A showcase of some of the best new music releases from the past week.
Terrace Martin - ‘Push’
Terrace Martin, one of Kendrick Lamar’s key producer’s on TPAB and untitled, unmastered, has just released a record of his own - the mesmerising Velvet Portraits. For ‘Push’, he takes note from the golden age of soul music à la Curtis, Marvin and Aretha.
Street Chant - Hauora
Following a long delay, Street Chant’s new album Hauora is finally here in full. To get some context, it’s worth revisiting Emily Littler’s write-up on The Pantograph Punch. Keep in mind that they’ve still got a few tour dates coming up too. This weekend they hit Wellington and Palmerston North. Find out more via their Facebook.
Drake - ‘Pop Style’ and ‘One Dance’
So much Aubrey for one day. The latest singles from Views From The 6 come packaged together despite the world of difference that separates them. The first, ‘One Dance’, takes after last week’s ‘Controlla’ - meanwhile, ‘Pop Style’ feels a little more ‘Summer Sixteen’-ish. Just be ready for a pretty rats line about Channing Tatum. As for that appearance from The Throne, it translates to precisely two bars from Jay Z and a significant amount more from Kanye (who sounds decidedly more comfortable here than Drake himself). Will Views From The 6 be a double album? We’re calling it now.
Schoolboy Q – ‘Groovy Tony’
Top Dawg Entertainment’s planned domination of 2016 continues with the first single from Schoolboy Q since his third album Oxymoron was released a couple of years back. As promised, this one sees him going all in: “The details in his bars is way up. To me, he’s way more lyrical on this album than he’s ever been,” TDE’s “Punch” Henderson said recently. Sounds about right to us.
SoccerPractise – ‘Haere Mai E Tama’
SoccerPractise – the tantalising Auckland four-piece made up of Geneva Alexander Marsters, Kim Newall, Leo Horgan and Thom Burton - are back with a newly released track, ‘Haere Mai E Tama’. Sung entirely in Te Reo and set to a minimalist electro backdrop, the track is a welcome sign of what’s to come. They put on a pretty mean live show too. See for yourself when they plan alongside Deradoorian next Wednesday, and as part of the line-up for Fiji-Funding on April 22.
T.A.B. – Trailers and Boats
After releasing tracks here and there over the past couple of months, two-piece Wellington act T.A.B. have finally dropped their debut EP in full. Known for melding Gameboy sounds into their songs, the experimental act told us last year that they take elements from noise music, circuit bending and chip music to create a glitch/dance sound. Start with live favourite ‘Pizza of Death’.
Beastwars - ‘Devils of Last Night’
‘Devils of Last Night’ is the latest from Beastwars’ third album, The Death Of All Things - a record they describe as the last of their ‘post-apocalyptic trilogy’. The song itself might be one of the band’s most memorable yet - it’s a refined moment of distorted and callous heavy metal. The album is out April 22, if you hadn’t heard already. Don’t expect them to ease up anytime soon.