This week Tony is joined by RNZ Music's Yadana Saw, and Checkpoint's Matthew Hutching, to bring you six brand new tunes.
Edward Castelow - Down By The Riverside
Tony: "This is a six minute song that doesn't really kick in till 3:30. It's a bold move to trust people to sit with it for that long. All that instrumentation comes in and it just becomes so, so epic."
Matthew: "I love how it goes from what you might think is an acoustic ballad, with the acoustic guitar, then suddenly the fuzz takes over and it just goes BIG."
Tim Heidecker - Property
Matthew: "It's criminal how prolific this guy is. He's a comedian, he's an actor, he's a writer, and is obviously an accomplished musician. It's telling a truth, it's sincere but it's sardonic as well. It's just got this beautiful sprinkling of irony through it. I mean this song is called 'Property' and it's about how cemeteries might be up for property development."
Jess B - Bullseye
Yadana: "Let's not forget that JessB was once a netball player, and I think her athleticism really shines in the music video. And that balance and poise is also present in the way she drops her rhymes. I think she's one of our pre-eminent MCs, in the way she rides a beat, and also in what she says."
Alicia Keys - Time Machine
Yadana: "I feel like this is a super accessible album. For me Alicia Keys has always been 'more is more', you know - you get a lot of piano, you get a lot of vocal performance, it's just stuffed to the brim. But with this album she's pulled back a bit and simplified things, and I feel it's really worked."
DUAL - Honey
Tony: "Notable about this song is that it came out of a jam with Kody Nielson, formerly of The Mint Chicks. He co-produced the track, and I'm pretty sure that's him playing the drums. The production smacks of Kody Nielson."
Matthew: "I'm a big fan of this guitar sound. I love a Fender amp, and that's what it sounds like to me. Maybe a Jazzmaster. It's a beautiful jangle, and a different sort of jangle than you'd get from a Vox amp for example."
Mogwai – Dry Fantasy
Tony: "Mogwai are my favourite band. Their success is remarkable when you consider that 90% of their songs don't have any words, they just rely on this building, swelling emotion in every track, and these incredible melodies. The magic is in listening to the entire thing and immersing yourself in it."
