Essential New Zealand Albums

For a band whose underlying mission was to address ideas about what this country could be, there could not have been a more apt name than Aotearoa. This Wellington band made just two albums: Tihei Mauriora and He Waiata Mo Te Iwi, released in 1985 and 1987, and which have since been combined on a single CD. In this episode Nick Bollinger talks to Aotearoa’s founder Ngahiwi Apanui and explores the background to these essesntial New Zealand albums.

Shihad, New Zealand’s best-known hard rock band, made ten albums during a 37-year career, but ‘Killjoy’ stands out amongst them. Nick Bollinger explores the reasons why in a special episode of Essential New Zealand Albums.

Chris Knox was one of New Zealand's most prolific and provocative music makers, before he suffered a serious stroke in 2009. In this episode of Essential New Zealand Albums, Nick Bollinger discusses Knox's life and work, with a particular focus on his 1989 solo album, Seizure.

Bressa Creeting Cake came of out of West Auckland in the mid-1990s with an album full of sonic and songwriterly surprises. Nick Bollinger takes a close listen and talks to members Geoff Maddock and Edmund McWilliams in this episode of Essential New Zealand Albums.