For NZ Music Month, we're asking local musicians to tell us about the New Zealand songs they love the most. Today, Jimmy Mac - aka Scuba Diva - goes all in on five of his favourites.
Photo: Scuba Diva
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Split Enz - Message To My Girl
This tune is just too good! There's a couple of chord changes in there which hit me hard, like how the fourth chord into the chorus is kind of unexpected in a good way. There's some cool production in there too; there’s this squelchy arpeggiator synth tone in the chorus that I’m into and some pretty groovy bass lines in the second verse which always catch me off guard. It’s a cool mix of '70s drum and bass sounds but '80s synths/melodies.
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Ray Columbus and The Invaders - Till We Kissed
This tune sounds to me like a Sam Cooke melody mixed with Beatles rock. I can’t believe they were only a band for such a short period. I can’t even put an EP out in that amount of time. This kind of stuff always gets me at like 3-4am and makes me super happy. I was never really a lyrics guy as I always focus on production and melody. But this is all about the lyrics. They're so raw and honest.
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Kimbra - Love In High Places
Kimbra is an amazing singer and performer. I’m kind of just blown away by how good she is. Her songs are great, but she can seriously sing. This tune is my favourite of hers too. I like how you can pick her influences but she isn’t making throwback music. It’s something new.
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The Datsuns - Fink For The Man
I remember listening to this tune and deciding I wanted to be in a band. I was in my mid-teens already but never really listened to much rock. My dad always played blues/jazz/fusion stuff around the house, so those were the CD’s I would listen to. But this band had so much energy that I couldn’t help but get sucked in to it. The solo and bridge just got me.
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Fourmyula - Nature
This tune's really nostalgic to me because we used to to sing this one at school. My teacher (Mr Needham) played the acoustic guitar but our whole assembly would sing this and he’d have to play his guitar so loud till he was red in the face because there was no amp. It's kind of strange and hilarious to think of me and my mates singing “Nature enter me”, but it’s a great song.
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