[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
#259 - The Verlaines - Jesus What A Jerk
Probably my second favourite Verlaines track, after everyone’s favourite Verlaines track.
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
#264 - Tall Dwarfs - Gone to the Worms
NZ4LYF78
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
#300 - Straitjacket Fits - Cast Stone
tossed a coin between this and this.
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
#328 - Dimmer - Crystalator
new zealand 4 life comment #247
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
#336 - 3Ds - Fish Tails
One of the most prominent New Zealand bands to be featured on the 90s list, and the prominence is rightly so. This is the sorta-title-track from their debut release, Fish Tales on Flying Nun. Laid the foundation for the slacker material that would follow in the next few years. Great band.
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
#354 - Plagal Grind - Vincent
I think one of the best things about indie rock of the past few years has been the feeling of due respect to New Zealand music - Broken Social Scene, Times New Viking, and MGMT all covering The Clean and homage being given to bands like The Verlaines, The Chills and other incredible artists on the Flying Nun roster.
But only for a certain type of music fan does Xpressway share a legendary status. I think it’s definitely left in Flying Nun’s shadow when you read anything about the incredible music coming out of New Zealand in the past - if anything it was the true successor to the label, picking up the baton in ‘88 when Flying Nun started to diminish. There was admittedly a lot of overlap between the labels but for me Xpressway has always been defined by scuzzier lower fidelity recordings.
One of my favourite Xpressway recordings is from a legit supergroup, though as above, probably only a supergroup to a certain time of music fan. But to have Alastair Galbraith (of tons of stuff), david mitchell (most notably of 3Ds), Robbie Muir (The Rip) and Peter Jefferies (This Kind Of Punishment & the already posted about Cakekitchen) making music together should excite any music fan.
While the EP perhaps doesn’t harness the talent to its full potential, it’s still a total gem and an excellent document of NZ rock post-Flying Nun’s peak.
Given their only EP was given a very limited run of just 500 12”s i’m gonna make an exception and post it here to download.
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
#178 - The Dead C - Killer
Ridiculous quite how much incredible music has come from Dunedin and New Zealand as a whole. The Dead C are up there with The Clean etc in terms of influence etc, though they’re pretty far removed from the “Dunedin Sound” and indie-pop you might associate with Flying Nun bands of the era. Harsh, incredible noise music.
Must admit that I don’t know as much of their material post-Siltbreeze/post-Flying Nun and for “importance” to this blog, post-2000. But I have listened to 2001’s New Electric Music a fair bit and it’s pretty much the quality you’d expect. This track is my choice due to it being an mellow antithesis to what you would expect from The Dead C, but still working really well and demonstrating their versatility.
One of the major reasons I’m dying to go to the Godspeed-curated ATP this december. As if Scout Niblett, Tim Hecker, Mike Watt, Black Dice, Cluster and Growing weren’t already enough reasons to go.
[Flash 9 is required to listen to audio.]
#240 - The Clean - Complications
Imma be well topical today and say dont vote tory, because you should definitely listen to the opinions of some guy who writes a terrible blog.
Then imma urge you to do something just as important: listen to The Clean. Honestly, if you’re a fan of pretty much indie or guitar music, I can guarantee you will like them - my favourite band that has ever existed. Totally essential. Here are some artists that have covered The Clean to make you interested, in bold to grab your attention: Guided By Voices, Pavement, Times New Viking, American Analog Set, Chris Knox, Calexico, MGMT, Alastair Galbraith. And Broken Social Scene, who covered this track above as part of a largely excellent tribute to Merge Records. You can download it here.
The cover adds a pretty nice sheen to the lo-fi clutter of the original, while also accentuating the awesome Born To Run-esque hook. SPEAKING OF WHICH, the cover also starts with the words “this song was written before born to run” which makes me very confused because, as far as I’m aware this song first appeared on 2001’s Getaway LP (i’m 99% certain), making it eligible for this list. Someone correct me if i’m wrong though!
Anyway, you may be asking if this band is so incredible and important then why am I featuring them relatively low on the list? This would be because I don’t think their post-2000 output has been totally incredible but still very solid (last year’s Mister Pop outshines pretty much any new guitar band today). If I could recommend anything it would be the Anthology compilation released in 2002, compiling all the songs from their early EPs into the greatest collection of indie-pop songs you will hear in your entire life. Incredible Hit after Incredible Hit after Incredible Hit after Incredible Hit. If this is all new to you, you have an incredible world of kiwi indie-pop to discover on the best label that’s ever existed, Flying Nun Records - this compilation comes thoroughly recommended as a starting point.
Seeing them for the first time next weekend at Pavement ATP. It might be the most I’ve ever looked forward to seeing a band play in my life.
