HIAYH#5

Just back from my South Island holiday! More about that soon, but in the meantime here's an update with yesterday's Heaven Is Above Your Head podcast. New music from Northern Portrait, The Specific Heats, Catwalk, Internet Forever, Crystal Stilts, Belle & Sebastian and Fake Eyelashes on this one! Get the file through the link in the sidebar. Plenty of merriment in the studio and Michael, Lawrence, Chris and Alexis contributed some well-chosen cuts to the club part of the show. That playlist will be on the DDOMD myspace soon, and if you like - you can listen to the whole 75 min set here.

On the Page Where I Met Her

I had some hours to kill in Mount Cook today, so I uploaded some of my favourite photos so far. I walked out to something called Kea Point, where you could see this view. The glaciers haven't started to build up again, so there was only some water there now. It was supposed to be two hour walk there and back again but I walked it in one, cause the weather wasn't very good. I was listening to that second Red House Painters album, and some Pale Fountains, which made the whole thing even more majestic. And to wrap things up - here's a through-the-viewfinder (or through-the-binoculars) shot of the Tasman Lake (or Terminal Lake).

I Planted You Flowers and Watched You Grow Away From Me

These have just been confirmed, and boy am I excited! The other boys and girls in ASAAR will get to play with the Luckies already in June, in Malmö. But I can wait until Hamburg, no worries. We've never played in Germany before and being able to do it with two of my favourite artists is a real honour. As was making the poster! Thanks to Andreas for arranging it.

We're hoping that the new ASAAR single on Cloudberry will be out be then, so you should be able to pick up a copy on our tour. We've got several more dates waiting to be confirmed, in Dresden, Frankfurt, Genova, Piacenza (with Warm Morning!), Arceto, Barcelona and Madrid hopefully. I just heard the unmixed versions of "Den Lille Havfrue" and "Sommer" that will be on the 7" and they're very promising even in that state. There are many new songs, so I'll be sitting here behind my laptop practising on a borrowed ukulele, for lack of a (left-handed) guitar.

Art Minus Idiots

So the Richman tribute is confirmed! And I won't be here for it... Such a disappointment. I'll be on the South Island for my Easter holiday. But I'll be there in spirit, and I wish Chris and Alexis the best of luck with it. So much for playing "Pablo Picasso" by The Loves then.

I thought it might be fun to share the work process for once. Here are my previous two suggestions.

Female Voice/Tragic Cult Figure

COIR 014 is happening, and it'll be in Auckland! To celebrate Uni's return to New Zealand, Don't Die On My Doorstep are throwing a party at Cross Street Studios (which was the locale of the first gig I saw in Auckland). Uni & Her Ukelele is playing live of course, and she'll be supported by Wildwood Lights! I just went to see them last week. I hadn't really heard them before, but they were every bit as good as Mark had told us. They've only done 5 or 6 gigs so far and are still recording. So you'll just have to take my word for it when I say they reminded me of a Texan Marine Girls or an Auckland Tibi Lubin. Until I got home and realised they sound so much more like Lois.

Now we just have to get these printed, hire a PA and buy some crates of beer. I'll also be playing records of course, and I might enlist the help of some friends.

HIAYH#4

Fourth episode, yay! This was recorded last week, at the radio show / club night extravaganza at Fleet FM (you might hear the crowd in the background during the links). Unfortunately the recording was a bit messed up, so I've just copied the songs in but kept the original links. Hopefully, you can put up with the insanely loud voice! The next one is on April 25th, so you can relax for a bit now.

My favourites on this one are Bobby Smith & the Dreamgirls, and The Truth - another band I found through the Lost Jukebox. And of course Cola Jet Set can't be beat, although C.O.D.'s inspired more dancing in the studio. And The Popguns!