Category: Album of the Week

Album of the Week: Bobbie Gentry’s The Delta Sweete Revisited

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/

Bobby Gentry is one of those intriguing legends. A smash hit off her first album with “Ode to Billie Joe”, she was one of the first female artists to write her own songs. She produced seven studio albums, and performed until the late 1970s until she lost interest in performing. That’s it. No reunion tours, anniversary tours etc.

The world was her oyster when she produced her second album The Delta Sweete. Pitchfork brilliantly described it as “full of technicolor arrangements, oddball collages, and playful sexual innuendos”.

Now Mercury Rev (formed in Buffalo, New York in the late 1980s), described as psych-pop masters have turned to this lost gem. Reshaping the songs with a string of big name singers (Phoebe Bridgers, Beth Orton and Lucinda Williams amongst them) we’re in for something a bit different this week – should be a treat!

Album of the Week: Broods – Don’t Feed The Pop Monster

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 Broods, from Nelson New Zealand, have been releasing music since 2014. Don’t Feed The Pop Monster is their third effort. With a generous track listing of 12 varied tracks its anything but boring. NME said that “it somehow feels easier to break through the sheen, and get to the heart this time around”. We think it is a step in the right direction in the evolution of this talented group.

Album of the Week: Beirut – Gallipoli

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/

This is probably a slightly left-field choice for us. Although the name Gallipoli catches the eye of us Kiwis (its actually referring to an Italian town rather than the Turkish peninsula) we haven’t actually come across Beirut before. Beirut are an indie folk band started by Zach Condon from Santa Fe, New Mexico. A talented multi-instrumentalist, his musical influences include Eastern Europe. This melancholic album has a Mediterranean feel, and great sounds from interesting instruments such as the woodblock metronome, Farfisa organ as well has brass and ukelele. Something different but very enjoyable.

Album of the Week: Maggie Rogers – Heard It In A Past Life

Maggie Rogers gained exposure a couple of years ago with a viral video of Pharrell Williams raving about a song of hers, “Alaska”. After a record company bidding war she took her sweet time producing her debut album. Here it is, great music still with her folk influences present but more electronic sounds as well. An artist to watch in the future.

Album of the Week: Queen – A Night At The Opera

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/

Continuing with our theme of classic albums over the holiday period, here’s an album that is receiving a bit more attention at the moment with the release of the movie Bohemian Rhapsody. Are we seeing a new generation of Queen fans? Queen’ fourth album, A Night At The Opera was released in 1975 whereupon it spent four weeks at the top of the UK album charts, selling over 6 million copies (it hit number one in New Zealand as well).

Album of the Week: Bruce Springsteen – Born in the U.S.A.

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/

Over the holiday period in the absence of major releases we’ll cast our eyes back over some classic releases. Bruce Springsteen’s album from 1984 became so ubiquitous that it possibly suffered from overexposure at the time. There is no doubt however that this is a superb collection of songs. With 19 million sales this landmark album is superbly realised. AllMusic as usual provide a good review.

Album of the Year: Kimbra – Primal Heart

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/

So many choices – we’ve had some real delights as albums of the week this year, and plenty of nice ones that have just missed out because of a plethora of albums at the same time. The 1975’s A Brief Enquiry Into Online Relationships, Ariana Grande’s Sweetener, Rolling Blackouts Coastal Fever’s Hope Downs, Beach House 7, A Star Is Born, The Greatest Showman: Reimagined and Parquet Courts Wide Awake spring to mind. In the world of the critics,
Janelle Monáe, Mitski, Robyn, Kasey Musgraves and Christine and the Queens seem to have triumphed frequently (https://www.albumoftheyear.org/list/summary/2018/). We could have chosen any of those, but we decided to go with a Kiwi effort, an album we kept returning to through the year – Kimbra’s Primal Heart.

Look forward to featuring this fantastic album once again this week. On Friday, in place of New Music Friday, we’ll count down our top 40 songs of 2018 through the morning.

Album of the Week: Ziggy Alberts – Laps Around The Sun

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/

Well the music year is winding down, and everyone has already started trotting out the “Best Of” lists. Although new releases are quieting we’ll look back a few weeks to an album that got a bit crowded out (and didn’t get enough attention). Ziggy Alberts is an Australian folk musician who has put together a sweet and contemporary set of songs with great melody and singing. Enjoy!

Album Of The Week: Clean Bandit – What Is Love?

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/

This album doesn’t seem exactly new – a bit like Rita Ora’s recent album, in the streaming age albums seem more like roundup compilations of recent singles. Some of these have been around a while – “I Miss You” featuring Julia Michaels has been around since October last year for example. That said, the classically trained musicians have kept producing consistently great pop. With 22 collaborators in tow we’ll enjoy some familiar and new tracks this week. “Baby” with Marina & The Diamonds and “Mama” with Ellie Goulding are particular standouts among the new material.