFdk7vngvQ\" height=\"720\" width=\"1120\" allowfullscreen=\"\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" frameborder=\"0\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","published_at":"2020-08-09T19:28:18+12:00","sort_order":"best-selling","template_suffix":"","disjunctive":false,"rules":[{"column":"tag","relation":"equals","condition":"Labradford"}],"published_scope":"global","image":{"created_at":"2020-09-21T20:26:02+12:00","alt":null,"width":1000,"height":1000,"src":"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0450\/3165\/3527\/collections\/Labradford.jpg?v=1600676763"}},{"id":211732463767,"handle":"loves-ugly-children","title":"Loves Ugly Children","updated_at":"2021-12-31T14:10:29+13:00","body_html":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0450\/3165\/3527\/files\/Loves_Ugly_Children_Flying_Nun_1024x1024.jpg?v=1599474289\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eFrom the raw power end of the New Zealand music spectrum, Loves Ugly Children come crashing the party with a new album in hand. And while they've been steadily building a reputation as a band with a unique brand of rock'n'punk sensibilities on previous album Cakehole and the outstanding Suck EP, Showered In Gold delivers Loves Ugly Children to the kids in full glorious, action-packed effect. \u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe trio of Simon Ugly (guitar), Floss (bass) and Jason Young (drums) unleash their best set of songs here and, with the aid of producer Matthew Heine, they display the ability to shape Showered In Gold into something special.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eThe record buzzes with the passion and feeling that has made them a thundering (and very loud!) fixture on the NZ live circuit and taken Loves Ugly Children overseas to impress Australians and citizens of the UK.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eAnd what's more, Simon Ugly writes with those timeless rock'n'roll themes of Bad Girls (\"Voodoo\" and \"Motorbike\" Girls respectively) Bad Behaviour (\"Six Pack\", \"Junk Food\") and Bad Attitude (\"Don't Need A Reason\" alright).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLoves Ugly Children kick down the garage door with opener \"Coming For You\", a hot-wired trash epic that sets the tone with destination to your heart scrawled on its belly. From there, the first half of the album is unrelenting good fun as the band delights in playing up to that trashy rock'n'roll vibe in \"Six Pack\", \"Pump It Baby\", those two great Bad Girl tunes and \"Junk Food\". It's a glorious mix of the heads- down thrash of Cakehole with the post-grunge swagger first recorded on the \"Suck\" EP. All in all, this half of Showered In Gold is the most explosively listenable 20 minutes of adrenalin-charged rock to appear so far this year.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\"Suck\" itself is an energetic high-point of the second half of Showered In Gold, but the songs surrounding it alter the mood somewhat. \"You Don't Hate Me\" is as musically fragile as this lot get, but that's over-turned immediately by the unsettling heavy metal riffery of \"Seven\" and the brilliant \"Don't Need A Reason\", a lost oasis of slide guitar action courtesy of producer Matthew Heine. \"It's In My Blood\" closes the album, lurching from Able Tasman Graeme Humphreys' drunken organ into one of those Biblical epics that Simon Ugly just can't keep himself from writing (this is the man who penned \"Jesus Christ Satan\" for a previous b-side!).\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eOne of the greatest traditions in the fine art of rock'n'roll exists through those bands labelled as \"punk\" ever since the Stooges and Velvet Underground laid waste to the groovy-isms of sixties rock. But those bands and the ones that followed -- from the Ramones to today's Loves Ugly Children -- looked to create the most exciting music possible out of the so-called 'primitive' tools of the rock'n'roll trade, mostly by fuelling it with speed and desperately screaming something of your own.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eIn making this album, all shiny and showered in gold, Loves Ugly Children have pointedly screamed something of their own alright and like all good innovative traditionalists (!) they've kept true to the style. Love it to bits.\u003c\/p\u003e","published_at":"2020-08-09T19:29:53+12:00","sort_order":"best-selling","template_suffix":"","disjunctive":false,"rules":[{"column":"tag","relation":"equals","condition":"Loves Ugly Children"}],"published_scope":"global","image":{"created_at":"2020-09-07T22:25:27+12:00","alt":null,"width":1000,"height":1000,"src":"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0450\/3165\/3527\/collections\/Loves_Ugly_Children_Flying_Nun_SQUARE.jpg?v=1599474328"}},{"id":211738329239,"handle":"pell-mell","title":"Pell Mell","updated_at":"2021-11-15T09:12:05+13:00","body_html":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0450\/3165\/3527\/files\/Pell_Mell_Flying_Nun_2_1024x1024.jpg?v=1600677052\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eDrifting into the world of Flying Nun from the same galaxy as Labradford and \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eCul de Sac,\u003c\/strong\u003e\u003cspan\u003e Pell Mell arrive with \u003c\/span\u003e\u003cb\u003eInterstate\u003c\/b\u003e\u003cspan\u003e - the fifth album in a fifteen year history of this highly individual collective and their first for the Geffen label (who licensed the record to Flying Nun) after leaving California indie, SST.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePell Mell are 'individual' because they have patiently developed their own vision of instrumental rock. The four members of Pell Mell each live in different coastal U.S. cities. Consequently much of their initial composition and communication is made by post, e-mail or phone. The members then converge in one city, to record as a band. Pell Mell's recordings make full use of the extensive studio expertise of two of its members, Seattle-based producer Steve Fisk (Nirvana, Boss Hog, Beat Happening, Wedding Present etc...) and San Francisco-based producer Greg Freeman (Barbara Manning, SF Seals, Thinking Fellers Union Local 282, Royal Trux etc...)\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003ePell Mell have a post-rock, guitar-centric, instrumental sound design quality that's easy to immerse yourself in but difficult to categorise.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eGuitars, organ and piano trade lyrical hooks within a hypnotic flow of rhythms. Drawing on influences as wide-ranging as Krautrock and Memphis Soul - sometimes within the same song - Pell Mell creates its own seductive language of sound.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTraditional rock dynamics combined with elegant drifiting soundscapes create a sense of continental expanse you'd expect from an album called \u003cb\u003eInterstate.\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003e\u003ciframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/059K-zS-azs\" height=\"720\" width=\"1120\" allowfullscreen=\"\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" frameborder=\"0\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","published_at":"2020-08-09T20:34:15+12:00","sort_order":"best-selling","template_suffix":"","disjunctive":false,"rules":[{"column":"tag","relation":"equals","condition":"Pell Mell"}],"published_scope":"global","image":{"created_at":"2020-09-21T20:31:06+12:00","alt":null,"width":1000,"height":1000,"src":"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0450\/3165\/3527\/collections\/Pell_Mell_Flying_Nun.jpg?v=1600677067"}},{"id":211745046679,"handle":"snapper","title":"Snapper","updated_at":"2021-12-31T14:10:29+13:00","body_html":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cimg src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0450\/3165\/3527\/files\/Snapper_Flying_Nun_1024x1024.jpg?v=1598869186\" alt=\"\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eSnapper's music has been criminally under-represented on record -- since their first self-titled EP release in 1989, they have released the album Shotgun Blossom (1992) and a seven inch single Gentle Hour (1993). The hypnotic attack of every Snapper release has been greeted with acclaim, receiving rave reviews in the UK, US and NZ press and gaining a loyal following (including the likes of Stereolab and the Jesus and Mary Chain) who have been asking Flying Nun where the next Snapper record is for the past two years.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","published_at":"2020-08-09T21:18:27+12:00","sort_order":"best-selling","template_suffix":"","disjunctive":false,"rules":[{"column":"tag","relation":"equals","condition":"Snapper"}],"published_scope":"global","image":{"created_at":"2020-08-31T22:19:56+12:00","alt":null,"width":1000,"height":1000,"src":"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0450\/3165\/3527\/collections\/Snapper_Flying_Nun_SQUARE.jpg?v=1598869196"}},{"id":211745112215,"handle":"solid-gold-hell","title":"Solid Gold Hell","updated_at":"2021-11-15T09:12:06+13:00","body_html":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0450\/3165\/3527\/files\/Solid_Gold_Hell_-_credit_1024x1024.jpg?v=1600330605\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e \"... \u003cem\u003ean atom bomb drop of a surprise. The seriously twisted neo-blues of Solid Gold Hell keeps fabulously bad company with Nick Cave, Killdozer, the Beasts of Bourbon and the Jesus Lizard, but they carve up their bastard-heavy songs into great meaty chunks and then make them swing like a dinosaur's dick. Singer Glen Campbell (no, honestly!) is a pin-up of impossibly mean, disaffected cool, cocking his cigarette thus, growling from his very bowels and making his trombone squeal like a stuck pig. Solid Gold Hell, like, rock\u003c\/em\u003e.\"\u003cbr\u003e\u003cstrong\u003eMelody Maker, May 1996 \u003c\/strong\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eWell it ain't pop music, never was meant to be. Solid Gold Hell are pure southern gothic, and their new mini-album The Blood \u0026amp; The Pity is a baroque trip to one scary musical nether region that befits the band's name. Like their live shows, it's a combination of travelling medicine and old-time bare-knuckle boxing show: a sound that threatens to take on all-comers and sell you something for your soul.... In the four years since this band crawled out of an unholy alliance between Flying Nun's SPUD and JPS Experience, Solid Gold Hell have taken on a string of challengers to the mantle of most out-there and fully rocking live group Auckland has to offer. They've also left former Sunday Star record reviewer Colin Hogg disgusted with their album Swingin' Hot Murder and taken the show on a couple of trips round the provinces and once over the Tasman to do battle with like-minded noise merchants like Kim Salmon \u0026amp; the Surrealists. \u2028\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eFor those of us who have been watching (and our numbers are growing) Solid Gold Hell's music offers up one powerful revelation after another these days. Their live shows are a mixture of skewed musical precision and pure pathos - for every moment of sheer rocking exhilaration as rhythm section Gary Sullivan and Colleen Brennan duel with guitar maestro Matthew Heine, there's the sight and sound of singer Glen Lorne Campbell growling out a lungful of death-rattle over the mic. And the show finale, with Glen on trombone and Gary drumming with one hand and holding his trumpet in the other, while Colleen and Matthew play heads-down string-torture, is the kind of showbiz that sells snake oil to indians.\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u2028The Blood and the Pity hits the same way. Musically, Solid Gold Hell have never given us anything as good as \"The Country Sow\", a song that swings out like the arm of a punchdrunk Joe Louis. There's never been anything as hard-out as \"Heavenly Badness\" or riffery as dynamic as the mini-album's title track or \"My Father Before Me\" from this lot before either. \u2028\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eLyrically, The Blood and the Pity stares up wild-eyed from the gutter, a string of characters hurling abuse at passersby and themselves. Take the protagonist in \"Motel Hell\" - \"Did I kick yer dog and did I hate yer dress\/I've got nobody to talk to and nobody to torment\/So I just sway on my rocking chair\". Moaned, screamed, and sometimes sung, these words evoke the kind of desperation that completes the dark world of Solid Gold hHell's music. \u2028This is music to put a little fear in your soul. And as the lady said, it also rocks. Beware.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","published_at":"2020-08-09T21:19:21+12:00","sort_order":"best-selling","template_suffix":"","disjunctive":false,"rules":[{"column":"tag","relation":"equals","condition":"Solid Gold Hell"}],"published_scope":"global","image":{"created_at":"2020-09-17T20:16:57+12:00","alt":null,"width":1000,"height":1000,"src":"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0450\/3165\/3527\/collections\/IMG_20200828_0003_SQUARE.jpg?v=1600330618"}},{"id":211745734807,"handle":"superette","title":"Superette","updated_at":"2022-01-21T16:55:04+13:00","body_html":"\u003cp\u003eSuperette must love animals. Last year, the group named their debut EP Rosepig after the dog that featured on the cover. The cover of their recent single, Touch Me, was adorned by a mouse and a birthday cake. No prizes then for guessing what to look for when you head to the record store to buy their fantastic new album, Tiger.\u003cbr\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003eTiger was created by the same line-up that brought us Rosepig but lead singer\/guitarist Dave Mulcahy, bassist Ben Howe, and drummer Greta Anderson have stretched Superette into a more powerful musical unit than Rosepig would ever have suggested possible. That means the clean instrumental drive of the three-piece band is augmented by vastly more assured arrangement and studio production from the band and engineer Nick Roughan over a set of twelve songs that confirm their quality songwriting talent.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eKiller Clown is the only EP track present on Tiger. Touch Me, also here, gives more indication of what to expect from Tiger -- confident, strident performance and extra throttle added to the group's vocals by Greta and Ben joining Dave at the mic throughout the album.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eComparisons to JPS Experience, Dave's previous band, are inevitable but Superette's smart, distinctive music sounds increasingly like its own thing: a blend of chunky riffs and sweet melodies that makes real comparison hard. But if you blend the attitudes of a certain Sonic Youthness in the second half of Tiger and a hint of T Rex, especially by the slower songs, with your classic Flying Nun songwriting ingredients then you may have it. Add the cryptic lyrical sense that has always characterised Mulcahy's writing and there's definitely something special here.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eWhat's certain is that there is variety aplenty. The ragged rocking of Ugly Things and I Got It Clean are followed by Saskatchewan and Taiwan, each with a bizarre geographical hook. The bright hooks of Touch Me and Kiss Someone contrast with upright heavy riff-monsters like Funny Weather and Felo de se. The mood then extends to gentler moments Bye Bye and Dave's beautiful solo album closer, Waves.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eSuperette's videos for Killer Clown and Touch Me have already received plenty of attention. Killer Clown, a surreal adults-as-children party sequence starred the dog Rosepig. Touch Me features pretty much the same cast involved in some badass peepshow action. Another epic Superette clip is due shortly for album track Kiss Someone, and they're promising this one is a safari video with the usual cast.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThose twisted visuals match Superette's song sensibility all too well. There are definitely some strange depths in their music. That just makes it all the more interesting and certainly adds to the fun. Tiger: all sorts of strange fun and definitely worth a ride.\u003c\/p\u003e","published_at":"2020-08-09T21:25:38+12:00","sort_order":"best-selling","template_suffix":"","disjunctive":false,"rules":[{"column":"tag","relation":"equals","condition":"Superette"}],"published_scope":"global","image":{"created_at":"2020-08-26T21:36:47+12:00","alt":null,"width":1000,"height":1000,"src":"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0450\/3165\/3527\/collections\/IMG_0111.jpg?v=1598434608"}},{"id":211727843479,"handle":"the-chills","title":"The Chills","updated_at":"2022-01-26T16:07:48+13:00","body_html":"\u003cp\u003e\u003cimg alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0450\/3165\/3527\/files\/The_Chills_Flying_Nun-3_1024x1024.jpg?v=1598867199\"\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eWhere \u003cstrong\u003eThe Chills\u003c\/strong\u003e are concerned, there’s no simple summary of who, what and why. Perhaps only ‘when’, and even then the last 30 years seem to blur. This is testament to the physical persistence of Chills founder and centrifugal force \u003cstrong\u003eMartin Phillipps\u003c\/strong\u003e, but also his kaleidoscopic, obsessive and idiosyncratic nature. For no other \u003cstrong\u003eFlying Nun\u003c\/strong\u003e associate had such gumption to reach out overseas, nor was beset by both simple and turbulent twists of fate. Which meant no one could keep up with Phillipps’ wayward path - hence The Chills’ now infamously documented personnel changes (there are over 20 line-ups to peruse if you choose).\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003ciframe src=\"https:\/\/www.youtube.com\/embed\/pjW3MT8D9RY\" height=\"630\" width=\"1120\" allowfullscreen=\"\" allow=\"accelerometer; autoplay; clipboard-write; encrypted-media; gyroscope; picture-in-picture\" frameborder=\"0\"\u003e\u003c\/iframe\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003eAt least the music remains, and here there is much more certainty. The Chills were exemplars of the so-called Dunedin Sound – an often moist and melancholy, simultaneously dark and breezy amalgam of Western garage-pop roots but invested with an otherworldly aura, as if those overseas influences had indeed seeped in upside down. But only Phillipps was this quixotic, bridging folk and bubblegum, Bowie and Syd Barrett, with feverish shivers and childlike whimsy. (No one else would have dared wear pixie boots with no irony, only joy.). If music has a psycho-geographical bent, then it’s the air, waves and light of the Otago peninsular, and the spaciousness and remoteness of NZ itself, that glows and thrums through his songs.\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\n\u003cp\u003e\u003cspan\u003e\u003cimg alt=\"\" src=\"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0450\/3165\/3527\/files\/The_Chills_Flying_Nun-1_1024x1024.jpg?v=1598867261\"\u003e\u003c\/span\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e","published_at":"2020-08-09T18:55:26+12:00","sort_order":"created-desc","template_suffix":"","disjunctive":false,"rules":[{"column":"tag","relation":"equals","condition":"The Chills"}],"published_scope":"global","image":{"created_at":"2020-08-24T18:47:43+12:00","alt":null,"width":874,"height":877,"src":"https:\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0450\/3165\/3527\/collections\/The_Chills_Flying_Nun.jpg?v=1598251664"}},{"id":211746554007,"handle":"various","title":"Various","updated_at":"2022-01-22T15:51:48+13:00","body_html":"","published_at":"2020-08-09T21:30:58+12:00","sort_order":"best-selling","template_suffix":"","disjunctive":false,"rules":[{"column":"tag","relation":"equals","condition":"Various"}],"published_scope":"global"},{"id":262153961623,"handle":"various-1","title":"Various","updated_at":"2022-01-22T15:51:48+13:00","body_html":"","published_at":"2021-03-18T22:15:56+13:00","sort_order":"best-selling","template_suffix":"","disjunctive":false,"rules":[{"column":"tag","relation":"equals","condition":"Various"}],"published_scope":"global"}]
