Maximum Joy Number Two

Disk-jockeys Longboss and Name return to Mighty Mighty for another night of dizzy disco heat this Friday with MAXIMUM JOY #2.

MAXIMUM JOY!! is night to celebrate leftfield disco, Balearic soft rock, postpunk and electrofunk: music to boost your mind, ass and soul to cosmic new heights.

Through the year, Name and Longboss toil tirelessly to source the hottest, most bent-up byproducts of the disco era and today. Using extra sensory intelligence, they bring MAXIMUM JOY!! to Wellington.

MAXIMUM JOY NUMBER TWO: Friday 2 November at Mighty Mighty, 9pm till late. Dress to impress, not suppress…

If Only: Striving for perfection in the real world

In the corner office of our wonderful Ivory Tower (literally now, thanks Noizy for shelling out for that rebuild) we look down upon the seething populace of Wellington that we love so dear and think to ourselves: if only…if only they were as perfect as we are. At which point it’s time for our 11am massage and manicure.

This time gave us the chance to construct a short list of establishments around Wellington that could be better if only they changed some things.

The Port Café

What they have going for them: Fantastic daytime sun, great city views, really good fish & chips, and a BYO license.
What they need to change: The décor! Plain white walls and concrete floors alone do not add up to stylish minimalism: that requires elegant proportions and exquisite detailing, whereas this place just looks cheap and unfinished. The chairs were salvaged from the bargain bin at Warehouse Stationery, and the only attempts at actual design (model ships and some blue downlights) make it look tawdry and twee. Either get in a proper interior designer or drop the prices and be a plain old chippie.

more after the jump..

Genevieve Packer: Wish You Were Here

Genevieve Packer, probably known best for her Hutt Valley and State House tee-shirts, has taken over Old Victoria Arcade for her Master of Design exhibition.


The show is open 12 noon until 6 pm on Thursday – Sunday, from the 18th of October to the 4th of November. Gen’s site is here.

Sandra Schmidt: Hinterland II

Hinterland II
Sandra Schmidt

Michael Hirschfeld Gallery
(at City Gallery)
10 October — 18 November 2007

The crystalline shapes and icy-coloured forms of Sandra Schmidt’s Hinterland II make up the sequel exhibition to her 2006 hot-hued Hinterland which appeared at Mary Newton Gallery, Wellington. The earlier spiky-shaped works in Hinterland expressed ideas of fire, heat, pressure and friction. In Hinterland II the focus is on cool colours and references to ice and water. Both extremes of temperature represent inhospitable areas, the back country or underdeveloped place, either metaphorical or real.

(more after the jump)

White Fungus Issue 8 Release Party

Come see the new mag for the first time and enjoy a night of off-beat entertainment.

(details after the jump)

Jason Kahn and White Fungus

Jason Kahn is a sound and visual artist based in Zürich whose work includes drawing, sound installation, performance and composition. He was born in New York, grew up in Los Angeles and relocated to Europe in 1990. Kahn has been exhibiting his sound and visual works since the late 1990s, and has had solo and group exhibitions in museums, galleries and arts spaces pretty much everywhere in the damn world.

And he’s playing in Wellington on Sunday night.

Bus woes

Stupid busesI’ve avoided it as long as I can but I’m going to have to start laying into the Wellington buses. This will serve two purposes — to gather a weight of evidence with which to construct a platform from which I can launch a series of more formal remonstrances; and possibly more importantly, to make me feel better.

I have begun a journal of woe — chronicling my problems and frustrations — and you can join in too, if you want.

Gigging of a Friday night

Tonight you can have your cake and eat it too.

Longtime guitarist and co-conspirator of Greg Johnson’s, Ted Brown is playing a free gig at Bodega. Singer-songwriter Brown has been based in Los Angeles over the past few years, after making the big move there with Greg Johnson (U.S. site) in 2002. After 5 years building a following they now tour regularly across America. And did I mention that the gig is free? That’s better than bad.

Across town at the Adelaide, the post-rocking Dukes of Leisure are playing with rock-posters Marineville. They’ll be starting at a sensible time, providing as much opportunity as possible for drinking plenty of that cheap cheap Adelaide booze. Door $5 for that show.

Real Art Roadshow

Real Art Roadshow is a mobile exhibition of original work by more than 60 leading New Zealand artists. It’s currently parked right outside the Beehive.

More details, incl. list of artists, after the jump.

Mana College v. Wellington College

If you’re stuck for something to do next Monday night, you could do worse than to head to Porirua Park for the final of Wellington’s premier one grade schoolboy rugby competition. The match is to be played between Mana College and Wellington College.

As detailed in a story in the Dom Post, Mana has made a dramatic rise through the grades after starting the year in premier two and being promoted mid-season, and to have made it to the final is nigh-on miraculous.

More, including much politicised frothing, after the jump