Essential Nz Albums

At a time when few New Zealanders seemed to be singing about themselves, The Front Lawn turned the Hutt Valley and Takapuna Beach into musical landmarks. A forerunner of Flight of the Conchords, they… Audio

The 80s club scene gave birth to the sound that Ardijah's founder Ryan Monga calls Polyfonk. After a long incubation in the South Auckland club scene, the group burst forth with that sound on their… Audio

Auckland-raised singer-songwriter Renee-Louise Carafice wrote and recorded her debut album after a spell of clinical depression, and yet it remains an uplifting, even beautiful piece of work. In this… Audio

'The new rock - bittersweet and low' proclaimed a Time magazine cover in 1971, heralding the arrival of a new wave of acoustic-based music centred on the likes of Crosby, Stills and Nash and James… Audio

The 2005 studio debut of the Wellington-based soul-reggae collective Fat Freddy's Drop became the year's second-biggest selling album in their homeland and established their worldwide reputation In… Audio

In the late-70s landscape of mainstream New Zealand pop, Sharon O'Neill stood out not only for her pure powerful voice and piano skills but also for a swag of sophisticated self-penned songs. All of… Audio

On his 2018 album Avantdale Bowling Cup,  Auckland rapper Tom Scott blends powerful, polyrhythmic rhymes with fine jazz and a strong sense of place. Video, Audio