Reviews

Rock My Toga

UC students descended on Ilam Fields on the only night of the year it is socially acceptable to wear a tea towel as clothing for a rollicking good time. Typically glazed eyes and the uncertain swaying of boozy nights past were replaced by rosy cheeks and a chillaxed ambience. For the most part peeps were enjoying the music and some good ol' fashioned perving. Don't deny it. You did, I did. We all spent some indecent minutes staring at chiselled guns or a little bit of leg.

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Jonathan Wilson / Gentle Spirit

★★★★★

Laurel Canyon is really all you need to know – where you come down on the sounds of that early '70s scene and it's post-‘60s come-down (burn-out?) vibe is going to dictate your attitude to this album. For me, it's a stunner, having mellowed somewhat as I near 40.

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The Jayhawks / Mockingbird Time

★★★★★

“I want to make something for you that brings you joy” - Mockingbird Time

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The Unfaithful Ways / The Christchurch Arts Festival Thursday Sessions

Fresh from their collaborative efforts with Lyttleton’s Harbour Union, Christchurch country quartet The Unfaithful Ways performed two polished 45 minute sets in the cosy Telstra Clear Club as part of the Christchurch Arts Festival Thursday Sessions.

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GC Cocktail Party

Recently my journalism professor shared a cautionary tale. Many years ago, he told us, a journalist was sent to review a play at a local theatre. Bored to tears, the hapless reviewer left long before the curtain fell.

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MGMT at the UCSA Big Top

First off, let me make it clear it’s great that the guys from MGMT came down for free to play a free gig. After a disaster, most big acts cancel their shows; adding one is probably a fairly rare occurrence. That said, this gig was fucking terrible. Part of it may be a...

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Braids / Native Speaker

★★★★★

Since Animal Collective turned heads and stirred interest in pseudo-shoegaze/electro/psychedelia with Merriweather Post Pavillion a while back, the genre’s become one of the easiest and most popular bandwagons to jump on. Canadian band Braids certainly tick all the right boxes to fit into that niche.

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Cut Copy / Zonoscope

★★★★★

Listening to the first few songs on Cut Copy’s new album Zonoscope you’d be forgiven for assuming you had accidently downloaded an eighties movie soundtrack from some forgotten forerunner to the Breakfast Club. But wait, Zonoscope was released a few weeks ago. Impossible.

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Iron & Wine / Kiss Each Other Clean

★★★★★

Sam Beam’s latest offering Kiss Each Other Clean continues the trend the folk artist started with Calexico on In the Reins, and his previous album The Shepherd’s Dog, by enlisting the support of a full backing band. However, this time around the arrangements are, as Sam Beam puts it, more akin to “early to mid 70’s FM radio friendly music” rather than the ailing country/folk rock of his preceding recordings.

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