Two Free Hands Playlist, Tally Ho 2, and more music
Two Free Hands - The playlist
Years ago, Karlya and I stayed at our friend Sarah's apartment in Soma, San Francisco. A poet and psychology graduate, she'd followed love to the US, and within months of moving, she'd found herself working long nights for a start up, learning to code on the job. When we arrived the start up was in the process of going bust. She told us an amazing yarn about tech culture - working for subsistence pay, sleeping on the office floor, fueled by the dream that some day venture capital would come in and make it rain money. The Bay area was turning poets into coders, and it was clear something insane was happening.
It was at her place, listening to these amazing stories, that we first used Pandora. After being told for years that music was heading to some sort of 'free like water' model, I'd stopped believing it would actually happen. But once I experienced the consumer side of it, I could see it was a done deal.
This website is a place where I can communicate and trade on what feels like my own terms, and I appreciate anyone going here or Bandcamp first instead of the alternatives. You might notice that there is no early fade out on the version of Two Free Hands available on the website - it's available in it's longest and most indulgent version here.
However! I love a good playlist as much as anyone. So - I've made one on that conspicuously convenient site that starts with S. This is an hour of music to extend the experience with Two Free Hands. There are some influences that Jonathan and I have been listening to in the making of the song (Thom Healey pointed us to the Springsteen number), some songs that I think sit with the ethos of the song, and some songs that I just really love at the moment - including some of my favourite local artists. There are lots of strings and pad sounds, organic-digital hybrids, and wrenching chords over repetitive drum beats. Plus, one of my formative influences - Nelly Furtado.
Tally Ho 2
As well as my show at the DPAG in Dunedin on the 9th, I'm also performing as part of Tally Ho! 2, with the Dunedin Symphony Orchestra on Saturday November 4 . Graeme Downes has written a string arrangement for Sugar In The Petrol Tank, and as well as that, I'm honoured to be part of a night with the DSO, Martin Phillipps, Nadia Reid, Shayne Carter and more. Tickets here:
News, radio
Releasing music this time around, I'm really trying to resist making my social media an echo chamber for positive mentions - easing up on the unnecessary reposts. But I am grateful to everyone who has played or covered the new song in some way.
Russell Brown always has insightful things to say on his Public Address music column - it's a great weekly music read. He linked to the write up on this site - which made me notice some of my glaring grammar mistakes (which have now been fixed). He also covers the pending closure of the Golden Dawn in Auckland, which is a place that means a lot to me.
Ben Yung of therevue.ca lives in New Zealand now and I'm glad he convinced me to put the song on Soundcloud so that he could cover it. He picks some great touchstones, and I wish I could genuinely claim them all as real influences. I will say that this new album is free of any Macbook - I'm a staunch PC user these days, and Jonathan and I use the Linux of the recording softwares - Reaper and I can't recommend it enough. My live set will be free of any pesky computers thanks to the Synthstrom Deluge.
It's exciting that the song is starting to get play on Bnet stations, RNZ and Double J. I'm also grateful to Fbi Sydney's Jack Shit for premiering the song in Australia. The show is a really incredible, often emotional, deep listen for music appreciators- highly recommend streaming in on a Saturday.
More music
Friends of mine - Great North are releasing their new album on October 20, and they've already let two great songs out of the bag on their bandcamp page. This is their video for Better Days.
My Australian label mate on Flippin Yeah, Shelley Short, has made an achingly beautiful album called Pacific City. Listen on bandcamp. It's available from the Flippin Yeah Store on Vinyl and CD.
Oh and Julia Deans has a new song out today. I'm terribly excited about her album.