Author Archive

June 14, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

Poem: Had Baby Haiku

efficiency and poetry met and fucked had baby haiku
June 13, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

Hélène Grimaud: The Messenger

Hélène Grimaud The Messenger Deutsche Grammophon French pianist Hélène Grimaud is a risk-taker and a concept-maker, creating albums that pull from different styles and eras, and push into place new understandings, new beginnings even – here, with The Messenger she seeks to compare and contrast Mozart with the contemporary classical composer Valentyn Silvestrov.
June 13, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

Poem: The Luck Of The Draw

Grant Lee Buffalo released two great albums Fuzzy and Mighty Joe Moon. They were released in 1993 and 1994. I caught up with them a few years later, a new friend loaned me the albums – I returned the favour by giving her a copy of The Cat Inside by William S. Burroughs and an […]
June 13, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

Gig Review: Michael Houstoun and The Rodger Fox Big Band ft. Erna Ferry (June 12, Wellington)

Michael Houstoun and The Rodger Fox Big Band ft. Erna Ferry Opera House, Wellington, 2pm Saturday, June 12 The once unlikely pairing of classical pianist Michael Houstoun and big-band stalwart Rodger Fox is now an annual event. They’ve even sewn up the same slot too – an afternoon show and always to a packed house. […]
June 12, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

When In Doubt, OST!

There aren’t many rules in our house – but a big one is to not have the music too loud unless we all agree, unless it’s party time, unless I’m in the house alone. And to not have competing sounds – no music blasting in one room with a TV still on somewhere else, all […]
June 11, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

Poem: Half Time At The Housewarming, The Fire Roaring, The Pass-Around Food Is Lovely…

Eventually ol’ Fitzy or Trev or Mucka or Graeme or whatever the name was, asked me what sport was my favourite – my rugby-bluffing had been going about as well as the game itself. I told him I watched a lot of basketball – and loved it. And he gestured, adding “oh yeah, the hat”. […]
June 11, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

Playlist: Make A Jazz Noise

I make a few playlists – some to share, many are just for myself. Well, they’re all to share because they’re on Spotify and anyone can find them or can follow my account to get the updates etc. But what I mean is sometimes I’m specifically making a playlist for an audience – whereas other […]
June 11, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

Poem: What’s That Got To Do With The Price of Fish?

Apparently, I’m not really much of a full-time work kind of guy, well I know that already on account of the fact that I don’t have a full-time job. But I’ve fully got time for a job that might require all the hours. I have transferrable skills. I have contacts. I have a proven track […]
June 11, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

Promising Young Woman and Unhinged is The Double Feature I Am Here For

Promising Young Woman and Unhinged were movies I liked – a lot. You are maybe not supposed to ‘like’ them; they aren’t meant to be a fun watch. But I applaud the filmmakers in both cases and I sat riveted. I want them to screen together. I want them to be shown to school-age audiences. […]
June 10, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

Gig Review: Newbop Quintet (June 10, Wellington)

Newbop Quintet Meow, Wellington Jazz Festival Thursday, June 10 An Auckland “supergroup” of session stalwarts was put together to sell classic hard bop-era jazz to casual fans, to purists, to, well, anyone that might turn up. It was a shame more people weren’t there to hear them at Wellington’s Jazz Festival performance, the group’s Capital […]
June 10, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

Friends: The Reunion

Friends: The Reunion Director: Ben Winston HBO Max Nostalgia has always been the best marketing hook. Pop songs from the sixties singing about the “reflections of the way life used to be”. Pop songs from every decade since doing much the same. Why not remind people of the past though, you can sell them the […]
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