The Return of Flying Nun Records!!! Reissues and more!!

You'll come for the Hobbits, but stay for the music

Flying Nun Records is back once again. Roger Sheperd, the former head of the New Zealand label bought back the company from Warner Music in 2009 and they are in the process of setting things back in order. As a subsidiary of a major label the label has been virtually nonexistent and their old classic records have become hard to impossible to find. At this point the revived label's first priority has been to restore this extensive back catalogue. They have signed some new artists, such as Die!Die!Die!, but the news I am trying to pass on her is that many important records that have been out of print and scarce for 20 years are now becoming available once again through their website.



C'mon Baby What's That Sound?
You Know It Couldn't Happen Here.

 One such important release is the Bat's Compiletely album, which is a collection of the Christchurch pop groups early vinyl eps from the mid-1980's. The music is fairly lo-fi, but extremely tuneful, with a particularly warm rustic charm. Only one song on the album is more than four minutes long. The band is comprised up of Clean bassist Robert Scott on rhythm guitar lead vocals, Kaye Woodward on lead, Paul Kean on bass, and Malcolm Grant on drums. They are one of the seminal New Zealand pop groups of the 80's and 90's and they still continue to put out records intermittently. Made Up In Blue is the first song on this album and it is a driving acoustic gem. You can get an idea of the music from the title of one of the eps this album is made up of; Here Is...Music For The Fireside. Following this up is a charming tune of small town mores Neighbors, featuring stellar fiddle work by Alastair Galbraith.

Overall the music has a very warm, live in the studio quality. Claudine is simply a classic kiwi tune with a very memorable bridge. Other great songs on this are the Beatleish Mad On You, the charming Chicken Bird Run, and the ascending/descending riffing of By Night. Trouble In This Town is another knowing slice of small time life, and Joe's Again is a nostalgic look at an old relationship. The disc ends with the wistful bittersweet Offside.

There are many other fantastic reissues out now from Flying Nun, including The Verlaines' Juvenilia, The Bats' Daddy's Highway and Couchmaster, the entire discography of the Jean Paul Sartre Experience, and the Chills' Kaleidescope World. Hopefully this is the just the beginning. It would be great if the Chills' Brave Words saw the light of day. I do think that before that happens a major remastering would probably have to be done. The album is chock full of great songs, but the recording has a very odd sound to it. On the Chills' Heavenly Pop Hits anthology there are a few of the songs from that album remastered with rerecorded vocals and they sound amazing. Other bands in need of reissue are Bird Nest Roys, Able Tasmans, and Snapper (and the Ep by the guys below) I have my fingers crossed and hope that some of the more obscure music that never made CD gets released too. The only thing better would be if the revival of this label promotes more great but currently unknown Kiwi bands.