Grant Smithies

Grant Smithies trips out to psychedelia old and new from the late Sun Ra and the very "now" Orchestra Of Spheres, with a bit of folkie pop from Chicago band Whitney thrown in to ease the comedown… Audio

As a taster to next week's Wellington Jazz Festival, Grant Smithies previews three of the touring acts: veteran sax-man Wayne Shorter, Brooklyn jazz fusion collective Snarky Puppy and African… Audio

In his ongoing quest to ransack the musical alphabet, Grant Smithies covers three acts beginning with the letter "R" this week: Ray Columbus, touring jazz man Ramsey Lewis, and early all-female rock… Audio

Grant Smithies ransacks his thesaurus for superlatives after being faced with spectacular new releases from local songwriters Roy Irwin and Joe Blossom, and gets a tad misty-eyed over an older track… Audio

Still deeply depressed over the whole flag fiasco, Grant Smithies demonstrates his patriotism in other ways this week, focussing his ears on three killer local releases, two of them dusty reissues and… Audio

Grant Smithies, fresh from the Prince concert in Auckland, plays one of his favourite Prince tunes. He also checks out some songs from Dunedin musician, Kane Strang, and plays a relatively unknown… Audio

Grant Smithies showcases songs by three international acts performing here over the next three weeks: American "riot grrrl" punk trio Sleater-Kinney, Jamaican rhythm legends Sly and Robbie, and… Audio

Still reeling from a surfeit of Christmas pudding, port and sun after a big break in January, Grant Smithies belatedly rounds up a few great local records he should have listened to last year. Audio

Grant Smithies flaps a shell-like ear over recent works from South London poet Kate Tempest, Tuscon "desert noir" duo Calexico and Australian rapper Hau, three acts who are touring here over summer. Audio

Unaccustomed though he is to blowing his own trumpet, Grant Smithies shamelessly showcases one of his own musical projects this week: a vinyl compilation LP called Alright In The City that collects… Audio

Grant Smithies blunders without knocking into a succession of messy bedroom studios this week to check up on the works of three of the nation's finest home producers, alive and dead. Expect reissued… Audio

Grant Smithies falls back in love with six-string electrics this week, playing spirited air guitar solos while he listens to new releases by The Brian Jonestown Massacre, Bespin, and the first album… Audio

Wellington electronic musician Bevan Smith. Audio

Unafraid to appear hopelessly fashionable, this week Grant Smithies applies his ears to hipster-friendly releases from feted Brooklyn electro-chick Empress Of, New Jersey indie stalwarts Yo La Tengo… Audio

Just before strapping on his board shorts for a junket to Hawa'ii, Grant Smithies clears his desk of recent new releases, checking out the latest noises emanating from Albuquerque, Kinshasa, Baltimore… Audio

2015 marks the 50th anniversary of the nation's premier songwriting award, the APRA Silver Scroll, with this year's Scroll presented this Thursday night (September 17) at Auckland's Vector Arena… Audio

Grant Smithies warms his manly mainframe to the the blissful cyborg soul of Kody Nielson's new Silicon project, then samples a vintage Stax soul collection and a classic single from pioneering… Audio

After being sent a terrible new album of Nina Simone covers, Grant Smithies is sent scurrying back to Nina's priceless originals. He also gets an earful of touring North Carolina bluesman Big Daddy… Audio

The White House has released two playlists on the music app Spotify, all hand chosen by the President of the United States himself. Audio