As New Zealand Music Month rolls around again, Shane Gilchrist searches his shelves for inspiration and presents an A to Z rumination on rock, pop and other homegrown strains.
A is for "Asian cigarettes . . ." the opening words of Th' Dudes track Be Mine Tonight. The debut effort earned the group "Single of the Year" at the 1979 New Zealand Music Awards. Th' Dudes also won "Top Group" that year.
B is for Based On A True Story, the 2005 debut album from Wellington dub outfit Fat Freddy's Drop. Much anticipated after the group's preceding single, Hope, the album went gold on its first day of release and entered the New Zealand charts at No 1, a place it held for 11 weeks. To cap a good year, the band also claimed a raft of awards at that year's Tuis.
C is for Crowded House, whose 1986 song Don't Dream It's Over, was deemed second-best New Zealand song of all time (behind Fourmyula's Nature) by a panel of several hundred to celebrate the 75th anniversary of Apra (Australasian Performing Rights Association), which was established in 1926. The top 100 songs feature on the Nature's Best series of CDs.
D is for Dave Dobbyn, who has five songs (Loyal, Slice Of Heaven, Whaling, Be Mine Tonight and Beside You) listed in the top 30 of the Nature's Best series.
E is for Evermore, the band comprising the three brothers Hume. From Feilding, the brothers have spent the past several years in Australia, where their 2004 debut album Dreams has sold more than 75,000 copies, earning the band an MTV award and five Aria nominations. The band also achieved artistic recognition in New Zealand in 2005, winning a Silver Scroll award for It's Too Late.
In 2006, the band signed to United States label Sire Records, a subsidiary of Warner Bros, and released the anthem-filled Real Life in 2006.
F is for Fur Patrol, who, on their move to Melbourne in the early 2000s, ditched their pop tendencies and followed the Australian rock formula. Despite the raised volume, they've barely made a noise since.
G is for guitar growl and The General Electric, the album Shihad made with producer GGGarth (yes, that's three Gs) in 1999 before they changed their name to Pacifier which, incidentally, is the name of a song off this excellent mix of anger and artistry.
H is for Haines (Nathan, that is), a conveyor of cool jazz who knows just when to reveal his sax and flute chops and when to let others take the spotlight. The inclusion of vocalist Marlena Shaw is just one of many highlights of his 2003 effort, Squire for Hire, an album that drips with class.
I is for I Got You, I Hope I Never and I See Red, three of the best from Split Enz.
J is for Greg Johnson, a prolific producer of pop songs. In 2002, he swapped the wine bars of Auckland for Los Angeles, where he collaborates with fellow Kiwi Ted Brown.
K is for David Kilgour, understated axeman and founder of the Clean, whose solo albums just get better.His most recent, 2006's The Far Now, continues along the same breezy road as A Feather in the Engine and Frozen Orange, though it sees the Dunedin songsmith more inclined to reach for an acoustic than electric. Sometimes that's not a bad thing.
L is for Matt Langley, who, like Kilgour, is drawn to the surf beaches of Dunedin. The former frontman for rock outfit Fold released an excellent debut EP, Lost Companions, last year.
M is for Paul McLaney. It might also stand for multi-award-winner given the quality of his 2007 album, Diamond Side, recorded live by Mitchell Frondelli, whose credits include Led Zeppelin, the Rolling Stones and Crowded House.
There are no overdubs on this album; instead, McLaney is up close and personal, singing his words of love and loss as he gives technically intricate lessons on what one can achieve on an acoustic guitar.
N is for Neil Finn, who last year caused a bit of a stir when he questioned the merit of state-funded music. The debate continues.
O is for "oh, do the headless chicken", a line from the song of the same name by the band of the same name whose 1988 debut album, Stunt Clown, produced on the back of victory in the preceding year's Rheineck Rock Awards, remains a cutting combination of guitars, electronic experimentation and lyrical imagination.
P is for Pluto and Pipeline Under the Ocean, the group's 2005 sophomore album that holds glimpses of rock genius. Well, maybe that's a bit hyperbolic; let's settle for very good riffs and, in Milan Borich, a voice with an attitude.
Q is for Queen's English, one of the many memorable tunes penned by the Mutton Birds' Don McGlashan.
R is for Bic Runga, who, arguably, could take some larger musical risks now she has revealed just how well she can compose - and, of course, sing.
S is for Sneaky Feelings and their 1984 debut album, Send You, a 12-song collection on which the band's reveals its taste for soaring bittersweet pop gems.
T is for thumping bass and the producers who use it so well. Just think of the dance-hall poundings of Pitch Black and Salmonella Dub.
U is for umbrella, arguably a dodgy thing under which to put such a variety of music. The Mint Chicks, the surprise success story of last year's Tuis, reckon music requires no geographical tags.
They have a point. Then again, it's also OK to celebrate one's own culture.
V is for very bad lyrics. Minuit, take a bow.
W is for Way Out Where, by Dunedin act the Verlaines. The 1993 album, recorded in Los Angeles and produced by Joe Chiccarelli, is a wall of sound on which Graeme Downes' dexterous ideas are amplified (but not obscured) by powerhouse contributions from drummer Darren Stedman, bassist Mike Stoodley and guitarist Paul Winders.
X is for X-factor. Shayne Carter (Bored Games, Straitjacket Fits, Dimmer), I believe you are a star.
Y is for Dave Yetton, of JPS Experience then Stereobus. His 1997 album, The Stereobus, employed friends from JPSE as well as the Mutton Birds and won a slew of prizes at the inaugural B-Net Music Awards.
And for good reason, too. Songs such as Shallow and Wash Away are near-perfect power-pop.
Z is for Zed. Where are they now? Well, frontman Nathan King has gone solo and has a new album out soon, while other members Ben Campbell and Andy Lynch have formed Atlas, whose 2007 single Crawl held No 1 in the New Zealand charts for seven weeks.
