A song about the mess that is the Auckland Public Transport System - "Big City" by Ha the Unclear

I saw a great performance of this song live at Winecellar a while back and I am glad to hear the recording turned out so well! I really like the lyrical story that underpins the song. I instantly relate as a person whom also frequents the hideous mess that is Auckland public transport. Glad to hear a local song that captures the inward battle of the Auckland commute so vividly.

She Looked At Me (Moss Rock) demo

Demo of a song I did, i've always really dug this melody and lyrics Volita Pearl Bioletti came up with Jeremy Bioletti playing the gat 👅😃

Fuzzed Out at Fuzzy Islands - Bozo, Astrochildren, Miss June

Bozo:

If your a fan of psyched out U.S college radio friendly music this band is for you. Yolanda (singer/drummer) and gang offered some trippy tunes their overall sound was accentuated with some tasty snare accents and singing processed through a phased chorus cloud of reverb. Guy also of The Echo Oh's played some concrete riffs and chords on rhythm guitar anchoring the whole group whilst demonstrating some impressive musical leadership. The younger guitarist in the band who plays with New Gum Sarn also threw up a collage of delectable lead riffs and scales that added complexity and shimmering colour to the bands sound. The musical rapport between the younger guitarist and Guy was obvious to myself in the crowd leaning on the pillar at Fuzzy islands. It's always a beautiful thing to witness two musicians in sync parlaying riffs off against each other adding to the bands high stakes performance. 

Another thing I liked about Bozo was the dedicated percussionist playing tambourine. By playing sixteenth and quarter notes on the tambourine as well as solidifying the backbeat on the two and the four this freed up Yolanda to play more toms and rolls while singing. The percussionist effectively eliminated the drummer from needing to play the standard rock drum beats and allowed her to play nice ride patterns and tribal patterns. I also thought Yolanda had a natural and well poised technique with even hitting that mad the drums sing, smashing the crap out of a kit can get rather boring and sadomasochistic. 

The bands first and middle songs of the set I found to be there strongest. One song that jumped out had a great dynamic guitar motif where the band would get louder for a certain refrain with an almost ear splitting ripping apart of the song by the musicians before being quickly super glued back together. I almost forgot to mention the young female keyboardist/singer/bass player who shared vocal duties carrying the band for certain numbers. I found the juxtaposition of to singers pretty kick ass as you would never know who was gonna sing the next song. I was also deeply impressed with the musical low end of the young female musicians bass playing. To sum up a raucous cacophony of buzzy music.

         https://www.facebook.com/weareBOZO/

         https://bozos.bandcamp.com

Astrochildren:

Hailing from Dunedin the windswept two piece were hanging on the walls of Fuzzy Islands pre-gig when I paid my door charge to see them. After releasing their first record on Muzai records they're and their latest release themselves they preformed a formidable set on the night alongside Miss June who played after them. When my friend and I skipped over the entrance to the gig people were still running late to the maxed out show so we dipped outside to get a drink and turned up a bit later. Our stamps were studiously studied for possible forgery and we again re-entered Fuzzy Islands. Dis-claimer this was my first time at said venue which I liked. After Bozo played DJs spun indie approved obscure records before Astrochildren tuned up and turned their lone amp up to 12 for a full on audio attack.

Astrochildren's drummer Izaak bashed on his cracked gold cymbals to make sure they were ready to give way for another night of RockNRoll torture, thankfully they were. Distorted feedback rang out throughout the room like a foggy mist with an amp fighting against lead guitarist Millie. Eventually the amp was seduced and dominated into submission and the songs flowed like a tsunami. My favourite two songs of the night were 'Boys Encourage Female Rivalry" discussing gender issues and feeling inadequate faced by the beautiful other as well as the new single on the 7 inch vinyl 'when you lose'. I always enjoy hearing lyrics from a feminine perspective and also know how Millie felt as men also struggle with identity issues and body dis-morphia. 

I firmly believe musics a sick art form to educate people about social issues, but sometimes it's good not to end up preaching to the choir. At one point I was almost overpowered by the volume of the Astro set and had to stand outside and get some fresh air while being splattered by rain. Eventually I sucked in my guts and went inside to finish off the gig. In all honesty I was stoked to see the droony uncompromising style of Astrochildren as I came away from their set knowing they had given everything they had on stage and feeling buzzed out that new Kiwi artists aren't afraid to be themselves 100%.

It's also pretty obvious now on reflection that Astrochildren are about jarring people and making them feel uncomfortable through music. They want to test your belief systems and the socially ingrained status quo that lives within every member of New Zealand society. Kinda like the first matrix movie I mean do you want to step out into the real world with Astrochildren surrounded by the heaving weight of social disparities or do you just want to sit on a chair and drink beers and not really give a fark. 

    https://www.facebook.com/AstroChildren/ 

   https://astrochildrenmusic.bandcamp.com

Miss June: 

After being an online fan of Miss June on the back of their debut E.P "Matriarchy" I was excited to see them play. I managed to make out the whole band in the crowd and it was sweet to see them supporting the other bands always a sweet move. Out of the corner of my eye I saw the intimate glances that the band members would do to each other like a platoon or a militant army psyching themselves up before storming the barricades of the packed house to rocknroll. For their first song they launched into a grunge blast beat after a showy musical flex of virtuosity in a pre-set warm up that I wish had been an actually song haha. Fanboy dis-claimer I also developed a great respect for Miss June's drummer and appreciated his lightning fast jazz chops and powerful as well as unique combinations behind the drums. 

The bands first song really started to get cooking when the guitar dropped with a snarl whipping crash driving the moshing crowd into unrestrained fury. The venue was pretty small for a circle of death but as the set progressed things started to get pretty hectic with myself trying to avoid another elbow in the stomach ones enough lol. The song that really sent people into hyper drive and caused the room to shudder was 'Clyde the Turtle' people were singing the chorus from the opening guitar twang and when the chorus dropped everyone went bezerk and the crowd turned into a raging horde of insanity, well you know what I mean. A guy i was next to moshing was dressed up in a classic punk outfit and he had a kinda of devilish vibe about him, I thought perhaps he was gonna go stir crazy but surprisingly he was quite civil and well behaved in the crowd. 

Andrew from Die Die Die was also halfway up the stairs hanging through the rafters filming Miss June which was cool to see and made me thought man everybody's a director these days and the film is well our lives haha. Their was also a bit of funny banter from lead singer Annabel Liddel as she explained how basic her guitar part is for the song 'Clyde' plonking one string with a laugh. If I can remember the band played an encore with Annabel doing a post-mint chicks unstable vocal delivery on amp after losing her black beret and the set ended. Many people wanted more music but fark'em sometimes you get what your given laughs and have to flog that shit on trade me. 

  https://www.facebook.com/missjunenz

http://missjune.bandcamp.com/ 

Yellowbelly - Rough Landing E.P (Auckland) Rocawave 2016

Our gift to the world we salute you ‪#‎Yellowbelly‬ :) 
A giant thank you too Fernando, Daniel, Jarrod 
https://rocawaverecords.bandcamp.com/…/yellowbelly-rough-la…
https://soundcloud.com/rocaw…/…/yellowbelly-rough-landing-ep

Rocawave Records 2016
--Warning-- this record has an obnoxious amount of bass!

RockNRollin at UFO in our New Russian Trooper Hats ;)

RockNRollin at UFO with my wonderful Sister Volita we had such a fun gig playin in our new Russian Trooper Hats

Ate A Frog - Moss Rock

Skinny Hobos - The Merchant of Tirau (Official Video)

Thank the devil for more local NZ music. I was beginning to suffer some serious rocknroll withdrawl, which is never ideal. Ha this is a funny video by Skinny Hobo's who I saw preform live last year and have been meaning to see for ages (sadly couldn't make it too Galatos as I got really sick on vodka which was awful!!). But man the power and riff off this song is bloody brilliant. I looked at their instagram photos and saw how many amps they used to track the guitar in the studio and I'm glad it all worked out. I also really dig the drum flourshies and fills. When I first heard the track it reminded me of the Offspring a band that was big in NZ when I was growing up. The video is one hell of hilliarous journey and the music blogger getting schooled cracked me up! nice one :)looking forward to a record from the guys soon

 Skinny Hobos perform "the Merchant of Tirau"

Directed by: Stefan Coetzee
Produced by Stefan Coetzee and Alani Lewis
Additional Camera Work: Lachlan Justice
Thanks to Shane Warbrooke & Calvin Sang

Thanks to Ding Dong Lounge for hosting the live portion of the video!


Starring:

Oliver Tresidder as The Critic a.k.a. Biggus Dickus

Corne Coetzee as Repo Man Cory
Sandy Macinnes as Repo Man Steve French

Quinn the Human as Evil Hobos
- Featuring Rusty Steele as Lord Hobomort

With Skinny Hobos as... Skinny Hobos

Guest Appearances by:
Erin Greenhill
Rodrigo Hidalgo
Karl Heynen
Adam Heynen
Francis Wheeler
Josh Thoresen
Danny Champion
Matt Aickin
Hans Kim
Ayla Rachael Chamberlain
Aaron Leece
Hugh Hokopuna
Axl Scott
Michelle Jade
Jase Smithyman
Kieran Fox
Christopher Wong
Nicholas Soh
Ross Curtain
Stuart Curtain

skinnyhobos@gmail.com
https://www.facebook.com/skinnyhobos/
https://soundcloud.com/skinnyhobos
http://apple.co/25nUTLR

Thank you to everyone who helped with and appeared in our video!

Music Video Premier: Speak As One - Rough Church

         

Going with the new flow!! We need to Speak As One!
 From the new album "Queen's Sacrifice" Fall 2016.
Animated and directed by Steve Hanft
After effects by Ashley-Martin Dunn
Greg Franco- Guitar, vocals
Kaitlin Wolfberg - Keys, theremin, vocals
Dante Pascuzzo- Bass
Carey Fosse- Guitars
Alfredo Ortiz - Drums
Recorded at Estudio and with Andrew Bush at Grandma’s, Mixed by Manny Nieto

Capitalist Sociological Breakdown of Radio-heads new video "Burn the Witch"

The video for this song reminds me of a satanic postman pat with a guy walking around and surveying an evil village probably a metaphor for modern society. The mayor in the video is an evil dude. Strings and synths in this tune are top notch with a chronic vocal performance by Thom Yorke. A lot the video is referencing the evils of capitalism. There is creepy cult vibe imagery that hints our how we are sacrificing the youth in society for the older to gain power and wealth. The excellently fleeting shot of the gluttonous food is dripping and drenched in the blood of the human young and animal a like.

A hanging nose hangs empty in the city centre quietly oppressing people and ever ready to kill individuals who don't support the ruling capitalist ideology.Workers in an orchard are exploited and forced to labour while their dickhead bosses drink strong booze right in front of them profiting off their hard work while they stand idle.

The viewer is then thrust into a village festival that tries to show how great and happy everyone is continuing the great big lie of the village. The early shot of a man painting a red cross foreshadows the sinister idea of the mayor and his aim of despotic rule. In the festival the facade is abandoned and the true nature of capitalism is uncovered the aim to kill all that oppose (though there are only very few brave enough to oppose hence why there is only the one man with a bowler hat).

Once the man with the bowler hat is tricked into entering into the system of capitalism uncovered or unleashed a possible hint to neo-liberalism the giant burning man is set a light with the whole town forced to watch. It demonstrates to the masses how one will get burnt alive by society and murdered by individuals drunk on power relations. It also conveys how we are forced to becoming a complicit party to the horrors of capitalism to avoid our individual head being chocked the nose.

However, the man with the bowler hat, the lead actor in the film manages to escape and run away into the bushes in the very last shot. The whole video echo's how everything in modernity is conveyed as great and awesome, where in reality everyone is tricked into thinking our lives are fantastic under the very real threat of death and painful social repercussions.

The video also highlights how the mayors, politicians and business owners get to profit from our collective working together to live a life of excessive corrupt luxury. From this point I think its interesting how the man escapes back into the wild, it kind of shows how he turns away from society in order to survive although he was very happy to be a part of it in a removed sense by merely being a spectator of the horrors. The man with the bowler hat is only thrust out of his happy disposition under capitalism when he is forced to due to the very nature of his role as a spectator. No one is allowed to examine the village and how it functions a metaphor for capitalism least the cracks holes and evil in it be uncovered like the burning man.

Finally I should mention the happy singing bird at the start of the video, this bird a metaphor for the whole animal kingdom is blissful in nature and it sees the whole disaster of human society unfold from a distance and yet through all the horrors of human society it becomes affected by our bad and destructive behaviours under capitalism the song of the bird changes animals are forced to be transformed as is man from a state of happiness to one of extreme fear and anxiety, this is because I think the bird realizes that if man is in trouble it could threaten its way of life - war, exploitation of nature and burning deforestation will harm all animals causing them to fall like human beings have from a state of naive bliss into a painful capital fuelled nightmare.

The bird also hints at human beings egotism and specism and complete lack of compassion for animals - we look down on there way of life as primitive and lacking the materialist objects of capitalism. Which is wrong because it seems the video is trying to convey at the heart of modern society a foundation is layed built on the killing, slaughtering and murdering of innocent people who don't want to live under capitalism in a false sense of consumer happiness.

I think Radiohead's video is probably about many people not being allowed to join in the fantasy of past generations of humanity who have been allowed to live inside the pseudo-masochist capitalist dream

On a lighter note



Bassline is classic fat thumping flea style with an eerie reference to the recently deceased Prince.
The lyrics are top notch in this track with the melody that has a nice minor note vibe with dyspotpian lyrics that make your brain click and start function again the chorus also has some dope ass shakers and back up vocals are syrupy. Great progressive move for the band aka adding to the legacy of RHCP

The Cream E.P - Released on Soundcloud via Rocawave

Hi guys here's The Neo-Kalashnikovs latest offering 'the Cream E.P' recorded late last year in 2015. I hope you enjoy listening to the record and take away something from the piece of art we made because we really enjoyed making it for ya ;) Rock On The Neos

Released April 22, 2016 on Rocawave Records

Recorded by Olly Harmer at The Lab  
www.labstudio.co.nz

and Moss Bioletti at Rocawave studio, Mt Albert. 
www.facebook.com/RocawaveRecords/

Mastered by Chris Graham in Columbus, Ohio
www.chrisgrahammastering.com

The Neo-Kalashnikovs "Cream E.P" is OUT NOW!!! :)

                     

A giant thank you to everyone involved who helped us make this record and to all our fans and supporters super stoked :) enjoy Moss 

The Cream E.P is currently at Mastering!

                    it will be out next week :)

Yellowbelly Kick out the Jams in Mt Albert

Yellowbelly dropped in to Rocawave studio to kick out some jams today in sunny old Mount Albert. Jared smashed the drums, Daniel rumbled the windows on bass and Fernando slayed on guitar and vocals. They describe their music as trash rock with fits of vomit jazz and hail from Papakura. They will be playing a show at UFO on the 7th of April so go check them out if you want to Rock!    Also hit the band up on Facebook if you want them to play a gig; 

https://www.facebook.com/Yellowbelly-1187015544642764/

The Neo-Kalashnikovs - Urban Warfare (Anti-TPPA Kiwi music video)

New music video by  The Neo-Kalashnikovs​ - 'Urban Warfare' is out now!! Featuring footage from the Anti-TPPA protests and Real Choice blockade held in Auckland City on Feb the 4th 2016 ✊



Our first album "She's On Heat" is AVAILABLE @ https://theneokalashnikovs.bandcamp.com

Stills from the video:

Sweet Jane - Lou Reed Cover and "New Stratocaster Feeling GIF"

Recorded in Mt Eden on my Akai Dps16 digital recorder purchased from the bargain bin at Music World in downtown Auckland City. 

In homage to the late great titan of music Lou Reed whose no doubt rocking out in the Sky & all the charming Sweet Jane's throughout the world :)

Purchase "Sweet Jane" via Bandcamp here: 
https://holygrailvintageclothes.bandcamp.com/track/sweet-jane-lou-reed-cover

Personnel:
Daniel Turner - Lead Guitar
Moss Bioletti - Drums & Vocals

Dan cranking his new blue Stratocaster through an amp in our dinning which he scored of TradeMe early in the week. It sounds and looks super nice with a heavy low end and clears highs that sound supersonic.

The guitar's sound and name always remind me of Stradivarious violin's like the one pictured below made in 1687 by the greatest violin luthier of all time! 

Moss and DT - Basement Recording in Mount Albert

Dan and I did some diy recording at his place with the dirty old 80's digital 16 track.
We didn't have much time because I had to a Google networking expo at Auckland Uni and Dan
needed to crunch some numbers for work but we had a blast, even though you can get a bit tense and nervous when recording haha. We hooked up our 4 mics and kicked into it without a
moment to lose and jammed one of Dan's idea. We hadn't recorded for ages together
si it was great to get back in the horses saddle and have fun!! :)
I've actually got our cover of "Sweet Jane" on the same machine so ill take that off
asap and slam it up on this blog post but beware I'm singing on that track haha :)

Robotic love tangled up in colourful leads :)

The 16 track sounded sick today drums had heaps of low end and the kick was intense like an old skool soul record glad I tinkered round with it a while ago now it's way more open and free kinda like the difference between being locked up and on the run.  
The guitars were shimmering almost orchestral clean not dirty. I hooked up the Ekadek electronics and sound​ Ak47 to my Akai hard disc recorder I rescued from a bargain bin many years ago a vintage grunge child of the 90's and was pleasantly surprised or in truth more like completely bowled over. I was just winging it as you do throwing up a few mics and capturing sound while trying new grooves and stuff. The wild, wet and windy backdrop of Auckland city and its up and down weather patterns provided the best scene like out of a movie for recording and mucking round and having fun. Its almost indescribable diving into the river of sound its pure and refreshing experience almost biblical you never quite know whats down their like the belly of the beast all the possibilities surrounding you like fate swirling round in immeasurable depths :) But God Am I looking forward to Summer or what man! 

PREMIER: New Music Video "Drama Queen" from The Neo-Kalashnikovs

The new "Drama Queen" video by The Neo-Kalashnikovs Is Out Now You Can Stream it Above!!!  We had so much fun making this video with all our friends and I think you can really tell by the video what an awesome party it was haha :)


A big thank you to everyone involved especially Grierson David for doing such an awesome job of acting lead nemesis and of course Leanne Rattray Mark McIvor Ruth Bioletti Volita Pearl Bioletti Zoran Zoki Jennie Donovan Malcolm William Santa Dixon Andrew Maitai William Turner Talor Ormsby Josh Ormsbyyou guys all made this possible thank you so much!! smile emoticon 

"Drama Queen" T-Shirts Available here: https://theneokalashnikovs.bandcamp.com/merch/drama-queen-t-shirt

The Neo-Kalashnikovs - "Drama Queen" Rock T-Shirt [Out Now]

Purchase Link;  https://theneokalashnikovs.bandcamp.com/merch/drama-queen-t-shirt

~Limited Edition~

The New T-Shirts are ready! We had quite a few pre-orders from the 'Drama Queen Release Party' but what we do still have in stock is: 

In Black/V Neck: 2 XSml, 2 medium, 3 Large, 3 XL and 2 2XL. 
In the Grey with Crew Neck we have only 3 3XL.

For the Fan Club we have decided that everyone that wants a T Shirt to pay what they can...it cost us $10 to make each one so something around there or above would be great. You can either pick up or include some money for postage about $5. The Neos xx 

Includes unlimited streaming of Turn The Tables via the free Bandcamp app, plus high-quality download in MP3, FLAC and more.

"Violet Highway EP" - Sounds like a Motorhead freight train smashing into a Joan Jett Rock concert

Absolutely loving this new song by Violet Highway called "Caught Up In Your Game" it's so visceral and primal just like a Motorhead freight train smashing into a Joan Jett Rock concert in full swing!! arghh love it!! smile emoticon Congratulations to James Rimmer Jacqui Munro and Ant on such a kick ass performance your song reminds me of a badass scene in Fight Club, yuss ⚡✊📀

   Violet Highway (Band Photo)

"Caught Up In Your Game" - Official Song Lyrics

High School sweethearts met at seventeen
He's from a rich family she's a beauty queen
When school was over he started screwing around
But like a puppy she would never let him down

It makes me sick it makes me sick ...

You two
You two deserve each other
You two
You'll never change
You two
You make me grateful that I'm
No longer caught up in your game

Was I an escape for you or just some chick
I should have known it wasn't right it just didn't click
Man I feel sorry for her I bet it hurts
But they say you take the love you think you deserve

It makes me sick it makes me sick ...

You two
You two deserve each other
You two
You'll never change
You two
You make me grateful that I'm
No longer caught up in your game

It makes me sick it makes me sick ...

You two
You two deserve each other
You two
You'll never change
You two
You make me grateful that I'm
No longer caught up in your game

credits

Linear & Production Notes

Violet Highway EP, track released 13 September 2015
Written and performed by Violet Highway. Recorded and mixed by J. Hampshire-Perks. Mastered by R. Rowntree.
Violet Highway are: J. Munro, A. Deane, J. Hampshire-Perks