Kiwi music care package

Got a package of New Zealand music in the post today from the lovely people at Marbecks. Inside was the new Dimmer album, There My Dear [can't recommend Dimmer highly enough - they've got an inevitable MySpace presence now, check them out here; Jenny Morris's acoustic set Clear Blue in Stormy Skies; the special edition of Bic Runga's most recent album, complete with a bonus DVD of her performances at the Civic in Auckland last year [already got the CD, but we've off to see her Edinburgh concert come September, so consider that prep]; the Katchafire Dub and Remix double album [because you can't go wrong with Pacific reggae in summertime]; and what I suspect must be Don McGlashan's first solo album, Warm Hand.

He's been a stalwart of the New Zealand music scene since the days of Blam Blam Blam in the early 80s, when I first starting going to gigs [yes, I'm that old, folks]. AFter that he was involved with quirky pipe hitters From Scratch, crafted some stunningly moving songs amid the comedy capers of The Front Lawn, and was a key figure within The Muttonbirds [they sing Don't Fear the Reaper over the closing credits of Peter Jackson's pre-Rings horror comedy The Frighteners]. Still giving Warm Hand a first listen, but I'm loving it so far. How can you resist an album where the second song opens with these words...

Here's Bart Simpson, with his arms all melted and twisted
And here's one of Big Bird, with his feathers all matted and black
And here are the rows of young women
Wrapped up in bolts of white nylon
And the families from the countryside come to take their daughters back

Find out more about Don and his music at this website.