Grant Smithies

A full 38 years after their debut EP was released in 1981, Blam Blam Blam are about to hit the road for a national tour this month. Grant Smithies plays two Blams' classics, alongside melancholy… Audio

Homesick synth-pop, witchy indie folk addled psychedelia and dancefloor mayhem. It's all on today as we take a roadie around New Zealand for killer tunes from Lake South, Purple Pilgrims and Gary War… Audio

Grant plays new songs from three deeply diverse acts from Aotearoa- Hallelujah Picassos, Louis Baker and Cookie Brooklyn & The Crumbs. Audio

Music reviewer Grant Smithies says - epic and overwhelming, Steven "Flying Lotus" Ellison's sixth album Flamagra is quite a trip, but it's well worth coughing up for a ticket and climbing aboard… Audio

For a shy boy from Hamilton, Jordan Rakei has come a long way, teaching himself to make beats in a Brisbane bedroom, moving to London, signing to the UK's mighty Ninja Tune label and recently working… Audio

Auckland's Scott Mannion is one of New Zealand's greatest unsung songwriters. From a 300 year old house in Spain, he has just released his first record in 15 years. Audio

Snotty lyrics, fast guitars and a determination to grow old disgracefully- tomorrow night in Auckland is PUNK IT UP IV, the latest in a series of sporadic reunions of Auckland's punk community for a… Audio

Does God exist? Kansas singer/songwriter Kevin Morby is not so sure, but ponders the issue at length on his new double album, Oh My God. Grant Smithies has two key tracks from that record today… Audio

Music reviewer Grant Smithies looks at former Pavement front-man Stephen Malkmus' new solo album Groove, alongside songs from a newly optimistic Sharon Van Etten and veteran rudeboy Desmond Dekker. Audio

Grant Smithies is a music critic, writer, reviewer and record store owner. He shares his favourite songs and tales of alternative careers in his mixtape with Yadana Saw. Audio

Music reviewer Grant Smithies has a four-course tasting platter of delicious sonic treats today, with the first three made from ethically sourced local ingredients. We'll tuck into boss tunes from… Audio

Grant Smithies tells Kathryn that something very special is brewing in Naenae. Today we hear two cosmic folk tunes from Lower Hutt's Albert Mikolaj, also known as A.U.R.A. We'll also indulge in a… Audio

New music with Grant Smithies - UK post-punk figureheads Gang Of Four are returning to Aotearoa this month to celebrate the 40th anniversary of their landmark 1979 debut album Entertainment! We hear… Audio

Poet, painter, Parisian punk, Patti Smith pal- New York fell hard for the charms of French artiste Lizzy Mercier Descloux when she swept into that city in the late 70s in a cloud of Gauloises smoke… Audio

Grant Smithies is along with an earful of a powerful new collection of radical jazz, street funk and proto-rap recorded in the US during the Black Power era (1969-75). Soul of A Nation 2: Jazz Is The… Audio

One of music reviewer Grant Smithies' favourite local LPs of last year was Teal, the fourth album from Auckland-based visual artist/ DJ/ multi- instrumentalist Julian Dyne. We hear two key tracks from… Audio

Music reviewer Grant Smithies goes ape this week over new double album Mirror from Wellington's Orchestra Of Spheres, then sheds a tear for dearly departed singer/guitarist Pete Shelley of Manchester… Audio

Philadelphia musician Kurt Vile is back with his first solo album in three years, and it's a ripper, according to music reviewer Grant Smithies. We hear two tracks from that today, alongside recent… Audio