Beats + Pieces Vol. 95
This week's assortment of various odds and ends.
Selected Works is a weekly (usually) newsletter by the Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Aotearoa (Wellington, New Zealand) based freelance music journalist, broadcaster, copywriter and sometimes DJ Martyn Pepperell, aka Yours Truly. Most weeks, Selected Works consists of a recap of what I’ve been doing lately, along with some of what I’ve been listening to and reading, paired with film photographs I’ve taken, plus some bonuses. All of that said, sometimes, it takes completely different forms.
Last week, I emailed an editor at a major music website to follow up on an unpaid invoice. When I woke up the next day, they’d let me know my invoice had been processed and marked paid over a month ago. I sighed and replied. I haven’t received payment. I imagine they probably sighed as well, or something similar. Five days later, I still have no idea exactly what has gone wrong. I’m guessing it’s an accounting error, but these days, who even knows. Yet another mundane snapshot from the extremely exciting world of freelance journalism.
Anyway, now I’ve got that off my chest, it’s time to write the rest of this week’s newsletter. I’m in a bit of a liminal zone with work at the moment. I’ve actually had a lot on, but a lot of the projects I’ve been involved in lately won’t be publicly announced or released for a few more weeks. So it goes.
Rolling Stone AU/NZ: Lōemis Festival 2026: 4 Unmissable Shows
Over the last 15 years, there has been a rise in interest in mid-winter city music festivals across Australia and Aotearoa. Lōemis, an 11-year-old festival held in Te Whanganui-a-Tara Wellington, is one that deserves to be on your radar.
Between June 9th-21st, they’re hosting close to 30 events, an expansive and invigorating mix of music, film, food, dance workshops, art shows, and surreal public processions. On the music front, Lōemis offers a dazzling array of international post-punk, psychedelic rock, synth-pop, ambient, and dance acts, bands and DJs, and the festival is also presenting some sublime local exclusives.
Tonight, I’m headed to Old St Paul’s Church to see the experimental pianist/keyboardist, composer, and producer Kelly Moran play an early show. If you’re keen on it, tickets are on sale here.
Test Pressing:
Since 2019, I’ve contributed regularly to the music & culture website Test Pressing. Admittedly, I’ve been a bit slower on that front, but I still get in where I can fit in here and there. One of the ways I do that is via the Reviews Roundup column, where I look at a few recent releases. You can check out my May and June editions on the site now.
Over the course of July and August, my musician friends Ebony Lamb and Gram Antler are returning to New Zealand from Japan to play a run of shows in Wellington, Ahiaruhe, Greymouth, Lyttelton and Auckland. You can see the details above via their tour poster. They’re coming back to launch Gram’s debut album ‘Novel Lover’, and give Ebony a chance to road-test new creations inspired since they relocated in 2025. Presale tickets are up on Under The Radar now.
Here’s the music video for Gram’s single ‘Novel Lover’. You can pre-order his album in vinyl and digital formats via Bandcamp below.
If you need a refresh, here’s Ebony Lamb’s self-titled debut.
Throwback Files: The Stylish Boogie of Mogwaa
In February 2023, I wrote about the discography of the South Korean multi-instrumentalist, producer, and DJ Seungyoung Lee, aka Mogwaa for Bandcamp Daily. As the story goes, I was introduced to Mogwaa’s music by the great Mikey IQ Jones. From the first tape I heard, I absolutely loved his sunkissed and meditative takes on boogie, synth-pop, ambient, house, techno and beyond.
Here’s the lede: South Korean multi-instrumentalist, producer, and DJ Seungyoung Lee, aka Mogwaa, regularly posts videos of himself preparing coffee on his Instagram story. Between his choice of equipment and technique, a loving and respectful level of care is apparent. These same qualities are evident within the stylish boogie, electro, deep house, ambient, and Balearic beat projects he’s released over the last six years. Mogwaa is a master craftsman who values form and function in equal measure.
You can read the full story here.
Fittingly, or not so fittingly, this was the final story I wrote for Bandcamp Daily. After the change in ownership, getting paid became an absolute nightmare. Normally, this just comes down to account issues, but in this scenario, it involved an editor who became unresponsive for a period of time. After I finally got paid, I found out that the editor had just been made redundant. Even though I was pretty pissed off at the time, I still felt a lot of sympathy for them. I can’t imagine they were dealing with the easiest set of circumstances at the time.
When you feel like you’ve been wronged, it’s very easy to just focus on what you’re going through. However, as life has taught me many times over now, things are inevitably far more complicated than what we might perceive in the heat of the moment.
What I’ve Been Listening To:
David Long is one of the hidden gems of New Zealand’s experimental/improvised music scene. His jazz is avant-garde, but it isn’t too avant-garde, if that makes sense. David’s 2024 album, All Things Will Stay Silent is a treasure trove of lovely noises that tickle the brain, the heart and the body.
Long-suffering Midwestern New Zealand emo guy Miles Sutton and his Welcomer band come through with Calendars, a debut album that tackles coming of age, feeling things slipping away and the need to start catching them head-on. There’s a beautiful duet with Lontalius on here titled ‘Magazine Clippings’, but at the end of the day, Sutton’s witty, insightful and tender lyric writing is the star of the show. Thankfully though, unlike a lot of records like this where you get told to focus on “the writing” the vocals, melodies, textures and rhythms and right on the money.
Earlier in the week, I heard the veteran New Zealand music critics Graham Reid and Marty Duda talk about Calendars briefly on their Sound Thinking podcast. I had to chuckle at the following exchange.
Graham Reid: But what did you make of it?
Marty Duda: Well, I liked it, but not that much. I got a little bored with it after a while.
I can’t lie, if you asked me what I thought Marty Duda would think of this album, that’s pretty much exactly the response I would imagine. I hope Welcomer use it as a press quote.
Incredible. Incredible. Incredible.
I actually saw Saul Williams, Carlos Niño & Friends perform at San Fran in Wellington last week. I’ve been trying to write an essay about all the memories that performance unlocked for me. I may publish it soon.
Really digging this modern Dunedin post-punk/alt-rock record by Schools Fair aka Findlay Buchanan, Semisi Maiai, Hamish Morgan, De Stevens & Rose Pickernell.
Yet more playful music.
What I’ve Been Reading:
On: The New Editor in NZ Journalism!: In which Simon Sweetman tells us how he really feels about Matthew Hooton’s recent appointment as the editor of The Post and Sunday Star Times. My thoughts? Once again, Stuff is stuffed. Absolutely snatching defeat from the jaws of victory. Read Simon’s rant here.
A beginner’s guide to Boards of Canada: 13 years after their last album, the endlessly influential and widely mythologised Scottish electronic duo Boards of Canada are back with a new LP on Warp Records. As the excitement around ‘Inferno’ reaches its climax, Aidan Hanratty digs into their discography to provide an in-depth primer for new listeners, mapping the route from their earliest releases to today. From established classics to deep-cut fun favourites, here’s DJ Mag’s beginner’s guide to help you tune into Boards of Canada’s uncanny frequency.
Editor’s note: It’s so cool that they brought Aidan Hanratty out of retirement for this one. Much love to the Bandcloud man.
DJs, promoters, punters and staff members remember Corsica Studios: Corsica Studios will be remembered as one of the best and most important clubs in London of the 21st century. Across its closing months, Mixmag’s Yewande Adeniran spoke to some of the venue’s key players and appreciators to pay tribute. Reminisce below - while listening to an exclusive recording of Lukas Wigflex B2B Ivan Smagghe’s set at the closing party.
Waiata 100: how you can vote for Aotearoa’s favourite song
Radio New Zealand’s music team are inviting audiences to join Waiata 100: their search for Aotearoa’s favourite New Zealand songs. As they put it, “Music is at the heart of who we are and we want to know what songs move you (or make you move).” More details over here.
FIN.