Diggy Dupe - That’s Me, That’s Team

One of Aotearoa’s premier story-tellers is back with another tightly packed collection of grooves with ‘That’s Me, That’s Team’. From Grey Lynn, Central Auckland, TMTT comes after Dupe took listeners to the inner city with K.O.T.I.C a few years back, then delivered ‘Island Time’ and now Dupe hits a wee note of celebration with the whanau. Expansive in sound, Dupe is able to blend together intricate stories and references of the local variety along with bigger themes and this has me pondering if Dupe is the premier hip-hopper in Aotearoa at the moment. If you’re vibing with TMTT on that level, it can serve as a collection of bangers to ride to while up to general kiwi mischief while also providing depth for those who want to catch a funky bar or two.

Popping up as guests are Auckland’s young wave of top-tier talent led by AP (Church & AP) and Rizvan, while Reddxrozay and Youngness Ikinofo also make low key notable contributions. While listening to TMTT, I kept thinking about how general hip-hop themes from USA, UK and Australia are brushed aside for music that feels strictly from Dupe’s soul. It’s Aotearoa music at it’s best as Dupe expresses his talents with the kiwi funk and the introspection that some level of success can provide.

Fontaines D.C. – A Hero’s Death

Phwoar. Fontaines DC burst onto the scene last year with Dogrels, a feisty and righteous set of post-punk tunes about modern society in their native Dublin so safe to say their follow up was a heavily anticipated affair. In some ways A Hero’s Death is more lowkey than Dogrels. It’s got a few more slower and pensive songs, a more reflective tone. But it’s also funny. And it’s self-aware. And when they do cut loose they cut loose with the defiance of a young Iggy Pop and the devil-may-care mood of The Ramones. The double blitz of machine gun drumming and slashing guitar never fails to earn a rousing reception, while the lyrics are scattered with shoutable aphorisms (life ain’t always empty!), and just as with Dogrels they end with an absolute killer of a slowboat closer. This is a second album that doesn’t just keep it even, it builds upon the legacy of their debut. Both albums play better with the added context of the other. Fontaines DC have only been around a couple years but they’re already on the cutting edge and this is easily one of 2020’s best rock albums.

L.A. Witch – Play With Fire

Basically one of the most underrated bands out there at the moment. L.A. Witch serve up darkly atmospheric garage rock with a strong sense of high weirdness and a hint of spookiness. Reverberating guitars, snarled vocals, enormous drums... and with their latest album they’ve never sounded more confident. The formula of their early recordings is still the baseline but these new tunes are bigger, more expansive. The chemistry is great. It’s like a half hour capsule into the depths of some hyper-realised 60s exploitation film, with lens flares and motorcycles, blood and sex and leather jackets. Really hope Ivy Rorschach gets a listen of this one, she’d dig it.

Charley Crockett – Welcome to Hard Times

Old mate here probably didn’t realise what a prophetic tune his title track would prove to be in 2020 but it’s always been the case that when times get tough, the folk singers come out to play. With his distinctive voice and simple yet profound (in the true folk tradition) way of songwriting, not to mention his prolific output, Mr Crockett is carving out quite the space for himself. WTHT flows on beautifully from his excellent 2019 record The Valley, giving it that organic western flavour. The tune Wreck Me is an absolute masterclass in subtle heartbreak. There’s a long tradition of hard times leading to quality and timely art and a mixed-race folk singer with a broken heart is pretty much 2020 summed up nicely.

Boldy James & Jay Versace - The Versace Tapes

Earlier this year, Boldy James teamed up with The Alchemist for 'The Price Of Tea In China' and along with projects such as Conway The Machine and The Alchemist's 'Lulu' and Freddie Gibbs and The Alchemist's 'Alfredo' they sit firmly on top of my favourite 2020 hip-hop releases. This time Boldy James teams up with Jay Versace for his first release with Griselda Records for 'The Versace Tapes' and it's another moment of musical wizardry as the gritty words of Boldy is partnered with the avant-gardey production of Jay Versace. Everything is fairly slow moving on the Versace Tapes and yet there's still immense head nodding to be had as Boldy can pick up a flow out of nothing, taking you into a world where the streets meet fine art. Chuck this on any where, any time and enjoy an underground wave.

Midnight Riders Meet Naram Rhythm Section - Midnight Riders Meet Naram Rhythm Section

Reggae and roots music, splashed with dub is Aotearoa music to me. Hence, when Midnight Riders Meet The Naram Rhythm section popped up on my radar, I sunk into a mellow reggae abyss. According to their Bandcamp page, this project sees Aotearoa’s Naram teaming up with Jamaica’s Winston Powell (Midnight Riders) for a collection of jams that are based in reggae sounds and themes, yet with that Aotearoa roots-dub tinge thanks to Naram. This comes via Red Robin Records, based in Te Mata and MRMNRS stands alone as a powerful reggae project that bridges between honouring the classic reggae vibe and adding some Aotearoa flavour.

Young Jesus – Welcome To Conceptual Beach

There’s an album by the band Talk Talk that came out in the late 80s called Spirit of Eden which is so earnest and vulnerable that it hurts to listen to it, but so beautiful that you can’t stop. There’s another album by a group called Lift To Experience called The Texas-Jerusalem Crossroads which is a little heavier, a little more droning guitar, but which gets into similar territory with songs of fear and redemption and heavy with religious imagery. Those are two hugely cult classic albums so it’s illustrious company to say that those are the two albums that this one feels most reminiscent of. But with a little more noodley jamming that seems to have an almost jazz fusion vibe. At times that can make the album feel a tad aimless but when things really click holy shit they hit a whole new level. There are moments of revelation in here. Only moments... but that’s how revelations are packaged. This is almost certainly an album that’ll grow in stature with more listens too.

Black Noise - Oblivion

Boldy James hails from Detroit, as does producer Black Noise and with his album 'Oblivion' we go deeper into the avant-gardey hip-hop realm. Chaotic yet simple comes to mind listening to Black Noise's first release under Earl Sweatshirt's Tan Cressida label and everything hits hard, everything is felt as Noise's production sets the tone for creepy ol' project. Various artists jump on Noise's production, from Earl himself to Mike, Danny Brown, ZelooperZ and a bunch more, which can't be overlooked as every song involves a different set of vocals while all being packaged in a coherrent flow. There's a definite mood to Oblivion and it feels like the depths of April, 2020. Use that to your advantage and whack this on when you're in need of a fresh creative juices.

Vintage Crop – Serve To Serve Again

There’s something about a clear Aussie accent on a straight-up punk tune that just seems to fit. There are tunes on the latest from Melbourne’s Vintage Crop about getting stuck in traffic, about having a bad day, about annoying neighbours... commonplace annoyances that make great fodder for a jagged riff and a shouted chorus. There’s an urgency to the ironic social commentary of The Ladder and First In Line (with some early Parquet Courts vibes), while Just My Luck is a brilliant rager of a tune and The North thumps hard too. This is some quality contemporary punk from over the ditch. Capitalism sucks. The system is broken. Right on.

Bent Arcana

There’s not really an artist name here, instead it’s a long list of musicians all credited equally. Old mate John Dwyer of Thee Oh Sees is the sun at the centre of this universe but we’ve also got: Ryan Sawyer, Peter Kerlin, Brad Caulkins, Tom Dolas, Marcos Rodriguez, Kyp Malone, Jose Soubrian, Laena "Geronimo" Myers-Ionita, and Andres Renteria. Chuck ‘em all together for five days at Dwyer’s studio with a penchant to cut loose in improvised fashion and Bent Arcana is the result. The word is that this’ll hopefully be the first in a series of similar records and the lack of stakes there are both a positive and negative. It does make this proggy, krautrocky, avant-garde experimentation feel sort of like a cheeky bonus project but it also allows for this laid-back creative freedom that takes these jams in all sorts of wonderful directions. And, mate, the quality of these musicians is just so damn high, it’s irrepressible.

Brigid Dawson & The Mothers Network – Ballet Of Apes

Another one with an Oh Sees connection, Brigid Dawson is a long time part time member of that group (it’s always been a recurring cast around Dwyer) and the albums with Dawson have always offered more of a folky melodic tinge to things, most recently the OCS record Memories of a Cut Off Head from a couple years ago. That’s Dawson’s influence, no doubt, and it’s about time she finally got an album all to herself to show off what she does so well. Ballet Of Apes has this jazzy, pastoral feel. A little psychedelic in places. Hypnotically groovy with a track list that reads like a deck of tarot cards. In a way it follows on from Cut Off Head but... woozier, more freewheeling. A captivating and unpredictable album that makes you wonder how the hell it took so long for Brigid Dawson to get the spotlight her talent deserves.