On June 6^th Family Cactus release their second album “Spirit Lights” through Arch Hill Recordings

A lot has happened for this Wellington band since they released “Come Howling”, their critically acclaimed debut album in 2009.

During these two years Family Cactus released “Come Howling” in the USA, recorded “Spirit Lights” in Wellington (The Surgery) and Auckland (Roundhead Studio), mastered it in New York (Sterling Sound), lived for a few months in an apartment in Brooklyn, played shows in New York and Washington DC, had a number of line up changes, had a close and mutual friend of the band pass away and moved to a new record label.

None of this has been easy, but it has made their album “Spirit Lights” all the better for it.

In early 2010, when Ghost Wave started recording their EP in Sandringham, Auckland, things got off to a bad start. Matt Paul (guitar, vocals) and Eammon Logan (drums) were flatting together and laying down the bones of the recordings. They were using a mix of instruments and a sampler. One day, when they were out, some reprobates broke into their flat, stole their computers and trashed the place. The recordings were lost forever. They had to start from scratch.

But through adversity came something good. During the cold winter of 2010 the band – who by now had added Rikki Sutton (first bass, now guitar) – hunkered down to some serious music listening: Sun Ra, Spaceman 3, Stereolab and all the krautrock kannon. They also settled back into a recording routine: early starts, cold late nights and searching for ways to make the music glow - like a haze of sonic warmth.

The tracks definitely did start to glow. Over the fuzzed out psychedelic throb and front foot Germanic drive emerged a melodic sense that alluded to the missing link between Brit pillars like the Beatles or the Stone Roses.

Means out August 23^rd 2010 on Arch Hill Recordings

Street Chant could easily have never existed. Emily was a teenage binge drinker who couldn’t stop going to Eden’s Bar on K’ Rd, even though half the bands which played there made her sick. She was straight out of high school, and had this infernal itch telling her she could be on that stage too. Billie Rogers wasn’t much better. She played in a band she hated and wanted nothing more than to be in a band with Emily. Every time they ran into each other – which was every Friday, more or less – they would promise that they’d get together and jam.

One day, quite unexpectedly, it actually happened. Only right away, Emily realised that she wasn’t much into jamming. The band were taught and direct, with little tolerance for the slovenliness which characterised much underground music then and now. So while the band went from fever dream to reality, thanks to the addition of Mikey Sperring, then of Don Julio and the Hispanic Mechanic, Emily spent a focussed month writing the six songs she figured constituted a set.

New York’s Oh My Rockness magazine wrote at the end of 2009 “New Zealand's Surf City are getting such big buzz that the hype has made its way halfway around the world”…and they weren’t alone with these thoughts: Brooklyn Vegan – probably the most influential blog in the US - added that Surf City were “easily one of the most-anticipated bands of CMJ 2009”

But despite this obvious excitement, Surf City are not just flash in the pan new kids. Formed in Auckland’s Mt Roskill, they’ve been making a racket around the garages and practice rooms since 2004. Locally, it wasn’t long before they were filling the basement bars and urban hang outs with their warm fuzzed up and strummed down frenetic tones. It was a sound pioneered in the early 1980s by New Zealand bands like The Clean and The Bats. But, Surf City were moving the sound forwards into the new millennium. They were giving the sound their own new contemporary twist.

Voted by journalists at the NZ Listener as New Zealand’s all time greatest band and described by John Campbell as “one of the greatest New Zealand bands of all time” the Clean need little introduction to most local music fans. However, while they are well known and well loved at home, as the below biography illustrates, they are equally appreciated from afar

Brian Turner, Music Director for New York’s WFMU radio, writes about The Clean

What can be said about The Clean? In 1978, they were the seeds of New Zealand punk and the reason for the founding of Flying Nun, one of the greatest record labels that ever existed. They carved out a big sandbox for everyone to play in, and their influence resonated not only in New Zealand but around the world. Not only do bands like Yo La Tengo, Guided By Voices, Sonic Youth, Pavement, and their ilk owe a debt to The Clean, but many of today's young upstarts such as Times New Viking, Eat Skull, and a band from China called Carsick Cars have the Dunedin godfathers deeply etched into their DNA.

I've personally witnessed four or five waves of rediscovery of The Clean in the years since I first heard them in 1986, and the stuff just continues to educate. Homestead's US issue of Compilation in the late '80s and Merge's double-disc Anthology from 2002 both laid out a complete rulebook, and a pretty in-depth one at that. Nevertheless, if someone else compiles them again in 2015, it's going to resonate just as strongly. Simply put, the music of the brothers Kilgour and Bob Scott holds up pretty damn well in 2009 for anyone checking them out for the first or 5,000th time.

What's the sound? It's completely theirs but draws on everything from the psychedelic paste of Barrett/early Floyd to vintage Velvets propulsiveness to almost everything else under the sun. In the case of the live staple "Point That Thing Somewhere Else," here is a song that levitates any room in a way that makes you swear the band just stepped out of Conny Plank's studio in Germany with all the bulldozing power of Hawkwind. Their jubilance at times (the organ-laced "Tally Ho," "Beatnik," "Whatever I Do") makes the Banana Splits sound like Bauhaus while simultaneously exhibiting dark undercurrents, making Bauhaus sound like the Banana Splits. They created both full studio sound and lo-fi recordings before, during, and after the various waves of the 4-track revolution, making both recording modes work with no loss of the band's identity. As far as other influences, you can hear Arthur Lee, Shirley Collins, and the Rolling Stones, among others, but it's never a kind of forced appropriation; while some bands seem to say, "Look at my record collection," in the case of The Clean, it's organic, seamless, and inimitable. Though hardly as prolific as The Fall, another maverick group of originality, The Clean have endured for almost as long while maintaining a completely unique, quality stamp that's often replicated but never quite mastered by anyone but themselves. They're also one of the best (and sometimes loudest) live bands I've had the pleasure of seeing.

The Clean's modern age has seen them splitting time and hemispheres: David has a reputable solo catalogue; Bob has the Bats; and Hamish has been an endearing and enduring fixture in New York City, playing with assorted combos including his own Mad Scene with wife Lisa. The Clean's 2007 three-night stand in NYC was nothing short of a celebration of intersecting fanbases, so this fall's Mister Pop sees them continue the great pop pastiche. Circus ragas ("Moonjumper"), gorgeously hazy sunset anthems ("In the Dreamlife You Need a Rubber Soul"), and the sometimes loose Dada approach to wordsmithery continue right alongside "proper" lyrical forays, and yep, a few Autobahn referential instro moments to boot ("Tensile"). Bob's love of pastoral UK folk has brought some added weight into the overall Clean equation, as does David's Eastern and African guitar jones, though all this has always fit in with and still constitutes the total basis of The Clean sound journey.

Brian Turner WFMU Music Director

Fans of one of New Zealand’s most influential bands - The Clean - are in for a double treat over the next few months. First up on 30th of June 2008, Arch Hill will be releasing a live album called “Mashed” featuring cuts taken from their March 07 New Zealand tour. Several thousand keen cleaners attended these shows and everyone will have their favorite memory. Ours is a toss up between the almost riot-like stage invading conditions at the Leigh Sawmill Café (with David soloing under the grand piano) and the Spinal Tap wig fest at Russell Brown’s aspergers fundraiser. Tough call, but they sounded great. Either way, we can all now enjoy David’s reverberant guitar echoing above the furious and distinctive rhythm section of brother Hamish and bassman Bob. The album was recorded and mixed by the very talented Tex Houston and contains classics like Point That Thing and Anything Could Happen, along with a new song and a surprise cover.

David Kilgour has released three albums on Arch Hill, Frozen Orange (2005), The Far Now (2007) and Falling Debris - featuring the poetry of Sam Hunt (2009)

As a teenager in the late 1970's David Kilgour and his brother Hamish, inspired by the independent do-it-yourself spirit of punk rock and the simple yet dissonant songwriting of Lou Reed and Bob Dylan, formed The Clean in their hometown of Dunedin. The Clean went on to become one of New Zealand’s most popular and most respected bands. Their legend as one of the founding fathers of one of the most influential "scenes" in underground music quickly spread to all corners of the globe.

In 1992, Kilgour struck out on his own and recorded his first solo CD (Here Come The Cars), which received much critical acclaim and is a bona-fide New Zealand classic. Two more solo LPs followed, Sugar Mouth in 1994 and David Kilgour and The Heavy Eights in 1997. Kilgour followed that up in 2002 with his fourth solo LP, A Feather In The Engine.

All along the way, over a career that spans the course of two decades, David Kilgour has come to be known as one of the most respected and admired songwriters of his generation. His signature guitar style and languid, carefree melodies are readily identifiable. The canon of work he has amassed is stunning in its grandeur and depth. In January of 2001, David was awarded the New Zealand Order of Merit, to recognize and honor his contributions to the arts and cultural heritage.

Frozen Orange was a slight departure for Kilgour - not so much in style as in method. The idea for the record came about as David was touring the States with both the Clean and solo in late 2001 and early 2002. The 2002 tour in support of A Feather In The Engine featured David as the opening act for his American label Merge mates Lambchop. For the tour, Kilgour recruited several members of the eclectic Nashville collective to serve as his backing band. The experiment was a huge success. During rehearsals in Nashville, David also met Lambchop producer/engineer Mark Nevers, who convinced David that perhaps he should come to Nashville to record. It was an intriguing proposition as Kilgour had never dreamed that he would ever get the chance to record in Music City USA.

David had already written several songs that he was planning to use for his next album, but the plan had been to record the album back in New Zealand with his long-time collaborators, The Heavy Eights (Taane Tokona, Alan Haig, Tony De-ard and Thomas Bell). But the lure of a chance to record in Nashville with his new American friends was strong. In June of 2003 Creative New Zealand provided a small grant for the Nashville "experiment". The result is Frozen Orange. The album was recorded almost entirely by Mark Nevers at his Beechhouse Studios in Nashville (2 tracks-"Dogs Barking" and "A Head Full Of Rolling Stones"- were recorded with the Heavy Eights back home in New Zealand), over the course of two visits in the summer and late fall of 2003. Frozen Orange features the contributions of Lamchop members Matt Swanson, Tony Crow, William Tyler and Sam Baker. There is even a surprise appearance by Jason Loewenstein. The album showcases a sublime combination of Kilgour's signature guitar lines and shambolic, quirky melodies with an added twist of country twang and a little bit of R&B/soul courtesy of his friends in Nashville. Frozen Orange also marks the first time that Kilgour has relinquished control in the studio to an outside producer; such was his faith in Nevers and his vision for the project.

BIOGRAPHY FOR MARVELLOUS YEAR (2009)

Marvellous Year is the first full release under the name Don McGlashan & the Seven Sisters – reflecting a more “band” effort than his first solo album Warm Hand. As you will hear, The Seven Sisters are bursting with “unfailingly musical” talent, giving the songs real energy, atmosphere and depth. Don’s songwriting and ability to capture melody and the everyday moment is as strong - or even stronger – than ever.

Another reason Marvellous Year is so darn good is that both Don McGlashan and the band (Chris O’Connor, Maree Thom, John Segovia and Dominic Blaazer) have been on a real musical roll for the last couple of years. The band have played numerous shows, such as to thousands at the Auckland Domain, WOMAD and various theatres, clubs and pubs up and down the country.

As Don says “I think because I was performing, writing and recording a lot in 2008, I was able to try lots of ideas out - on the band, in the studio, and on audiences - so there's a lighter, more relaxed feel to some parts of this record. Warm Hand took a fair while because I was trying to find a sound for my solo stuff. I was gradually assembling the band as I recorded. Now the Seven Sisters is established, and we're used to playing together, so Marvellous Year was able to happen a lot more quickly, naturally, and with less head-scratching. It sounds, to me, more like a bunch of songs written for, and played by, a really good band."

As well as the band input, Marvellous Year was also a joint effort in the production stakes, with Don working alongside Sean Donnelly (SJD). Don says aside from Sean’s undeniable musical talent and ears, his input was to: “Challenge me, push me and throw banana skins in my path whenever I got too complacent.” The album itself was recorded at Neil Finn’s Roundhead Studios, mixed brilliantly by Jordan Stone and features guest backing vocals from Neil Finn and string arrangements by Victoria Kelly

BIOGRAPHY FOR WARM HAND (2006)

Don McGlashan is recognised as one of New Zealand’s foremost songwriters, artists and performers. His career spans from the seminal post-pop-punk band Blam Blam Blam, to art experimentalists The Front Lawn, to platinum selling and internationally recognised popular band The Mutton Birds. However, he has never - until now – released a solo album. So it is with much excitement that his first solo album, called “Warm Hand”, will finally be released in New Zealand on Monday 15th May 2006 - through Arch Hill Recording.

“Warm Hand” was mostly tracked in the isolated environment of “The Barn” at Te Papatipu - on the West Coast at Bethells Beach. This was in order to provide an imagined world akin to the hazy shack photograph inside the Neil Young album “Harvest”. Talented perfectionist Ed McWilliams (Anika Moa, Ed Cake) did most of the album tracking, using some idiosyncratic and unconventional ways to capture the barn’s natural atmosphere

Engineer Tom Miskin provided the perfect organisational and technical balance to Ed’s innovative style. The band, for most of the recordings, consisted of Ross Burge on drums (the Mutton Birds), Sean James Donnelly on bass (SJD), John Segovia on slide/pedal steel (Boxcar Guitars) and Tatiana Lanchtchikova on accordion. Willy Scott (Anika Moa, Dimmer) also played drums on one song and Chris O’Connor (Trinity Roots, Cloudboy) another two. Victoria Kelly wrote the string arrangements.

The actual production of the album was a joint effort between Don, Sean and Ed. While Ed mostly produced the tracking sessions, Sean contributed his many talents to the textures and detail of the album. Sean, who understands the difficulties of working as a solo artist, was instrumental in encouraging Don to continue his recording career and undertake recording the album. Final mixing of “Warm Hand” was done by Luke Tomes at Echo studios.

The original concept for the album was a more minimalist stripped back project, but the album’s several years of gestation has meant it has grown into something fuller, richer, more ambitious – something quite unique and definitely very good. Along with this development Don has established an excellent live band; they have already sold out their show at the Wellington Arts Festival and played to several thousand at the Auckland Zoo. The band features Sean, John and Chris.

From 1980 to 1982 Don was the drummer and singer with Auckland band Blam Blam Blam, which had a string of top 20 singles and an album “Luxury Length”, which went to No. 4 nationally. His song "Don't Fight it, Marsha, It's Bigger Than Both Of Us" won Song of the Year in the 1982 NZ Recording Industry Awards.

After a year in New York Don returned to New Zealand and founded "The Front Lawn" with Harry Sinclair. An acoustic group that combined theatre and songs, they toured all over Australasia, Europe and America from 1985-90, picking up many awards and rave reviews. Their 1987 record "Songs From The Front Lawn" won three New Zealand Music Awards, still sells steadily and is now close to platinum figures.

From 1991 to 2002 he was singer and main songwriter in "The Mutton Birds", releasing 4 NZ top ten albums (two platinum) and two top five singles, including one No. 1 single "The Heater". His song "Anchor Me" won the A.P.R.A Silver Scroll in 1994. In 1995 the Mutton Birds signed to Virgin Records UK, and lived in London until 1999, touring all over the world. The Mutton Birds played Glastonbury, T in the Park, Womad and a large number of other European festivals. They also received excellent reviews and comments from Q Magazine, Mojo Magazine and others; the Sunday Times named the album “Envy of Angels” one of the ten best releases of 1997. Since returning to New Zealand in 1999 Don has been writing music for film and TV, including Toa Fraser’s feature film “No. 2”, which recently won the audience award in its category at the Sundance Film Festival. Recently two of Don’s songs have gone into the top five; the re-recording of “Anchor Me” as part of the Rainbow Warrior tribute, and “Bathe in the River"

Together, White Swan Black Swan are Sonya Waters and Ben Howe formerly of Fang , Ricky McShane from The Chainsaw Masocist and Ben Furniss from Surrealistic. White Swan is the songs of Sonya Waters and Black Swan are the songs of Ben Howe; different songs and a different sound - but the people making them are the same.

White Swan Black Swan make their music in a brick house on the edge of a sleeping volcano. Their house is furnished with out-of-date Super 8 movie projectors, old amplifiers, 70's lamps, faded paintings of imagined places, all keepsakes from a past era embellishing the musical landscape. The wooden floors echo with the sounds of warm vintage equipment and analogue technology. Their brick bungalow is a rural green oasis - hidden away for the city that surrounds it.

 

Punches are Kelly Steven (vocals/guitar) and James Duncan (guitar/vocals/bass). They released their debut EP in March 2006 on Arch Hill Recordings.

Kelly and James met while spinning around blind-folded playing pin the tail on the donkey at a mutual friends party. Kelly could tell by the way James got the tail on the donkeys face and not the backside that his real talents lay with music - and so they started recording a few songs at his home studio in Mt Roskill.

Punches music is a mix of melancholia, electronica, pop, guitars and folk. In the live setting James plays guitar with his array of effects and Kelly is on vocals and bass. The music is supported by a simple drum machine beat and the odd atmospheric interlude – giving the songs space for Kelly’s beautiful and unique voice to move.

Kelly and James are also both involved with other musical projects; James is currently a member of SJD and Dimmer, as well as having just released a solo EP “Mirror Minor” on Round Trip Mars. Kelly played the bass in Voom. They were also both previously in The Pencils, together with Greta Anderson (formerly of Superette). The Pencils had two tracks on the Arch Hill ‘The Hill is Alive’ compilation.

Punches have had their first two singles, “Day by Day” and “Four Feet” both spend 8 weeks on the 95bfm top 10 (with both reaching number one) and also a spell on the NZ alt music chart and on the Radio Active chart. The song “Four Feet” features Gary Sullivan (Dimmer, JPS Experience and Solid Gold Hell) on drums. Other guests on the EP include Sean Donnelly and Tom Atkinson from SJD.

Punches have recently been out playing some live shows with Okkerville River, SJD, David Kilgour, Voom, The Ruby Suns, Pine and dozens of other choice band

Real Groove writes in it’s “Top Deadline Distractions” that the Haints album “has been dominating the stereo of late. Its slow lugubrious tones match the bitter chill outside, and this Tex Houston-produced beauty recalls prior local winners like the Renderers”

The Haints of Dean Hall are Stephen (formerly of the Subliminals), who lives in Auckland, and Kathryn, who resides in a small town near Melbourne, Australia. Their debut album was recorded during a brief visit Kathryn made to Auckland in the summer of 2005 around a few guitar tracks Stephen had composed. Kathryn was invited to put down vocals and provide some lyrics, most of which were impromptu. Around the sleeps of a five week old baby, the delicate and dusty songs were recorded anywhere that was far away enough as not to wake her up, using one mike and mostly acoustic guitar, in sessions that extended deep into the night. What initially started as a “wonder what would happen if” unfolded before them as ideas were jammed, structures worked out and main tracks put down in a day.

The songs are sung snatches of memory, of guarded references to a ‘Carteresque’ family album of ‘manners and mystery’. The CD artwork also reflects this; featuring still life photographs taken by Kathryn on one of many trips to the American South. Kathryn’s fascination with this part of the world, as well as her own upbringing around the Bunnythorpe area in the Manawatu, grants a natural cultural crossover in her mind. Stephen’s very distinctive guitar is often ghostly and yet occasionally brash. He has turned the squalling feedback sounds (that were his trademark in the Subliminals) in on themselves, resulting in sparse and delicate textures.

After the initial summer 2005 recordings, Kathryn returned to New Zealand for the final writing and completion of the remaining tracks. However, as the original late night sessions contained a certain organic and spontaneous magic, little was changed. Tex Houston, also known for sliding the faders on various 3Ds and Subliminals recordings, was bought in for the final mixing and mastering. The end result is a fragile, rural and low volume contemplative sound; where Julie Cruise meets the Carter Family

A haint is a southern term for a ghostly steam rising off the road, often mistaken to be a ghost, as explained by Harper Lee in "To Kill A Mockingbird". Dean Hall is the old road hall Kathryn and Stephen imagined the recording to have taken place, the sound they wanted was the sound that might have been created in this empty wooden space.