Hey all, I'm from the U.S. and am curious to know if there is a "college rock" genre in NZ, like there is in the United States. I have no idea how popular American indie music is in NZ and how familiar you are with our non-mainstream bands, but the college rock genre in the US consists of artists like Wilco, Rilo Kiley, The Decemberists, Elliott Smith, Maria Taylor, The Shins, Ben Folds Five, etc. So is there an equivalent or similar genre in NZ? And if so what are some NZ artists that fall into this category?
Also, My best friend is studying abroad in Auckland next semester, and I told her I'd check out the NZ music scene for her...
She loves the more lo-fi kind of music, easy listening songs with solid lyrics. Like a person and an instrument deal - for example Coldplay, Damien Rice, Aimee Mann, etc. Are there any NZ artists you can think of that are comparable to these musical artists?
Any answers/opinions would be greatly appreciated! The only New Zealand music charts I can find only have mainstream American music on them :( Who are the great New Zealand artists!?
Brooklyn
P.S. Thanks to anyone who took the time to read this disorganized stream of thoughts that are posing as a post!
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welcome to the right
welcome to the right place...
here's a few to start a mixture of mainstream and not.
and here's a store to buy it all from.
"Indie etc" a big variety of genres
Phoenix Foundation
Dimmer
The Deadly Deaths
Cassette
The Datsuns
"Singer/Songwriter"
Bic Runga
Grayson Gilmour
and then there's "BBQ Reggae" but I'm not going into that.
All the bands you mentioned
All the bands you mentioned have a pretty decent following in NZ (well, as decent as you can get in a country that boasts a population of 16.5 people and 8 bajillion sheep ;-). I started making a list of the bands I like but I was surprised to discover just what a wide field "indie" covers in NZ - it's a bit difficult working out which bands you'll like because they're all so different. There's quite a bit of rock&roll-inspired stuff that's quite popular in nz at the moment - Connan & the Mockasins, The Checks, The Sneaks, The Situations, but I'm not sure if that's your thing or not.
Anything on Lil Chief Records, who are on very friendly terms with Sub Pop, home o' the Shins. Try The Ruby Suns, Shaft, The Brunettes or The Nudie Suits. Also, the Arch Hill label has a bunch of cool stuff - Pine & Bachelorette are two o' my faves, and your friend will probably like them too.
Your friend might also like Gasoline Cowboy, or lesser-knowns Andrew Keoghan or Renee-Louise Carafice, but I'm getting tired of linking so I think I'll leave it at that. Most of these artists have myspace profiles, so you can go check out the music there as well.
Also worthwhile checking out
Also worthwhile checking out the series of magazines w/ comp CDs called "A Low Hum" that were put out for a few years up to end of 2006. They cover a bit of a range but largely indie guitar-based non-mainstream bands. Some of the names featuring there are: Ghostplane, Dead Pan Rangers, Grand Prix, The Dark Beaks, The Enright House, Lawrence Arabia, The Undercurrents, Punches, Voom etc. Most will have a MySpace or NZMusic.com page.
I second the view that the most likely home for NZs version of "College Rock" will be independent labels like Arch Hill (Pine, Fang, David Kilgour, Reduction Agents) and Lil Chief (Brunettes, Ruby Suns, Shaft) and also Powertool (Puddle, Onanon, Robert Scott). But also don't overlook the independently independent as there a few bands not on "name" labels here who are getting recognition overseas and played on US college radio... which I guess makes them "College Rock".
Phoenix Foundation and solo off-shoots like Sam Scott are probably NZ's answer to Wilco so worth checking them. Also a bit of a long history of bands from the '80's and '90's, mostly on Flying Nun Records at the time who still seem to get regular US College Radio play and are still adored more overseas than they are here - The Clean, The Chills, The Verlaines, The Bats, Bailter Space etc. - even by new generations of music lovers. And for more soundscape/ ambient guitar noise don't forget the mighty HDU. Phew...
Yeah I would site the So So
Yeah I would site the So So Modern song on their Myspace page (I think its called Fire Fight) as being an excellent example of indie pop/art pop whatever.