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.
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!
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.
Rita Ora’s new album has been greeted with universal acclaim. Six years in the making (due to legal disputes with her label) a lot of the album feels familiar. This is a function of the streaming age, with singles being dropped over time. We’ve been listening to the late Avicii with Rita on “Lonely Together” and “For You” from the Fifty Shades Freed soundtrack for a fair while now but there are plenty of new treats here. NME described it accurately as “a confident pop gem that stands tall on its own”. We look forward to it this week.