Rnz: Music 101

Teremoana Rapley speaks to TAHI presenter So'omalo Iteni Schwalger at the Pacific Music Awards after receiving the Lifetime Achievement Award.

The Great Sounds Great festival is happening on Saturday 31 August in Wellington. Bands, DJs and poets will be performing across seven stages in six neighboring music venues around Cuba St. The lineup includes Dateline, Death and the Maiden, Ebony Lamb, Fur Patrol, Half Hexagon, Hera Lindsay Bird, Trinity Roots, Womb and so the list goes on. It's also the celebration of 10 years of Eyegum music collective who organised the festival, as well as lots of DIY gigs around the capital. Eyegum formed in 2014 to put on a series of shows in flats, bowls clubs and other unorthodox spaces following the closure of many of the capital's favourite venues. Charlotte speaks to festival co-curator Ben Jones.

An intimate filmed performance of Japanese composer and electronic music pioneer Ryuichi Sakamoto is set to screen as part of the New Zealand International Film Festival. Ryuichi, who died in March 2023, left his audience a parting gift, his swansong, captured on camera by his son, Director Neo Sora. Ryuichi Sakamoto wrote award winning scores for the films The Last Emperor, The Sheltering Sky and The Revenant and found worldwide recognition with Merry Christmas, Mr Lawrence, a film he also co-starred in with David Bowie. Sakamoto was not only a famous composer, but a celebrated pianist, political activist, and at one point, a famous pop star with his electronic-pop band The Yellow Magic Orchestra.

Gary Hustwit, director of the new Eno documentary, tells Charlotte how he managed to fit over 500 hours of Brian Eno's personal video footage into a film that explores his relentless creativity. Brian Eno has been at the forefront of artistic innovation for over five decades. The hugely influential British musician, producer, activist and visual artist began his career as an original member of the legendary Roxy Music in the early 1970s. He left the band to release a series of solo records and later pioneered the genre of ambient music. As a producer, Eno helped define and reinvent the sound of some of the most important artists in music, including David Bowie, U2, Talking Heads, Coldplay, and dozens of others. In the spirit of Eno's avant-garde and unconventional approach to music, Hustwit has created something very one of a kind. Eno is screening at all of the NZIFF film festivals around the country. Check your local NZIFF programme for dates here.

Julia Parnell, director of the film The Chills: The Triumph and Tragedy of Martin Phillipps, shares her memories on Music 101. DocPlay have made the movie available to watch for free till August 5 here.

Painter Liz Maw joins Charlotte to talk about Generation X: 50 Artworks from the Chartwell Collection which has just opened at Te Papa.

Otautahi- based Annemarie Duff, previously of Melbourne shoegazer band Miniatures, has been producing music under the moniker of T. G. Shand since 2018. T.G Shand's songs have been regulars on student radio charts over the last few years, and she has just released a new single 'Scenes'. However, Annemarie has taken this offering a bit further. Alongside the release of the song, her studio has created data visualisations based on the weather of Banks Peninsula. Charlotte Ryan finds out more. Link to the real-time weather visualisation here: art.cusp-studio.co/scenes-by-t-g-shand

Australian musician and film composer Warren Ellis has lived many lives, as a teacher, busker, a recovered heroin addict, alcoholic and famously a sonic experimenter in successful bands like Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds, Grinder Man and Dirty Three. 2024 marks thirty two years of the instrumental rock trio, Dirty Three. A band, Warren Ellis and his friends guitarist Mick Turner and drummer Jim White formed in Melbourne in the mid 90's. Here's Maggie Tweedie speaking to Warren Ellis about Dirty Three's expansive new record, Love Changes Everything.

Colin Hogg can't live without music - lately a bit of Bill Evans and Claude Debussy - but doesn't like being told what to listen to. The veteran music journalist and writer selects five of his favourite tracks for The Mixtape.

Charlotte Ryan speaks to Sam Robinson about Charli XCX’s BRAT, one of the biggest albums of year. Check out Charlotte's favourite albums of 2024 (so far!) here .

This 1964 interview with John Lennon was conducted by Professor Tony Taylor, who at the time had a huge interest in the phenomenon of Beatlemania. Despite Tony's nerves, he managed to get candid chat and great insights. Special thanks to Tony's family for their blessing to broadcast their father's interview.

It's not perfect, but Spotify is still the dream platform to serve up your favourite (or soon to be favourite) tunes.   

Heavy psych-fuzz band Earth Tongue channel 80s horror with their powerful sound - think gore, tombstones and hands coming up through the ground. It's the band child of guitarist Gussie Larkin (Mermaidens) and Ezra Simons (Soft Bait). Earth Tongue supported Queens of the Stone Age earlier this year, and recently signed to the label In The Red Records alongside The Jon Spencer Blues Explosion and Ty Segall. Their new album Great Haunting was released just yesterday and they’re in Berlin on a massive tour, but before they left they joined Charlotte Ryan in the RNZ studio for a live session.  

Everyone can name one teacher who left a lasting imprint but only a few can say that teacher encouraged them to follow their true path. Rodger Fox was one of those, a band leader, trombonist extraordinaire, recording artist and big picture thinker. Broadly described by those who loved him as a 'yes' man, Fox's zest for life rubbed off on many. Earlier this week the 71-year-old musician died, following a short illness, in Palmerston North. Since then, there has been an outpouring of grief for a man who opened doors for all in New Zealand's jazz music community. Rodger Fox founded his Big Band in 1971. In those five decades as band leader, he built a wide network abroad and brought hundreds of New Zealand musicians overseas to perform. Those players would go on to make connections internationally when Fox requested American jazz heavyweights like drummer Steve Gadd, saxophonist Adam Schroeder, trumpet player Jon Papenbrook and guitarist Larry Koonse to play with the big band. Rodger Fox received an honorary doc

We cross to Gore, the country music capital of Aotearoa, and where hundreds of amateur country musicians of all ages have travelled to compete for the coveted NZ Gold Guitar trophy this weekend. RNZ reporter Jogai Bhatt reports on the music, the buskers, and the art of cheese roll making.

Byllie-jean at the Christchurch Art Gallery

The words to Supergroove's iconic song Can't Get Enough will soon be revealed as the lyrics go up for auction on Trade Me. Dr Karl Steven, former Supergroove frontman, has written down the "accurate" lyrics to raise money for the 'Ours Not Mines' campaign against a proposed new mine on DOC land at Wharekirauponga (close to Whangamata). Other artists auctioning lyrics include Benee, Che Fu, Fat Freddy's Drop, Don McGlashan, The Black Seeds, and The Phoenix Foundation.

Serj Tankian is the frontman of System of a Down, a band of Armenian-Americans that started in the mid-nineties, who play an incredible clash of growling aggressive metal and Armenian folk melodies. It's a sound that has struck a chord with millions of fans across the globe, yet Serj chooses to spend a lot of his time living in New Zealand. He talks to Charlotte Ryan about his colourful life as a young immigrant to Los Angeles, and the risks and reward of being part of an avant-garde, political band. Serj Tankian's memoir is Down with the System.

Dame Hinewehi Mohi talks to Charlotte Ryan about her remarkable life, and her brave moments that brought te reo Maori to the world's stage through music. 2024 marks a year of significant anniversaries for Dame Hinewehi. It's the 25th anniversary of the release of her debut album Oceania, the 25th anniversary her of monumental performance at the 1999 Rugby World Cup when she became the first person to sing the National Anthem in te reo Maori, the 20th anniversary of the her music therapy charity, the Raukatauri Music Therapy Centre and the 5th anniversary of Waiata Anthems, where she supported local artists to translate and perform their songs in te reo Maori. The New Zealand Music Hall of Fame was set up to recognise artists that have had a significant impact on the evolution and development of Aotearoa music. Past inductees include Margaret Urlich, Annie Crummer, Supergroove, Straightjacket Fits, Toy Love and most recently Don McGlashen.

 Mike Howie shares some of his favourite music with Charlotte Ryan.