My first time playing records out of the house this year. And a great event – the fifth birthday for A Vinyl Affair: Wellington’s Record Fair. And though I had played records at a “A Vinyl Affair” event before it was my first time in a while and my first time ever playing some tunes at the Rogue […]
Trini Lopez featuring The Ventures + Nancy Ames, The Trini Lopez Show [OST] (1968) There’s never anything but joy when I hear Trini Lopez – obviously there’s The Classic Album – and that’s my all-time favourite from him, sure. But it hasn’t stopped me hunting out more. Including this, the latest to my collection – the soundtrack to his TV show, […]
The Lion King Director: Jon Favreau Walt Disney Pictures/Fairview Entertainment This version of The Lion King is so technically dazzling, so bereft of heart, so wide-missing of any emotional mark, so utterly digital and soulless that even though I knew Jon Favreau was the director going in I was still stunned to not see Peter Jackson’s […]
Welcome to episode 176 of Sweetman Podcast with support from our sponsors – T Leaf T, Yeastie Boys and La Petite Chocolat. Now – as you probably know, as well as the usual platforms (this site, soundcloud, iTunes/Apple) you can now get to Sweetman Podcast on Spotify – follow it there and have it saved in your Spotify library. I first met Carl Shuker close to 20 years ago. He […]
Once a month or so I have a chat on RNZ on their Afternoons show with Jesse Mulligan. These things start – randomly and stop in much the same way. I hope to keep doing this. For a while at least. I think I started in December of 2015, so now four years into it or so… […]
Ray Conniff, Ray Conniff’s Hawaiian Album (1967) I think I first learned about Ray Conniff via a Bacharach compilation or tribute album or something…but it was love at first sound. I dig Ray Conniff and his singers. It’s a sound that transcends cheese to me. Or just wallows in it. Either/or. And I’ve been collecting up Conniff albums whenever […]
Mark Mulcahy The Gus The Mezzotint Label/Mark Mulcahy Across the last decade it’s been a time of personal tumult and musical magic for Mark Mulcahy. The death of his wife (in 2008) has meant that any and all musical releases are instantly read as a form of public grieving. There was the brilliant pick-yourself-back-up Dear Mark […]
I watched that new version of A Star Is Born – it features Bradley Cooper as a nose fetishist and Lady Gaga as a nose. He was the bad side of Kris Kristofferson, none of the wisdom or insight in the lyrics, none of the heft or deft or breadth – fucking plod-happy nothing-songs that apparently get a crowd. (He fingers the nose to an Allman Brothers song. And 12 first cousins […]
The Aliens Direction: Cassandra Tse (written by Annie Baker) Te Whaea Basement Theatre (July 4 – 13) An Annie Baker play changed my life – and I’ve yet to see a production of it…you see, I was so blown away by hearing her interviewed, reading about her, seeing the works available that I took a chance on the script for The Flick. […]
Beethoven: Herbert von Karajan conducting The Philharmonia Orchestra, Symphony No. 6 “Pastoral (1961) I reckon I was massively into Beethoven above any other classical composers for two obvious and superficial reasons: Bill and Ted’s Excellent Adventure and the way they talked about “Beeth Oven” and the more serious Immortal Beloved biopic (and its volumes of soundtrack CDs). When I arrived in Wellington I had some of my grandfather’s […]
At the start of this year the Brisa Roché album Father consumed me. The first best album I heard in 2019 – my first rave review for the year. And it’s been in my ears, and I’ve been carrying it in my heart, ever since. When you fall so heavily for something the very best news is that new music […]
Adolf Hitler just wanted to be a painter – someone should have given him an exhibition. Take a chance! Charles Manson wanted to make records – why do you think he befriended the one Beach Boy that could surf? he wanted to soak up the sound… he wrote some songs. certainly managed to get plenty of […]
