Musicians around the country have been feeling a bit like James Bond and, like the dapper Englishman, are slowly emerging from hibernation. But often... Read More

I like long, unusual words in songs; there are only so many times you can rhyme “love” and “above”. I was reminded of this yesterday... Read More

Today's paper arrives on the first day of October; three quarters of the year has passed. It always seems at around this point that the year has... Read More

And here we are again; it’s musical Groundhog Day. We’re in on-again/off-again territory and I can’t help thinking the single most... Read More

Once again I write this while much of the city and the Bay remains silent, devoid of live music. It’s been harder this time. The Delta variant... Read More

I don’t know anybody who is happy about the state of television at the moment. That’s what I was going to write about this week, and I still... Read More

During our first lockdown last year, one of the saddest losses to Covid was the extraordinary American producer Hal Wilner. Initially a producer with... Read More

It’s official – John Key has moved to town; no, not that one, the other one... I mentioned this a couple of weeks back and promised further... Read More

I had my first brush with cancel culture last week, and I can’t say I’m a fan. It was a result of the column I wrote a fortnight back lambasting... Read More

After last week’s sustained rant we’ve got snippets this time; strap on those short attention spans. And the snippets du jour are a distinctly... Read More

A few weeks back I wrote of APRA’s annual Silver Scroll songwriting awards. Specifically I wrote that the Australasian Performing Right Association... Read More

You’ll have to give me a little leeway with this column; it’s hard to find the right tone just before deadline when you hear a friend has... Read More

I’ve been thinking this week about community; a couple of events on July 24 show again that it’s happening and growing all around us. First... Read More

It seems I’ve been on a bit of a rant recently; let’s return to regular stuff. Largely. This week that includes: Reb Fountain in Katikati;... Read More

Everyone seems to be talking about drugs right now; or perhaps I just need some different friends... For starters, everyone still seems unhappy about... Read More