The Nature Project
Presented by Iris Little & Their Band
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 and some of what I’ve been listening to and reading, paired with film photographs I’ve taken + some bonuses. All of that said, sometimes it takes completely different forms.
On Friday night, the Te Whanganui-a-Tara, singer-songwriter and storyteller Iris Little and their band are performing their The Nature Project show as part of the NZ Fringe Festival at Wellington’s Hannah Playhouse. Presale tickets are available here. You can read some promo copy I wrote for the event below.
After setting the stage alight at the Silver Scrolls, Te Whanganui-a-Tara, singer-songwriter and storyteller Iris Little is ready to share a new interlinked cycle of songs and poems that ask us to reconsider our relationship with, and disconnection from, the natural world.
Regarded as one of the leading lights in the capital's refreshed young indie folk, jazz, and neo-soul scenes, Little's spellbinding stage presence, magnetism, and distinct, emotionally honest voice has won over audiences around the motu, North America and Europe. Along the way, they've toured, performed, and recorded with Bret McKenzie, Deva Mahal, AJA, Mā and ONONO.
Over the last year, Little has worked closely with the record producers and multi-instrumentalists Ben Lemi (Vera Ellen, Dawn Diver) and Chris Whethey (Deva Mahal, Holly Arrowsmith) to develop and realise their most significant artistic statement of intent yet.
An epic work of observation told in five parts, The Nature Project combines the pastoral psychedelia and liminal bedsit intimacy of '60/70s folk music with the contemporaneous cosmic expanses of celestial jazz, as remade through the silicon sensuality of electronic future soul. Through a mixture of songs, poems and ambient interludes, Little will guide the audience through feelings of departure, birth, and the pain of separation, before considering pathways towards reconnection and acceptance through the ciphers of time, love and recognition.
On the night at the Hannah Playhouse, Little will be joined by Zane Hawkins (bass), Dayle Jellyman (keys), Hikurangi Schaverien-Kaa (drums) and a supporting cast of surprise special guests from across their multiverse. Don't miss out on this unique opportunity to be present as Little and their band open the portal and walk between states of being while performing this milestone work.
TIME COW, MILLION LEG MILLIPEDE
Here’s some promo copy I wrote for Jordan Chung aka Time Crow’s new single ‘Million Leg Millipede’. Look out for a new album coming soon.
Across ‘Million Leg Millipede’, Jordan Chung, aka Time Cow, evokes the feeling of tramping through a lush island rainforest by night, surrounded by an ecosystem of activity as moonlight pierces the canopy. Built on a squelchy, shuffling riddim, the moderato-tempo instrumental track quickly expands in scope and vision as floaty synth pads, field recordings, and subtle percussive elements rustle through the foliage. Immersive, all-consuming and hypnotic, by the time ‘Million Leg Millipede’ is in full march, it could happily stretch out into the endless depths of infinity.
Some of those buzzing insects might be robots, and those trees three layers back could easily be holograms. There’s something profoundly techonaturalistic going on here. Are we awake, wandering through a dream, or perhaps we’re just part of a series of zeros and ones making up the dreams of an A.I. supercomputer? We’ll probably never know, so perhaps the best thing to do is enjoy the ride and make the most of having the right soundtrack playing.
MAZE UPDATE:
Here are my two latest marble maze builds. As usual, both were made with foam board and mirror card. I’m at the point where I’m ready to start telling these as wall ornaments, coffee table items, children’s toys and art objects. If you’d like to entertain the idea of purchasing one, feel free to hit me up.
FIN.