B. Bang! Bang! Aids!, Bill Direen, Big N & Philthy McNasty, Birdwatcher, Bored Gordon, Brando, Bridget Martin, Brother Love, Burd Early

 

PT090: Brother Love - The Gospel According To Brother Love (CD Album) 2009 Powertool Records

Brother Love has returned with a new album ..... 'The Gospel According To .....' This is an album of well-crafted songs with a fresh punk attitude and a gospel feel and still retains a willingness to explore, which crosses genre boundaries like they never existed. Brother Love have been compared to everything from Human Instinct and Jimi Hendrix, to Sonic Youth and Sebadoh, to The Clean and Split Enz.

US: $13.95

NZ: $20.00

PT085: Bill Direen And The Bilders - Chrysanthemum Storm (CD Album) 2008 Powertool Records

Bill Direen and The Bilders hit the tarseal again this year with a new album called Chrysanthemum Storm. Bill has been working in Dunedin and –with three snowstorms hitting the country this winter (at last count) – he has been taking the cold in his stride. In fact he has been taking a lot of things about New Zealand as inspiration for his new songs. These are carefully crafted melodies and lyrics from one of New Zealand’s most accomplished songwriters. It’s not all snow though – at times it is warm enough for real Chrysanthemums. The album was recorded during an intensive series of sessions at a balmy studio called Gravel Road in West Auckland. The studio really is down a gravel road, and the rhythm tracks were laid down live. That’s why the album has a great live feeling, something all true Bilders album are known for.

US: $13.95

NZ: 20.00

PT083: Bill Direen - Dial a Claw (CD Album) 2008 Powertool Records

Wellington 1990-91. Wy did I write a synth-opera about killer claws that replicate when people use the phone? First up, let's get it straight, I don't have anything against telephones. Let's just say I saw their potential . I don't even mind mobile phones these days. In 1990 they were very rare. They were still associated with government agents and spy movies, but the digital revolution was moving into gear. It was only a matter of time before the telephone itself became indespensible, and replaced the doomed cigarette as number one figet fetish-object for the young and sexy.

US: $13.95

NZ: 20.00

PT074: Bill Direen - Songs For Mickey Joe (Mini Album) 2008 Powertool Records

This album looks back to the 1930s, and the popular movement that brought Michael Joseph Savage and New Zealand's first Labour government to power, in an effort to draw some lessons for present-day New Zealand. The poet and playwright Alan Brunton wrote the words with music by Bill. His words would be based on the speeches of Michael Joseph Savage.

US: $10.95

NZ: $15.00

PT070: Bill Direen - Human Kindness (Album) 2007

Bill Direen has been making and releasing music since 1975. Besides being an extremely gifted musician and innovative songwriter , he is also a respected writer and poet. After a prolific time of releasing some fine albums throughout the eighties and two respective compilations through Flying Nun in the early nineties, he is back with this new album 'Human Kindness'. This is his third release through Auckland Indie Label Powertool Records.

US: $13.95

NZ: $20.00

ITUNES

PT067: Brother Love - The Man Is Just a Boy (Album) 2007

Solo effort of home recordings from the prolific Brother Love.

This is a 'group' who have always mixed well-crafted songs with a fresh punk attitude and a willingness to explore which sees them crossing genre boundaries like they never existed. In the course of their development, they have been compared to everything from Human Instinct and Jimi Hendrix, to Sonic Youth and Sebadoh, to The Clean and Split Enz.

US: $13.95

NZ: $20.00

ITUNES

BBA001: Bang! Bang! Aids! - Tales (EP) 2006

Art-Rock duo Bang! Bang! Aids! from Victoria, Australia debut seven track EP. Each cover of 'Tales' has been hand drawn by children between the age of 3 - 9 which means no two covers are the same.

US: $7.95

NZ: $10.00

PT063: Bill Direen - Yes Today, No Tomorrow (Album) 2006

Bits and pieces from 1995 - 2005. This a new offering from living legend Bill Direen.

It's a collection drawn from a vast number of performances, locales and recording situations, involving a large number of collaborators & enablers. What it delivers that American Idol doesn't and can't is emotional and aural complexity, and thus a degree of verisimilitude to life that glossy, shallow pop just glides over.

US: $13.95

NZ: $20.00

ITUNES

PT062: Bridget Martin - Palomino In Person (Album) 2006

At times delicate, at other times foot tapping, Bridget Martin's debut album "Palomino in Person" is still fighting the good fight for folk music. In a sense, it's appeal could span into those who find enjoyment in the prominent early nineties alternative music scene, with at times nods to Juliana Hatfield and Lisa Loeb.

US: $13.95

NZ: $20.00

ITUNES

NWS001: Brother Love and his Far Out Space Nuts - Every Garden Grows One (Album) 1993

Brother Love with his Far Out Space Nuts Dwayne Zarakov, Celia Pavlova, Gene Pool Belmondo, J. Christoffels and John Segovia

US: $13.95

NZ: $20.00

PT050: Bill Direen & Friends - New York Sack (Album) 2006

Once I stayed in a place long enough for a true band to take shape. I wrote a bunch of songs on guitar in a New York hotel during a tough two months, then hired a studio in Manhattan to record with the band with no name - three kiwis and three New Yorkers. Hamish Kilgour, Allen Meek, Tony O'Blaney(NY), Lisa Siegel(NY), Liz Silver(NY), and guest Steve Cournane. Graeme Downes and his soundman Victor Grbic dropped in to lend a hand with the sound and a complete album was finished before I returned to NZ. The songs were never released commercially. So here they are, together at last as they should be -- Twelve Songs: The New York Sack.

US: $13.95

NZ: $20.00

 

PT040:Bored Gordon - Lie if you have to (Album) 2005

Following on from the positively addictive 'Peter Pan' EP, the boys are back with their unique brand of fuzz pop-rock. As the band describe themselves; think Fu Manchu covering The Beatles. Their debut full length album can only be described as brilliant. Every track combines infectious melodies with a catchy beat and enjoyable lyrics. It would be hard to pick one track ahead of the rest as a stand out, but the first single, 'Seaside Suicide', will give you an excellent idea of what to expect on the album. *****

US: $13.95

NZ: $20.00

PT039: Bridget Martin - The Blue Bee ep (EP) 2005

Bridget Martin is a vagabond, a ghost in caught in the constant limbo of purgatory. She has released a new EP through Powertool Records called The Blue Bee EP, packed with folk-punk songs that span back to her beloved days in Dunedin. She was raised in Montana and most recently lived in Alaska.

US: $7.95

NZ: $10.00