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This is the 15th year of the Taite Music Prize, and the ceremony is going to happen in Auckland on April 23, just ahead of NZ Music Month. The winner will take home $12,500, unless they blow it all on celebrations that night. But who will that winner be? There are 68 albums in the running, and Max is listening to all of them. In this alphabetical journey through the Taite Prize longlist, part one got us from alayna to Ernby Belle. A few days later, part two covered Eyeliner to Mice on Stilts. 34 down, 34 to go. Now to finish off the Ms and get as far as the first few Ss. 35. Black Heart, by Miriam Clancy  It’s getting harder and harder to stand out in this 68-strong crowd, which works against Miriam Clancy’s quiet, mid-tempo, singer-songwriter stuff. Her breath-heavy voice conveys strong emotion, but often the results are more “easy listening” than “heart-rending”. But it’s not all grey and at times Clancy channels Christchurch’s Hera Hjartardóttir, whose small shows are some of the best I’ve ever sat still and quiet for. ‘We Become the Night’ turns the volume up to good effect. 36. No Time to Explain, by Murmur Tooth & Lars Moston  Murmur Tooth (Leah Hinton) has already been an orchestra kid and a metal guitarist, so why not team up with house DJ Lars Moston next? For the first few tracks it seems like the house has won and this album won’t take you much further than a generic club dancefloor. Then the landscape starts expanding with an incredibly good, downbeat overhaul of Alice Cooper’s ‘Poison’. Later, ‘Hope You’re Okay’ channels Billie Eilish and ‘David Attenborough’ gets a little industrial. A collaboration with eventual depth from an unlikely duo who know how to have fun. 37. Behind the Mask, by NEWZERROR  With metal riffs straight from the days when Metallica and Anvil shared festival stages, this is a melodic female-fronted twist on the music of flying Vs and wind machines. A sample of a 2022 protester calling Jacinda Ardern “some girl in a skirt on a power trip” caught me off-guard. ‘Live Again’ fades out on a promising guitar solo, which is a real tease. Quieter moments let synths build a bit of atmosphere while singer Dee catches a well-earned breath. If you’re a Devilskin fan, give it a whirl. 38. The Mountain, by Nick Hyde  Nick Hyde’s acoustic guitar work ranges from finger-picked ballads to easy-strummed light rock. This is a comfortable, slightly introspective listen with husky vocals and a nice spirit behind everything. ‘Dreams Are Free’ and ‘Sunday Morning’ are sing-alongs waiting for a crowd. 39. Spiel, by Office Dog  Yes! Office Dog’s “smart slacker” vibe will appeal to anyone who still has their Pavement or Goodshirt CDs but wants to hear something new (Disclaimer: I am very guilty of this). A rock trio in which every member plays an important part, they shift between heavier and lighter moments without breaking a sweat. Fuzzed up melodies are a specialty. Spiel is their debut, but you can really appreciate that these guys were playing together for years before. 40. OPLP, by OP Lilypad  Restful, peaceful sounds produced from a mix of “field recordings and analogue electronics”. Not songs but meditative atmospheres. It would usually be an insult to say that an EP would be great for falling asleep to, but that seems to be exactly what OP Lilypad would want you to do. He has built audio dreams that are ready to take over when your eyes close. 41. King Clown, by Paige  That feeling when you’ve never heard of an artist who has millions and millions of Spotify streams: “This,” the tastemaking algorithms say, “is not for you”. And fair enough, Paige’s mostly sunny pop wasn’t made with middle-aged dads in mind. But there’s space in my life for this. Her songs are smarter than teenbopper stuff and built around attractive guitar lines, rather than assembled on a laptop. Queue up ‘Dance With You’ for a sugary taste, then ‘Fall Around Me’ to hear a slower number with heart, and you’ll see how she’s earned her following. Think I might put King Clown on for my kids, then sit back in my comfy chair and keep getting less relevant. 42. As the North Attracts the Needle, by Paul McLaney  Paul McLaney (who you may know from Gramsci) never rushes his solo albums or, indeed, anything at all. This is another entry in his catalogue of slow, timeless guitar-and-voice compositions. No drums, no bass, just McLaney and six strings (except some literally last-minute piano). He’s a beautiful guitarist and singer. Lyrically heavy, there are few easy rhyming couplets or sing-along choruses. Every second of As the North Attracts the Needle is planned as carefully as a carving. Poems set to music. 43. Laundromat, by Pickle Darling  Following up on 2021’s near-perfect Cosmonaut was never going to be easy, but Laundromat is a wonderful creation. It’s deliberately less polished, as if the idea was to just get the ideas out there. Luckily, pretty much anything that Pickle Darling thinks up is well worth your attention. Most of these songs come in under 2 minutes, and they're fuelled by a self-aware naïvety. Pickle Darling is a deceptively brilliant bedroom artist, a mad scientist on acid rummaging through a toybox. With their careful handling, what could have been a jumble of banjo, static, voice memos, skewed vocals and dinky keyboards somehow comes out as dreamy, engaging music that will put a smile on your face. 44. AQUARIES, by PollyHill & Samara Alofa  A successful, spacious meeting of electronica and trip hop. Humans haunt machines in something reminiscent of Tricky (especially on ‘QUEERBAIT’) and Massive Attack, whose revolving line of female vocalists is channelled by PollyHil. Yet somehow this album doesn’t sound like a retread of ground captured in the 90s. More of an expansion of the borders. 45. Hiria, by Rebel Reid  Rebel Reid switches from te reo Māori to English so smoothly that I thought my ears were fooling me. ‘Leia’ and ‘Cry Cry Cry’ contain reminders of Norah Jones in their quiet mix of jazz and blues, and in Reid’s voice. ‘Dancing in the Stars’ swings less, centred on classical guitar instead. It’s all very professional, even if no boundaries are pushed. There are just the three songs - once with Reid fronting them and then, less interestingly, the whole thing repeated as instrumentals. 46. Ringlets, by Ringlets  This is great. Musically brilliant and fun all at the same time. Ringlets sling themselves between multiple moods in every song - one minute leaping around to joyous, mathy rock and the next settling into ‘80s post-punk grooves, or perhaps a bit of Franz Ferdinandery. Whatever they move into, they play it bloody well. Yet the songs don’t feel choppy or smashed together - it’s more like listening to an excited polymath explain things that no-one else could tie together. The lyrics are equally inventive, as wonderful song titles like ‘Fever Dream in Broken Swedish’ and ‘Snitch Olympics’ suggest. 47. Art School Dropout, by Rodney Fisher & The Response  Read nothing into Rodney Fisher’s past life as Goodshirt’s frontman. The range and angularity of his old band are firmly in the past. This is a sincere set of mostly slower songs, an unfamiliarly earnest use of Fisher’s almost-unrecognisable voice. Being as straightforward as it is, Art School Dropout sinks or swims based on how much the listener buys into the seriousness. I couldn’t, but your mileage may vary. Just leave your expectations at the door. 48. Speak to the Storm, by Russel Walder  80 ambient minutes. Russel Walder is classically trained but these aren’t orchestral, or even entirely western, compositions. Drums echo, strings swell, and synthesisers keep everything together as a globe’s worth of instruments float through. The tracks with classical Hindustani vocals by Meeta Pandit are most effective. A more worldly take on what Craig Armstrong did with As If To Nothing (2002); an attempt at soundtracking the deep inner lives of contemplative people. There aren’t many changes of mood or tempo, so tracks with names like ‘Path to The Path’, ‘Hidden But Seen’, and ‘The First Truth’ blend together. Speak to the Storm is a long listen that mostly proves how seriously Russel Walder takes himself. 49. Country EMO, by Ryan Fisherman  An album that feels familiar and warm. In four words: really good indie rock. But this is more inventive than that phrase suggests. Most guitar-slingers in this Taite longlist look back, whether they intend to or not. Not Ryan Fisherman (once of Doprah, which is cool but not exactly a direct signpost to Country EMO). You've got meaningful songs played with fuzzed up guitar parts, like an optimistic Sparklehorse. Grooves to move to. Touches of alt-country, too. Very solid stuff made better by Fisherman’s obvious talent. If this sort of thing is your buzz - and if you're reading HUP, it almost certainly is - then dive right in. 50. Echoes Of Home, by Sanoi  Warm, melodic electronica that weaves around your head without demanding your full attention. From energetic to ambient, Sanoi manipulates moods like tides - you know the change will happen, but you can never really pick the moment. Only one track, ‘Silver’, contains vocals. The variety is nice to have, but Echoes Of Home is best when Sanoi works alone. Just as things start feeling a bit same-same, piano enriches the last two tracks on the main album. After that, nearly half an hour of remixes (mostly downgrades, but Paige Julia puts a nice D&B spin on ‘Together’) are bundled in. 51. Inside, by Serebii  This is a clever album - over its 10 tracks Inside evolves and builds on itself in multiple ways, improving throughout. At first, warm electronica leans slightly polyrhythmic and brings in samples of more analogue instrumentation over time. Fat Freddy’s-like brass pops up in ‘Komorebi’, which then immediately ends. What a tease. Then at Inside’s halfway point Serebii picks up the guitar and we gently transition to genuine songwriting. ‘Lost Your Breath’, a lament for the dead, will stick with you. An album with all the hallmarks of what I call a “grower” - repeated listens will pay off. >> NEXT: Part four, Shepherds Reign - Wurld Series >>
<< Or skip back to Part two, Eyeliner - Mice on Stilts | Part one, alayna - Erny Belle
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