Openside - EP Review: Push Back
21 Oct 2016 // review by camy3rs
Admittedly, home grown pop-rock has never been a particularly easy sell in New Zealand, but when Openside started turning heads with last year’s single Worth It the group began a rather rapid ascent, opening for various international acts including Twenty One Pilots and Melanie Martinez, selling out their own secret headline show and culminating in the recent release of their debut EP Push Back. The collection opens up with the hook-laden All I Really Want – catchy as all hell, the song initially comes off as the kind of upbeat, self-help anthem you might put on a mix-tape for your best friend who was recently dumped.
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Broods - Album Review: Conscious
12 Jul 2016 // review by camy3rs
With the follow up to their 2014 debut album Evergreen, Broods are back again with another collection of the moody, atmospheric, dance-pop that gained them their notoriety. Conscious is a straight up beast of an album.
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Avalanche City - Gig Review: Avalanche City @ The Powerstation 03/06/16
21 Jun 2016 // review by camy3rs
Dave Baxter and ilk have become a rather large part of the quilt of Kiwi music – encompassing all of the personality traits that Kiwis seem to love in their icons, modest about his skill, understated in the news, seemingly soft spoken and dedicated to his practice. Avalanche City itself is a bit of a pop wonder - the roots in folk and country that set the band a part from other pop acts should (at least, to Kiwi audiences) be the proverbial bullet in the heart, and yet at every point they defy the odds.
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Drax Project - Gig Review: Drax Project @ Neck Of The Woods, Auckland - 13/05/16
04 Jun 2016 // review by camy3rs
Roughly three years ago, I remember walking down Courtenay Place in Wellington and stumbling across a three-piece jazz ensemble playing top 40 pop and RnB covers outside of the Reading Cinema. I’ll tell you now, you have not heard Katy Perry until you’ve heard these guys play Hot ‘n Cold with a saxophone covering the entire lyrical line.
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Nation - EP Review: Nation
08 May 2016 // review by camy3rs
Invercargill gets a bad rap - it’s cold, it’s far away, the people have stronger accents – but SIT is a becoming a major drawcard for savvy musicians and audio engineers who don’t want to end up in major debt whilst studying. The school is turning out some seriously decent bands with a pretty distinct sound.
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Jason McIver Collective - Gig Review: The Jason McIver Collective and The James @ The Kings Arms, Auckland - 22/04/2016
03 May 2016 // review by camy3rs
The Jason McIver Collective are slowly becoming an Auckland mainstay, their latest release I May No Perf finding credence with a growing local fan base. The Collective’s live show adds another layer to the multi-faceted sound– the heady, driving bass and tight drums develop an almost ‘darker’ feel live, one that is less apparent on the album.
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Marlon Williams - Gig Review: Marlon Williams & The Yarra Benders @ The Powerstation, Auckland 09/03/2016
24 Mar 2016 // review by camy3rs
I’ll preface this review with the fact that I’ve been seriously out of the loop on Marlon Williams - all I seem to have read about lately is how the future of American Roots music is currently sitting on the shoulders of a Kiwi lad, but I never clicked to the fact that this mantle (whilst obviously exciting) is such a disservice to his talent. As Australian songstress Julia Jacklin opened William’s Sold Out Powerstation headliner, the tone for the night was well set.
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Seth Haapu - EP Review: Volume I
24 Feb 2016 // review by camy3rs
Off the bat, I’ve got to admit - Seth Haapu is one of my favourite Kiwi musicians, he’s the kind of young artist that makes me excited for the future of New Zealand music, and his ear for melody is amazing. Volume I his latest EP is a slick, wee taste whetter that kicks off with B.
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Lowagrove - EP Review: Aristocrat Barista Cat
20 Jan 2016 // review by camy3rs
Aristocrat Barista Cat, aside from being super hard to say really fast, is the first release from Kiwi artist, Lowagrove. Information on the artist is hard to come by but the EP speaks well in their stead.
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Bruno Merz - Album Review: Highways
06 Jan 2016 // review by camy3rs
Bruno Merz is a soothing, folk singer/songwriter from the Waikato, where his debut album Highways was recorded. Opening with the title-named Highways a brilliant ukulele-based piece that evokes comparisons to both Josh Pyke and Sufjan Stevens – most specifically in the layered vocal build ups and the chorus, the album overall, has very apparent folk-pop sensibilities -similar to Avalanche City, as well as moments of warm, almost complacent vocalisation – in the vein of Justin Vernon.
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Kong Fooey - Album Review: Final Destination
21 Dec 2015 // review by camy3rs
Kong Fooey’s Final Destination is a solid collection of uptempo summer jams, perfect for the oncoming sunshine season. Opening with Kong Fooey 1, a wee instrumental of slick, kung-fu-fight scene reminiscent drums and synths, the album smoothly transitions to the first song Right As Rain; a catchy, infectious funk’n’B/Pop piece.
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Chambres - EP Review: Rings
06 Dec 2015 // review by camy3rs
Kevin Spacey is the first song off of Chambres debut EP; Rings. The piece is very reminiscent of work from Chvrches first album, at least up until the vocals come in.
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Lisa Crawley - Gig Review: Lisa Crawley @ The Tuning Fork, Auckland - 13/11/2015
27 Nov 2015 // review by camy3rs
As soon as she casually walked out of the audience and on to the stage at the beginning of her set, I had the distinct feeling that this is gig was going to set a high bar. It was obvious from the first song that the effortless integrity that Lisa Crawley exudes live, is a phenomena unto itself.
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Greg Johnson - Album Review: Swing The Lantern
03 Nov 2015 // review by camy3rs
Greg Johnson is not an artist to be trifled with, the prolific songwriter has a back catalogue of over 300 songs and with the release of Swing the Lantern – his 11th studio album, he proves once again why he is regarded as one of New Zealand’s most transcending, consistent and beloved musicians. Swing the Lantern is Johnson’s own exercise in returning to more traditional recording methods, bringing in a few friends and some long-time cohorts to form a collaborative studio band, rather than hiring various available musicians to record in different studios .
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Tiny Ruins - Gig Review: Laura Marling & Tiny Ruins @ The Powerstation, Auckland - 23/10/15
01 Nov 2015 // review by camy3rs
Fans frequently talk about favourite musicians who have an ‘Old Soul’, but it’s not often that someone fits the bill so quintessentially as Laura Marling. In her first New Zealand headlining performance, she proved the validity of her fans claims of ‘voice of a generation’ and her range as a songwriter.
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Groeni - Gig Review: Groeni @ Wine Cellar, Auckland 16/10/15
26 Oct 2015 // review by camy3rs
The night’s line-up opened with DJ Martyn Pepperell, followed by 2-piece band Monticola and then Auckland-based Keepsakes. All three were of quite varied genres and there was no apparent cohesion between the opening acts which made the initial tone-set of the EP release a bit disjointed.
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Amiria Grenell - Album Review: Autumn
14 Oct 2015 // review by camy3rs
Autumn is the third album from Lyttelton-based musician, Amiria Grenell and it’s a solid addition to a steadily growing and poignant body of work. The first release through Grenell’s own Quiet Bird Records, the album opens with the jazzy, driving Rain, and from there flows seamlessly through its 13 numbers.
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