Reviews
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Page 1 of 33 (482 items ordered by date)
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Gods and Heroes - 20 February, BATS
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The Greek gods have fled Olympus, deciding to take refuge in... Mount Victoria of all places. That’s the premise for this latest work of un-orchestrated madness provided by the Wellington Improv Troupe. And as is typical of Improv at this level, there are moments of spontaneous mini-genius and clever humour, along with large patches of “Jesus, it’s making me uncomfortable just watching this.” To give our not-so-humble divinities something to work with, suggestions are taken from the crowd on 3 topics
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Posted
Thursday, February 25, 2010 9:00 AM
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Tagged as: review, Bats, comedy, fringe
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Little Bushman live with the NZSO - 23 February, Album Review
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I remember the first time I saw Warren Maxwell live. He was playing an in-store gig at Real Groovy, with then unknown band, Trinity Roots. Warren spent the gig shifting between heart-felt soul-man and grinning, affable jester. At one point a young boy walked up to the goateed singer with a quizzical look on his face - to which Maxwell swiftly responded “Got twenty bucks bro?” It was a small thing, but one which signalled Warren’s complete and utter, relaxed nature as a stage man. And it’s no surprise
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Posted
Thursday, February 25, 2010 8:00 AM
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Tagged as: review, live, band, gig, live music, cd, kiwi, album
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Connan Mockasin: Please turn me into the Snat - 23 February, Album Review
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It’s been an 18 month journey for the man known as Connan. Please turn me into the Snat shifted its creation between East Sussex, London, and a haunted house somewhere right here in Wellington. The hype machine slowly but surely cranked into life, and has been working at full steam leading into its release on the 22nd of Feb. So what to make of this, most eagerly awaited NZ indie album, and debut from a musician, who is as enigmatic as he is so obviously talented? Is it as dreamy and surreal as you
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Posted
Wednesday, February 24, 2010 10:41 AM
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Tagged as: review, music, album release, wellington music, NZ music, kiwi, album
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Anne Frank: A History for Today – 20 February, Te Papa
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The tale of Anne Frank has always fascinated me, ever since I read her diary as an impressionable twelve year-old girl. I think it was her courage as she depicted to minute detail her family’s struggle during World War II. After seeing the exhibition at Te Papa today I can confirm that the fascination still exists... but perhaps has evolved to adoration... In short, Anne Frank was a Jewish girl who was a victim of the holocaust. Trapped by the German occupation of the Netherlands, the Frank family
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Posted
Saturday, February 20, 2010 7:38 PM
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Tagged as: review
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Electric Wire Hustle – 13 February, San Francisco Bathhouse
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Local Wellington trio, Electric Wire Hustle, have had a busy and very successful year with the release of their self-titled debut album, a European tour and a jam-packed summer festival schedule, all in the name of their incredibly popular contemporary hip hop, soul, funk and jazz infusion. It was with great regret that I, and a massive Wellington-contingent, headed along to the San Francisco Bathhouse to witness Electric Wire Hustle’s beautiful and sensual sonic soundscapes one last time, as drummer,
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Posted
Saturday, February 20, 2010 6:43 PM
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Tagged as: review
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Eyes Wide Open: Love and Guts – 11 February, Manky Chops Gallery
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Last week Manky Chops Gallery hosted its second Love and Guts art exhibition, strictly three days only, which was heralded to be one of the most memorable shows to date. For anyone not in the know, Love and Guts is an annual international collaborative art exhibition that showcases the works of renowned New Zealand, Australian and American skateboarders, such as Sasha Steinhorst, Chris Senn and Pat Ngoho, in an effort to prove that there is more to skateboarders than caballerials, grinds and kickbacks.
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Posted
Saturday, February 20, 2010 4:54 PM
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Tagged as: review
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High Tea at Martha's Pantry - 29 January
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Now let me be very clear. I am a 6-foot-3 guy, not a small fella by anybodies well stretched imagination. So seeing me hunched over a delicate, porcelain tea-cup, sitting in a chair made for someone more... dainty... would probably seem rather comical to the casual passer-by. Yes, go ahead and laugh, as I fumble my way around a tiny fork and spoon, trying to cajole the last few dregs of tea out of my doily covered teapot. No really, go ahead. Because to tell you the truth, I’m having a rather good
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Posted
Thursday, February 11, 2010 9:36 AM
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Tagged as: review, eat, lunch, drink, food, baking
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Vernon God Little – 4 February, Downstage Theatre
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This month Downstage Theatre plays host to twenty-one young actors and one epic adaptation of DBC Pierre’s Booker Prize winning novel, Vernon God Little. Anyone familiar with the highly regarded debut novel of Pierre, will know that Vernon God Little tells the story of an innocent fifteen-year-old Texan boy who is suspected of aiding and abetting in his best friend’s killing-spree of sixteen schoolmates. Unfortunately for Vernon, his best friend commits suicide leaving him to shoulder the small-town
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Posted
Thursday, February 11, 2010 8:15 AM
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Tagged as: review
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Them Crooked Vultures - 29 January, TSB Arena
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The allure of sex, sweat, thunderous drumming and chugging riffs lies at the heart of Them Crooked Vulture’s sound. It’s an animal-type rock-and-roll fix: shots of bluesy rock that have been topped-up with funk, sculled back and slammed down, ready and waiting for the next hit to arrive. For reason’s such as these, TCV are closer in style to Queens of the Stone Age than Led Zeppelin, Nirvana or even the Foo Fighters. It’s ballsy rather than epic (With the odd exception), emotive or cutesy - as the
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Posted
Wednesday, February 03, 2010 12:16 PM
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Tagged as: review, music, drum, dance, bass, events, Rock, gig, live music
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Locale - 26 January, Toi Poneke Gallery
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Another name for Locale could have been “3 Photographers chasing the New Zealand-ness that resides in the often seen but rarely regarded.” But I’m pretty sure Locale sums that up far better than my tricksy title ever could. The subject-matter (If not the location) tends to be well-trampled territory, including shadowy trees in Ngaio’s trelissick park; a bunch of freight containers stacked somewhat haphazardly in Foxton; the sun, bathing a lagoon in palmie with it’s honey-like visual textures, and
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Posted
Wednesday, January 27, 2010 11:03 AM
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Tagged as: review, art, free, arts, exhibitions, creative
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Camera Obscura and The Books – 19 January, San Francisco Bathhouse
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An exciting double-act hit the Capital last week that was definitely not to be missed. On the dance-card was the unlikely pairing of New York based experimental duo The Books and indie-pop Scottish sensations Camera Obscura. Two bands that have an impressive reputation and a healthy discography to match. It was close to eleven when I ascended the dull San Francisco Bathhouse stairs and was greeted by the industrial tones of The Books playing the eerie An Owl with Knees. On closer inspection, once
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Posted
Wednesday, January 27, 2010 10:32 AM
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Tagged as: review
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Andy C and MC GQ - 14 January, Sandwiches
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Not knowing much about Drum and Bass or the highly acclaimed Andy C, real name Andrew Clarke, I headed along to Sandwiches more concerned with what hour I would hit the hay on a school night rather than how the actual performance would pan out… how wrong I was to think that this night would put me to sleep... Having started out in the early nineties at the tender age of 14, Andy C has fast become a prominent character in the Drum and Bass scene – having established the record label ‘RAM records’
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Posted
Wednesday, January 27, 2010 10:20 AM
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Tagged as: review
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Signer: Next We Bring You the Fire - 22 January, Album Review
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Ex-Wellingtonian Bevan Smith pokes his head up somewhat, with a tasty little morsel of an album. This ambient-slanted beat-maker has tended to fly somewhat under-the-radar during his lengthy tenure behind the mixing board, but next we bring you the fire Is a good reminder of Signer’s talent outside of his other band, Over the Atlantic . And this new release definitely deserves some due attention, in a hybridised genre (Psychedelia/folk/indie/ambient/put your own label here) that keeps on throwing
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Posted
Wednesday, January 27, 2010 9:26 AM
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Tagged as: review, music, Electro, beats, wellington music, NZ music, kiwi, album
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Why? – 18 December, San Francisco Bathhouse
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I struggled convincing anyone to come along with me to catch the Californian indie hip-hop three-piece, Why?, with most noting that they had better things to do than listen to a skinny-white-rapper with a moustache... and turning up to a desolate Bathhouse, this sentiment was clearly echoed amongst many… a shame as Yoni Wolf’s performance, which included a healthy dose of black humour, was in fine form. The night began amiably with the talents of Wellington-based Grayson Gilmour, accompanied by a
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Posted
Monday, January 11, 2010 10:47 PM
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Tagged as: review
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Kora: with Strike - 18 December, Wellington Town Hall
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Epic is a word I try not to use lightly. But now I’ve used it twice regarding Strike , in the space of just a few weeks. Although, when you put them with one of the two best, live, NZ music acts going around today (Along with Shapeshifter), it’s the only label that doesn’t peel off from the sheer intensity of such a collaborative effort. A lot of people went into Friday night’s concert thinking that this was Kora’s gig and Strike would just add a few bashes of percussion. They were wrong. Very, very
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Posted
Saturday, December 26, 2009 2:21 PM
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Tagged as: review, live, band, drum, event, beats, bass, gig, live music, NZ music, kiwi, town hall
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