New playlist – Leao – Kura Forrester on FIRST
...and other recs this week!
Kia ora, welcome to this week’s newsletter.
It is one of the world’s great modern mysteries: how come I only ever seem to listen to an increasingly narrow diet of 90s nostalgia and sad indie, despite the fact I now have a whole world of recorded music at my fingertips? And why, with an endless supply of movies and TV shows to choose from, am I currently spending my downtime rewatching The Simpsons and Parks and Recreation?
Surely somebody has gotten to the bottom of this phenomenon by now – if you’ve read anything good on this topic I’d love to hear about it! I’d also love to know people’s favourite go-to playlists or new music to help get out of a listening rut. Read on for a couple of recs from the office!
–Cal
This week’s new podcasts
Cricket podcast The Offspin [Apple | Spotify] has been watching the World Test Championship final (and the bleak Southampton weather forecast), including a great chat with Brendon McCullum on Saturday morning.
The Real Pod [Apple | Spotify] welcomed New Zealand’s greatest living celebrity Colin Mathura-Jeffree for a gossip, while Chris Parker and Eli Matthewson caught up with Drag Race Down Under winner Kita Mean.
On When the Facts Change [Apple | Spotify], Bernard Hickey looked at the state of New Zealand’s housing stock and asked the experts how we’re going to bring it up to standard.
On Business is Boring [Apple | Spotify], Simon Pound spoke to Thomas Dietz, the founder and CEO of food box company Woop.
On The Fold [Apple | Spotify], Duncan Greive spoke with the creative team responsible for the triumphant resurrection of Metro magazine.
Remember When… [Apple | Spotify] took us back to Biebermania and revisited the Hunger Games franchise.
New Gone By Lunchtime [Apple | Spotify] this week too. Politics!
Subscribe and listen, rate and review, wherever you get your podcasts.
FIRST
As far as answers to the “first job” question go, Kura Forrester’s is going to be hard to beat. The Billy T Award-winning comedian and actor behind the incredible Shortland Street character Desi worked as the Eagle Boys mascot as a teenager, and it was even worse than you might imagine. Watch Kura’s very funny FIRST episode above or listen to the extended podcast version wherever you get your pods.
Leao live on RNZ
Leonie says: “Leao is the musical project of David Feauai-Afaese, who makes jangly garage rock from these here islands, singing in gagana Sāmoa and conjuring restless teenagers hanging out on a hot night that could be in central Auckland or in Apia. On Leao’s debut EP Ghost Roads (Noa Records), Feauai-Afaese’s voice is washed in fuzz, but here you can hear his full voice and it’s deep and beautiful. They’ve recorded two songs from Ghost Roads with added kīkākila (steel guitar) reminiscent of the great Bill Sevesi, and a cover of the Five Stars’ ‘Musika Malie’, which is my absolutely unrivalled song of the winter.”
Heard at CVS
If there’s one thing better than discovering new music it’s rediscovering a song you’d forgotten about for several decades. Heard at CVS is a playlist curated by someone who works at a branch of the big US pharmacy and keeps note of all the songs that play over the store’s soundsystem, and it’s absolutely crammed with 80s, 90s and 00s smooth pop classics and deep cuts. I recommend listening to ‘Every Time You Go Away’ by Paul Young with fresh ears.
i need the biggest beat you have (no, that’s too big)
Sam says: “My current cooking/cleaning/striding playlist is one called “i need the biggest beat you have (no, that’s too big)”. It’s a crisp 25 songs long, and it is accurately named. These are big beats, huge tunes, and they make you feel like a more significant cog in the world’s machine when you’re listening to them.”
Meaningwave
Josie says: “I want to preface this rec by saying I am not alt right and am in fact a filthy woke commie, but lately I've been kind of listening to Jordan Peterson. Wait, don't go! It's called "meaningwave", and it's lectures set to music by producer Akira the Don. It's weirdly uplifting to work to. Top picks: Make it Beautiful, Back to the Lobsters, Demonically Warped Aesthetic.”
GREAT SOUNDS GREAT
Toby Morris recommended this a couple of weeks ago but it’s worth sharing again: “For anyone trying not to let their music taste slip into “the same stuff I listened to aged 16-25” [don’t look at me] territory for the rest of your life, I recommend the spotify playlist GREAT SOUNDS GREAT. It’s curated by the staff at Auckland record store Flying Out, who update it weekly with their favourite songs from whatever new releases have caught their ears that week. There's a wildly eclectic range of genres, and every week you'll discover a couple of new things worth delving into further (or at the very least something you’ll be able to say you heard first when everyone else is listening to it in a month).”
Teresa Mannion vs Rihanna
Sam says: “Here is a shining example of a form that feels like a relic of the ancient internet: the news clip mash-up. This one mashes up Irish reporter Teresa Mannion’s live cross on Storm Desmond from Galway in 2015 with Rihanna’s mid-00's banger ‘Umbrella’. It’s ridiculously well-edited, and Mannion’s impassioned cries of “Don’t take risks on treacherous roads!” and “You can swim in the sea, but don’t today!” come off as the perfect blend of spat rhymes and fridge magnet affirmation. I’ve watched it about 50 times.” [Here’s a nice vid of Mannion talking about her unexpected viral fame.]
Adrian Bliss on TikTok
Jane says: “I rec this guy on TikTok cos he makes me laugh.”
That’s all for this week! Please reply to get in touch and share with anyone else who might like to subscribe too. See you next Wednesday 👋
