DJ NDHA – Looking ahead
Last month the National Library had its official grand re-opening. The ground floor now includes some exciting new ways to explore the Library collections, including an expanded gallery and an interactive lifelines table.
What will be of particular interest to music fans are the Library’s new AV pods: these feature a range of audio and video content on various themes, accessed using an interactive touch screen. To start out with we have content on: Science and Technology; the Play it Strange Trust; Te Reo Rangatira; the Mix & Mash competition, and a selection of film clips from the National Film Unit.
New sets of content will be continually added to these pods, exploring all sorts of subjects and showcasing many of the audio and video gems in our collections, as well as incorporating interesting content from other organisations like New Zealand on Screen and Archives New Zealand.
You can expect to see a whole lot more music making its way onto the Pods over the coming months, looking at topics such as kiwi protest music, the history of jazz in New Zealand, experimental art and music, and many others. You’ll also find music from our collections turning up in the new gallery space on the ground floor and the smaller Turnbull Gallery on the first floor.
If you’re in Wellington come in and take a look. In the meantime, and if you’re not in Wellington, we’ll continue to throw the spotlight on some the best new open access digital music to come into our collections here on our blog.
2012 Matariki songwriting competition
One of the content sets on our new AV Pods showcases the work of the Play it Strange Trust. The Trust was established in 2003 to encourage young New Zealanders to develop interests and skills in songwriting and musical performance – one went on to feature on Gotye's hit single earlier this year. The Trust also organises the Matariki Songwriting Competition, where students are asked to write a song that celebrates Matariki. This album features the ten finalists, including the winner Ashley Tipene. Find out more about Play it Strange on the AV Pods, and on their website.
Ravendah dream / The Blueness (2012)
Dunedin songwriter John White had been creating his excellent pop, rock and folk tunes for over 15 years now. Whether it’s the bubble-grunge of Mëstar; the dream folk of his solo work; or the dirty electro-pop of this album by The Blueness, his unique and unmistakable style remains. With The Blueness, John has traded his guitar for a Casio keyboard and added a touch of languid 80s space-station to the mix and, along with the band, created another album full of pop gems.
Buffalo Man / David Dallas (2012)
Auckland rapper David Dallas first came to wider public attention in 2006 as part of the duo Frontline, whose debut album Borrowed Time was voted Best Hip Hop album at the 2006 NZ Music Awards. David has gone on to win acclaim as a solo artist, including winning Best Hip Hop album in 2010 with Something Awesome and being shortlisted for the 2011 Award and the Taite Prize for his follow up The Rose Tint. Buffalo Man, which David released as a free download in September, is a tribute to one of his favourite groups, Jamiroquai. Each of the six songs on this EP are inspired by, sampled or interpolated from Jamiroquai. Watch a video of David talking about the making of Buffalo Man on his site.
Palliser Bay / Nick Guy (2012)
One of the most criminally overlooked group of musicians from the late 90’s were Christchurch quartet Barnard’s Star. Their 1999 eponymous EP is a terrific set of shoegazey, droney sound-scapes that was in some ways the high water mark of that particular thread of Christchurch music. The group split up in 2002 and little was heard from them, but in the past few years guitarist Nick Guy has begun to crop up, appearing in collaborations with Christchurch musicians Bachelorette and Roy Montgomery (as the duo Torlesse Super Group). Nick has also been quietly releasing his majestic guitar/laptop sound-works online via Bandcamp for the past couple of years, of which Palliser Bay is the latest.