Register for Monthly Updates about Kiwis Rocking the World
Music
Getting lippy
“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…
Briwi Blitzes Brits
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…
Pure dynamite
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…
Straight Outta Cambridge
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…
Metal, Opera, and All that Jaz
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,…
Let there be more rock
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…
Get Real
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…
Nu-Zealand metal hits the spott
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…
Sweet as
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…
Move over Norah
Guardian critic has an “utterly magical” experience watching Bic Runga perform live in London. ” she is…
The D4: luring the young and hip
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…
Down Under Cowboy
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…
Goodshirt. Good music.
“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…
Pure class
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…
An edge rediscovered
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…
Cleaning up their act
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,…
The everyman of pop
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…
Soul Sister
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…
Datsuns apply the brakes
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…
Central Park Sounds From the Edge
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…
Tried and true formula with a new direction
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…
Tali tumeke
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…
Rhodes steers latest hit
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…
Music for the soul
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…
Variation the key to “Briwi’s” success
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…
Singing London
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…
Rock’n’roll Road Trip
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…
Ed MTV: Frontrunning Len Lye Revisited
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…
The D4: Up Close and Personal
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…
“The Greatest Rock’n’roll Band in the World at That Moment”
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…
Making music behind the scenes
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…
For Those About the Rock the Globe
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…
Dirty Deeds Earn Place on Hall of Fame
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…
A view from the edge: Topp Twins bring the noise
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…
Finn-less wonders
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…
D4 dee-light North America
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…
Trans-Pacific Soul
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 ……
On the move
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…
Northern exposure
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…
L.A Woman
After a highly successful tour of NZ, Bic Runga has moved to Los Angeles in the hope of netting new and bigger audiences. A brief but busy tour of…
Finn-spiration
Legendary Smiths guitarist Johnny Marr has nothing but praise for Neil Finn, who he collaborated with on Seven World’s Collide. “That experience with Neil was one of the highlights…
The Dream’s Not Over
Neil Finn continues to promote One All abroad, with his second successful U.S tour in 6 months. Boston Globe: “Finn’s chief gift is crafting melodies that are the envy…
The edge: alterative country
NZ-born South Londoner Peter Bruntnell proves “contemporary Americana need not be reserved for Americans” with his latest alt-country album Ends of the Earth. Hartford Courant: “A deft, tastefully produced…
Sweet as in South West
NZ sent its biggest contingent yet to the prestigious South By Southwest (SXSW) music festival and symposium in Texas. The talented line-up comprised The Datsuns, The D4, Goodshirt, 8…
We salute you
The Datsuns’ popularity in the U.K shows no signs of diminishing. The boys from Cambridge took out Best Live Band at the New Musical Express annual showcase of…
Addicted to rock
The Datsuns’ popularity in the U.K shows no signs of diminishing. The boys from Cambridge are soon to headline NME‘s annual showcase of “the forthcoming year’s thrusting new talent” in what…
Clean sweep
The release of The Clean’s 46-song Anthology has set Canadian “rock uber-geeks running to record stores.” Chart Attack reviewer sums up the Flying Nun stalwarts’ attraction: “They have created a near-flawless body…
Rebirth of Loop
2002 saw the highly successful reinvention of Wellington’s Loop magazine as an independent recording label. With acts like The Black Seeds, Rhian Sheehan and 50HZ on the books, and…
Music of the land
“The Kiwi singer-songwriter lyrics and cheekbones as fine as Delft china.” Bic Runga talks to Time Pacific about books, politics and her new album, Beautiful Collision. “Eclectic but…
Praise in spades for Runga
Daily Texan writer goes ga-ga for Bic Runga’s “innovative melodies, careful harmonies and baby-doll voice” in a review of her latest album, Beautiful Collision. “A wonderfully evocative and brilliant effort …
Frodo’s choice
American pop oddballs Elf Power have released a covers album featuring NZ’s Tall Dwarf’s – the now disbanded Chris Knox outfit. Nothing’s Going to Happen also includes renditions…
The Datsuns, The D4 … The Datson Four?
Kiwi rockers The Datsuns and The D4 are to play at the 2002 K-Fest in London. The event has previously featured line-ups including Black Sabbath, Slipknot and The Hives….
Concord Dawn high-flying in Asia
” bass-heads into a mind-boggling frenzy” were Kiwi act Concord Dawn on their recent tour of Asia. The DJ/producer duo of Matt Harvey and Evan Short have already established…
South Pacific sounds
NZ group Te Vaka has made the list of nominees for next year’s BBC Radio 3 Awards for World Music. The Polynesian ensemble, led by Opetaia Foa’i, describe their…
“Musician Who Revitalized Maori Culture”
Dalvanius Prime, pioneer of Polynesian soul and hip-hop, has died aged 54. Prime developed his own take on American soul by merging its ballad form with traditional Maori vocal…
“Taking it to the People”
The Datsuns can do no wrong as they stage dive into the wan and pale introspection of Brit-pop. The Kiwi band recently passed the “real test” of rock’n’rollers – shedding…
