Lorde talks

Lorde. Photo: Fairfax/Charles Howells

Lorde has done hardly any local press here in New Zealand - she did her first interview with blogger Katherine Lowe back in January; her first and only press interview to date was with Stinky Jim in The Listener in March, and she's done only her second local press interview to coincide her album release, with Duncan Greive for Metro magazine. That story came out this week, read an excerpt of it here...

snip: "One August afternoon, I sat in on a meeting between Ella’s manager, Scott Maclachlan, his assistant Amy Goldsmith and Ella ... The pace of the meeting is brutal. In 15 minutes they cover an impending UK release, Ella’s ideas for the next music video, payment options for a remix and a standing invitation to a writing camp for the next Major Lazer album with Pharrell Williams and Diplo.

Just last year she emailed Maclachlan: “You asked me a while ago who my dream producer would be, and I think these days I’m leaning toward Diplo.” Now things have changed to the point where she can say breezily of the camp, “I thought it’d be cool to swing by for a day.”

Of course this tight control over her media exposure has led to a lot of talk, with some music critics attempting to call her out for the supposed hype, such as Simon Sweetman's attack on Lorde. [And then Sweetman's review got reviewed]

In Duncan's Metro piece, he asks Lorde if she's seen that review by Sweetman. She messages back from her Paris hotel room saying she has, but she's looking out her window at the Arc De Triomphe and that review makes her feel nothing. 

As the story suggests, she's got other things on her mind - the next single, writing for her next album, etc. Duncan's Metro piece also features an unfortunate gaff, suggesting Lorde is the first Kiwi to top the US charts since Crowded House. How bizarre.

So, the best thing written about Lorde this week? By Lorde. Published in today's Sunday Star Times' Sunday magazine.

excerpt: "Each day I'd take the train [to the studio]. The night-time rides were my chance to breathe, relax for a few minutes. Then I'd pull out my laptop and hit play on whatever we'd worked on that day. For a few seconds with a new song there's always this thudding amnesia, like it's not your work,and you get to listen with fresh ears to this thing that's still newly born.

"For months and months I took that night train and listened to my voice and the beats over and over, silvery, suspended. I'd grin like a creep from Kingsland to Grafton, face all moony under the white light. It's the best thing I've ever made...."

Read it in full here. And this is why we need better public transport in Auckland.

And it's strange watching how many people want to talk about Lorde in various online forums, she has this wonderfully polarising effect, like all great pop music. Right now it's important to be seen to have an opinion on her, even if you have no significant engagement with popular music in its current contemporary form. It's certainly not dull! Watch this girl make moves.

Oh yeah, and this: Lorde - "If I'd granted every sandwich chain and skincare brand and coming-of-age blockbuster use of my songs, I'd probably be a millionaire. But I'm extremely fussy. A while ago I watched a clip of Patti Smith (eternal queen of cool in my eyes) relay this thing William S Burroughs had said to her. He said, "Build a good name for yourself, because eventually that will become your currency."

Uptown cumbia ranking

Hat tip to Stinky Jim, this is well fruity cumbia remix bizz. Off the EP "Andrés Digital in a Reggae Cumbia Style Vol. 2"

Hallelujah Picassos live, Oct 26

Picasso core returns! This Labour weekend.

Auckland 90s reggae-dub-ska-thrash-punk outfit Hallelujah Picassos returned to the live stage in June this year, with a brief support slot for the mighty Drab Doo Riffs. After 12 years away from the live arena, they had a fun time jumping around like lunatics, and all reports from their fans at the gig were they still knew how to rip up a stage.

So, they’ve decided to put on their own show, this Labour weekend. Catch Hallelujah Picassos at the Kings Arms, Saturday October 26. With the fine musical accompaniment of Bloodbags, Loud Ghost, and DJs Stinky Jim and Peter Mac. Presented in association with our friends at 95BFM.

The band have a few special guests in store, Mr Darryn Harkness will be joining us again on the bass, and we will also be signing copies of our best-of CD Rewind The Hateman, which will be on sale at the gig.

Book reviews

Esteemed DJ/writer/record label boss Stinky Jim has reviewed my book on his blog, read on...

"Been meaning to spout something about this for a hot Sandringham minute, but it’s taken this long to get round to it. Full disclosure demands that I state that I consider Peter a mate, and sometimes colleague on the decks or typewriters or suchlike, and this tome has a couple of interviews/features with me and RTM associates, so – y’know unreliable witness! 

"However, as much as I have protested in the past that there really is no need for any more books on recent NZ music (and generally maintain so) I think Peter’s is well worthwhile, and the exception that just kind of proves that rule. Lots of interviews and features, decently written by someone who knows the score – what more could you wish for? The price is nice too, stupidly nice, follow the links and school up." 

Buy locally / globally kindley babylonianly

A review of my book  from Grant Smithies, Music Editor, Sunday Star Times...

"In this collection of brief, insightful interviews with musicians, producers and DJs, many first published in magazines sadly now defunct, Peter McLennan has given us a valuable addition to the burgeoning shelfload of books examining contemporary NZ pop music.

A musician and DJ himself, the writer’s own ego and opinions are largely invisible; he is more interested in canvassing the views of his subjects than presenting his own, making the book feel more like oral history than critique.

Result? Calmly and in their own words, musicians tell us about their creative process and ponder the difficulties of getting your music heard in this little country of ours.

With a stylistically diverse range of performers and the earliest interviews carried out two decades ago, “I Believe You Are A Star” gives an overview of sounds, scenes and careers that have changed phenomenally since the original pieces were written.

Many of the musicians are interviewed at pivotal points in their working lives- some caught in the updraft, others trudging along a creative plateaux, a few in decline, two now dead - which makes for fascinating reading when the reader can fill in the gaps as to where these performers went next.

From noise rock to electronica, reggae to hiphop, te reo Maori music to chart pop, much ground is covered on McLennan’s magical mystery tour, and you’re only too happy to tag along for the ride."


And from Philip Matthews, in The Press/Dominion Post, Saturday July 6th...

"It's always good news when New Zealand rock music is taken seriously as cultural history rather than ephemera or commercial failure. Exhibit A: The excellent Audioculture website that launched in May. Exhibit B: Books such as this, which compiles magazine articles written by music journalist Peter McLennan between 1992 and 2003. 

The title is borrowed from Shayne Carter's first album as Dimmer, and McLennan's 2001 interview with Carter opens the book. It's a good way to set the scene for the pieces that follow, which are about the difficult business of making music in New Zealand as much as they are about the creative output. 

In the end, you do it for love not money, and the same idea might apply to publishing: several of the magazines that these stories appeared in have since hit the wall and McLennan's book was independently published in the same DIY spirit that informed much of the music."

You can buy the book at Conch Records, Real Groovy (Akl), Slowboat Records, RPM Music (Wgtn) and online from Amazon.com, and also on Kindle here.