The Bronx at the HiFi

…supported by themselves as Mariachi el Bronx, Numbers Radio and Dr El Suavo
The audio of the gig

I was concerned about seeing the Bronx in the Hifi’s terraced room. At gigs there I always find myself perched on the edge of a step, balancing drinks when people push past. Given the Bronx’s ability to whip their audience into a leaping frenzy I foresaw carnage and broken legs; potentially mine.

How to have fun in NZ without sheep….

Batucuda Sound Machine – Rhythm and Rhyme

Rhythm and Rhyme is the essence of summer bottled onto a compact disc – a wild and rampant musical flavour explosion thrown together by some of NZ’s most talented world-musicians. Well ‘some’ is a bit of an understatement, BSM is a monumental 12-piece and on their debut they let loose with horns, drums, guitar, bass, Latin percussion, rap and liquid smooth keys. BSM’s musical melting pot bursts with energy, spanning across afro-beat, samba, reggae, soul, dub, funk and hip-hop.

I’m Proud To Be Black and I Ain’t Taking No Crap!!!!

“Now Peter Piper picked peppers but Run rocked rhymes
Humpty Dumpty fell down that’s his hard time
Jack B. Nimble was nimble and he was quick
But Jam Master cut faster Jack’s on Jay’s dick”

What sort of ‘dope ass’ record starts with a line like this?

Certainly not one from a white artist.

M.I.A – freakin rad

M.I.A is a girl with attitude. Instead of making girly music about love and boys, she presents real messages – incorporating her own background to educate people.

Beat The Heat With Paul Dempsey

Just when we think all is lost, and this drudging heat wave is going to consume us all, Something For Kate’s Paul Dempsey provides us with the perfect remedy.

One of the worst CDs I ever wasted $30 on: JUNO

OK so this is a complicated one because I absolutely loved the movie and I really like half the bands on this CD  but I just can’t listen to it from beginning to end.

A night spent in musical foreplay

It’s Saturday night in West End and I am outside ‘The Music Kafe’ about to swallow the musical bait.  I am being lured from the street into the packed bar through the harmonious sound of an electric harmonica, keyboard, drum kit, base and lead guitar all melting together to form a jazz/blues/funk/swing band.

‘Thanks for the cocaine, thanks for the methamphetamine.’

Ah, just another lazy Sunday afternoon. You’d think I was hanging out at the Valley train station……no no, I was at New Farm - one of the richest suburbs in Brisbane, coincidentally right down the street from the Valley.

Melanie Horsnell: carried delicately on wings from somewhere unearthly.

My eyes scan my CD collection seeking something I haven’t played in a while, preferably something I can’t remember the track list of.  I come to rest on Melanie Horsnell’s ‘Complicated Sweetheart’.  The cover design is cute and childishly alluring with colourful sketches of the angelic artist – just what I’m in the mood for.

A Wounded Throsby Serenades Snooty Brizzos…

Husky troubadour Holly Throsby is limping; she’s tripped over her pet and torn some ligaments. She is also precariously balanced on an island surrounded by water and electrical cables, adding an unexpected element of danger to tonight’s gig.