RELICS reviews the winter highs and lows...

Posted on July 24, 2014 by Irene Hundleby

RELICS reviews

NZ winter highs and lows...

THE HIGHS...

DUNEDIN BANDS

THE CHILLS, DAVID KILGOUR & THE HEAVY EIGHTS, THE CLEAN, SHIFTING SANDS

SUMMER TOURS IN THE UK, EUROPE and THE US

Well today the sun is shining in Dunedin, but the winter chill hangs in the air, a little reminder of the snow that tried to show itself earlier in the week... meanwhile Dunedin bands THE CHILLS, DAVID KILGOUR & THE HEAVY EIGHTS, THE CLEAN and SHIFTING SANDS are all doing summer tours... here are more of their tour details for UK, EUROPE and US fans!

THE CHILLS UK & EUROPE TOUR

24/07/2014 at The Dome, London NW5 1HL UK
25/07/2014 at Butterley Station, , Derbyshire, UK
26/07/2014 at Hendelsbeurs, Gent, Belgium
28/07/2014 at The Lido , Berlin, Germany
29/07/2014 at Paradiso Club, Amsterdam, Netherlands
31/07/2014 at The Button Factory, Dublin
01/08/2014 at The Electric Circus, Edinburgh, Scotland
02/08/2014 at Old Fruitmarket, Glasgow, Scotland

For more info: THE CHILLS - Gigs

THE CHILLS visit to the BBC

THE CHILLS music available at RELICS

THE CHILLS new single (45) 'Molten Gold' is due to arrive in our store the first week of August!

DAVID KILGOUR & THE HEAVY EIGHTS - US TOUR with SHIFTING SANDS

DAVID KILGOUR & THE HEAVY EIGHTS begin the US tour season for our Dunedin bands...

Here are their tour dates...

David Kilgour & the Heavy Eights - End Times Undone
USA Tour (all shows with The Shifting Sands except Merge Fest.)

July 25th - Merge Fest. NC
July 30th - Bunk Bar, Portland (also with Daydream Machine)
July 31st - Logger Bar, Blue Lake
Aug 1st - Rickshaw Stop, San Fransisco
Aug 2nd - Los Globus, LA
Aug 3rd - Soda Bar, San Diego
Aug 5th - Bishop Pot Luck Society, Bishop, CA

DAVID KILGOUR & THE HEAVY EIGHTS music available at RELICS

SHIFTING SANDS music available at RELICS

THE CLEAN - US TOUR

THE CLEAN new 4LP Boxset 'ANTHOLOGY' has just arrived in store!

THE CLEAN ANTHOLOGY TOUR runs on the heels of

DAVID KILGOUR & THE HEAVY EIGHTS

Here are THE CLEAN - US tour dates:

Sat Aug 16 - Columbus, OH Ace of Cups
Mon Aug 18 - Chicago, IL Schuba's
Tue Aug 19 - Detroit, MI Trinosophes
Thu Aug 21 - Brooklyn, NY Rough Trade NYC
Fri Aug 22 - Brooklyn, NY Glasslands Gallery (Sold out)
Sat Aug 23 - Baltimore, MD Metro Gallery
Mon Aug 25 - Carrboro, NC Cat's Cradle - Back Room
Tue Aug 26 - Atlanta, GA The Earl
Wed Aug 27 - Birmingham, AL The Bottletree Cafe
Thu Aug 28 - Memphis, TN Hi-Tone
Fri Aug 29 - Nashville, TN The Stone Fox
Sat Aug 30 - Asheville, NC Transfigurations II Festival

Aug 22 with Roya
Aug 18-19 and 25-29 with Boogarins

THE CLEAN facebook page

THE CLEAN music available at RELICS

THE BATS music available at RELICS

THE LOWS...

Well the last two months have seen the loss of so many inspiring and seminal entertainers and musicians... we were super sad to hear about all of these guys...

Hilarious comedian RIK MAYALL TOMMY from the RAMONES

Jazz bassist CHARLIE HADEN Blues guitarist JOHNNY WINTER

RIP... thanks for the memories and the music !

Posted in Charlie Haden, David Kilgour & The Heavy Eights, Dunedin Sound, Flying Nun, Johnny Winter, live music, NZ music, Ramones, Rik Mayall, Shifting Sands, The Chills, The Clean

ROB THORNE ~ Taongo Puoro in Otepoti (Dunedin)

Posted on July 04, 2014 by Irene Hundleby

ROB THORNE ~ Taongo Puoro in Otepoti (Dunedin)

Friday 11 July @ Dunedin Public Art Gallery

"... a gentle evocation of the lapping tides, the furrows carved out of the wind, the nocturnal stirrings, the whirrings of wind-propelled wooden chimes, the gentle siren-call of cooing voices, hints of bird song too. It all makes for a soothing – though sometimes beautifully alarming, almost wonderfully unsettling – record of ambient soundscapes. It is Thorne’s through-composed actualisation of identity, a journey that goes deep, is sometimes dark, offering moodiness and a brooding beauty...

I’ve said many times before in reviewing Maori language albums that I’m lost when it comes to a translation but lost in the sound of it, swept up and moved by the beauty of the language; translation – ultimately – is irrelevant. And so it is with this album built with traditional Maori instruments, a different kind of voice, the voice of Taonga Puoro."

Simon Sweetman - Off The Tracks review

Opportunities to hear traditional Maori instruments are a rare occurrence, add to that the beauty of Rob Thorne's compositions, and this concert will be an experience you will not forget.

Prepare to be moved and soothed, his live performances are an intimate and magical experience.

Tickets available in store at RELICS for $15

Door sales will be $20

ROB THORNE ~ Friday 11 July @ Dunedin Public Art Gallery

ROB THORNE music available at RELICS

Posted in live music, NZ music, Rob Thorne, Taongo Puoro

"HELP! I went totally digital... I don't actually 'listen' to music anymore... and I miss it!"

Posted on June 18, 2014 by Irene Hundleby

HELP!

I went totally digital ~ I don't actually 'listen' to music anymore ~ and I miss it!

At the moment, a lot of conversations we have with people revolve around music listening habits and music culture. What really stands out for us is that there are many people out there realising that they have actually stopped listening to music, and they are telling us that they really really miss it!

Working with computers has become the new norm in the 21st century... digital libraries are full to the brim with 1000s of 'collected' tracks. However people are regretfully saying to us that their digital music 'collections' are not necessarily connected to the 'art' of an album, the album artwork, or even the band/musicians that created the music. Many have commented that they feel overwhelmed with the amount of new music that is out there and that some kind of void has occurred, where they have stopped following bands, tracking the art of music albums and even stopped listening to music for fun.

Listening to music has become a background activity to all other acts of living. Music permeates our surroundings - it is everywhere, and can be heard most of the time, however, time invested into the experience of music for the music alone - has disappeared from the lives of many. It is these people that are telling us they want to embrace music like they used to... that is, listen to music in a physical format, so that they are actively engaged ~ listen to music for the sole purpose of listening.

So... first things first - record players do not come with $20 price-tags - but what good equipment does???

Put $ into the experience and the value and joy that will follow is priceless! There are reasonable sound systems out there for reasonable prices...

Feel stuck? hit us up, and we can help point you in the right direction!

Some things just feel better if they are done with full focus...

If you enjoy the experience of listening to music, there are solid reasons why you feel like something is missing with digital music...

Listening to music via a device such as a computer will (more often than not) distract you into doing something else while you are listening. This is called passive listening.
Selecting an album, putting the CD or LP into a device and pushing play takes action - a lot more action than selecting random play on a computer, iPod or iPad. Action will more likely result in active listening.
The act of listening to music through a device with only one purpose, makes your music listening purposeful, and encourages you to engage with the music product.You engage with both the album & the artist, you can visually check out the album artwork and there is also the potential to be intrigued enough to want to learn more about the band because of the info in the CD or LP covers.
Playing physical music is a tactile experience - you get to engage with the music using another sense, which can lead to an even more powerful experience of the music.

Lets not kid ourselves... passive listening will never be active listening!

In a nutshell, music enjoyment does not have to be over!! All you need is a little help from your friends to get back to enjoying music again...

Our NEW ARRIVAL Recommendations

So for those of you that are feeling overwhelmed and out of sync with the music that is out there at the moment...

Or if you're just keen to hear about the music we've been checking out...

Here are a few stand out CDs & LPs that have appeared in RELICS in the last month...

.

SOUTHERN ROCK – Rich Robinson: Ceaseless Sight

(Black Crowes guitarist)

NEW FOLK - First Aid Kit: Stay Gold

AMERICAN ROOTS – Mary Gauthier: Trouble & Love

(Like Eva Cassidy? Def check Mary's music out!)

NEO SOUL – Lee Fields: Emma Jean

BLUES – John Mayall: A Special Life

OLD SKOOL HIP HOP – Eric B & Rakim: Paid In Full

JAZZ – Ella Fitzgerald: Great American Songbook 5cd Boxset

CLASSICAL – Milos Karadaglic: Aranjuez

COUNTRY – Toby Keith: Bullets In The Gun

REGGAE – Lee Scratch Perry: Back On The Controls

METAL – Killer Be Killed: Killer Be Killed

(Max Cavalera from Sepultura, Troy Sanders from Mastodon...)

ALTERNATIVE – Swans: To Be Kind

NZ MUSIC

Check out our KIWI MADE NZ MUSIC blog and our NZ collection for reminders of NZ classics and to learn about new NZ bands…

There is heaps of info for you!

Posted in music culture, music listening habits, passive & active listening, physical versus digital, Relics Recommendations

JACK WHITE & ALIEN TECHNOLOGY!

Posted on June 10, 2014 by Irene Hundleby

JACK WHITE & ALIEN TECHNOLOGY!

LAZARETTO - ULTRA LP

The ULTRA features of this album are unlike anything we've ever seen before...

Well worth a wee mention on here... check them out!

If you're a JACK WHITE fan this HAS to be more than a little bit exciting...

If you also love technology... this is just kind of crazy!!

- 180 gram vinyl
- 2 vinyl-only hidden tracks hidden beneath the center labels
- 1 hidden track plays at 78 RPM, one plays at 45 RPM, making this a 3-speed record
- Side A plays from the inside out
- Dual-groove technology: plays an electric or acoustic intro for “Just One Drink” depending on where needle is dropped. The grooves meet for the body of the song.
- Matte finish on Side B, giving the appearance of an un-played 78 RPM record
- Both sides end with locked grooves
- Vinyl pressed in seldom-used flat-edged format
- Dead wax area on Side A contains a hand-etched hologram by Tristan Duke of Infinity Light Science, the first of its kind on a vinyl record
- Absolutely zero compression used during recording, mixing and mastering
- Different running order from the CD/digital version
- LP utilizes some mixes different from those used on CD and digital version

Here's Jack talking about the new album....

JACK WHITE - LAZARETTO available at RELICS

JACK WHITE music available at RELICS

Posted in Jack White, Lazaretto, Ultra LP, vinyl technology

LED ZEPPELIN REMASTERED RELEASES!

Posted on June 03, 2014 by Irene Hundleby

LED ZEPPELIN REMASTERED RELEASES!

We have just had a bundle of new releases come into the shop in the last week! The SUPER DELUXE BOX SETS have already waltzed in and out the door, but if you want your name down on one of these super deluxe boxsets, send us an email info@relicsmusic.co.nz or give us a call +64 3 474 9394 - more are on the way...

A number of remastered versions on both CD & LP are also in store or online for you to check out!

Led Zeppelin Super Deluxe Box Sets ~ I, II and III

REMASTERED VERSIONS OF LED ZEPPELIN I, II and III

Been dying to know what the insides of these box sets look like? We sure have... This lucky person shared his LED ZEP opening experience with us this afternoon!

It is beyond beautiful!! We've listened to the bonus companion discs and some great music there too!