Nick Bollinger is one of New Zealand’s best-known music writers and broadcasters. For 10 years he has presented National Radio’s The Sampler, a weekly critique of current music releases. He has had a long association with the Listener, to which he contributes features and a regular music column. He has written books about music, including How To Listen To Pop Music and 100 Essential New Zealand Albums and contributed to numerous publications, including the British magazine Mojo. He has been an editor of Real Groove magazine and arts editor of City Voice. For television, he has researched, written and presented features for Artsville. He is also a record producer and musician, and plays bass for the Windy City Strugglers.
Nick Bollinger
Old Ideas by Leonard Cohen review
Old Ideas, the first collection of new songs by Leonard Cohen in eight years, opens with the artist considering his own persona. “I love to speak with Leonard,” he intones in his gravelly whisper. “He’s a sportsman and a shepherd. He’s a lazy bastard living in a suit.” The character he... [more]
Starman: David Bowie by Paul Trynka and The Man Who Sold the World by Peter Doggett review
One of two new books about David Bowie contends that he was pop culture's most reliable guide to the fever of the 70s. [more]
The Late Night Plays by Whirimako Black and Te More by Whirimako Black and Richard Nunnsreview
Two utterly different albums are each a demonstration of Whirimako Black’s... [more]
Belle review
It’s a lighter, brighter Bic Runga that greets us on BELLE (Sony), her first album of new material in almost six years. From the Supremes-style Tiny Little Piece of My Heart, through the irrepressibly boppy Hello Hello to the psychedelia of Darkness All Around Us, there is little trace of... [more]
The best pop & rock CDs of 2011
Looking for a last-minute pressie? Listener reviewers Nick Bollinger and Jim Pinckney have the best pop and rock of the year. [more]
Biophilia by Björk review
Biophilia is Björk’s eighth album, if album is not an obsolete term. It comes in a variety of formats. You can purchase it as a download, or even as an old-fashioned CD in a jewel case with a lyric booklet. But it’s the first collection of music you can buy... [more]
New releases: November 19
BAD AS ME (Anti/Warner), the first album of new songs in seven years from Tom Waits, does not venture into any musical corners he hasn’t explored before. Guests like Keith Richards, Marc Ribot and Los Lobos’s David Hidalgo are familiar faces at Waits’s table, and they bring their specialised skills... [more]
Haunted love spirit revival and Donkey Deep review
Appearances can be deceptive. A clever artist knows that and makes use of it. In HAUNTED LOVE SPIRIT REVIVAL (Round Trip Mars) the Dunedin-based duo of Geva Downey and Rainey McMaster have just made one of the most cunningly deceptive albums in a long while. The initial impression is of... [more]
Revelation Road by Shelby Lynne review
Shelby Lynne produces a personal record touching on her Alabama past. [more]
Soul album reviews: 8 October
Had Bella Kalolo sung Don McGlashan’s Bathe in the River in the film No. 2 as originally intended, her solo debut might have come about sooner. Then again, the years singing backup to Fat Freddy’s Drop, Trinity Roots and others have only added to the maturity of Without the Paper... [more]
The View Is Worth The Climb and Pajama Club review
Tim and Neil Finn take opposite directions in their latest albums. [more]
Garth Cartwright interview
The opinionated expat Kiwi writer and art and music critic has written a “love song to Aotearoa”. [more]
Che Fu and Tigilau Ness interview
Che Fu and Tigilau Ness, who performed at the Christchurch Arts Festival Father and Sons concert, speak with Nick Bollinger. [more]
The Rip Tide by Beirut review
For their third album, Beirut have retrenched from the Balkans back to Brooklyn. [more]
Recent album releases – 17 September
AGADEZ (Cumbancha Discovery/ Rhythmethod), the latest album by Bombino – nickname of Niger-based musician Omara Moctar – stands out among recent releases in the growing genre known as desert blues. This Tuareg guitar slinger has the music’s characteristic loping rhythms and dark modal drones down pat, yet there is a... [more]
Happy Heartbreak by the Sami Sisters and Band of Brothers: Vol 1 by Hollie Smith and Mara TK review
An Indian-Irish trio from Onehunga are unabashed in their love of 60s girl-group pop. [more]
Immram: The Voyage of the Corvus Corrone review
Immram: The Voyage of the Corvus Corrone is a lost prog-rock classic. Or is it? [more]
Group Hug by the Close Readers and The Harbour Union review
Is this a new subset of New Zealand music: bands led by authors and academics? This year has already seen a credible set from the Tenderizers, a country-rock outfit fronted by poet and critic John Newton. Now novelist and creative-writing teacher Damien Wilkins weighs in with GROUP HUG (Austin Records),... [more]
Ray Columbus: The Modfather by Ray Columbus with Margie Thomson review
Ray Columbus is a survivor. [more]