August 2009: Shihad, Tahuna Breaks, The Black Seeds, The Lookie Loos, The Naked and Famous

The fans are blown away, a sweet lullaby, the newsreel, disintegration, and cutting to the beat.

Continue reading August 2009: Shihad, Tahuna Breaks, The Black Seeds, The Lookie Loos, The Naked and Famous

February 2009: Sola Rosa, State of Mind, Sweet & Irie, The Black Seeds, The Checks, The Mint Chicks, Vince Harder

The year of the dead, furry fiends, the cleaners go to work, imperial phase Seeds, psychedelic layers, blue blood, and fluoro fun.

Continue reading February 2009: Sola Rosa, State of Mind, Sweet & Irie, The Black Seeds, The Checks, The Mint Chicks, Vince Harder

October 2008: Solstate, The Black Seeds, The Mint Chicks, The Tutts, Upper Hutt Posse

A caring world, the case of the disappearing seeds, owl vs robot, the power of the green screen and warrior spirit.

Continue reading October 2008: Solstate, The Black Seeds, The Mint Chicks, The Tutts, Upper Hutt Posse

June 2008: Tahuna Breaks, The Black Seeds, The Phoenix Foundation, The Transistors, Tono and the Finance Company, Tyna, Zeisha

A backing band, steampunk workings, a jog along the beach, nanny cam rock, a modern apartment and channelling Britney.
Continue reading June 2008: Tahuna Breaks, The Black Seeds, The Phoenix Foundation, The Transistors, Tono and the Finance Company, Tyna, Zeisha

October 2007: Salmonella Dub, Tahuna Breaks, The Black Seeds, The Brunettes, The Phoenix Foundation, Tiki Taane

Sunny Vanuatu, alluvial planes, epic littering, alien love, a Hadlee shrine, and a one-man show.
Continue reading October 2007: Salmonella Dub, Tahuna Breaks, The Black Seeds, The Brunettes, The Phoenix Foundation, Tiki Taane

June 2007: Steve Abel, The Black Seeds, The Braxton Hicks, The Electric Confectionaires, The Phoenix Foundation, The Rabble, Young Sid

DeLorean drama, the Seeds on tour, loneliness, painful context, split-level adventures, and North Island gold mining history.
Continue reading June 2007: Steve Abel, The Black Seeds, The Braxton Hicks, The Electric Confectionaires, The Phoenix Foundation, The Rabble, Young Sid

August 2006: Spacifix, Starlett, Steriogram, Ted Brown, The Black Seeds

Gandalf rocks the caravan, opshop finery, enchantment, a whole lot of lamps and a very long answer to an unasked question.
Continue reading August 2006: Spacifix, Starlett, Steriogram, Ted Brown, The Black Seeds

June 2006: Samuel Flynn Scott, Stylus, The Black Seeds, The Feelers, The Mint Chicks

Face photocopying, the goth life, a social network, nowhere, and the curious case of the street that wasn’t there.
Continue reading June 2006: Samuel Flynn Scott, Stylus, The Black Seeds, The Feelers, The Mint Chicks

The Black Seeds “So True”

2004-the-black-seeds-so-true“So True” is a chilled out song of love, and the Black Seeds celebrate that with a Coromandel road trip. Cruising in a Holden HR (and I thank YouTube commenters for that detail) three band members, a guitar, a ukulele and a Polaroid camera cruise around the Coromandel countryside and coast.

Bret McKenzie was in the band at this stage, and he’s shown behind the wheel with the shaggiest hair ever. The trio arrive at a motorcamp and join some friends for a barbecue, further cementing the Black Seeds as a barbecue reggae band.

Then it’s time for a bit of exploring around the coast, some beach cricket, a bit of swimming, some snorkelling, and a dramatic cliff drive.

There’s a stop at a dairy that looks like some very conspicuous product placement. The dairy is covered with Tip Top ice cream branding and Bret cleanly removes the wrapper of his pineapple Fruju with a flourish. This isn’t the first time there’s been product placement in a NZOA video, but it somehow sticks out a bit too much. Also: damn, I could do with a Fruju now.

The world of “So True” is an idealised North Island New Zealand, where it’s always summer and it’s always sunny and idyllic. The video has evoked emotional comments from people, both overseas and in New Zealand, who are relishing in that cruisy loved-up summer feeling.

Best bit: the pineapple on the back shelf of the Holden.

Director: Gareth Moon
Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… sock it to me.

The Black Seeds “Sort It Out”

2004-black-seeds-sort-it-outThe Black Seeds get motivational with “Sort It Out”, only the chorus’ euphemistic “get up off your backside” sounds more like the nagging of a mum to her lazy 15-year-old. Come on, the lawn’s not going to mow itself.

We see the band performing in a white studio space, with the upside-down stripes of the German flag and/or the mixed-up stripes of the Waikato flag running horizontally along the walls. We also meet a lazy-arse dude who’s slobbing around his house, watching the Black Seeds on his telly.

There’s some sort of magical connection between the two as whatever Mr Lazy does affects the band. If he has a cig, the band are engulfed in smoke. When he scrapes his leftovers into the rubbish, the band are covered in food scraps. He’s inspired by the message of the lyrics, but at a very messy cost to the band.

It’s a classic “torture” the band” video. The problem with the genre is that it can be a rather gross experience watching a whole lot of crap flying around. When the band end up performing up to their knees in filthy water, it’s difficult to feel inspired by the lyrics.

I feel like there was a really good idea at the core of this video – a Dorian Gray-like transformation – but the opportunity to have some clever fun with the idea was missed at the expense of cheap gross-out lolz.

Best bit: the full wineglass on the coffee table, the sign of a man who’s given up.

Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision

Next… putting in some overtime.