Iron Maiden Release All Blacks T-Shirt For NZ
Iron Maiden have released a special edition All Blacks t-shirt as a tribute to their Rugby World Cup victory. Fans will be able to purchase the shirt during the band’s tour in New Zealand. “The…
News of New Zealanders via Global Media
Lorde Magnetic with Disclosure at Coachella
Lorde surprised festival-goers as she joined English group Disclosure on stage on Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival in California performing the hit Magnets, the most successful song from Disclosure’s album Caracal in Australia…
8 Incredible NZ Artists
When “Lorde and her minimalist pop masterpiece ‘Royals’ gradually conquered the world in 2013, fans and critics alike in the US and Europe – and to a lesser extent in Australia – declared it…
1080p Founder Richard MacFarlane Taped
Founder of Vancouver-based cassette label 1080p, New Zealander Richard MacFarlane is making a name for himself for a brand, which “uniquely inspires producers while consuming the attention spans of aesthete trend-seekers in electronic music,”…
Peter Bruntnell an Alt-Country Genius
Album after album, the Kingston upon Thames solo artist, Wellington-born Peter Bruntnell produces rich and refined song-craft, yet hardly anyone has heard of him. Could this be his time? The Guardian’s Angus Batey considers…
David Bowie Saw Lorde As ‘the Future of Music’
David Bowie believed the young New Zealand singer Lorde was “the future of music”. “David really liked Lorde. They had a few wonderful moments together,” said Mike Garson, Bowie’s longtime pianist. Lorde was chosen to perform…
Introducing Bollywood-Potential Shirley Setia
Shirley Setia, a 22-year old Aucklander whose family hails from India, has attracted a large Indian and international following singing cover versions of Bollywood hits, Forbes contributor Rob Cain reports. The diminutive mezzo-soprano, who calls…
Ladyhawke Is Back with Wild New Album
Pip Brown, better known as Ladyhawke, ARIA-winning maker of synth-pop hits such as Paris is Burning and My Delirium, is back with a new album. Wild Things was created in Los Angeles and is…
A Gemma New Deal Might Be Hard to Pass Up
“The orchestra scene in Southern California is keen for refreshment,” according to classical music critic Mark Swed of the Los Angeles Times, who reviews the 29-year-old New Zealand conductor Gemma News’ recent “speed date”…
Flight of the Conchords Announce US Tour
The Flight of the Conchords return to stages in the United States playing at nearly 30 locations across the country in June and July, the first time the duo has toured since co-headlining 2013’s…
Ulster Orchestra Welcomes New MD Richard Wigley
Former artistic manager at the Netherlands Symphony Orchestra and BBC Philharmonic boss, New Zealander Richard Wigley, 55, is the new managing director of the Ulster Orchestra. Wigley talks about “channelling the energy” of the orchestra…
Lorde Delivers Powerful Tribute to David Bowie
Lorde’s tribute to her hero David Bowie at this year’s BRIT Awards has been called “dignified”, “powerful” and “heartbreaking”. Singing Life on Mars with Bowie’s own backing band, Lorde’s was an “acid, disaffected take…
Meeting Marlon Williams
“It seems as though Marlon Williams is a storyteller, first and foremost. There’s a character who lives within the fluidity of each song he sings, driven by every cord he strums,” writes Daniel Harris…
Standing Ovation for Gemma New in Ontario
Conductor Gemma New made her long-awaited mainstage debut in Ontario as the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra’s new music director, receiving a standing ovation from a huge crowd. Classical music writer for the Hamilton Spectator Leonard Turnevicius…
Gin Wigmore Making Music at Home in California
“There are singers, and there’s Gin Wigmore,” according to Billboard. “The New Zealand-born, Los Angeles-based artist’s raw, bluesy voice is so distinctive, some pundits are convinced it’s only a matter of time before the…
Guardian Rates Uplifting Marlon Williams Debut
Marlon Williams’ self-titled debut album is described as “delicious, oddly uplifting misery”, in a review written by Michael Hann for the Guardian. “It’s hard to work out quite how the album from the young New…
Marlon Williams Brings Honey Back to the Bees
“If there’s anyone who proves that singer-songwriters don’t need a Nashville or Memphis address to make authentic, arresting country music, it’s 25-year-old crooner Marlon Williams,” Village Voice music editor Lindsey Rhoades says. “Growing…
Ukulele Orchestra Strums up Fans in US
Andy Morley-Hall is a member of the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra, an eight-piece band that combines high-energy ukulele covers of classic pop and rock songs by the likes of Blondie, Cyndi Lauper and Salt-N-Pepa…
Marlon Williams takes on North America
In July 2015, Marlon Williams made his Vancouver Folk Music Festival debut stunning the crowd. The 25-year-old New Zealander is a revelation, according to the Vancouver Sun. Williams’ voice is riveting, a cross between…
David Bowie Changed Geeling Ching’s Life
In 1983, Aucklander Geeling Ching was 23 years old and waiting tables at a Sydney café when she was chosen to play the lead role in David Bowie’s “China Girl,” Associated Press…
Everyone’s Listening to Nadia Reid’s Debut
Singer Nadia Reid’s highly rated debut,Listen to Formation, Look for the Signs is included in the Guardian’s annual roundup of “The Albums We Missed” column. Reviewer Michael Hann says: “It took 24-year-old New Zealander Reid seven…
Marlon Williams Debut a Rolling Stone Favourite
Marlon Williams’ solo debut was one of the albums that defined the year, according to Rolling Stone Australia, which includes the self-titled debut in their 50 Best Albums of the Year list. Rolling Stone writes: “The…
Kiwi Band ‘No Tag’ Reissue Classic 1982 Album ‘Oi, Oi, Oi’
Thirty years after its initial release, No Tag’s album ‘Oi, Oi, Oi’ – three tracks of burly and meaty street punk, has been re-issued by New York City label Radio Raheem. “Guitarist Andrew Boak, singer…
Ed Sheeran Pays Touching Tribute to Jonah Lomu
“Ed Sheeran has paid a touching tribute to All Blacks great Jonah Lomu by taking to the stage at his concert wearing the late rugby legend’s number 11 jersey”, writes Jenny Awford for
John Metcalfe Blends Influences on Sycamore
One-time member of post-punk band the Durutti Column, composer, arranger and viola player New Zealand-born John Metcalfe has written “Sycamore,” which draws on the disparate influences of minimalist composer Steve Reich and the electronic…
Compliments on Nadia Reid’s Extraordinary Debut
New Zealand singer-songwriter Nadia Reid’s Look for the Signs is an “extraordinarily assured debut”, Guardian reviewer Kitty Empire writes. The track Call the Days “suggests an Antipodean Laura Marling, a talented 24-year-old with a preternatural…
NZ Dancers and Choreographer Open AMAs With Jennifer Lopez
“Jennifer Lopez has blown away music fans and fellow performers with a show-stopping dance medley at the American Music Awards – and a Kiwi is getting the credit,” as reported in an article on the…
Fat Freddy’s Drop Go Techno on New Album
“Cult” New Zealand neo-dub outfit Fat Freddy’s Drop have released their fourth studio album, Bays, and according to News.com.au reviewer Cyclone Wehner, it is “more of an underground Berlin than Detroit vibe.” The septet, who…
Lorde Joins Disclosure For Saturday Night Live Performance
Together with Disclosure, Sam Smith and Lorde turned the Saturday Night Live studio “into an electric, colorful stage” when performing tracks off Disclosure’s latest album Caracal during last night’s episode hosted by Elizabeth Banks. Sam Smith…
The Chills Return with Melodic Gifts Intact
“It’s taken 19 years for Martin Phillipps to get round to releasing the fifth Chills album (and the previous four took 16 years to make), but his manifold troubles in the years since Sunburnt haven’t diminished his melodic…
Marlon Williams Earns ARIA Nomination
Marlon Williams is not the first New Zealander Australia has adopted and he won’t be the last, according to Simon Collins reporting for the West Australian. The charismatic 24-year-old country, blues and soul singer’s self-titled…
Farmer Plays Lorde’s Royals till the Cows Come Home
An American farmer and YouTube sensation plays a mesmerising video version of Lorde’s 2013 smash hit single “Royals” on his trombone whilst sitting in a deckchair overlooking a vast pasture. Soon, a herd of…
Fis Mixes an Eclectic Set for FACT Mag
New Zealand producer Olly Peryman aka Fis features in UK-based online music blog FACT Magazine’s regular “Mixes” category with one of the year’s weirdest picks, according to the site. “With his early releases on Samurai and…
Lorde’s Little Sister India Has Dreams of Her Own
In the past couple of years, India Yelich-O’Connor went to both her high school ball in Devonport and the 2014 Grammy Awards in Los Angeles – not the average itinerary for a 16-year-old, but…
The Chills Release First New Album in 19 Years
The Chills spearheaded by Martin Phillipps will release their first full length album – Silver Bullets, in 19 years on October 30. A full band tour is planned for 2016 and Martin Phillipps reportedly…
Organist Thomas Gaynor Wins Huge Prize
Wellington’s Thomas Gaynor, 24, who is currently studying in the United States, has won the prestigious 3rd Bach Liszt Organ competition, held in Weimar, Germany. The Wellington College graduate won the organ prize over 18…
Natalie Lin Does Away with the Conductor
New Zealand violinist Natalie Lin, 26, has created a 16-piece string ensemble called Kinetic, an unconducted chamber orchestra which recently made its debut at First Evangelical Lutheran Church in Houston. “I lead the ensemble with…
Lorde One of Stardom’s Vengeful
Lorde joins the ranks of pop singers joyfully and brutally sidestepping tropes about victimhood in the music video for Disclosure’s “Magnets” which ends with the featured New Zealander tying a guy to a chair,…
Marlon Williams’ Live Act Is Quite Something
“So often Clash will troop along to watch a new band, and their fringes will droop down over their chins, eyes pointed to the floor. Not so, Marlon Williams,” the music magazine writes. “A…
Bret McKenzie Digs Himself Into a Big Hole
Starring Bret McKenzie from Flight of the Conchords digging himself a massive, literal hole in the ground, the latest single by the New Zealand powerpop group Phoenix Foundation features on the Guardian’s music site. “If…
Lorde’s New Track With Disclosure
Lorde has released a new track together with Disclosure. The Kiwi singer “co-wrote the track with the electronic duo comprised of brothers Howard and Guy Lawrence” as reported in Rolling Stone Magazine. The…
New Music Platform STA Travel Sounds Will Showcase NZ Artists
SBTV, a digital music discovery and entertainment platform has partnered with STA Travel to curate artists for their new music platform, STA Travel Sounds. New Zealand artists will soon be showcased on the…
Writing New Album Therapeutic Says Gin Wigmore
Currently on tour in the US to great acclaim, Gin Wigmore, whose music has featured on the soundtrack to Pretty Little Liars and Grey’s Anatomy, pauses to talk with Marie Claire about her creative…
Forgotten Crowded House Song Helping Refugees
Songs can grow and assume new shapes with time, and pop’s power to engage people has taken Crowded House’s 16-year-old ballad Help is Coming and given it new life as a charitable ode to…
Stephen Taberner’s Choir a Bit on the Spooky Side
Georgian polyphonic singing enthusiast, Christchurch-born Stephen Taberner leads the 16-man Australian choir Spooky Men’s Chorale which recently performed in London at the Islington Assembly Hall. The Guardian’s Robin Denselow reviewed the evening. “It takes a…
Introverted Dancefloor’s Latest Effort Far from Shy
“Not nearly as introspective as the eponymous album title would have you believe, Bevan Smith’s latest project as Introverted Dancefloor is restrained, yes, but far from bashful,” UK arts magazine the Skinny…
Gin Wigmore Embodies Casual Tough Girl Style
New Zealand-born musician Gin Wigmore has a fashion sense equally eclectic as her sound, according to style site Paste Magazine. With unfussy platinum blonde locks, a beautifully detailed tattoo sleeve and rings for every…
Lips Argue Against Online Streaming
New Zealander Steph Brown and West Virginia-born multi-instrumentalist and producer Fen Ikner are Lips, an electronic pop act characterised by a girl with giant lips for a head. The duo has just relocated from…
Marlon Williams Has Had a Crazy Year
If the events of 2015 are anything to go by, New Zealander Marlon Williams could certainly say this has been his year, Jade Lazearevic writes in a profile of the singer for the Newcastle…
Singer Tamaryn Celebrating Unpredictable Potential
When a musician describes one of her tracks as “an early Madonna song if it was produced by My Bloody Valentine’, you know you’re in for something special,” online magazine PopMatters writes in a…
The Phoenix Foundation Give up Their Dreams
The sixth studio album by New Zealand band The Phoenix Foundation has been released and the Guardian offers up readers a track-by-track guide to the record provided by the band. “If the name [of the…
Rosie Langabeer Keeping Busy in Philadelphia
Composer and musician New Zealander Rosie Langabeer, who will perform as Diamond Blazer at the Double Decker Music series in Philadelphia where she lives, has also been working with esteemed American ballet choreographer Matthew…
New Zealand Girl Plays Piano While Sleepwalking
“Some people are so good at musical instruments they purport to be able to play it in their sleep. Yet for this one girl, it’s a reality”, writes Vin Shahrestani for The Telegraph. A video…
Flautist Marya Martin heads Bridgehampton Festival
Internationally acclaimed flutist Marya Martin heads the 26st season of the Bridgehampton Chamber Music Festival on New York’s Long Island with an 12-concert program featuring works by Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, Mendelssohn, Mozart and Schubert….
New Face of International Music Conducting
Gemma New, the 28-year-old native New Zealander violinist who became a professional conductor while still in her teens, has been named the music director of the Hamilton Philharmonic Orchestra’s in…
Tim Finn Loves Writing Songs More than Ever
Forty years in the music business, one of New Zealand’s most celebrated singer-songwriters, Tim Finn, 63, recently performed his new collaboration, White Cloud at the Galway International Arts festival. White Cloud may be derived from…
