A selection of articles about Music written by Liam Ryan (Archived from his column in the Bay of Plenty Times 2006 – 2008).
One of the things about being in the music industry and also being a music writer is putting your money where your mouth is. Sometimes I have to walk the talk. In flash language I guess I’m a “participant observer”. This week three years of hard but joyous labour ends with the release of a …
When you look at the trajectory of New Zealand popular music it’s really no surprise that the current Roots music scene is so abundant. The landscape is littered with changing trends and transient fashions but somehow through all of this the rock steady emergence of an authentic Pacific based sound has progressed. In simple shorthand …
Roots Is the New Soul – What’s Coming Out Of The Ground? Read More »
Since the birth of rock and roll there has been a tendency to stereotype popular musicians as less than intelligent. Comedians from Peter Sellers to Spinal Tap have rolled out the dumb musician syndrome. This archetype has been a long time stuck to the proverbial blanket; maybe the idea goes back to the Middle Ages …
Brian May – Astrophysics and Street Smarts: The Rise of the New Musici Read More »
It is a curious twist when advertisers take a well-known song and reset it as the soundtrack to a television commercial. Whether it’s the Jefferson Airplane’s “(Don’t You Want) Somebody To Love” being used by Coca Cola, Dave Dobbyn’s “I Love You Like I Should” heralding the Holden Astra, “Maybe Tomorrow” by Golden Horse promoting …
The Muppets and Metallica – Television Commercials and The Search for Meaning Read More »
Just as a jazz musician might watch his fingers to see what they are playing I write now to see what I am thinking about. I watch myself trawling the dark corners of the music world. Thinking and writing and hoping that someone out there is listening. It’s risky Bubba, but someone’s gotta do it. …
Gonzo Journalism – Hunter, Hogg and Fear and Loathing In Kylie Minogue Read More »
As stereotypes go it would be fair to categorise music educators as Fire Starters. You teach an eleven year old kid guitar or drums hoping it will open the door to a lifelong journey into music. By the time the student is fifteen the flame will be lit and about the same time (probably sooner) …
Last Friday evening I was walking in Dunedin. I strolled, casually following George Street from the Botanical Gardens to the centre of town as the sun set. Eventually I found my way, under the watchful eyes of the Octagon’s gargoyles, to a club called Twelve Below on Moray Place. The club has a Liverpool Cavern …
When U2 left the stage at the end of their Auckland concert Friday night Bono thanked the forty thousand strong stadium audience. “Thanks for allowing us to live life large. And we promise we will live it as large as we possibly can”. U2 is a not just a big machine. In the music world …
One of my pivotal experiences as a songwriter was walking along a street in downtown Wellington in the mid eighties and hearing a steel worker high on a building site whistling along to a tune on his transistor radio. It happened to be a song I had written with the Narcs called (You Took Me) …
Private Victories – Songwriting Outside Yer Head Read More »
In the spring of 1988 as a touring musician I disembarked a 747 at Vancouver airport as part of the ‘Go New Zealand’ tour of North America. We were met by an aging and gregarious Canadian cultural attaché. She greeted me with a very deliberate and exaggerated North -American accent: “Do- you- speak-Eng-lish?” Looking back …
The Deluge in a Paper Cup: Reflections on Cultural Identity in Music Aotearoa. Read More »