Once regular visitors to Hamilton, The Bats are making their long-awaited return to Nivara Lounge on 19 May, as part of their ‘The Deep Set’ LP release tour. I caught up with Paul Kean a little under month out from the gig, and on the back of a slew of positive album reviews, to talk about what we might expect to hear at the gig, the enduring quality of their outputs, and we go way back to Paul’s move from Toy Love to The Bats. Read the interview on our -> Features <- page.

American performer David Liebe Hart played Nivara Lounge on Wednesday night. 
Backed up by Jonah Mociun, on an instrument clearly derived from space technology, Hart kicked off with the fantastic 'I'm in Love with an Insect Woman'. Once, of course, he had made his way to Nivara Lounge from the moon. That set the mood for the rest of his set, with songs and banter that had me either laughing out loud or confused, but at the very least with a big grin on my face. It is hard to describe the David Liebe Hart experience; if you haven't seen him, you really need to check out his videos to get a feel for it. His puppets joined him on stage for the most part, and we learnt all about the Omegans, the Korendians, and many of Hart's family. The highlights of the night, besides the opening track, included the songs 'Teleportation Thru Space' and 'New Technology', as well his story about being "all churched up" by his grandparents.

An excellent night overall, and if he was ever to come back to New Zealand (or Australia, or New Hampshire; or wherever we are), I would definitely go again. But honestly... I have no idea what that instrument was that Mociun was playing...  (ID)

A year after their debut album, Ghosts of Electricity are back with their sophomore effort, ‘Music to get Puppies to Sleep’. To be released in early July, the new album is a major departure from their previous effort, 'Trolls'. Read our review of the album, which we were lucky to get well in advance of its release, on our -> Features <- page!