For The Record | Issue 17

Posted 10:46am Sunday 22nd July 2012

Now that I have your attention, let’s talk about music videos. When The Buggles penned the perennial jukebox favourite “Video Killed the Radio Star”, it’s unlikely they realised just how right they were. While it’s been almost forty years since the one-hit wonder ushered in a new era of television Read more...

For The Record | Issue 16

Posted 5:14pm Sunday 15th July 2012

“Today is a big day for hip hop,” said Def Jam co-founder and hip hop heavyweight Russell Simmons, talking about Frank Ocean recently proclaiming his bisexuality. In a poetically intimate Tumblr post, the Odd Future member and saccharine crooner revealed that his first love was a man. Cue the Read more...

For The Record | Issue 15

Posted 5:13pm Sunday 8th July 2012

I’ve owned a Kindle for the last five months. For the first three, it never left its box. Then, in a moment of acute guilt and procrastination, I decided to open the thing up and give it a test drive. I loaded a few novels on and made a real effort at using it in lieu of the traditional book. Read more...

Post-Progressive Instrumental Dunedin Shoegaze

Posted 8:39pm Sunday 3rd June 2012

What better way to finish up New Zealand Music Month than the grand final of the OUSA Battle of the Bands. With so much talent on show, and the extreme diversity of the line-up, from ska-punk to metal to “dance music for the insane”, the judges must have had a hell of a time crowning a victor. While Read more...

Midgets, Rap Music & Meth

Posted 7:40pm Sunday 27th May 2012

Some cities are synonymous with a musical movement. Seattle and grunge are as inseparable as Cobain and angst. Country music would hardly exist without Nashville, or at least it would be a hell of a lot less profitable. And some would argue that rap music came ‘straight outta Compton’ (see what I Read more...

On the removal of my toenail and the music that helped me get through it

Posted 7:08pm Sunday 13th May 2012

Last week I had my toenail removed. What started out as an ordinary ingrown nail became infected and pus-filled until my entire toe turned a disturbing shade of mauve and swelled to a rather inconvenient size. This condition made wearing shoes difficult and, since Dunedin is pretty cold this time of Read more...

Classic Film | Issue 10

Posted 12:51am Monday 7th May 2012

Director: Richard Linklater Richard Linklater’s Slacker is considered one of the defining points of 20th century American independent cinema. It signalled the dawn of a new era for independent directors, proving that one does not need expensive equipment or “stars” to successfully create a Read more...

Why We Write

Posted 7:07pm Sunday 1st April 2012

It’s not easy being a music critic. Score an album too low and you’re labeled a cynic; too high, you’re a naïve optimist. Take the easy road out by giving it a 6 or a 7, and you’re criticized for having no backbone. Then there’s always the case of trivializing artistic intent with pompous Read more...

Project X

Posted 4:26pm Sunday 25th March 2012

Imagine the best party you never had. Thousands of people and limitless booze; DJs, fireworks and a flamethrower; a smorgasbord of uppers and downers; topless girls and a bouncy castle. So sets the stage for Project X, the latest incarnation of the “found-footage” genre. But instead of monsters Read more...

The Creation of Lana Del Ray

Posted 6:37pm Sunday 11th March 2012

How do we talk about Lana Del Rey? We seem to focus on her Angelina Jolie-like lips, her glamorous ’50s vibe, and authenticity – well, authenticity comes up a lot whenever the sultry sex symbol is deconstructed. At this point it’s pretty much pointless to write about Del Rey’s music. So much has Read more...