Waiwhai - Slowdown World

Any reminder to slow down is always welcome around these estuaries and Waiwhai's latest project 'Slowdown World' offers a variety of banging tunes to ease the hustle and bustle of living. Describing sounds is always tricky and Waiwhai doesn't help this process, so it's best you tune in and hear the blend of noise, upbeat, jazzy, whatever you want to call it. 'Slowdown (World)' is a nice example of this as the crisp drums leave the listener boppin' along, same with 'Relax' which has already settled as a staple tune of our summer. There are pockets of industrial ambient sounds that can simmer in the background of your relaxation sesh, while the final track 'Towards Hilaritas' offers a psychedelic ending to drift off with.

Nilüfer Yanya – My Method Actor

Some artists sound like nobody else except themselves and Nilüfer Yanya is one of them. That was true of her first album and here we are on number three and the idiosyncrasies have only been refined. Love the way she incorporates those Pixies-esque dynamics on a few tunes, love the way she works around slick funky beats, love the way she picks out those reverberating guitar lines, love the variety in her vocals from whispered-in-the-air chanteuse to radio edit pop strutter. Very controlled, very assured. The production is absolutely luscious too. Things do get a bit gloomy at times so pick your moments for a listen. But when the moment is right, this one’ll cut like a knife.

Billy Strings – Highway Prayers

The guitar-slinging bluegrass maestro dropped a wicked live album earlier in the year and now here’s his finest studio effort to date. This record isn’t Strings in jamming mode but he still shreds his way through plenty of twangy goodness, working with a bunch of tight self-authored songs (a few of them are more than a year old) and simply allowing his beautiful voice and remarkable playing abilities to shine through. These are old fashioned country styles but the energy is filtered through a bloke who digs Black Sabbath as much as he digs Buck Owens. As for the subject matter, well, let’s just say there are two of the best weed songs of 2024 in here: Catch and Release & MORBUD4ME. Also gotta throw some love at Don’t Be Calling Me, which is sort of like the bluegrass version of Arctic Monkeys’ Why Do You Only Call Me When You’re High? Plus Richard Petty is an a-capella beaut. My Alice, Gild The Lily, Stratosphere Blues. So many good songs. This guy is a marvel and Highway Prayers is the closest he’s come to capturing all of his talents in one release.

Mokotron - Waerea

Whether you want to absorb the spirit of Mokotron or nod along to 'Dark Māori Bass', Mokotron's latest project Waerea is exactly what you need. Mokotron weaves in heavy themes of colonization and modern attacks on Māori that inspire the listener, as well as providing a groove in which one can't stop wiggling along to the beats on offer. With splashes of reggae, dub, drum and bass, Waerea delivers you to a world where Mokotron reigns over Aotearoa and it provides a glorious soundtrack for your summer adventures.

Naima Bock – Below A Massive Dark Land

Something about the idiosyncratic sound of Naima Bock – not only her voice but the phrasing and the tempos and the instrumentation and the general spectacular vibe – is so reminiscent of a certain type of 70s folk-rock songwriter. Nick Drake most of all but there’s Joni Mitchell and Leonard Cohen in there too. As well as a myriad of other influences (Cate Le Bon and Elliott Smith being more obvious newer ones). It’s that kinda rustic melancholy that does it. Anyway, Bock’s new album is stunning. Ideal for the changing of the seasons, chuck the headphones on and let it sweep you away. There’s a natural precision to these tunes that feels entirely cohesive and somehow out-of-time.

Jim Nothing – Grey Eyes, Grey Lynn

Nestling smoothly into the esteemed lineage of Aotearoa indie rock, Jim Nothing (aka James G. Sullivan) names his latest album after an Auckland suburb and packs it full of searing guitars and perceptive observations about modern kiwi life. There’s a theme in here about appreciating the small things in order to keep the sadness at bay (“enough enough is never enough”). Upbeat tunes with a few changes of pace to keep it funky. Some delicious musical touches (like the maracas on the title track). It’s probably an overused comparison but big Paul Westerberg vibes here with the record’s laconic churn. Hourglass, Wildflowers, Grey Eyes Grey Lynn, and Sundown Clown are among the pick of the tunes.

Best Bets – The Hollow Husk Of Feeling

Launching straight into it with a massive banger called Heaven, with thick layers guitar noise and a triumph of a hook, the second album from Christchurch group Best Bets evolves the catchy garage rockers of their previous record into full-blown power pop territory. Fantastic stuff. Tunes like Monster, Spooky Signals, Pensacola, and When You Walk Out continue the momentum all the way down the line. It’s up-tempo jam after up-tempo jam, reflecting the talents of the group’s various songwriters, and production/mixing’s gone up a level too. Sneakily excellent lyrics too.

Kate Bollinger – Songs From A Thousand Frames Of Mind

Virginia songwriter Kate Bollinger’s debut album is a gentle delight. Mostly acoustic folk-pop, soft but vibrant, playing out like sunburst daydreams – and the cinematic vision in the tunes is obvious from the music videos that accompany them. As is the communal spirit... these songs and those videos often just feel like mates hanging out and doing creative stuff. There’s a lovely sense of humour in amongst the autumnal cosiness. Bollinger sings soothingly. The laidback grooves are woozy enough to stay fresh throughout. Dunno what else to say, it’s a hand-crafted triumph, best indulged within the loving surrounds of nature.

Tha God Fahim & Nicholas Craven: Tha Myth Who Never Quit 2/3, Hyperbolic Time Chamber Rap 1/2

Over the past two months Tha God Fahim has dropped four projects with producer Nicholas Craven, all of which are awesome and couldn't be covered as solo releases. TMWNQ came first followed by HTCR and Fahim shares enlightening poetry that is as wholesome as it is gritty. Craven's production is rooted in soul samples with simple drum patterns and while these two artists have fabulous releases on their own or other collaborations, the combination of Fahim's inspiring raps and Craven's soul make these projects irresistable. The first HTCR is our favourite of these four releases with jams like 'Dump Dynasty' and '10 X Gravity' personal favourites, yet there are so many head bobbin' moments that will leave the listener grateful for such glorious tunes.

Etran De L'Aïr – 100% Sahara Guitar

Alrighty then, enough of this UK/USA musical dominance, time to offer up some funky African guitar twang courtesy of Agadez, Niger. Righteous tunes from Etran De L'Aïr (aka “stars of the L'Aïr region”), who aren’t trying to hide what they do. It’s right there in the title. This is desert rock from the actual desert and it rips and shreds the whole way through with busy rhythms and undeniable jams. It just sounds tremendous. Go on and listen to this record without smiling and moving, it cannot be done. These songs are like interlocking patterns, spiralling around, weaving together. The band is made up of three brothers and a close family friend and they came up playing weddings in their hometown so you know they’ve put in countless hours building up a rapport that’s almost telepathic. A triumph of an album.

Goat – Goat

The folksy Swedish psychedelic collective have served up another masked marvel of an album. Utter weirdness from start to finish, you love to hear it. There are flutes and wah-pedalled guitars and world music filtered percussion. They’re funky and primordial. Hypnotic and groovy. Actually, they seem like they’ve upped the funk on this one – those George Clinton albums must have done some numbers in Scandinavia (righteously). Check out Goatbrain, Dollar Bill, and Ouroboros for the most triumphant bangers of the collection... which sits up there alongside 2016’s Requiem as the best stuff the mysterious group have delivered to date.

Fazerdaze – Soft Power

Well now, would you look at this? 37 minutes of new Fazerdaze tunes in the form of Amelia Murray’s second full-length album. This follows a superb six-song EP released in 2022 and sees her continuing to expand her sound from the dreamy and delightful sun-glazed jangle-pop of debut album Morningside from 2017. The tunes are still bouncy ditties but there are more electronic elements, more effects, and more ambition in the structure of these songs. Self-produced, of course. “Bedroom stadium” songs is how Murray describes her new sound. Soft Power, the title of the album, is another phrase that sums it up smoothly. There’s artistic evolution on display here but the Fazerdaze core remains: these songs are relentlessly catchy. Toe-tappers and head-nodders across the board. So Easy, In Blue, Cherry Pie. One of Aotearoa’s most reliably great current musicians is at it again.

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