100 Essential NZ Albums: Book Review
by tvnz.co.nz's Joe Hackshaw
With Christmas been and gone, many of you may be looking for
ways to spend those Christmas book vouchers.
100 Essential New Zealand Albums could be a solid
choice if you're a Kiwi music lover.
Author Nick Bollinger comes with writing credits for publications as diverse as the New Zealand Listener through to Rip It Up and many other publications in between as well as being a the driving force behind National Radio's music review programme The Sampler.
Nick is quick to disclaim in his introduction that despite his
healthy CV he is not a fountain of knowledge in some of what he
describes as single genre musical styles such as Country, Jazz,
Classical and Drum and Bass.
With this book he has chosen to focus on what he considers to be
pop music or albums that have taken on more than one influence
although I would note there's a decent dose of Rock in there as
well.
Interestingly enough historical significance has been left out in favour of simple present day enjoyment factor to determine if a particular record has stood the test of time.
With a lot of the albums featured being before my time, I had to skip quite a way through the book to test the knowledge of the reviewer. Upon reading both his two to three pages summaries of 2b S.Pacific by Che Fu and The General Electric by Shihad I found him to be very insightful, giving new and interesting perspectives to the music I'd enjoyed for so long.
Nick is also someone who would be great to have on your pub quiz team when the music section rolls around, with each album review there's a few interesting facts around either the band, the process of making the album or both. Sometimes personal experiences are re-lived such as his memories of a teenaged Shihad opening for a band that would never reach their heights in a half empty Wellington bar.
These facts and titbits are tied in with the look at the album very well and each piece is flows well but I'm unsure if you could sit and read the book from front to back. It is a great book to rest on your coffee table as each piece is a nice quick, enjoyable stand alone read.
100 Essential New Zealand Albums is very
well written and an enjoyable read. There's also the chance that
you could be convinced to listen to something new as a
result.
Rating: 7/10
Title: 100 Essential New Zealand Albums
Author: Nick Bollinger
Publisher: Awa Press (Penguin)
RRP: $40
Available: Now
