Punk lives
Guardian names Selfish Cunt (made up of singer Martin Tomlinson and Kiwi guitarist Patrick Constable) one of the top 40 bands in Britain today, alongside Franz Ferdinand, Blur, The Darkness, and Radiohead. “Dividing the…
Guardian names Selfish Cunt (made up of singer Martin Tomlinson and Kiwi guitarist Patrick Constable) one of the top 40 bands in Britain today, alongside Franz Ferdinand, Blur, The Darkness, and Radiohead. “Dividing the…
Haaretz interviews prolific folk and multicultural musician, Jill Rogoff. Born to a Polish Jewish father and NZ mother, Rogoff was born and grew up in Wellington before leaving for Jerusalem in 1979. She sings in…
Fresh from working with ex-Led Zeppelin John Paul Jones on their second album, Outta Sight/Outta Mind, the Datsuns are hooking up with another set of rock legends: The Pixies. The Cambridge-bred quartet will open…
NZ’s Tarquin ‘The Tarkness’ Keys was named joint winner of the world air guitar championship at the ninth annual Oulu Music Video Festival. Miri “Sonyk-Rok” Park of Finland was initially crowned the victor before…
Observer reviews Other Ways of Speaking, the latest offering from Russell Crowe’s band Twenty Odd Foot of Grunts, and is pleasantly surprised. “hat should be an easy target and, on the face of it,…
A music video by Auckland band The Mint Chicks featured on the inaugural CD sampler by Australian Vice. A free street magazine, Vice originated in the US and has a cult following all over…
NZ composer John Psathas provided much of the music for the opening and closing ceremonies of the Athens Games, including the climactic moment when the Olympic flame was lit. Born in NZ to Greek…
BritKiwi singer Natasha Bedingfield (sister to Brit Award winner Daniel) is a welcome addition to an increasingly bland, Idol-dominated British pop scene, according to a lengthy Guardian feature. ” possesses that elusive balance of…
The Finn brothers’ headlining performance at Summerstage Central Park thrilled fans and critics alike. NY Times: “Rock bands of brothers aren’t known for amity The Finn Brothers … set out to be the…
Boston Herald profiles 20-year-old singer/ songwriter Finn Andrews, son of XTC and Shriekback keyboardist Barry Andrews. Andrews left NZ at 16, formed his band The Veils in London, and spent 5 years recording an…
Auckland University student John Chen was the overall winner at the 8th Sydney International Piano Competition, held June 30 – July 17. The 18-year-old competed against 36 rigorously selected players from around the world,…
NZ composer John Psathas applauded in the Guardian‘s review of his collaboration with the Netherlands Wind Ensemble in Bath. “This concert, entitled Zeibekiko, threw a puckish girdle round the world as … John Psathas…
Triumph of Time, the debut album by New York-based musician Tama Waipara, has been well received both locally and internationally. His US label – ObliqSound – is promoting the album as “a diverse…
According to the Washington Post, Auckland band Steriogram represents the future of talent scouting. The band was signed after American freelance scout Joe Berman typed ‘New Zealand indie rock bands’ into his computer search…
New Zealand-born Daniel Bedingfield’s younger sister Natasha enters the UK charts at #3 with her single “Single”. The album is quite “streety”, it is quite RnB-ish, with a bit of reggae and a couple…
The Naxos World Label’s Rhythm for Kids album received a glowing review in the Star: ” a mix…
Leading drum’n’bass act, Concord Dawn, have moved their studio from Christchurch to Vienna in a bid to win over the European dance scene. According to the Age, Matt Harvey and Evan Short are “one…
“With a vocal arsenal that ranges from crisp rapping to a powerful singing voice, Natalia ‘Tali’ Scott can outstrip any UK competition.” So says the Independent in a glowing review of…
16 February 2004 – NZ born Daniel Bedingfield was named Best British Male Solo Artist at the 2004 Brit Awards. The self-proclaimed “Briwi” has had a string of hit singles in both the UK…
Global sales of Pure, the international debut album by teenage singer Hayley Westenra, hit the one million mark in early January. Released in September, Pure is the best-selling debut classical album in British chart…
The Datsuns made Rolling Stone‘s Critics Top Albums of 2003 list with their eponymous debut record: “This NZ four piece aped the Stooges and AC/DC and helped re-ignite the post-millennium garage, cock-rock flame.” The…
Jaz Coleman – the legendary “madman” behind British industrial rock band, Killing Joke, and a recently naturalised Kiwi (“It’s not safe to have a British or Australian passport, anyway, these days.”) – held court…
As if they don’t have enough rock cred already, The Datsuns have hired Led Zeppelin’s John Paul Jones to produce their highly anticipated second album. Says singer, Dolf de Datsun, “It’s going really well…
Brent Hansen, NZ-born MTV Europe chief executive, criticises the current obsession with ready-made pop stars epitomised by hit reality Television show, American/Australian Idol: “These programs make good TV but from a musical point of…
Kiwi nu-metallers, Blindspott, reviewed in NSTP after performing before 45,000 fans in Indonesia. “In a frenzy of tattoos, studs and machismo, six huge, six-foot blokes from NZ exploded onto the … stage like a…
NZ soprano Hayley Westenra is the voice behind the fastest selling debut classical record of all time in UK history. Pure has outstripped albums by Pavarotti, Charlotte Church and Andrea Bocelli, with nearly 20,000…
Guardian critic has an “utterly magical” experience watching Bic Runga perform live in London. ” she is desperately beautiful and has a…
The sounds of Kiwi band The D4 are being used in an attempt to modernise the game of baseball in the US. Videos of The D4 and fellow rockers The Donnas and The Ataris…
NZ-born Keith Urban has been dubbed the new face of country music in the US. With his chiselled good looks, tattoos, and relatively loose jeans, Urban is doing for c&w blokes what Shania Twain…
The Las Vegas Sun applauds the arrival of Anthology – the collected works of Flying Nun legends, The Clean. “Two decades later the music still brims with the raw, lo-fi energy that helped usher…
“Since blowing in from their native New Zealand last year with three hits (“Sophie”, “Blowing Dirt” and “Place to Be”), Goodshirt has emerged as one of our Antipodean cousins to watch. Unlike their countrymen…
Promoting her international debut release on Decca, (the world’s largest classical label) prodigious Christchurch singing talent 16-yr old Hayley Westenra continues to charm. The album mixes Westenra’s sonorous voice with classical crossover pieces, choral,…
Pacifier – the NZ band formerly known as Shihad – interviewed in the Age about their tour of wartime America. Says singer, Jon Toogood; “In hindsight, watching it all go on internally was really…
NZ-born pop star, Daniel Bedingfeld, shares his thoughts on friends, family, and musical inspiration in an interview with the Guardian. An artist of chameleon-like musical abilities, Bedingfeld has been likened to everyone from Craig…
NZ-born Carla Werner’s debut album – Departure – proves a moving experience for New York Daily News reviewer, Jim Farber. ” have a compellingly confessional quality … Werner sounds most like a female…
The Datsuns made their debut appearance at Ozzfest in July – looking, in their words, like a group of “Nancy-boys” amidst a sea of metal. Rolling Stone had a more favourable outlook, describing the…
A diverse showcase of NZ music was held at New York’s Central Park Summerstage on July 13. ‘New Zealand Sounds’ brought together the “catchy and hummable” tunes of Greg Johnson, lo-fi pop of Christchurch…
An impassioned performance by The Datsuns at London’s Shepherds Bush Empire earns them (another) rave review in the Guardian. “Amid the hand-clapping, singing, and Dolf’s stage diving, Christian balances on Matt’s shoulders, both continuing…
MC Tali, Roni Size’s edge in the machine, profiled in Guardian review of the dance tent at mud/music fest Glastonbury: “The most notable is Tali, the female hotshot from New Zealand who rose to…
Kiwi singing star Teddy Tahu Rhodes has a lead role in the latest opera by Academy Award-winning composer Rachel Portman. Portman’s adaptation of the classic French children’s book The Little Prince premiered with…
Maori music provides “one of the most moving sections” on the Grammy-nominated global project, One Giant Leap. Fronted by ex-Faithless member Jamie Catto, the groundbreaking production brings together artists including Dennis Hopper, Kurt Vonnegut,…
NZ born popster Daniel Bedingfield profiled in the Philippine Star. “You know how an artist will go to great lengths to maintain his style and keep some elements of his first hit in all…
Victoria University graduate Wendy Dawn Thompson has won the prestigious Kathleen Ferrier Competition for singing, earning nearly $30,000, a website and a recital at London’s Wigmore Hall. She is currently studying at the Royal…
The Datsuns continue their successful courtship of the US music scene, earning rave reviews across the country. Boston Globe: “It’s a high-energy assault with mammoth guitar riffs, strutting bass and raw vocals that cartwheel…
Aussie indie music treasure, ex-punk and co-founder of the Saints, Ed Kuepper, has written music for six short films made by legendary NZ conceptual artist Len Lye over 50 years ago. Lye was setting…
They say the essence of rock and roll is live performance. It’s a mantra for kiwi rockers D4, who are currently touring the US. Boston Daily Globe: “A knockout band from New Zealand, much…
SMH bows down before “snake-hipped Kiwi axe gods,” The Datsuns. The concert review: “When the lights came up it had been barely 70 minutes since the first note and yet no one felt short-changed….
19-year-old New Zealander Martine Hardaker is one of three students featured in an article on the prestigious Violin Making School of America. The four-year program involves more than just sanding and filing; pupils study…
The Datsuns have mounted a full-scale global aural assault: Boston Daily Globe: “It’s a high-energy assault with mammoth guitar riffs, strutting bass, and raw vocals that cartwheel into tomcat wailing.” New York Post:…
NZ musicians The Topp Twins and Jenny Morris played at Melbourne’s 27th Port Fairy Folk Festival. While Morris’ act was comparatively apolitical, the Twins pointed the finger at “stupid men” starting wars at the…
Oz-rockers AC/DC have been inducted to the American Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as one of the top five best-selling bands in U.S history. NZ drummer Phil Rudd makes up one part of…
In a review of the recently released Anthology, the Toronto Star dubs The Clean “the most important and influential New Zealand band not to include anyone with the surname Finn A fascinating primer,…
The D4 have unleashed their distinctive sound on the North American market, gaining thumbs-up all round. Rolling Stone: ” blitz through their blues-punk-garage-rock playbook on hyperdrive.” Chart Attack: “One of the few…
NZ-based Samoan group, Pacific Soul, are building a loyal fan base in Hawaii. Star Bulletin: “The soulful foursome performs Samoan-language songs and American-style urban material with equal skill … is a great…
Teenage singer Hayley Westenra – “the next Charlotte Church” – is making her move on the UK market. The 15-year-old has based herself in Kensington, London, and is currently recording an album for Decca…
The Datsuns are taking their acclaimed brand of rock firepower to Canada, with shows scheduled for Toronto, Montreal and Vancouver. Their highly anticipated foray into North America precedes the release of their debut album…
Contact | Privacy | Terms of Service | Advertise | Google+ © Copyright NZEDGE 1998-2024