How are you doing?

The Front Lawn - Songs From The Front Lawn   (1989) ***

Nominated by: Kevy

Music club: Wander to Wozza's

Playlist addition:  Andy

Let's start with the obvious stand out track - Andy. It's brilliant. One of the main reasons being that it stands up to repeat listens - it never gets old for me. That heart-felt slow reveal is without the kind of smart arse grinning cynicism that a few of the other Sinclair dominated songs have. Justifiably, it is seen as one of the greatest NZ songs ever.

Never fear - thanks to Don McGlashan's presence, there are a few other beauties on this debut. Notably Claude Rains, and Tomorrow Night.

I do find Harry Sinclair's delivery a bit smarmy so I'm less inclined to his material. Theme (from the lounge bar) is an example - the rinky dink music suits the idea of a lounge bar in the imagination but it ultimately feels rinky dink.

The idea for How Are You Doing? feels like a logical extension of some characters from Walkshort - a very cleverly filmed NZ short film The Front Lawn made a couple of years before. But it doesn't really work as a song.

The rest are so so as songs. The problem at times is the music is mixed down a lot, Harry's vocals are not as strong as Don's, and the actual songs feel like works in progress. But, hey! This was their debut, so some slack is called for here.

Overall, The Front Lawn are kiwi as - the vocal tics and the subject matter, that I can identify with as a kiwi, mark them out as a lovely little backwater bach that I visit from time to time.

Certainly Bret McKenzie and Jermaine Clement were paying close attention to McGlashan and Sinclair.  

Okay - I'm off to listen to Andy again. 

For Wanda

A Silver Mt. Zion - He Has Left Us Alone but Shafts if Light Sometimes Grace the Corner of Our Rooms... (2000) ***

Nominated by: Alex

Music club: MNAC

MNAC playlist addition:  Sit In The Middle Of Three Galloping Dogs  

I'm partial to many of the bands/artists in the postrock genre - they often operate in a vocal free zone, and, interestingly, they are often magpies - stealing bits and pieces from all sorts of other genres to create interesting, challenging, new music.

A Silver Mt. Zion are no exception. The two guys - guitarists Efrim Menuck, Thierry Amar, and violinist Sophie Trudeau produce music that to my ears builds on elements of ambient, avant-garde and prog rock (Galloping Dogs is a favourite). As well as that I heard things that reminded me of Gregorian chants, church steeple bells, and John Lennon's radio play.

I'll admit, it took me a few listens to relax into it. First play was a bit of a shock to the system - that first track makes you adjust and recalibrate your ears. Once I heard it through a few times it made more sense, and Alex's note that it was intended to be two sides really helped.

Favourite tracks: Galloping dogs and Stumble Then Rise On Some Awkward Morning - that last one is particularly affecting. Perfectly named too.

Thanks Alex - I would not have found this on my own volition so grateful for the selection.

Not cause I wanted to

Bonnie Raitt - Slipstream (2012) ***

Nominated by: GeeKay

Music club: Wander to Wozza's

Playlist addition:  Take My Love With You

I like Bonnie Raitt. Like. Not love.

She's a very good guitarist, a very good singer and she's very consistent, but there's been a certain something missing to lift her into the next level. Something she herself acknowledges with the title of the album.

She's not an innovator, she's more a follower and it's served her well. In a blind taste test you'd be struggling to place this album into a specific year - she's been churning out quality records like this for about 40 years. Right Down The Line might even have come from one of her seventies albums. Maybe it did? Has a seventies feel.

Americana though? Feels like the same old blues again (to quote JJ Cale). Not that there's anything wrong with that. This is a pleasant, easy going collection of songs.

Favourite tracks - Used To Rule The World is an excellent opener, Not Cause I Wanted To is a heartfelt ballad, and Split Decision has some grit and is catchy as all get out. I've highlighted Take My Love With You from Slipstream as it distills all her best features - great understated singing and laid back groove.

It all made for pleasant music to commute to this week, although there is nothing here to trouble Angel From Montgomery as my all time favourite Bonnie Raitt song.

Lucky girl

Fazerdaze - Morningside (2017) ****

Nominated by: KS

Music club: Wander to Wozza's

Playlist addition:  Last To Sleep

The ability, these daze, to bypass studios and producers and technical boffins and instead sit in your bedroom with a laptop and a few instruments has produced a vast array of music for voracious online platforms.

This incredible outpouring of music coming from the nation's bedrooms is hard to keep track of but thankfully we have Kevin Simms up our collective sleeves, to keep us apprised.

Fazerdaze is, he informs us,  actually a young lady, Amelia Rahayu Murray, and she's very talented.

The good news is that she sings brilliantly and she can play anything it seems (unless it's all computer generated - who knows in these AI assisted daze).

I'm very partial to the shoegaze/ dream pop genres generally and this is a good example.

Fav tracks - Take It Slow, Jennifer, Last To Sleep, Misread.

Weaknesses - 1) at times the thin production bares its head (Lucky Girl an early example). If this was Kevin Shields he'd have layered up big time. In fact this album would be perfect soundtrack fodder for a Sofia Coppola movie like Lost In Translation. 2) Some of the songs sound a little same/same at times. Mainly because she sings them all in a similar dreamy style. I have no issue with the fact I can't understand what she's actually saying btw.

The album works best when I just stick it on and let it wash over me while I'm at school in the morning catching up with the day's doing. Not at its best, though, on the commute home when I need something energetic to keep me awake.

Bottom line - this is surprisingly good, coherent, infectious Shoegaze. Four stars from me.