Music

Sigur Rós - Kveikur

Posted 6:05pm Sunday 7th July 2013 by Basti Menkes

Rating: 4.5/5 Fairies. Fireflies. Icebergs. Rain. Learning how to fly. Whatever imagery people associate with Icelandic post-rockers Sigur Rós, there is a common sense of wonder to it. I’ve always likened listening to them to diving into an ocean, the way their music engulfs you and makes Read more...

Beady Eye - BE

Posted 6:05pm Sunday 7th July 2013 by Basti Menkes

Rating: 2.5/5 There is no shame in not knowing who Beady Eye are. After a tumultuous relationship with brother Liam for the entirety of Oasis’ 18-year career, chief songwriter Noel Gallagher exited the notorious Britpop group once and for all in 2009. Intent on carrying on making music but Read more...

The National - Trouble Will Find Me

Posted 6:05pm Sunday 7th July 2013 by Richard Ley-Hamilton

Rating: 3/5 With every listen of The National’s latest, I have become more and more conflicted. This time around, should I be expecting something refreshing and innovative from the Brooklyn quintet? Or should I be satisfied with something familiar, a more reassuring release? In brief, Read more...

Boards Of Canada - Tomorrow’s Harvest

Posted 6:05pm Sunday 7th July 2013 by Basti Menkes

Rating: 4.5/5 No electronic composers affect me quite like Boards Of Canada. With but a few notes the Scottish duo can fill me with loneliness, nostalgia, dread, or a mixture of all three. Since their 1998 debut Music Has the Right to Children they have maintained a distinctive sonic Read more...

Vampire Weekend - Modern Vampires Of The City

Posted 3:03pm Sunday 26th May 2013 by Basti Menkes

Rating: 3/5 A band like Vampire Weekend requires no introduction. Whether you’ve heard their hip blend of afrorock and indie pop intentionally or by accident, whether you’ve loved it or you’ve hated it – you’ve heard it. Their first two albums, 2008’s Vampire Weekend and 2010’s Contra, came Read more...

Daft Punk - Random Access Memories

Posted 3:03pm Sunday 26th May 2013 by Basti Menkes

Rating: 5/5 “Let the music of your life give life back to music.” So go the opening lines of Daft Punk’s eagerly-awaited new album, Random Access Memories. It has been eight years since the French house duo’s last studio album and 12 since they revolutionised electronic dance music (EDM) with Read more...

Phoenix - Bankrupt!

Posted 1:24pm Sunday 19th May 2013 by Basti Menkes

Rating: 3.5/5 Similar to the Ouroboric case of Gary Numan influencing Nine Inch Nails, who in turn went on to influence Gary Numan (see 2011’s Dead Son Rising), you simply can’t ignore how much The Strokes sound like their old imitators Phoenix these days. This year’s Comedown Machine saw The Read more...

Mali Mali

Posted 1:24pm Sunday 19th May 2013 by Basti Menkes

Mali Mali is a North Shore alternative trio fronted by singer-songwriter Ben Tolich. They have just released their debut album Gather ’round the Gooseclock (reviewed in the last issue of Critic), and are about to embark on a tour of the country. Critic caught up with Ben over the phone recently to Read more...

Nadia Reid and Ivy Rossiter (a.k.a. Luckless) Interview

Posted 1:24pm Sunday 19th May 2013 by Brittany Mann

Nadia Reid and Ivy Rossiter (a.k.a Luckless) recently performed at the iconic and allegedly haunted Chicks Hotel in Port Chalmers as part of their Ballads and Badlands national tour. Brittany Mann went along for the whiskey and good times. The girlsBallads and Badlands is Nadia Reid and Ivy Read more...

Mali Mali

Posted 2:26pm Sunday 12th May 2013 by Basti Menkes

Rating: 3.5/5 Despite a lack of diversity or adventure, Mali Mali has produced an impressive debut. Mali Mali is a North Shore trio fronted by singer-songwriter Ben Tolich. Drawing influence from artists such as The National, Sigur Rós and Bon Iver, Tolich writes acoustic, vaguely folky Read more...