Hard News by Russell Brown

I'd never heard much of Hot Chocolate outside of a couple of their hits (you sexy thing and everyone's a winner)

But "Emma" is fantastic. Spooky, haunting, beautiful and dark.

I just hope it came out of someone's imagination, and not personal experience. I suspect not tho :(

Thanks Russ.

I see The Wireless will be soliciting Top Fives (sort of like a playlist) from NZ artists all month, and asking them for their reasoning. Example: Chelsea Jade on her favourites.

But “Emma” is fantastic. Spooky, haunting, beautiful and dark.

It was everywhere at the time it was a hit. And yes, it's seriously dark.

I had a play with AllTracks yesterday. I can't remember which song it was, but I got one of those annoying "not available in your territory" messages. Now I realise I can click away and view the video on YouTube, but surely with a curated playlist this sort of thing shouldn't happen?

I haven't worked out how often the playlists are updated. If I return every day am I going to receive exactly the same songs in the same order?

That aside, for those of us who don't listen to commercial radio, it's handy to have a playlist of kiwi music. It's something I'll dip into every now and then.

I had a play with AllTracks yesterday. I can’t remember which song it was, but I got one of those annoying “not available in your territory” messages. Now I realise I can click away and view the video on YouTube, but surely with a curated playlist this sort of thing shouldn’t happen?

What was the song? If it was something on Flying Nun or elsewhere in the former Festival Mushroom stable, it's highly likely that it's sodding Warner Music up to its tricks again. It doesn't even own the Flying Nun catalogue, but has a legacy distribution agreement that its robots think gives it takedown rights.

It will have been playable when the playlist was assembled.

I haven’t worked out how often the playlists are updated. If I return every day am I going to receive exactly the same songs in the same order?

Yeah, I think they need to handle currency better in general.

What was the song?

Aha... found it! Go to the Alt+Indie section -- track 3: Unknown Mortal Orchestra. It's Vevo doing the banning.

Another minor quibble with AllTracks is that the links to the playlists are blind, in that there is no indication wether you are headed to youtube, spotify or bandcamp.
Indeed, for first time users there is no indication you are being taken to a third-party site at all.

Good constructive blog critique of Alltracks.

waded through that Bill Brewster blue-eyed funk rock chart in Quietus the other day - good to see Sopwith Camel given some props - but no idea how I've managed to miss this Lennon track all these years.

zapped out a bagged a cheapie at Real Groovy.

Indie Kid Anthonie Tonnon just dropped his video for Water Underground. :-)

Thx Jackson, Have been waiting for that one! As I've mentioned on PA before, this track resonates strongly with me.

Good constructive blog critique of Alltracks

Yep, I agree with him on the Metal and Rock chart - mind you, it's about the standard I expected when I saw who curated it.....

It was everywhere at the time it was a hit. And yes, it's seriously dark.

I am embarrassed to admit that I only discovered Emma after it was covered by the Sisters of Mercy.

I was at the radio showcase where NZ On Air launched AllTracks the other night. To counter Karl's criticism about the lack of depth in the playlists, they said that it's not aimed at music "geeks" - it's to encourage people who are relatively unfamiliar with local music to discover new tunes. That's not a bad thing in my books.

And on the sad news of Errol Brown, I remember thinking this Hot Chocalte song was pretty cool - and dark:

there is no indication you are being taken to a third-party site at all

that's bullshit behaviour in general. shame

Indie Kid Anthonie Tonnon just dropped his video for Water Underground. :-)

Love the song. Wanted to love the video.
For me it evokes Canterbury plains farm-country – pivot irrigators, the patchwork of the plains interrupted by giant green circles when you fly over, nor’west sunsets, a single macracarpa standing in a field, fields of cows, trucks of cows, brand-new cow-sheds gleaming unpainted iron in the sun. Sheep, drought, rabbits, wheatfields, lazy blue-sky clouds, great braided rivers, the dust cloud flying up behind the wheels of a ute.
Definitely not Auckland seaside. Nevermind :)

Definitely not Auckland seaside. Nevermind :)

To be fair, I think it's a lake. :-)

Worth reading the write up on Cheese On Toast. Film-maker Delphine Avril Planqueel was given an 'open brief'. Tonnon himself was surprised, but happy, with the results.

On the strength of that, we gave Avril a totally open brief. “Don’t try to tell a story, don’t even make it narrative, and don’t put me in it” I said. She told me she wanted to make a film about the beauty of youth and that one of her fashion models was a really kick-ass rower. How she then ended up at this beautiful and quite involved production, involving a flying drone, underwater cameras and a car wrangler is beyond me.”

Gutted I missed Thomston. The guy's young enough for teachers at our West AK primary school to remember him, but his music is achingly beautiful, and seems to get under the surface of humdrum suburban banality in a way that's broth brainy and passionate.

This where I ended up on Saturday night. In the flat above Joy Bong on K Road, watching Bargain Bin Laden and Surf City. Met the parents of one of the BBL kids, who were enjoying their weekend up from Christchurch.

Surf City:

Well, I think those efforts to curate NZ music are frigging awesome, actually. Spotify thinks that because I live in Australia, I want to listen to "what's hot" there. Not so much, actually. I love Soundcloud, so links there are great.

As for the whinging about their being curated links, unless you want NZOA to directly fund artists' streaming revenue, and to create an NZ music ghetto, linking to the places artists use for their revenue stream its much better.

I'll be using all these, because of the above reasons - I can hardly curate my own Spotify list - time, and I don't just want the greatest hits of the 80s and 90s (the last time I spent more than 2 years of the trot in NZ). My music taste hasn't ossified that much yet.

To be fair, I think it’s a lake. :-)

I thought I saw boats at the end, but hey - a lake! :)
Interesting to read about it.
I liked the mysterious imagery in its own right. But for me, the song evokes a strong sense of place, and that wasn't the place. (There's also those events ... but leave that alone!)
Two cool things thrown together sometimes just mesh in new and wonderful ways. Here I felt they were driving in different directions.

for me, the song evokes a strong sense of place, and that wasn't the place

Absolutely. I was pleased that the video had arrived but it ain't Canterbury:(

I anticipated (apart from the landscapes) footage of the protester jumping on the roof of Key's car... but that would have been too obvious I guess. And getting into a narrative Tono wanted to avoid (in his brief to Avril).