Kiwi Jams

While in NZ we've been trying to listen to as much Kiwi music as we can. Here in Chch, that means listening to RDU, the University of Canterbury's college radio station. It's a pretty good station in our opinion, playing a decent amount of indie rock as any proper college radio station should. It also plays heaps of NZ music, of which a surprising amount is dub and drum n'bass. Dn'b might be a predominantly college or Chch thing, as we hadn't it at all in first stint in the N. Island, but dub is definitely popular all over NZ.

Dub is probably best described as a really cruisey bass-heavy reggae variant, and given that NZ has a pretty strong Pacific island influence, I guess it's not surprising that it's really popular here. Coming from America though, I can't really think of any dub bands of note back home. The following are some interesting Kiwi bands and tracks that we've heard over the past nine months here. Some I like, others are included mostly for educational value, as always your mileage will vary. Enjoy!

Salmonella Dub – one of NZ's biggest dub bands, they've got a big following here, mon.

Shapeshifter, Tapestry - Kiwi dn'b group from Chch, obviously very popular here. I'm not the hugest dn'b fan, but the song 'Tapestry' has got some soul.

Cut Off Your Hands, Still Fond - If you’re into Franz Ferdinand and other bands of the ‘white crunk’ ilk, you’ll probably dig this song.

Liam Finn, Gather To The Chapel - Recommended for all fans of Iron and Wine, Sufjan Stevens, and other acoustic balladeers, Liam brings the pathos on this song.

The Checks, Take Me There, Riding the currently hot retro/blues/garage wave are The Checks, and this is a good straightforward rocker.

Motocade, My Friends - I don’t have many emo moments, but this is a pretty good dancey emo-ish number from an Auckland group, nice and catchy. My friends think I'm stupid for liking you, but I like you, indeed!

Tommy Ill, Bill Cosby - Haven't heard too much NZ rap besides Scribe, who didn't do much for me, but this song is a great, feel-good hip-hop party song.

Black Market Art, Yell and Yell - a little Cantabrian indie rock never hurt anyone, this maybe reminds me of Pavement.

The Brunettes, BrunettesAgainstBubble - We actually saw this band in Vermont, supporting Clap Your Hands Say Yeah; this song is irresistable.

Fur Patrol, Hand on an Anchor - We saw the chick lead singer from this band play with some other guys in Chch, and even though the show was hardly overwhelming, we had to say she had a great voice. It shows in this song.

The Exponents, Why Does Love Do This To Me - Apparently these guys are a classic Kiwi band, as this song must be ten years old but is heard everywhere. An appropriate analogy might be if America was really proud of Hootie and the Blowfish or a similar band.

Myspace has clearly been supplanted by Facebook, but it clearly still is useful for music purposes, good on ya Myspace!