We continue the occasional series wherein Winston expounds on things that currently make him happy. Last time it was three gigs; this time it's three albums.

One from right here in Tauranga, one from around here – New Zealand – and one from out there – America. They're all very different but have one thing in common: they make Winston happy. Very happy.



186) Paul Simon – Stranger To Stranger.

Paul Simon is a restless musician always searching for new sounds and approaches. That has, I suspect, led to consternation at his record label as some of the catchiest work on recent albums has had its commercial potential completely knackered by Simon's quest for experimental quirks. It's a thing of delight for lovers of the curious but studiously alienates the mainstream.

His last album ‘So Beautiful So What' was more approachable as is this latest offering, which finds him in peak lyrical form whether riffing on club admission and class divides on ‘Wristband', pondering mortality and societal collapse on ‘The Werewolf', or singing a touching elegy to the mother of a dead soldier on ‘The Riverbank'.

Some who are annoyed with his more cutesy stylings might find the opening a little grating but there is great depth here in the album's short, concentrated running time.
Musically, there's a flamenco undercurrent, with a small group of clappers, a dancer and cahon player. It's a type of drum, which you sit on and play between your legs, used across several tracks. There is also a special ambience gained from the integration of unusual ‘microtone' instruments designed by 20th Century American composer Harry Partch. Bottom line though – any good? Yes, yes and yes. ‘Stranger To Stranger' manages to continually surprise while being instantly accessible. And it grooves.

By turns funny and touching it is Paul Simon at his best.

The ‘duluxe' edition adds four extra songs and an instrumental, including a duet with the legendary Dion.

187) Dave Dobbyn – Harmony House.

Has it really been eight years since Dave Dobbyn's last album? It seems like he's never been away. On this latest collection – like Paul Simon's, a concentrated blast clocking in at just over half an hour – he is accompanied and produced by Sam Scott and Luke Buda of The Phoenix Foundation, adding interesting musical layers (a pedal steel guitar keeps cropping up), while retaining a toughness that harks back to ‘Available Light' and even ‘Hopetown'. Perhaps Dobbyn has been around so long now and is so ingrained in the Kiwi consciousness that it's hard not to hear echoes of previous work.

Certainly the four tropes of Dobbyn's expert songwriting are present and correct, often all at once. Landscape, weather, religion and love are the areas that he has long explored and to which he returns here frequently. Oh, and he can still nail an effortlessly catchy chorus in that patented anthemic manner.

‘Harmony House' grows upon repeated listening as these hooks take hold, and there are plenty of them.

But it is perhaps the quieter moments that dig deepest, the likes of ‘Burning Love', possibly the finest love song he has yet penned. Classic Dobbyn, just give it a chance to sink in.

188) Brilleaux – Brillcream.

Subtitled ‘The Cream of Brilleaux', this 16-track compilation was assembled for the band's recent United Kingdom tour. It is twice as long as Simon and Dobbyn's efforts.

It must have been no easy task picking favourites from the Brilleaux catalogue but this is a good selection, from the early likes of ‘Beer Goggles' through the unusual dancefloor experiment of ‘POD' (featuring the outstanding singing of local chanteuse Jessie Matthews) to a couple of tracks from last year's ‘Pictures of the Queen'.

Fans will be particularly pleased by the inclusion of six previously unreleased songs: two live tracks recorded at last year's Jazz Festival, two classic covers, and two brand new songs, notable the striking ‘Two To Tango' which, with the addition of Sonia Bullot's trumpet, genuinely charts that most unusual of places, where R&B meets tango. Also a high point is the band's new take on ‘Tobacco Road' potentially slightly hoary territory but here played with such freshness and power that it just about tears up your speakers.

Perfect for a summer barbecue, get it thought the Brilleaux website. Great cover design too.