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Posts Tagged The Spines

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August 1, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

For The Band Spines In Its 40th Birthday Year

The music of Wellington band Spines found me in the mid-90s. I was new to Wellington and buying records. I saw this record called The Moon and I bought it because of the cover. I bought it on a whim because I was intrigued by the image and I noticed that Ross Burge was the […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged For The Band Spines In Its 40th Birthday Year, https://linktr.ee/Simonsweetman, Jon Mcleary, Spines, The Spines, Want more? Check out my Substack You can also support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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May 10, 2021 by Simon Sweetman

Spines: Backstory. Spines Live 1986.

Spines Backstory. Spines Live 1986. (Independent / Bandcamp) Celebrating their 40th anniversary as a band, Wellington’s Spines – still going, many different line-ups but always led by the mercurial songwriting of Jon McLeary – have dug deep into their archives to reveal a previously unreleased live album from 1986. It even features a few songs […]
Posted in Blog, Reviews · Tagged 1986, 86, Act Your Age, Album Review, Archives, Backstory, Backstory. Spines Live 1986., Bandcamp, Jon Mcleary, Live, Live Recording, Ross Burge, Spines, Spines Live, Spines: Backstory. Spines Live 1986., The Moon, The Spines, Want more? Check out my Substack You can also support Off The Tracks via PressPatron, Wellington, Wendy Calder ·

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December 2, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

RNZ Reviews: November 2019

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… It’s […]
Posted in Blog, Reviews · Tagged 2019, 2pm, Afternoons, Afternoons with Jesse Mulligan, Aimee Mann, Album Reviews, An Enlarged Heart, Come On Up To The House, Come On Up To The House: Women Sing Waits, Hold On, Jesse Mulligan, Monuments to an Elegy, Music Reviews, November, November 2019, Radio, Radio NZ, Reviews, RNZ, RNZ Reviews, RNZ Reviews: November 2019, Spines, The Spines, Thursday, Tom Waits, You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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November 27, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

Spines: Dreamboat

Spines Dreamboat Spines/Bandcamp The new album by the Spines is the best the band has sounded in the studio, certainly since the very early days of the band (getting back towards 40 years now). Dreamboat follows on, nearly two and a half years after Epidural – an excellent set of songs too  but Dreamboat features […]
Posted in Blog, Reviews · Tagged Album Review, Bandcamp, Dreamboat, Epidural, Hannah Fraser, Jon Mcleary, Les Knight, Lisa Tomlins, Louise Loft, Malky Taylor, Maurice Priestley, Riki Gooch, Spines, Spines: Dreamboat, Spotify, The Spines, You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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November 25, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

Playlist: DJ Set from the Spines Dreamboat Launch

Last Saturday, November 23, I played some records at the San Fran as part of the Spines’ Dreamboat album launch. One of the very few times I’ve played any records out in public this year actually. And it was a lot of fun. A great night. And based on the setlist from that night I’ve pulled together […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged 2019, DJ, DJ Set, DJ Simon Sweetman, Dreamboat, LP, November 23, Playlist, Playlist: DJ Set from the Spines Dreamboat Launch, Records, San Fran, Saturday, Simon Sweetman, Spines, Spines Dreamboat Launch, Spotify, The Spines, Vinyl, You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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November 11, 2019 by Simon Sweetman

Gig Preview: The Spines Dreamboat Album Release Show (Wgtn, Sat Nov 23)

Next Saturday, November 23, sees the Spines return to the stage at the San Fran in Wellington. Not only that, they’ll be bringing new songs – from a new album. The band’s latest recording, Dreamboat, will be launched. So it’ll be a set of brand new songs as well as some back-catalog favourites. Opening the […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged Album Release, DJ, Dreamboat, Gig, Gig Preview, Gig Preview: The Spines Dreamboat Album Release Show (Wgtn, Jon Mcleary, Live Gig, New Album, November 23, San Fran, Sat Nov 23), Saturday, Simon Sweetman, Spines, The Spines, Wellington, Yann Le Dorre, YOLK, You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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June 12, 2018 by Simon Sweetman

The Ghost of Electricity: War Stories by Jon McLeary # 207 One Day In The Life

Taking a day off today That pain I get has amped up again Nothing I can do about it Just drink water and wait it out Might try and do a bit more on this painting It’s coming along
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged Accident, Art, Ghost, Guest Blog, Guest Post, Help!, Helping, Jon Mcleary, Karma, Newtown, One Day In The Life, Painting, Spines, The Ghost of Electricity, The Ghost of Electricity: War Stories by Jon McLeary, The Ghost of Electricity: War Stories by Jon McLeary # 207 One Day In The Life, The Spines, Trafffic, War Stories, War Stories # 207, Wellington, Writing, You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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May 21, 2018 by Simon Sweetman

The Ghost of Electricity: War Stories by Jon McLeary # 206 Split Enz

I saw them at some key gigs in their strange career. At the Great Ngarauawahia Music Festival when they were Split Ends. I was fourteen and like most people there to see Black Sabbath but I do remember they were interesting. Dressed pretty much like everybody else there – a much different spectacle than what […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged #206, Art, Enz, ep.206, Guest, Guest Blog, Guest Post, Jon Mcleary, Kiwi, Mike Chunn, Music, Nambassa, Neil Finn, Ngarauwahia, NZ, Painting, Phil Judd, Spellbound, Spines, Split Ends, Split Enz, The Enz, The Ghost of Electricity, The Ghost of Electricity: War Stories, The Ghost of Electricity: War Stories by Jon McLeary, The Ghost of Electricity: War Stories by Jon McLeary # 206, The Ghost of Electricity: War Stories by Jon McLeary # 206 Split Enz, The Spines, Tim Finn, War Stories # 206, War Stories by Jon McLeary, War Stories by Jon McLeary # 206, Wellington, Writing, You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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May 2, 2018 by Simon Sweetman

The Nightwatchman Clicks His Flashlight: On Jon McLeary’s Double Century of Ghost Posts

Well, he’s a cricket fan, so he’ll enjoy the mention of a “double century” – but one thing I learned a while back is that you have to pick your moments and celebrate your own milestones in this writing-online caper. You have to turn up. And turn up. And turn up again. And if you […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged Art, Band, Blog, Bob Dylan, Bruno Lawrence, Chris Knox, Cricket, Family, Films, Ghost, Ghost posts, Guest Blog, Guest Post, Heart, Jon Mcleary, Manslaughter, Movies, Music, Novel, On Jon McLeary’s Double Century of Ghost Posts, Painting, Peter McLeavey, Spines, The Ghost, The Ghost of Electricity: War Stories by Jon McLeary, The Nightwatchman Clicks His Flashlight, The Nightwatchman Clicks His Flashlight: On Jon McLeary’s Double Century of Ghost Posts, The Spines, War Stories, Wellington, Writing, You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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May 1, 2018 by Simon Sweetman

The Ghost of Electricity: War Stories by Jon McLeary # 205 Stop the World

I think it took me over ten years to write this song. I know I started on the verses in 1980 after the demise of Negative Theatre. I’d read an interview with Steely Dan where they talked about mu major chords and I played the A, E, A, D, C#m, D, A, E, A pattern […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged #205, A Snakelike Life, Art, Castaneda, Ghost, Ghost Stories, Guest Blog, Guest Post, Holloway Rd, Holloway Road, Jon Mcleary, Music, Negative Theatre, Painting, Song, Songwriting, Spines, Steely Dan, Stop The World, The Ghost, The Ghost of Electricity, The Ghost of Electricity: War Stories, The Ghost of Electricity: War Stories by Jon McLeary, The Ghost of Electricity: War Stories by Jon McLeary # 205 Stop the World, The Spines, War Stories, War Stories # 205, War Stories by Jon McLeary, Wellington, Writing, You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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April 23, 2018 by Simon Sweetman

The Ghost of Electricity: War Stories by Jon McLeary # 204 The Set List

It was where we got our name from in the first place The Spines very first gig We’d been unable to decide from a long list of terrible attempts It was a packed University hall at lunchtime orientation Malcom McSporran was going to introduce us and he asked me what we were called I looked […]
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged Art, Ghost, Ghost Stories # 204, Guest Blog, Guest Post, Jon Mcleary, Music, Negative Theatre, Set List, Setlist, Songs, Spines, The Ghost of Electricity, The Ghost of Electricity: War Stories, The Ghost of Electricity: War Stories by Jon McLeary # 204, The Ghost of Electricity: War Stories by Jon McLeary # 204 The Set List, The Ghost of Electricity: War Stories by Jon McLeary4, The Set List, The Spines, War Stories, War Stories by Jon McLeary, War Stories by Jon McLeary # 204 The Set List, Wellington, Wgtn, Writing, You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·

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April 16, 2018 by Simon Sweetman

The Ghost of Electricity: War Stories by Jon McLeary # 203 Visions of JoHannah

“But Mona Lisa must have had the highway blues You can tell by the way she smiles” Bob Dylan I’ve said it before – It’s hard to talk about the act of painting without appearing pretentious
Posted in Blog, Miscellany · Tagged 203, Art, Bob Dylan, Face, Facebook, Ghost, Ghost Stories, Guest Blog, Guest Post, Hannah, Hannah Fraser, JoHannah, Jon Mcleary, Music, Oil, Painting, Paintings, Spines, The Ghost, The Ghost of Electricity, The Ghost of Electricity: War Stories, The Ghost of Electricity: War Stories by Jon McLeary # 203 Visions of JoHannah, The Spines, Visions of JoHannah, War Stories, War Stories # 203, War Stories by Jon McLeary, War Stories by Jon McLeary # 203, Wgtn, Writing, You can support Off The Tracks via PressPatron ·
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