Micah, Rick and I used to love "econo CDs". Actually, maybe it was only me that loved them, but I incessantly talked about them to the point where I think Micah and Rick liked them just to keep me quiet.
Powertool Records (Auckland, New Zealand) has been releasing music since 2001 and are celebrating their 200th release by issuing "The Second 100" - highlights from releases 101-200. This is a 2 CD behemoth with 41 songs.
Andrew Maitai is relentless - he has one foot firmly planted in the storied past of New Zealand music, while the other foot is dead set on finding new artists that are carrying the fine and diverse tradition of the Kiwi scene. The two-foot metaphor is proven by the likes of Bilders (Bill Direen), Surf Friends, AJ Sharma and One Man Bannister. They represent the past foot. The new crop of musicians foot is represented by The Fuzzies and The Doubtful Sounds.
Thanks Andrew. You've quietly done more to keep the Kiwi music scene alive than most.
emily gwen, the creator of the sunset lesbian flag that we’ve come to commonly use, still continues to live in poverty.
multi-billion dollar companies have used their design and made profit from it, and yet they have not seen a cent for their creation.
i’ve been friends with emily for years, and i have not once seen them be financially stable the entire time. i’ve seen them homeless, unemployed, starving. right now, they need our help more than ever.
please consider donating to emily’s ko-fi, especially if you’ve used their design to create something and profited from it.
I was friends with a bunch of surfers. I knew I was dreaming, and so did they. There was a cave right off the beach that would create evil twins of whoever went inside. Except me, because I was dreaming and not really there. Anyway, out of the seven or so friends, six of them came out fine. They told me, "Wraith is still in there, you can't leave him there." I was on my way back to the cave when I woke up. I left him there.
It's been a joy to witness the reemergence of Flying Nun Records over the past decade. The reissues have been more than welcome, but the label still has its fingers on the pulse of the Kiwi musical landscape. 13 years ago, they released Surf Friends "Confusion". It was hailed by Pitchfork as a worthy heir of early Flying Nun - especially The Clean.
Back in 2016 we posted about Surf Friends (Auckland, New Zealand) excellent cassette "Dreams Are Real". Now in 2023, Flying Nun is releasing "Sonic Waves." Based on the one song currently available it looks like Surf Friends are continuing to make music in the vein of The Clean, David Kilgour and Surf City.
OKAY. i still can’t give a numerate estimate of how many polls there will be quite yet. but i just finished the last cartoon that has Mel Blanc in it and i currently have 215 more cartoons to rip screams from. my method of cataloguing is just “oh he screamed okay move on to the next” so i don’t know how many each short has until i’ve actually downloaded them and combed through. BUT WE’RE MAKING PROGRESS. SWEET SWEET PROGRESS. and now please excuse me as i crumple into a heap and pray i never hear a musical orchestration by Bill Lava again