Spotlight Artist: America

Every weekday between 1 and 5pm we play tracks from our #spotlightartist. They’re an artist with a body of work which has stood the test of time. We’ll play the hits – but also some deep cuts. Listen ad-free through New Zealand via @tunein at https://goo.gl/VL6m3N

A band so melodic and talented they attracted the great Beatles producer George Martin to work with them, America exemplified early 1970s smooth breezy sounds. Meeting as Air Force personnel in London, the band released their self titled first album in 1971. After its re-release in 1972 with smash hit “Horse With No Name” added this album hit number 1 in the US and was a worldwide phenomenon.

They had a string of successful albums (Homecoming, Hat Trick, Holiday, Hearts) through to 1977 when Dan Peek left the band. Although some of their songs have been susceptible to overplaying through the years (anyone who listened to Classic Hits (New Zealand) in the 1990s and 2000s might be in this camp) after a break we can appreciate these exquisitely crafted songs. We’ll enjoy the hits but also some lesser known tracks this week.

Album Of The Week: Panic! At The Disco – Pray For The Wicked

New Zealand Net Radio plays a song from our #albumoftheweek every hour from 9am to 12pm Monday to Friday. Listen in @tunein at https://tunein.com/radio/New-Zealand-Net-Radio-s305138/

The Guardian described it as a parade of EMO-Pop Pizzazz. This certainly is a professional job, theatrical with great layers of great instrumentation, good melodies and wordy lyrics. We’ve been playing the infectious “High Hopes” for a while but you’ll enjoy the rest of the tracks, especially the awesome “Amen (Saturday Night)”. Check out the video – must have been a lot of fun!

New Music Friday: 21 June 2018

Its Friday so its time for five brand new tracks to get their first spin on the hour every hour from 9am. We’ll keep playing these tracks on New Zealand Net Radio, home of streaming radio ad free 24/7 throughout New Zealand.

Bebe Rexha – I’m A Mess

 

 

 

 

 

Martin Garrix – Ocean ft Khalid

 

 

 

 

 

Noah Kahan – Come Down

 

 

 

 

 

Alessia Cara – Growing Pains

 

 

 

 

 

Khalid – Stay

Spotlight Artist: Led Zeppelin

Every weekday between 1 and 5pm we play tracks from our #spotlightartist. They’re an artist with a body of work which has stood the test of time. We’ll play the hits – but also some deep cuts. Listen ad-free through New Zealand via @tunein at https://goo.gl/VL6m3N

Music writer Stephen Thomas Erlewine who wrote many of the articles in the influential All Music Guide (my musical bible in the 1990s) said “What the Beatles were to the ’60s, Led Zeppelin were to the ’70s: a band so successful and innovative they wound up creating the prism through which their entire epoch was seen.” A few words can’t really sum up the legacy of this band, one who surround themselves with influences ranging from blues and folk-rock to psychedelia. Although they might have been the greatest of heavy rock musicians, much of their output transcended that genre. We’ll let the music speak for itself this week as we sample well known and less common tracks from their first album in 1969 through to 1979’s In Through the Out Door.

Album of the Week: 5 Seconds of Summer – Youngblood

New Zealand Net Radio plays a song from our #albumoftheweek every hour from 9am to 12pm Monday to Friday. Listen in @tunein at https://tunein.com/radio/New-Zealand-Net-Radio-s305138/

We’ve been playing the single which gave this album its name for a couple of months now, and the record lives up to the success of that single (still in the Top Ten in most places). After a break of three years (this is their third album) the pop-punk band have embraced a more straightforward sound with plenty of 80s synth influence. Youngblood is unarguably an excellent track but there are plenty of other gems here. Listen out for “Valentine” for example, brilliant sub twenty one pilots pop, complete with staccato delivery in the chorus and dabbing synth. Looking forward to checking out this brilliant pop record from the Aussie foursome.

New Music Friday: 15 June 2018

Its Friday so its time for five brand new tracks to get their first spin on the hour every hour from 9am. We’ll keep playing these tracks on New Zealand Net Radio, home of streaming radio ad free 24/7 throughout New Zealand.

Lily Allen – Lost My Mind

 

 

 

 

 

Amy Shark – Don’t Turn Around

 

 

 

 

 

Lykke Li – Last Piece

 

 

 

 

 

Ruel – Younger

 

 

 

 

 

Sugarland – Babe ft. Taylor Swift

Spotlight Artist: Tom Petty

Every weekday between 1 and 5pm we play tracks from our #spotlightartist. They’re an artist with a body of work which has stood the test of time. We’ll play the hits – but also some deep cuts. Listen ad-free through New Zealand via @tunein at https://goo.gl/VL6m3N

Our spotlight artist this week, sadly departed last year, had a stellar career stretching back to the 1970s. From early bands Epic and Mudcrutch, by the end of 1976 he had released his first album with the Heartbreakers. It did respectably in the charts, with single “Breakdown” hitting the top 40 – it also yielded signature song “American Girl”. For me it was their third album Damn The Torpedoes which marked their creative blossoming. Every track a great listen, it sold over 3 million copies in the US and hit number 2 on the Billboard charts.

Tom Petty was a household name through the MTV era, and his 1991 album Into The Great Wide Open and subsequent Greatest Hits collection really cemented his reputation with a new generation. By this time he had joined Rock royalty with his participation in the Travelling Wilburys project with Bob Dylan, George Harrison, Roy Orbison and Jeff Lynn.

Leaving his original label, he branched out to release his second solo album Wildflowers, an exquisite album that we’ll feature several tracks from. He continued releasing solo and “Heartbreakers” albums through to 2014’s Hypnotic Eye and continued to tour all the while.

He leaves an enormous body of fantastic work, and this week we’ll sample only some of the absolute classics he released, along with a selection of lesser known cuts. What a legend.

Album Of The Week: Dave Matthews Band – Come Tomorrow

New Zealand Net Radio plays a song from our #albumoftheweek every hour from 9am to 12pm Monday to Friday. Listen in @tunein at https://tunein.com/radio/New-Zealand-Net-Radio-s305138/


Stalwarts of alternative music for over two decades, these guys consistently keep producing the goods. Although this new release hasn’t received a massive amount of fanfare in many quarters it is a wonderful journey through love, relationships and parenthood, informed by experience. Jon Pareles in the New York Times (which rated the album highly) summed it up well:

For Dave Matthews, “dad rock” isn’t a put-down. “Come Tomorrow,” the ninth studio album by the Dave Matthews Band and its first since 2012, earnestly embraces fatherhood, commitment, lifelong romance and hope for the next generations.

New Music Friday: 8 June 2018

Its Friday so its time for five brand new tracks to get their first spin on the hour every hour from 9am. We’ll keep playing these tracks on New Zealand Net Radio, home of streaming radio ad free 24/7 throughout New Zealand.

Ben Howard – There’s Your Man

Ben’s new album was released last week. We’ve been playing “Towing The Line” for a while but Noonday Dream is filled with pretty chilled synthy music. The Independent described it as expanding “the Cornish landscape that has impacted his previous work and brings in sounds and instruments that spark the imagination for places further afield, in the most exquisite way”.

Peter Yorn & Scarlett Johansson – Iguana Bird

We’ve been looking forward to this new EP since the track “Bad Dreams was released a few weeks ago, with its noir video. Iguana Bird is another great track.

Mallrat – Groceries

Mallrat is Grace Shaw, an Australian singer-songwriter. This great track off her new EP In The Sky sounds fantastic, and I must admit the cover caught my eye!

 

 

 

Maroon 5 – Girl Like You ft Cardi B

OK its unashamedly commercial, a collaboration between pop superstars Maroon 5 and Cardi B, a smooth pop confection designed for maximum radio spins and streams. But there’s a reason – its infectious great pop that works!

 

Flight Facilities – All Your Love ft. Justin Tebbutt

Folk singer Justin Tebbutt lays down great vocals over Flight Facilities delicate synths in this nice number, another standalone single from the Australian duo. We’re told more great singles are to come soon.

Spotlight Artist: INXS

Every weekday between 1 and 5pm we play tracks from our #spotlightartist. They’re an artist with a body of work which has stood the test of time. We’ll play the hits – but also some deep cuts. Listen ad-free through New Zealand via @tunein at https://goo.gl/VL6m3N


My brother introduced me to this prolific and influential Australian rock band in the late 1980s. Albums like Kick and Welcome to Wherever You Are are filled with classic tracks and were extremely influential.

Starting out as a covers band called The Farriss Brothers in 1977 they transitioned from New Wave to a harder pub rock sound. Michael Hutchence was the poster boy lead singer, with bassist Garry Gary Beers, the brothers Andrew Jon and Tim Farriss holding down guitarist, drummer and keyboard roles respectively, and Kirk Pengilly completed the initial lineup on guitar and sax.

Their commercial peak was in the late 80s and early 90s with albums like Listen Like Thieves, Kick, X and Welcome To Wherever You Are. 

We’ve got some legendary tracks lined up this week- enjoy!