Wanted: (Alive, thanks) Mulholland

Fans of independent NZ music will need little introduction to Jolyon Mulholland. The former lead singer of Motocade and current member of The Mots - both of which also feature the considerable talents of his brothers Eden and Will - will release his new album Eugene Told Me You Were Dead on Monday. Neil Finn once described Jol as "one of the most talented guys I know - he's got talent exuding from every pore" and listening through "Eugene" it is easy to see where the Kiwi music great is coming from. Recorded in a "small North Shore bedroom" (perhaps if it was big he might have gone too Phil Spector on it!) and mixed at Finn's Roundhouse Studios before being mastered in the land of Oz, the album is a pop sensation in the nicest way.

Channelling the good pop; Beatles, Beck, Brian Wilson, mixing homegrown close influence; Liam Finn, Phoenix Foundation but standing alone in itself Eugene might just add the name Mulholland to the upper pantheon of Kiwi music's great family names. John Lennon is a little too present in Everything's Gonna Be Alright and tunes like Realizing We Are Nothing will be better for a Pikachunes-style remix but the gems on the album are diamonds: I Used To Be A Cowboy, It's Only An Illusion, Yesterday's Over among them. If anything, this album tells us at Jol Mulholland is well and truly alive.

Mulholland Eugene Told Me You Were Dead - on sale June 27

Emma, Emmaline...

"..I'm gonna write your name high on that silver screen..Emma, Emmaline, I'm gonna make you the biggest star this world has ever seen." Hot Chocolate wrote some fair to middling disco hits and a few plain annoying ones, but in the early seventies at least, they always looked the part. This tune, Emma, from 1974 stands head and shoulders above the rest of their catalogue and the video with its blue background, glacial pace and freaky intro and outro must have set some sort of standard at the time on how to shoot a studio clip. Snazzy...

Gang of Four, What We All Want!

Gang of Four with Jon King (left) and  Andy Gill (right)

Back in the early eighties punk collided with funk in a way that shook out the mohawks and sent chains and razor blades flying. Bands like A Certain Ratio, Comsat Angels and Pigbag all put the James Brown into Johnny Rotten but there was one band who managed to keep the angular, scything, cutting sounds of punk within the funk, Gang of Four. Hard on the heels of another great post-punk band, Wire, the Gang are on their way to Auckland and are playing at The Powerstation on Thursday, February 24 with support from Kody & Bic. The line-up includes original singer Jon King and the utterly percussive guitar of Andy Gill, which makes the gig a must see in itself. Here's a chunky, funky reason why we will be going to this one - a live version of What We All Want circa early 80's...


Gang of Four What We All Want
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Classic: Comsat Angels - Independence Day

Looking forward to playing with Children's Hour at Laneways in Auckland next Monday and have been slotted into an early 80's mindset this week as a result. Here is a tune that brought Rachael and I together back in the day, a post-punk classic that is also quite simply a great tune with the inimitable lyric "Can't relax because I haven't done a thing, and I can't do a thing because I can't relax..." Comsat Angels, Independence Day, timeless...this video from 1983 but the song itself came out in 1980.

The Lady's Gaga...

Still struggling with her music to be honest but there is no doubting Lady Gaga is a one woman visual symphony and every step she takes in a promotional sense is a giant leap forward for popstar-kind. Shot by the legendary Nick Knight and styled by the almost-as-legendary Nicola Formichetti this is one of the better promo pics of a pop star to accompany the release of a new pop single - ever. Born This Way is on sale globally Feb 13 with the album of the same name to follow in May. Knight, foundation lensman for the twin towers of indie publishing, i-D and Face Magazine is also the founder of the fabulous Showstudio. Good to see he has added a worthy strapline to the site too; Showstudio - The home of Fashion Film. Indeed...

What a Rekkit!

We really like the look of a new club night happening at Auckland's superbly-tucked-away venue, Tabac. Rekkit is the brainchild of one of Auckland's musically knowledgeable young impresarios Dylan Cherry, and launches on January 14, 2011 with the talented (but nervous) Pikachunes supported by Mellow Grave, Forest Spirits, The Be Cool Experiment, Brian Foster and Strange Beast. According to the snazzy opening night video animation, entry is free if you dress as a Pokemon and they may even buy you a drink.  Rekkit was of course a great 1997 tune by Death In Vegas. Auckland's emerging, intelligent, alt. generation. Love it.

Lay Down In Splendour David Wood

So sad to hear of the passing of Straitjacket Fits bass player David Wood at the end of last week. David was a gentleman with a wry sense of humour, a cheeky grin and on occasion, a mean mullet. He was also an excellent bass player that underpinned many of the great New Zealand band's tunes including this one, Down In Splendour, which seems suitably apt to post in his honour today. Our commiserations go out to his family and of course Shayne, John, Andrew et al...

Faint Spells Good, This Friday

Photo: Olivia Hemus

Those of you who attended the Nom*D installation/show at this year's fashion week will have certainly seen Rebekah Davies (above) looking beautiful in a signature leather ensemble from the venerable Southern label's AW 2011 collection. She also sang beautifully, an ethereal lament which filled the room with a melancholic uneasiness. This Friday the talented singer-songwriter plays with her band Faint Spells at Tabac, 6 Mills Lane, Auckland. Featuring members of great local bands Dimmer and The Verlaines, Faint Spells Very Good Indeed. Support by James and Chelsea, members of Dimmer and Teacups respectively. Doors open at 8pm, $10 on the door.

Faint Spells:
Rebekah Davies - Vocals, guitar, bass
Shayne Carter - Bass, guitar, backing vocals
Tom Healy - Guitar
Gary Sullivan - Drums

Unknown Pleasures with Hooky

Unknown Pleasures, cover by Peter Saville

A couple of months back after reading The Hacienda - How Not To Run A Club we asked Bernard D.McDonald if he could 'hook' us up with an interview with Peter Hook, Joy Division and New Order's bass playing stalwart, so taken were we with his ingenous account of the legendary club and its machinations. Of course Barney is an expert on everything New Order/Joy Division so we're very excited to be running that interview in Black 13. Timely too that Hooky will be arriving in Aotearoa to play Unknown Pleasures, one of the greatest albums of all time, in its entirety at The Powerstation on Saturday, October 2. Captain Hook and a group of musicians and friends will play the album plus two of our favourite JD singles Transmission and Love Will Tear Us Apart. We've already seen some negative comments about the gig online, but hell, if anyone can do this, it's Hooky. Tickets are on sale now at Ticketmaster, Real Groovy and Marbecks. Can't wait...

JUST ANNOUNCED: Support acts will be Die! Die! Die! and that legend in his own lunchtime, Harry The Bastard.

New stories from Julia

Modern Fables starts with Ice Cream, runs through the wishes of friends and ends with the clear skinned dialogue of a recovered modern fable. That probably doesn't make much sense but if you look at the track listing for Julia Dean's new album, it might. Modern Fables is an accomplished album from one of New Zealand music's more accomplished female singers. Songs such as Skin (Everything Is Coming To A Halt), High and Clear, the title track and the utterly lovely Little Survivor make this an unmissable outing from the Kiwi songstress...

Not just Naked but now very Famous

Huuuuge congratulations to The Naked and Famous who debuted at number one on the New Zealand charts yesterday with their single Young Blood. They have long been one of our favourite bands (from New Zealand or overseas) and when we shot them for Black 12 (above) with Stephen Tilley they were such a cool bunch of people we are now even bigger fans. We've heard a sneak preview of a few songs from the upcoming album, Passive Me, Aggressive You and they're all stunners. Expect very big things...

The Mysterious Mr Vek

We first heard Nothing But Green Lights from Tom Vek's 2005 album We Have Sound a couple of years back and fell in love with the drawling vocals, Talking Heads keys and bobbing bassline, not to mention the super simple, super neat video (below). We Have Sound is a lo fi masterpiece that sits somewhere between The Fall and Beck at their collective best and it's hard to believe that the 2005 outing is the only album this hidden pop genius has produced. However, Vek (real name Tom Vernon-Kell), a twenty-nine year-old Londoner, has been making noises about releasing a new album in 2010, it's just that no one much seems to be able to substantiate this and the man himself flies well under the radar to the point of being mysterious. In recent times his Wikipedia entry has had a number of nameless posts suggesting the album is forthcoming, then not. It might be Island records, but then it might not be. His website includes numerous forums with fans asking where he is, "Tom sighting" etc and other sites are equally abstruse. Odd, obscure, we love it and "there's nothing but green lights" as far as we're concerned "in a 1989 Mercedes Benz..." Bring on that difficult second album Tom...

The Spark That Shines

Converse, that global purveyor of sneakers and all things sole-ful has launched a new online creative initiative called "Spark." Aimed at developing creative talent from rising artists and musicians around the world it is already taking shape as an interesting amalgam of artistic expression. Twenty-four global artists from a diverse range of places will feature their work on the Converse Spark site and many are experimental or just plain unique in nature. Of the five or six online so far we particularly like the mad Mexican muso Ulises (above). Most of the films are really well made, and going through them is like a wee trip around the globe - an insight into them and their culture. Keep an eye on them as they are posted here.

Down The Stone's Way

"The songs have been written all over the place...in stormy corners of backstage rooms and rusty windows of old hotels in sleepy towns" say the Sydney based brother and sister duo Angus & Julia Stone. Affectionately known as "The Stones" the duo have been one of our favourite Australian acts since 2007's A Book Like This; a sublime collection of melody, harmony and acoustic loveliness. So when a package turned up this week with the new album Down The Way inside, it went straight into the drive and it has stayed there. They say the second album is always difficult (the band produced two EPs earlier; Chocolate and Cigarettes and Heart Full Of Wine) but Down The Way is simply difficult to ignore.

Mature, emotional song-writing, superb production and an undeniable sibling chemistry creates a solid platform, but it's the pair's singing which lifts the album to another level. Although the writing and recording of the album was literally a voyage (from an old sawmill in Golant, Cornwall to New York to Coolangatta, Australia) it is a seamless affair from start to finish with Hold On, Black Crow and Julia Stone's husky vocal on And The Boys and Walk It Off emerging as early favourites. Angus's palpable vocal on Draw Your Swords will strike a chord with fans of Lee Hazelwood and Grant Lee Buffalo among others.

Down The Way is due to be released in March.

Keep On Running

Having something of a proclivity for 7" vinyl we were pleasantly surprised to receive the new Parallel Dance Ensemble single in the mail this week, and it's more than just the charm of wax that appeals. Run is a lovely thing; a lilting groove punctured by stabby disco keys, produced, played and arranged by Danish musician/producer Robin Hannibal. The rap by the artful Coco Solid is everything her local fans expect and enjoy, and the pretty, floating vocal by the mysterious Bobbi Soxx caresses the tune in a way that would capture Sia or Zero 7's attention. Recorded and mixed at Red Bull Studios in College Hill the single with instrumental b side is released as a Red Bull Music Academy project, speaking of which...

Red Bull Music Academy 2010 is mid way through week two in London and as we've written before both here and in Black Magazine, we love RBMA and the relationships and on-going camaraderie it creates. Run is a perfect example. Here's RMBA radio.

Not so Neff

Over the past month or so Matias Aguayo has provided something of a soundtrack to the way we are thinking about Black 12. Me Vuelco Loca, Rollerskate and Walter Neff spell both house and pop genius but also sound independent of both genres. Ay Ay Ay!

Happy With Larry - Five great Larry Levan remixes

Lately we've reactivated a long-held obsession with the work of the great Larry Levan, the DJ at the helm of one of the world's great clubs Paradise Garage, and found it to be the perfect musical accompaniment to the sublime summer days currently engulfing Auckland. Levan was so influential and so unique in his production and remixing skills that his music continues to excite and influence many of today's electronic producers: Chromeo, Hercules & Love Affair and Junior Boys among others. The recent remix of Hercules & Love Affair's Blind by Levan contemporary Frankie Knuckles is so resonant of the sound of the time it could well be time for a revival. Here's five of our favourite Larry Levan remixes:

1. Walking On Sunshine (Larry Levan mix) - Rockers Revenge

This tune, produced by the legendary Arthur Baker (above) and written by Eddy Grant was a clear cut crossover tune between the Paradise Garage and the breakbeat/electro explosion of the time. Levan's version features his trademark congas, rolling bass and a swell treatment of singer Donnie Galvin's uplifting vocal.

2. Tearin It Up (Larry Levan Garage House Vocal mix) - Chaka Khan

Beginning with a pastiche of electro bass and choppy garage gat, Tearin It Up soon falls deeply into the super diva soul machinations of the great Chaka Khan who presents, in one song, the full range of her sassy, sublime and undeniably powerful voice. Divas all over the world (and in Aotearoa the likes of Annie Crummer and Betty Ann Monga) would have considered this a template. Levan moves the whole shebang along at a rate of knots making this a huge dancefloor hit. Fierce in the truest sense...

3. Is It All Over My Face (Female Vocal) - Loose Joints

This tune is one of the club's all time greats. Loose Joints was ostensibly Arthur Baker and Steve d'Aquisto but also featured rhythmic input from the Ingram Brothers and Levan himself. Vocalist Melvina Woods wrote the words: "Is it all over my face, you've got me luv dancing" which was appropriated years later by Strictly Rhythm outfit Underground Solution and Jasmine. The tune has been remixed many times but is most perfectly remixed in this version by Levan.

4. At Midnight (Larry Levan Remix) - T-Connection

This tune had been a big late seventies disco hit for T-Connection but Levan adds something special with his rolling garage affectation that starts with a percussion jam, erupts into the tune's legendary horns, disco guitar and strings and ends with a section that simply goes boi-yoi-ying. Activate your boogie shoes!

5. Stand On The Word (unreleased Larry Levan mix) - Celestial Choir

Recorded at the First Baptist Church, Crown Heights, New York in 1982, this exemplary mix of a gospel tune by Levan lay largely hidden for many years until recently rereleased and re-invented with a quality pressing. Somehow this perfectly represents the celebratory ethic of Larry Levan as well as any tune.

Paradise Brothers Return

On Monday Bristol's favourite sons Massive Attack will release their fifth album Heligoland. Since 1991's Blue Lines announced the arrival of trip-hop, and to a greater degree downbeat, Massive Attack have consistently delivered music to soothe, groove and move their ever-increasing raft of fans - although it can be a while between albums. Whilst Blue Lines is considered by many to be one of the greatest, or at least most influential albums of all time, the albums to follow that masterpiece; Protection and Mezzanine were simply considered great albums. 2003's The 100th Window suggested the band were on a natural slope toward er, maturity... so the fact that Heligoland is arriving on Monday with an advance guard bass flutter of approval from the global hacks that have been lucky enough to hear it, suggests a return to form.

The first single from the album features the utterly unique voice of Hope Sandoval of Mazzy Starr fame. Entitled Paradise Circus, it's a sultry tune that falls sweetly into Protection territory. Sandoval in her stoned and husky drawl sounds like she has climbed inside the song and is having a wee lie down, and as usual there's oodles of space between the bass. Fittingly, for a band who featured an erotic dancer's routine to accompany Be Thankful For What You've Got the new single is accompanied by a video which is even more likely to NOT get played on mainstream TV. Directed by Toby Dye it's a video classic that is inter cut with an interview with Georgina Spelving, star of The Devil In Miss Jones - one of the seventies most famous skin flicks. A contemporary Georgina talks to camera about the film over excerpts from the film itself, and it's perfect meld of music and image. It won't be seen on TV too often so here it is at Massive Attack's blog - and they recommend it is for over 18s only.

Roll on Monday.

Ellie Ellie!

Ellie Goulding is being touted as "the one to watch" in British music this year. At the beginning of January she topped the BBC's Sound Of 2010 influential annual music list; previously topped by Florence and the Machine, La Roux, Duffy and the Ting Tings among others. She works closely with producer du jour Starsmith and you may know her angelic vocals from Passion Pit's Sleepyhead, also remixed by Starsmith. Tonight in London Robert Erdmann will once again team with super stylist Kimi O'Neill to shoot Ellie for issue 12 of Black. The shoot and interview will appear in a feature that includes Daisy Coburn of Daisy Dares You - another on the BBC's list for 2010.

Reason To Believe

We've recently re-discovered Bruce Springsteen's magnum opus Nebraska. The album was recorded by Springsteen and the E Street Band but it was deemed that Bruce's original demo tapes; folk music with little more than guitar and harmonica, loads of passion and a fine voice was better. What an inspired choice. The Boss, irrespective of his hanky pants and bad dance moves can write a tune or two, and on this album virtually every track's a winner in a gentle, folksy-rock way. A twist in the tale is that during the recording of the demos Springsteen heard the seminal electronica of Martin Rev and Alan Vega's Suicide who, alongside Kraftwerk are the underground Godfathers of the genre, and State Trouper is an obvious homage to Frankie Teardrop. Country fans will love the eponymous Nebraska, Atlantic City and Reason To Believe. Nebraska was recorded on a Portastudio which made a small recording apparatus renaissance in the early eighties and it lends an intimacy that most modern folk bards would die for. Pure song writing at its best.