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Marvin Gaye’s seventh album was released on this day in 1966 (23rd of May). His career was obviously well underway, and the plan was to establish the Motown singer as a strong album artist. He was interested in recording an album of standards but the sessions were unsuccessful. Six songs from this album were released as singles and impressively four reached the Top 40 on the Pop Singles chart. We’ll be playing some tracks from this album as our Classic Gold tracks each hour from 12pm.

Every weekday between 1 and 5pm we play tracks from our #spotlightartist. They’re an artist with a body of work which has stood the test of time. We’ll play the hits – but also some deep cuts. Listen ad-free through New Zealand via @tunein at https://goo.gl/VL6m3N

Dave Dobbyn is an obvious artist to celebrate in New Zealand Music Month – because its obvious doesn’t mean its the wrong thing to do though. He has such an impressive body of work, and has been a big part of my life since “Slice of Heaven” was a triumphant singalong in the mid 1980s from the Footrot Flats film. Of course that wasn’t the beginning – later I got to sing along to classic party songs from his earlier career in Th’Dudes. Overnight Success was his first best of, released in 1999 and filled with cracking tracks. Wonderfully he has gone on to release further treasures since then. We look forward to listening to some gems this week, including a few lesser known tracks.

New Zealand Net Radio plays a song from our #albumoftheweek every hour from 9am to 12pm Monday to Friday. Listen in @tunein at https://tunein.com/radio/New-Zealand-Net-Radio-s305138/

James Bay was the much hyped man in a hat back in 2014, the ex Brighton busker with the sensitive folk-pop acoustic leaning album The Chaos and the Calm. He could have done it again, but whilst ostensibly on a six month break he headed into a basement studio and emerged with what iTunes describes as “simmering funk-rock, taut alt-pop and folky electro-R&B”. At the risk of too much smooth male music (Charlie Puth last weekend released Voicenotes, next weekend Shawn Mendes releases a self titled album) we’re looking forward to checking out more tracks from this album. The tracklist:

1. Intro
2. Wasted On Each Other
3. Pink Lemonade
4. Wild Love
5. Us
6. In My Head
7. Interlude
8. Just For Tonight
9. Wanderlust
10. I Found You
11. Sugar Drunk High
12. Stand Up
13. Fade Out
14. Slide

Its Friday so its time for five brand new tracks to get their first spin on the hour every hour from 9am. We’ll keep playing these tracks on New Zealand Net Radio, home of streaming radio ad free 24/7 throughout New Zealand.

So much great new music this week – new albums from Charlie Puth, Arctic Monkeys, Beach House, Marian Hill, Kings, Sons of Zion and great singles from LSD, Selena Gomez, Rita Ora & friends, Bastille and John Mayer. Our pick of five new tracks to highlight:

Smith & Thell – DUMB

Smith & Thell are a Swedish folk / pop due who have been releasing singles since 2012. Their breakthrough was in 2015 with song “Statue”. This new song is another great pop number.

 

 

Beach House – Pay No Mind

The new album from this US band has been widely acclaimed and rightly so. It has a succession of great dreamy songs with lots of synth and good melodies. We’re playing some other tracks but here is the premier of track 2 “Pay No Mind”, a great album track which could qualify for release as a single.

Lake Street Dive – I Can Change

Like Beach House this US band formed in 2004. Their new album has hit the Billboard 200 album top 10 on release which is awesome. Lead single “Good Kisser” has had the attention but we really like this album track about letting go of hate and hangups.

Rueben Stone – Something For You

From his new EP Something For You this Melbourne artist blends genres – touches of reggae and pop combine in this breezy number that I’m sure will feature in many summer beach playlists.

 

R3hab & Conor Maynard – Hold On Tight

Dutch DJ R3hab and English singer Conor Maynard combine on this nice single. Conor started off on Youtube and has released a few singles, R3hab has a Sirius XM show called I NEED R3HAB. With 6 million monthly streams on spotify Conor is doing great and this nice pop number will help the cause!

Every weekday between 1 and 5pm we play tracks from our #spotlightartist. They’re an artist with a body of work which has stood the test of time. We’ll play the hits – but also some deep cuts. Listen ad-free through New Zealand via @tunein at https://goo.gl/VL6m3N

Neil Finn’s status as a legendary Kiwi musician is really inarguable. His achievements span four decades and a body of masterful pop. Born in 1958 he joined Split Enz in the mid 1970s. By 1980 he was lead singer and made an impressive debut on the international scene writing and singing their first big worldwide hit “I Got You”. After an impressive body of work with Split Enz, he went on to found what became Crowded House. They went on to enjoy stellar success, including two massive hits “Don’t Dream It’s Over” and “Weather With You”. Since they split up in 1997 he has released four solo albums (Try Whistling This – 1998, One Nil – 2001, Dizzy Heights – 2014 and Out Of Silence last year) as well as many collaborations including ones with his brother Tim and his wife (forming Pyjama Club). We’ll enjoy lots of great hits as well as some lesser known tracks from Neil’s various career points over the week. We’ll kick it off after 1pm Monday with one of my favourites, “It’s Only Natural” off Crowded House’s penultimate and perhaps greatest album Woodface (1991).

New Zealand Net Radio plays a song from our #albumoftheweek every hour from 9am to 12pm Monday to Friday. Listen in @tunein at https://tunein.com/radio/New-Zealand-Net-Radio-s305138/

New Zealand Music Month continues with another great new release from Sons of Zion. These guys released their first album in 2009 and have really gone from strength to strength. They have stepped beyond their reggae origins to more of a pop sound, although the reggae vibes are still there. This is an album that brings a taste of summer with its cool vibes – we look forward to checking it out this week.

Tracklist:

1. Vantage Point

2. In The Sky

3. Early In The Morning (feat. Fiji)

4. Mash It Up (feat. Israel Starr)

5. So Bright

6. Same Old Me

7. Is That Enough (feat. Aaradhna)

8. Drift Away

9. Lessons

10. Black Hole

11. Leave With Me

12. Drift Away (remix)

13. Fill Me Up

14. I’m Ready

15. Now (feat. Slip-On Stereo)

15. Fill

Its Friday so its time for five brand new tracks to get their first spin on the hour every hour from 9am. We’ll keep playing these tracks on New Zealand Net Radio, home of streaming radio ad free 24/7 throughout New Zealand.

Frank Turner – 1933

We’ve been playing Mr Turner’s fantastic track “Make America Great Again” for a few weeks now. His new album is right up to that standard, filled with great songs with a political edge on many of them. The name of the track harkens back to the year the Nazis came to power in Germany, and is a punky reflection on the world today.

Middle Kids – Bought It

Middle Kids (Sydney trio) have released this nice debut album. Its filled with great catchy melodic rock, including this track Bought It.

 

 

Guns N’ Roses – Shadow Of Your Love

This is not exactly a new song – in fact its the first song Guns N’ Roses ever played together. The song didn’t make it onto their debut album Appetite For Destruction released in 1987. It has surfaced on a couple of singles as a B-Side but its now getting its due to promote a forthcoming full fat ultra deluxe release of the album packed with outtakes, demos etc. Its a great song!

Missy Higgins – Red Moon

Australian singer songwriter Missy Higgins has quite a body of work under her belt. This track comes from her recent album Solastalgia which hit number 3 on the Australian album charts (so far!). She’s a very talented lady – enjoy this song. Write up on the album in Stuff here.

Graace – Kissing Boys

Another single-songwriter from Sydney, this is Graace’s first solo release. Its a great little pop number to round out the week.

Great piece of pop from Ariana Grande (@arianagrande) – and it received a surprisingly positive review from The Guardian of all places! https://www.theguardian.com/music/2018/apr/20/ariana-grande-no-tears-left-to-cry-review

Listen ad-free 24/7 throughout New Zealand on @tunein goo.gl/VL6m3N 

Another great set of tracks on the hour every hour from 9am this Friday on NZ Net Radio.

 LOVA – You Me and the Silence

ANOTHER fine example of ‘Scandipop’, LOVA is a Swedish singer/songwriter whose debut single has a great hook – enjoy!

 Marshmello/Anne-Marie – FRIENDS

Sounds like the perfect recipe – mix producer of the hour Marshmello with English singer Anne-Marie (hits like Rockabye, Do It Right) and it is – enjoy this foot tapper! Kat Bein of Billboard says  “The English singer delivers a bossy performance that would put any dog’s tail between its legs, while Marshmello plays clever on acoustic guitar over a bumpin’ electronic beat and even works in some G-Funk, West Coast synth work.”

 

 Andrew W.K. – Ever Again

Andrew is a motivational speaker and ‘party guru’, whatever that means. He produced an album for the Japanese market back in 2009 (Gundam Rock). This single presages a forthcoming album. Nice single – perhaps this will be the breakthrough for this US artist who has been performing since the 1990s. Andrew describes the song as:

“A fantasy in which I imagine what it would be like to actually know the meaning of life — an ecstatic nightmare in which I’ve returned from the brink of annihilation, having clawed the Ultimate Insight from out of its hiding spot, and am finally able to solve the riddle of existence while I cry out in triumphant elation. The desire to possess this total internalized clarity — not only knowing what life really means, but actually feeling the Truth from the inside out — is a mirage for the mind, but a reality for the heart.”

Hmmm…

 Josie Dunn – Old School

Another new US singer-songwriter, Josie’s debut single “Old School” is a simple love song, based on the experience of seeing her parent’s love for each other. She told Digital Journal:

“They were born five days apart, and lived two blocks away from each other, and went to high school together, and got married after college. They had such a cool story, and I wanted my actual parents and my actual home to be in the video. That was such a fun experience,”

 The Teskey Brothers – Forever You &Me

Victorian (Australia) band The Teskey Brothers are described as “purveyors of smokey-voiced soul music”. We like this new single -hope you do too. They’re touring New Zealand in March – details here.