THE MAGAZINE FOR CURIOUS PEOPLE
Elsewhere is a concept and a place, and Graham Reid goes there for his wide angle travels, writing, music review and interviews with writers, musicians and artists.
Elsewhere is an on-line magazine for new music (we filter out the mundane and spotlight the more interesting albums), different travel, arts and more. It is dedicated to the diversity and possibilities of Elsewhere. It's an equal opportunity enjoyer. Subscribe here (it's free) for a weekly newsletter. Welcome . . .
Latest posts
The Famous Elsewhere Questionnaire
THE FAMOUS ELSEWHERE QUESTIONNAIRE: Ella McCool-Reay of Wax Eye
9 Feb 2024 | <1 min read
The alt.folk Wax Eye are singer Ella McCool-Reay and her father Steve Reay (of Vor-Stellen) who deliver a very seductive self-titled debut: five songs acoustic-framed songs with bassist Jared Johanson (Subliminals, Vor-Stellen) and writer/trumpeter Marco Scott. Erring towards a melodic take on drone-folk's mesmerising repetition with gentle harmonies and subtle... > Read more
One of Us
AFTER THE TAMPA by ABBAS NAZARI
6 Feb 2024 | 1 min read
Decades ago, at Refugee and Migrant Services in Auckland, I glanced at a map showing that vast territory between Greece and India, lands unfamiliar to most New Zealanders but from which refugees and migrants would increasingly arrive: Iraq, Iran, Pakistan, Afghanistan, and Syria. Someone observed that when these people told their stories, our culture and view of the world... > Read more
JIM PEPPER, REMEMBERED (2024): A man comin' . . . an' too soon goin'
5 Feb 2024 | 3 min read | 2
It is a rare jazz musician who can score a rock-radio hit -- but saxophonist Jim Pepper was a very rare jazz musician indeed. Of Kaw and Creek descent, Pepper was born in Oregon in 1941 and described himself as an "urban Indian". He spent much of his early life between family homes in Oregon and Oklahoma and although he grew up listening to big band jazz... > Read more
Ya Na Ho
Melati ESP: adaptations (digital outlets)
5 Feb 2024 | <1 min read
Well, you don't come to Elsewhere for Beyonce and J-Lo, do you? So here's something closer to our mandate: a series of remixes of tracks from the Indonesian-born, New York-based electronica experimentalist Melati Malay's debut album of last year, hipernatural. She was part of the Asa Tone trio but her debut album (all in Indonesian) launched her as a solo artist.... > Read more
Kupu Kupu Electronik (Kasimyn remix)
Sleater-Kinney: Little Rope (digital outlets)
5 Feb 2024 | 2 min read
Sleater-Kinney's album titles have always been interesting: 2019's The Center Won't Hold came from Yeats' The Second Coming and – given the album's background – the “little rope” here may refer to a rope of rescue, the gallows' rope, the rope that binds, constrains and tethers, or the one you might be at the end of? The one given to hang yourself?... > Read more
Don't Feel Right
Jacques Dutronc: Le Responsable (1969)
5 Feb 2024 | 2 min read
Because British and American pop and rock dominated the Sixties, very few artists from outside those regions – we make exceptions for Canadians like Neil Young, Joni Mitchell, The Band and Leonard Cohen – made it into the ears of anyone but their own people. Yes, Kyu Sakamoto from Japan had a big hit, as did Los Bravos from Spain (although they weren't all... > Read more
PASSING SHIPS: Mick Jagger and me
5 Feb 2024 | 4 min read | 3
It's a little known fact, but Mick Jagger and I are real tight. And that's not just me saying that. The last time I saw Jagger -- whom I call Mick, of course -- he shook my hand and said, "Graham, we're real tight." Of course there's a back-story here. Let me put this in the greater context. It was November 88 and Mick was in town with his... > Read more
J Mascis: What Do We Do Now (digital outlets)
4 Feb 2024 | 1 min read
In 2002, J Mascis – of Dinosaur Jr – played an unforgettable solo show at Auckland's Galatos. Looking like “a slacker physics graduate” (our words in the review) he began with his melodic alt.pop and then suddenly hit a foot-pedal to unleash a howling gale of guitar squall in the manner of Neil Young with Crazy Horse. Young has been a key... > Read more
Set Me Down
Folly Group: Down There! (digital outlets)
4 Feb 2024 | 1 min read
As we noted many years ago when discussing in great detail The Strokes when they emerged -- and being rather cynical in the face of seeming unanimous acclaim -- sometimes we need to be cautious about why we fall for certain artists. As we observed, we suspected it was because the Strokes played right into the familiar for many older rock writers (rock'n'roll attitude,... > Read more
Big Ground
Rosina and the Weavers: Hitching the Starlight Highway (digital outlets)
4 Feb 2024 | 1 min read
Out of Pukekohe, this five-piece might nominally be a rock band but with Rosina's flexible and often soulful vocals they have considerable reach and range beyond the genre, showcased on the slow opening title track. It's a decent enough song, but as an opening statement for a debut album it lacks lapel-grabbing attention on a collection which has more immediately... > Read more
Walking Song
SOUND THINKING #3: The podcast for music people
3 Feb 2024 | <1 min read
The third episode of the podcast in which Marty Duda of 13th Floor hosts some reviewers who discuss new albums. This week Marty, Jeff Neems, Veronika Bell and Oxford Lamoureaux review albums by Green Day, J Mascis and local artists the Boondocks and Rosina and the Weavers. Good informed comment. Here it is. . For previous episodes of Sound... > Read more
Aron and the Jeri Jeri Band: Dama Bëgga Ñibi/I Want To Go Home (digital outlets)
1 Feb 2024 | 1 min read
Well, here's an album which has had immediate uptake at Elsewhere because it falls neatly between jazz and world music This is the debut album – after a couple of EPs – from expat keyboard player Aron Ottignon (piano, synths) and the Jeri Jeri Band from Senegal (marimba, percussion, vocals, drums, bass). In truth, it pulls together some material from the... > Read more
Ngaldoore
LEATHER JACKET RECORDS, PROFILED (2024): Like a great big noisy hug
30 Jan 2024 | 5 min read
In the early Eighties, inspired by the punk DIY attitude and the proliferation of young bands, numerous local independent labels sprang up: Flying Nun, Ripper, Propeller, Pagan, Warrior, Failsafe . . . For the most part those at the helm of these labels were navigating unfamiliar waters without a compass. This was the notorious “here be monsters” world of... > Read more
Mercury, by Hannah Everingham
SOUND THINKING #2: The podcast for music people
29 Jan 2024 | <1 min read
The second episode of the podcast in which Marty Duda of 13th Floor hosts some reviewers who discuss new albums. This week Marty, Andra Jenkin, Veronika Bell and I review albums by The Smile, New Model Army, Admiral Drowsy and Sarah Jarosz (not necessarily in that order, check out who does what and what they think here). For other episodes of Sound Thinking... > Read more
GRAHAM NASH, INTERVIEWED (2024): Can we get a witness?
29 Jan 2024 | 6 min read
At the end of last year 81-year old Graham Nash could add a new accolade to his long list of awards: he was presented with the ninth annual John Lennon Real Love Award. “Over many years,” he said, “I watched John and Yoko ‘fight the good fight’ for many whose voices were not being heard, a fight that Yoko continues to this... > Read more
Pink Martini: Splendor in the Grass (2010)
29 Jan 2024 | <1 min read
Popular culture being what it is, a group that can enchant one week is but a faded memory within months: anyone remember Polyphonic Spree? Pink Martini out of Portland were a bit like that. They were the project of the rather wonderful Thomas Lauderdale who founded the ensemble in the late Nineties to deliver his singular vision of Hollywood orchestral music from the... > Read more
THE LIVES OF NICO AND KEITH RICHARDS, RECOUNTED (1994): Rock'n'role models
29 Jan 2024 | <1 min read
When there is time, Elsewhere will be sourcing a rich vein of its archival material which was published in various places during the Eighties and Nineties which are not available on-line. These will most often be reproduced as they appeared in print. Some may be a little fuzzy in the reproduction but we think the story or interview are worth it for researchers or fans.... > Read more
AROOJ AFTAB, INTERVIEWED (2024): Music from and for the soul
29 Jan 2024 | 7 min read
As far as we can recall, it had never happened before until late last year: an artist whose two consecutive album ended up in our best of the year list. Arooj Aftab's Love in Exile was in the best of Elsewhere 2023 list and her previous one Vulture Prince was in the same list in 2021. And we had them both as a Recommended Record (albums to have on vinyl). So... > Read more
Favourite Five Recent Releases
Admiral Drowsy: Industrial Consistency (Melted Ice Cream/digital outlets)
26 Jan 2024 | 2 min read
With this second album following the much recommended The Gutter Boy Speculates of 2021, the project of Admiral Drowsy – Luke Scott with assistance from co-producer, drummer, bassist Ryan Chin – becomes even more clear. And it is rather special in a very unprepossessing way. First let's note that within what we call “rock” there are many... > Read more
Pinnacle
Nikki Sixx: A very dim light indeed
26 Jan 2024 | 4 min read
To tell truth, out of the many hundreds -- indeed thousands -- of musicians I have interviewed very few have been downright stupid. Sure some fumbled for words, others said slightly silly things, and most just blathered on about The Album or whatever. But that's fine. We shouldn't ask anything of musicians other than they make great music. I never thought... > Read more