The Hunt Brings Us Life

the hunt!More NZ Music month goodness is upon us, with the release of the Phoenix Foundation’s Samuel Flynn Scott’s solo album – ‘The Hunt Brings Us Life‘.

Those of us lucky enough to receive sneak preview copies were also amused by the very excellent accompanying press release courtesy of ‘Prof’ Russell Brown, which we recommend you go to and read in its entirety over at Public Address. If only all musical acts could approach their PR with such good humour. (Tellingly enough, the last CD that had anything remotely as good was fellow Phoenecian Luke Buda’s PR for his also recently released ‘Special Surprise‘ album, which featured photos of Luke as Rambo and Hercules (although not, we were disappointed to see, Benny from Abba (although, we did fix that))).

As if all this Phoenix Foundation members doing their own thing wasn’t enough, we get the added bonus of a broadcast of Scott’s other ‘other’ band – Bunnies on Ponies – live at Bar Bodega, on National Radio tonight (web stream available here). At 7:30pm. When … hold on … there’s something else on .. around then? Anyway, Scott describes Bunnies on Ponies as…
…hotch potch kind of folk band that combines gentle folk
songs with slightly aggressive improvised arrangements.
We know exactly what he means. And, for those who don’t, you can just tune in and find out.

Luxxury

Well, it’s all on tonight. If you’re not exhausted after seeing the rugger at not-the-Cake-Tin, listening on National Radio to performances by unlikely permutations of small animals, hearing the pipes calling at the Opera House or seeing some obscure up-and-coming band at what I think is still called Indigo, then Sandwiches has a party night for everyone. Electroluxxe is billed as “TechnoElectroRockHouse”, thus pretty much covering every genre other than dub, jazz and country. You know how it is: you’re with a bunch of people, all with different tastes in music, and no-one can agree: someone likes 80s New Romantic, another one goes for dirty punky electro, someone else likes indie rock and some sad bugger (probably me) prefers 90s techno. So Electroluxxe comes to the rescue with a play list that includes the likes of Duran Duran, Peaches, Bloc Party and Carl Craig. The word “mashup” doesn’t even begin to describe it.

Those with especially capacious reserves of energy (and cash) could then explore the most decadent dishes and deranged decor of culinary Wellington or try to track down the latest mystery bar. Here’s a hint: one of the commenters has already got it. Here’s another: this is possibly the only bar to have actually become classier when it was taken over by Brian Le Gros.

Gene pool deletion in progress

gene pool deletion in progress, originally uploaded by maxcherry. Couldn’t help but draw more attention to this particular photo, spotted in the Wellington Flickr Photo Pool today. Says maxcherry, the photo-taker… nothing wrong with towing a motorcycle – can be safely done. The rider has winds just one coil around the bar, and grips the […]

If the Earth were a Sandwich…

…our sandwich partner would, give or take a few miles, be Salamanca, Spain. We’re not sure if this is the rationale behind the naming of the Kelburn road that shares the name (a quick Google reveals that Lord Wellington fought a famous battle there – in Spain, that is, not up Kelburn way – in […]

Miserable Jafas?

Today’s Dominion Post carries an insufferably smug article headlined “The lonely misery of living in Auckland“. Like all good journalism these days, this story is based almost entirely upon Google: in this case, the news that a Google Trends search for the word “misery” shows that Aucklanders search Google for this word more often than […]

The Bacon Sarnie Experience

A good name for a band don’t you think? Right then, back to my lifelong obsession, the hunt for the Great Bacon Sarnie. I missed the food show. And I’m not scared of being cuddly. So I invite all our readers to tell us where the Best Bacon Sarnie can be had. In Wellington preferably, […]

Overseas experience

This weekend, if you can tear yourself away from free bacon sarnies and aren’t too busy having a bit of a look-see behind the scenes of Wellington’s art powerhouses, pop into the Overseas Passenger Terminal to get a glimpse of its proposed transformation. There will be a public open day on Saturday from 10am to […]

In which we bring you breaking news

Something’s going on in Wellington. Bus drivers in Hataitai were only taking money for one section from passengers, warning them they’d have to walk the other section any way. Four trolley buses are parked along Cambridge Terrace with their hazzard lights on. At least four more buses are parked along Courtenay Place. There were mutterings […]

Eat and eat and eat some more

At last those of us who are not sportingly inclined have a reason to visit the Cake Tin, and what a reason it is! The annual food show is upon us again, and I hope you’ve been training. There really are few things that match drinking large amounts of tiny little cups of wine and […]

Giblets, grooves and the guards themselves

Many Wellingtonistas have already discovered the goodness that is Kazu: an oasis of dark wood, mind-bending rice-based beverages and unmentionable innards on sticks, tastefully hidden away from the Courtenay hordes. In the unlikely event that beef tongue and chicken cartilage aren’t enough to tempt you up the staircase, Radio Active’s The Jewel School will be […]