Afternoons for Wednesday 21 December 2016

1:10 First song

1:15 Giant ping pong tables and human sized joysticks

Christchurch is the place to be if you're into super sized fun these holidays. As well has having three giant ping pong tables for the public to use, there's a giant outdoor arcade game installed for children to use. It's so big you have to jump on the buttons and use all your strength to move the human sized joy sticks.

The installations are all part of the work of Gap Filler which is an organisation specialising in urban regeneration and often has installations which are more about playing.

1:27 Wine tasting in Church

St Mathew-in-the-city might expect to have more worshippers than usual in February. It's hosting a wine tasting event hosted by a woman who has a PHD in theology and grew up on winery in Germany. Gisela Kreglinger has written a book on the connection between wine and Christianity and combines both to offer a unique night of religion and wine tasting. As well as the Auckland event she will be hosting workshops in Queenstown, Dunedin, Wellington, Martinborough and Waiheke Island. She speaks to Jesse about her passion for wine and religion.

1:35 Sound Archives: Christmas 1942

Today in our weekly visit to the sound archives of Ngā Taonga Sound & Vision, we are going back to Christmas 1942, with Sarah Johnston.

1:40 Favourite album: Joy: A Holiday Collection by Jewel

2:10 Music Critic Colin Morris

On-line music dealer and regular Afternoon's critic Colin Morris picks his top 10 albums of 2016 and plays two of his favourite tracks.

COLIN MORRIS'S TOP 10 ALBUMS OF 2016
(In no particular order)

    LEONARD COHEN:  YOU WANT IT DARKER
    Not unlike David Bowie's last album, this disc deals with Cohen facing death on Cohen's terms.  Knowing that it
    was going to be his last didn't make it any easier for us to bear but what a legacy he left.

    No compromise for chart success was a hallmark sign of Cohen's disc that were always laced with humour and
    the ability to take listeners on a voyage filled with linguistic delights.

    SUZANNE VEGA:  SINGS OF CARSON McCULLERS
    Carson McCullers wrote the book The Heart Is A Lonely Hunter and this is one woman's salute, via a stage
    show, of a life writ large.  One listen will open a chapter of a writer we have forgotten but whose story will make
    you investigate her more.

    VAN MORRISON:  KEEP ME SINGING
    To be fair, Van hasn't quite shook off the "old grumpy' persona but the experiments with skiffle and rock and roll
    seem over and whilst not a return to the "Celtic Years' it's Morrison's best in years with an impassioned
    selection.

    NORAH JONES:  DAY BREAKS
    What a wonderful bookend to her first album, an album I dismissed on its first listen.  It's chock full of cabaret
    jazz sounds alongside he faux country. Her best yet.

    NEIL YOUNG:  EARTH
    Neil's back with a live (sort of) angry old man album railing as he does against super-powers, modified crops
    and the like.  Young is the barometer of the disenfranchised anti-Trump American voters

    VARIOUS ARTISTS:  SONGS OF SEPERATION
    Ten female folkies on an island write and record an album in 10 days and it's outstanding and my Folk album of
    the year.  For fans of The Unthanks, Eliza McCarthy and Katherine Polwart.  And the separation songs are not
    just about man and women.

    VAN MORRISON:  IT'S TOO LATE TO STOP NOW VOL 2,3 & 4
    Extraordinary that these have sat in the vault all of these years.  1973 was indeed a milestone year for Morrison.
    His backing band is incendiary night after night. What a wonderful legacy.

    DAVID BOWIE:  BLACK STAR
    Not unlike Peter Sellers, Bowie had many faces.  It took his last album to shed those characters and reveal a
    man facing his own death as only a rock artist of Bowie's calibre could, with dignity and grace.

    BOB DYLAN:  FALLEN ANGELS
    Ye gods! Even Jazz Journal liked this but pointed out it wasn't a Jazz album even if the songs were jazz
    standards.  My argument is-do we need another Michael Buble type swing album.  No we want Bob to interpret
    these as only Dylan can and he croons with the best.

    PAUL SIMON:  STRANGER TO STRANGER
    Simon is now at the end of a long and stellar career but rarely fails to find something new to say about the
    human condition. Not unlike Leonard Cohen or Bob Dylan we delight in interpreting Simon's lyrics. Clever and
    thoughtful.

HONORABLE MENTIONS
    SANTANA:  SANTANA 1V
    VARIOUS ARTISTS:  UNDER MILKWOOD
    SHYE BEN TZUR: JUNUN
    YORKSTON/THORNE/KHAN:  EVERYTHING'S SACRED
    STURGILL SIMPSON:  A SAILORS GUIDE TO EARTH
    DAVE DOBBYN: HARMONY HOUSE

2:30 Bookmarks with Kirsten Matthew

Our final Bookmarks guest for 2016  is an editor, journalist, author and digital marketing guru who formed her own  brand strategy and management agency upon returning home after ten years in New York.  She has won numerous awards for writing and has contributed to literally hundreds of publications, including The New York Times, New York Post, nymag.com, and many other foreign magazines and newspapers.

Kirsten Matthew chats to Jesse about her favourite Books, Movies TV shows and Music

3:10 David Coggins: A Sharply Dressed Man

A sharp dressed man in New Zealand used to mean long socks, wide ties and whatever was on special at Farmers. Times have changed, and men around the world are becoming more conscious about what they wear.

David Coggins is a writer and editor who writes about fashion, travel, art and fly fishing.  He's written a book that features conversations with men of style about  masculine identity and fashion.

But it's not a book about what to wear. The book is called  Men and Style: Essays, Interviews and Considerations.   

David Coggins has also designed some classic men's items, including some formal wear for English Company Drakes

And some pajamas and a big cardigan for the New York company Sleepy Jones.

3:35 BBC Witness

3:45 The Panel Pre-Show

4:05 The Panel with Bernard Hickey and Wendyl Nissen

 

 

Music played in this show

JESSE MULLIGAN - AFTERNOONS:
1:00pm - 4:00pm
WEDNESDAY DECEMBER 21st 2016

1:10pm - JESSE'S SONG:
ARTIST:    Pearl Jam
TITLE:      Black
COMP:     Eddie Vedder, Stone Gossard
ALBUM:   Ten
LABEL:    Epic

1:45pm - FEATURE ALBUM:
ARTIST:    Jewel
TITLE:      O Holy Night
COMP:     Adolphe Adam, John Sullivan Dwight
ALBUM:   Joy: A Holiday Collection
LABEL:    Atlantic

ARTIST:    Jewel
TITLE:      Joy to the World
COMP:     Lowell Mason, Isaac Watts
ALBUM:   Joy: A Holiday Collection
LABEL:    Atlantic

2:10pm - MUSIC CRITIC: Colin Morris
ARTIST:    Songs Of Separation
TITLE:      Poor Man's Lamentation
COMP:     Uriah Smart
ALBUM:   Songs of Separation
LABEL:    iTunes

ARTIST:    Bob Dylan
TITLE:      Polka Dots and Moonbeams
COMP:     Jimmy van Huesen, Johnny Burke
ALBUM :  Fallen Angels
LABEL:    Sony

2:30pm: - BOOKMARKS: Kirsten Matthew    
ARTIST:    The Funky Town
TITLE:      Native New Yorker
COMP:     Sandy Linzer, Denny Randell
ALBUM:   70's Disco Classics
LABEL:    Spotify

3:30pm:
ARTIST:    Yacht
TITLE:      Psychic City (Voodoo City)
COMP:     Jona Bechtolt, Claire L. Evans, Rich Jensen
ALBUM:   See Mystery Lights
LABEL:    DFA

4:30pm: - THE PANEL:  HALF-TIME SONG:    
ARTIST:    Helen Reddy
TITLE:      I Am Woman
COMP:     Ray Burton, Helen Reddy
ALBUM:   I Am Woman
LABEL:    Capitol