Well, I've recently returned to NZ from a whirlwind tour of my homeland, The Great White North, Canada. Yes the land of hockey, maple syrup, and beavers. I had to cover an area about the size of NZ in two and a half weeks. Along for the ride came a selection of cd's I've purchased since living in NZ. I'm glad I did. NZ music seems perfect for long road trips across the Canadian wilderness. My favorite memory was crusing along a highway at near twilight, towering mountains casting shadows across deep valleys of forests, rivers, and trees while Looma's Continuum blasted out of the car speakers.

Anyway, in case anyone is interested what New Zealand bands(from my small collection anyway) tickled the fancy of my fellow Canadians here is a list(top 3 anyway):

1. Cassette.
Consistently and continually garnered comments. Everytime I put Emo on, someone was asking who they were, and quite a few people are looking to track their stuff down in Canada.

2. Looma.
'This song is blowing my mind.' - quote/unquote in reference to Continuum. A big favorite.

3. Pacifier.
Good soundtrack to city driving. Head banging often accompanied. Played very loud on car stereos. Appreciated by my friends in the prairie provinces more than the west coast.

ok one more need special mention..
4. Dub in general(Salmonella, Black Seeds, etc).
not proliferent in Canada, not played anywhere really. A few house bars maybe, but not radio or tv. I could see this getting big with the right push behind it. Was very popular with my friends living on the west coast. A bit of a Reggae revival happening there I think.

Thanks to the all the talented NZ musicians for making me seem like one bad ass, cool motherfucker, with amazing musical tastes. It was fun to continually surprise and impress people with great tracks they've never heard.

Of course i was missing this site as well, ahhh forums. Hi everyone!