10 Oct 2024
UsernamePassword

Remember Me? | Join | Recover
Click here to sign in via social networking

Gig Review: Ministry of Folk @ Auckland Folk Festival - 26/01/2024

30 Jan 2024 // A review by Maggie Cocco
The Ministry of Folk brought a smorgasbord of top NZ talent to the 51st Auckland Folk Festival. Known as the “alternative folk club”, The Ministry platformed a variety of folk-infused singer-songwriters.

House band HOOP opened the night with a diverse bouquet from their vast repertoire of original songs composed by singer-songwriters Al Baxter and Nick Edgar. From charming scenes of childhood play on summer nights and road trips, to immigrant anthems longing for the homeland, HOOP took listeners on a journey through time and place. A thoughtful rendition of Karanga Mai featuring an inspired solo from violinist Emily Allen was an audience favourite, and it wouldn’t be a HOOP performance without a bit of pointed political remarks. Tunes such as Trickle Down and, Rabbit Hole, poked fun at societal foibles and your conspiracy-theory prone relatives whilst offering the jammiest, funkiest, reggae influenced folk of the fest.

Tom Cunliffe stopped time when he launched into his first song without prelude. His lovely timbre with its distinct and classic folky tremolo gives his originals a timeless feel. His voice is an instrument that lulls, urges and compels. Dynamic swells from note to note and lingering diction, while sometimes obscuring the lyrics, made his melodies drip with emotion. Lyrics that stand out feature sincere poetry stacked with vivid imagery. Cunliffe spoke few, softly spoken words between songs, encouraging the audience to lean in and let the music do the talking. “This song is about what colours and sounds look like together” is all that preceded a crowd favourite about the artist’s experience with synesthesia called Colour Wheel. Looking dreamily into the audience, Cunliffe is a rare artist who looks at and through you.

Bill Angus and the Mighty Ways – Bill Angus (vocals/guitars), Emily Allen (violin/viola) and Maggie Cocco (backing vocals) – took the audience on a Neil Gaiman-esque journey from love and vulnerability to the apocalypse. Deftly combining Angus’s intimate and imaginative lyrics with intricate string and vocal arrangements, the trio swiftly entranced the audience as Angus laid bare the inspirations behind each song and himself. The Star That Came Inside, a yet to be released single about Angus’ partner and “love of my life,” encapsulates the wonder and awe experienced when a relationship is gifted from the heavens after the darkness of heartbreak and solitude. A brave and delicate composition called Walking the Wire imitates the thrill and terror experienced by musicians as they walk the figurative high wire of live performance and literal strings of their instruments, ironically underscoring his skill and dexterity as a guitarist and composer. After a celebration of all that is beautiful and complex, the title track of Angus’ latest album, All Night Before the World Began did exactly as promised and delivered an apocalyptic and timely indictment of mankind’s warlike ways to end.

Raylee Bradfield and special guest Renee Cosio produce what might have graced today’s popular airwaves if Taylor Swift or Colbie Caillat had stuck with and matured their one time pop folk vibes. Catchy melodies, hooks, clear diction, and relatable story songs and sentiments held their affectionate audience close. Bradfield and Cosio presented a cohesive blend as they share a slight huskiness to otherwise clear voices. Bradfield’s mature alto and seamless transitions from end to end of her fantastic vocal range was well complimented by Cosio’s more variable, youthful timbre. Cosio makes a strong case for living in the moment with Flowers in the Snow and Tomorrow’s Troubles. Both composers’ pieces are laden in metaphors, practical advice, and gold; “Don’t go borrowin’ tomorrow’s troubles when you might miss the gold today” (Cosio), “If you come down here when the water is here, you’ll find gold here” (Bradfield). Bradfield ended the night with a new single simply titled Gold. Much like the metal from verse to composition, the song is complicating, compelling and lustrous.

Review for Bill Angus and the Mighty Ways and photos by Micky Nogher
All other reviews by Maggie Cocco.

 

Other Reviews By Maggie Cocco

Lucy Gray - Album Review: whole life waiting
24 Jul 2024 // by Maggie Cocco
Seventeen year old singer-songwriter Lucy Gray from Otautahi, New Zealand has landed on the NZ Hot New Music Charts, and it’s only a matter of time before the rest of the world hears. Gray’s whole life waiting EP is versatile and compelling.
Read More...
Samantha Josephine - Album Review: Your Unbelievable Head
12 May 2024 // by Maggie Cocco
Samantha Josephine is an artist for true lovers of the lo-fi, bedroom mumbling, punk-inspired indie internet underground. The alternative singer-songwriter blends elements of punk and rock with phrases that rhyme and convey almost nothing concise and everything feeling.
Read More...
Sin City - Album Review: Another Round
19 Apr 2024 // by Maggie Cocco
Sin City’s Another Round is new music for audiences who know that music’s best days are behind us. From first note to rock n’ roll lifestyle, Kiwi songwriting duo Nick Armstrong and Jack Beesley with Aussie musicians Christopher Hockey, Andrew Blackman, and Cameron Hicks embody a bygone era, channeling those influences into original songs that cozy comfortably alongside your nostalgic country, soul and rock 'n' roll bangers of the 1960's and 70's.
Read More...
Mr Sterile Assembly - Album Review: HELLo
06 Feb 2024 // by Maggie Cocco
New Zealand's globetrotting punk rockers, drummer/vocalist Kieran Monaghan and bassist/vocalist Chrissie Butler, release their sixth and final album twenty-two years, two months, and five days from the date of their inaugural show.In 2001, Mr Sterile Assembly was an unlikely three-piece; guitar, drums, and trombone.
Read More...
Festival Review: Auckland Folk Festival 2024
02 Feb 2024 // by Maggie Cocco
Auckland Folk Festival 2024 overcame the fallout from the Auckland Anniversary Weekend floods of 2023 to deliver a successful marriage of folk and frivolity. Featuring five stages and a variety of international and local folky favourites from 9am - God's hour, the all ages and stages crowds had more than enough to entertain.
Read More...
Darren Pickering Small Worlds - Album Review: Volume Two
07 Dec 2023 // by Maggie Cocco
Following their acclaimed debut, Volume One, Darren Pickering Small Worlds continues their investigation of the intersection between cinematic aesthetics and electronic textures within the framework of contemporary jazz. The Otautahi (Christchurch, New Zealand) based jazz quartet featuring Mitch Dwyer (guitar), Mitch Thomas (drums), Pete Fleming (bass), and Darren Pickering (piano), perform works composed by pianist Darren Pickering as well as re-imagined versions of select works.
Read More...
View All Articles By Maggie Cocco

NZ Top 10 Singles

  • DIE WITH A SMILE
    Lady Gaga And Bruno Mars
  • TASTE
    Sabrina Carpenter
  • BIRDS OF A FEATHER
    Billie Eilish
  • TIMELESS
    The Weeknd And Playboi Carti
  • ESPRESSO
    Sabrina Carpenter
  • GOOD LUCK, BABE!
    Chappell Roan
  • A BAR SONG (TIPSY)
    Shaboozey
  • LOSE CONTROL
    Teddy Swims
  • TOO SWEET
    Hozier
  • BEAUTIFUL THINGS
    Benson Boone
View the Full NZ Top 40...
muzic.net.nz Logo
100% New Zealand Music
All content on this website is copyright to muzic.net.nz and other respective rights holders. Redistribution of any material presented here without permission is prohibited.
Report a ProblemReport A Problem