Posts Tagged Essay
Archive
July 28, 2019 by Simon Sweetman
Alan Duff: A Conversation With My Country
A Conversation With My Country Alan Duff Penguin Alan Duff wrote one of New Zealand’s most important books – Once Were Warriors. It’s not a particularly well written book. But its timing was crucial. It meant something. Since then he repeated the formula until no one cared, perfected the Old Man Yells At Cloud-persona of the truly entitled, right-wing newspaper columnist […]Archive
September 9, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
No Holiday: On The Decision Around Having “Another”
This piece first appeared on The Spinoff and is also included as one of the pieces in the book “Is It Bedtime Yet?” by Emily Writes & Friends I always wanted a daughter named Billie. Simple really. As soon as I heard Billie Holiday’s voice I was sold. Her voice, that sound, and the idea of her […]Archive
February 26, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
Teju Cole: Blind Spot
Blind Spot Teju Cole Random House Award-winning novelist, essayist and journalist Teju Cole here provides an innovative, masterful meditation on the way we see things; the relationship/s between words and images. Blind Spot is all at once a set of micro-essays, a photography book, a travel diary and yet it transcends all – stands on […]Archive
January 14, 2018 by Simon Sweetman
PressPatron on Off The Tracks: Click to Donate and Support
As of today you’ll notice PressPatron on Off The Tracks, a banner button asking you to donate (if you wish) and a button in the side bar which tells you more specifically:Archive
December 3, 2017 by Simon Sweetman
Songwriter Profile: Chris Knox
From his time with The Enemy and Toy Love through to Tall Dwarfs and his solo career, Chris Knox has been a hero to many, domestically and abroad, for his passionate performances, his writing and his ethos: a DIY song-craftsman. The image of Knox as the man in the stubbies and jandals is a crucial […]Archive
November 9, 2017 by Simon Sweetman
Sweetman Podcast: Episode 89 – Kirsten McDougall
Welcome to episode 89 of Sweetman Podcast with support from our sponsors – T Leaf T, Yeastie Boys and Le Petite Chocolat. Here I had a chat with Kirsten McDougall. She is a writer, publicist and literary manager. We discuss her various roles and talk about her two books, The Invisible Rider and Tess. The Invisible Rider is a 2012 release, […]Archive
May 2, 2017 by Simon Sweetman
NZ Music Month: Back From The Dead Again
There’s probably a whole lot of stuff planned, as usual. There’ll be “showcases” and there’ll be token mentions in blog posts and newspaper articles, the usual names will be named. Ultimately the same backs will be patted. The same few – the chosen few, with just a small hint of new and therefore (allegedly) exciting being added […]Archive
April 5, 2017 by Simon Sweetman
On: William Carlos Williams, American Poetics, Modern Art’s Influence And Poetry Existing In A Person’s Lifetime
“nobody can save you but yourself” – Charles Bukowski William Carlos Williams was born in the late 19th Century (September 17, 1883) and died in the midst of rock’n’roll revolution and post-modernist art in the middle of the 20th Century (March 4, 1963). A doctor, majoring in pediatrics and obstetrics, Williams kept his twin medical […]Archive
December 27, 2016 by Simon Sweetman
Do You (Ever) Feel Like We Did? – The One Time It Worked to DJ Some Peter Frampton
My aunty was married twenty years ago (one of them) and using the state-of-the-art late 1980s technology I had my first gig as a DJ. I was 12. The big hit at the wedding, from the three dubbed C-90 tapes I made was the soundtrack to The Blues Brothers, specifically the double-whammy of Cab Calloway’s […]Archive
November 30, 2016 by Simon Sweetman
Where Beck Was At: His First Decade of Genius
In the New Zealand Winter of 1996 a unique cut’n’paste audio collage was filtered through radio stations; the video appearing on the recent addition to Sky television, the Juice music channel. This bewildering and beguiling mix of samples was Where It’s At by Beck. The artist had cornered the alternative market, catered to old-school hip-hop […]Archive
November 12, 2016 by Simon Sweetman