Onefest to rule them all

Sherpa will perform as part of Onefest 2012. Photo supplied.

Radio One has been in fine form this year. With the plans to sell the long-running indie station and the calls to "Save Radio One" now firmly in the past, 2012 has seen Radio One beta testing The 91Club Present.

This series of monthly shows has seen the likes of ex Mint Chick Kody Nielson aka Opossom and Dear Times Waste perform free for those with a 2012 91Club Card. Next month metal behemoths Beastwars can be seen on stage for the same entry price.

But before that, tonight sees the annual return of another great free show, Onefest, this year hosted at the Otago University main common room, featuring a forward-thinking and diverse line-up of New Zealand music.

Here's the Suitable Alternative breakdown of Radio One presents Onefest 2012.

Ahoribuzz

Featuring members of Cairo Knife Fight, Fly My Pretties, and Trinity Roots, Ahoribuzz play a swampy psychedelia anchored around the talented Aaron Tokona. Providing the loop-station wizardry for the desert rock jams, and precise chest-beating riffs of Cairo Knife Fight, layering track upon track to create a dense, textured sound from his lone guitar, with Ahoribuzz Tokona lets his jam-band fantasy take over.

PNC

PNC's fluid flow has drawn comparisons to legends like Jay-Z and Notorious BIG but don't get it twisted, his brand of hip-hop is distinctly Aotearoa. With a unique fusion of rap and cartoony pop, madness and effortless cool, the prince of punchlines released his fourth album Under the Influence earlier this year.

Quarks!

The solo project of Richard Pilkington, perhaps best known to audiences as one half of electronica duo, Vodafone Warriors, Quarks! makes hard-hitting lo-fi electro. Packed with synthesised hooks, disco influences, and catchy vocals.

Sherpa

Fresh from releasing their ultra-fun hyper-violent video for Turtles - featuring an office worker going postal after overhearing a Sherpa band practice - earlier this week, Sherpa creates perfect pop songs then sets about destroying them.

With chiming guitars, punky bass hooks, and shimmering synth pads all coalescing on their debut album Lesser Flamingo released earlier this year, Sherpa's jangle pop is cute and irresistible.

A Distant City

Frequent readers of Suitable Alternative will probably be aware of A Distant City by now.

The young Dunedin foursome, who recently won the OUSA Battle of the Bands, play their own heavy take on progressive post-rock.

Onefest 2012

Radio One presents Onefest 2012 featuring Ahoribuzz, PNC, Quarks!, Sherpa and A Distant City, University of Otago main common room, tonight.