Complete Classics & Clangers Listing

Dutch copyright group BREIN has been accused of infringing music by not gaining permission to use a track for their anti-piracy campaign. ...more

Kiwi hip-hop artist David Dallas is following the mantra of his song Big Time with news that the track So Close Now has been picked up by World Wrestling Entertainment (WWE) to be used as entrance music for a tag team duo ...more

An Auckland teenager has appeared in Manukau District Court after suggesting explosives were hidden in a government building. Ifraaz Joseph (18) pleaded not guilty to one charge of threatening to harm people or property in what was allegedly a protest against the new Copyright (Infringing File Sharing) Amendment Act. ...more

American band MGMT were pelted with shoes at a show in Huntington Beach, California after band member James Richardson said, trying to hype the crowd up, "...everyone give me your left shoe now..." ...more

A member of a Japanese pop group has been revealed as not actually being a real human being. ...more

The Phoenix Foundation's Samuel F Scott has revealed details of his most painful gig for music website drownedinsound.com. ...more

Tiki Taane has taken advantage of an unfortunate situation by putting his business mind to work and producing a range of ‘Love The Police’ t-shirts. ...more

Fact is, it can happen to the best of us, still including your entire email database along with a major press release is never a good look. ...more

Adidas has released a pair of sneakers that trigger digital music sounds when the soles are tapped. ...more

An Irish man who stole a rare Stradivarius violin worth £1.2 million from internationally acclaimed musician Min-Jin Kym is facing jail time after trying to sell it for just £100. ...more

Paul Di’Anno, the former lead singer of Iron Maiden is facing jail after being exposed as a benefit cheat by music videos on YouTube. ...more

A radio competition offering listeners the chance to "win a wife" has sparked outrage from a former MP who has put the call out for it to be pulled. ...more

As reported in the Waikato Times, Kiwi band Elemeno P have been accused of not being Christian enough to play at this year’s Parachute music festival. ...more

Apple Inc has put an end to the production of an action figure based on the company’s head honcho, Steve Jobs. ...more

American hardcore hip-hop band Imperial Stars have been arrested after they took their song Traffic Jam 101 a tad too literally. ...more

Website www.thepoint.com has started a petition attempting to raise US$10million to disband American alt rock group Weezer. ...more

Held last week in Moscow, the World Karaoke Championships doubtless saw a number of firsts – not least the most unusual first prize of a million Russian dumplings. ...more

Crowded House's current US tour looks to be a huge success, attracting regular rave reviews, typically noting just how real the music is, as well as a series of guest appearances from A-list artists such as David Byrne. ...more

An ad inviting people to - meet hot women in their area, has been removed from a ukulele website ...more

British punk rock band Criminal Mind have been arrested for human trafficking after illegal immigrants were found hiding in speakers in their tour van. ...more

A new prototype created to charge a cell phone using heat from the feet will make its debut at the Glastonbury Festival of Contemporary Performing Arts this year. ...more

Canadian pop sensation and notably caucasian teenager Justin Bieber has scored a nomination for a 2010 Black Entertainment Television award. ...more

On April 5, 2004, singer Robin Johnson was kicked off NZ Idol - coming in 6th place. Six years later after disappearing into the shadows, he's now changed his name to ROB and signed a deal with American model Tila Tequila’s record label ...more

The latest release from EMI NZ 'Music For Cougars' is set to hit the shelves this coming Monday. ...more

Decca Records, the classical music arm of Universal Music are on an international quest to find a troupe of nuns with good singing voices. ...more

Thinking of illegally downloading some music? Don’t. Yes, it’s not the worst crime you could imagine but it certainly comes with a hefty fine. ...more

Rapper Tupac Shakur and Muse have been named in a list as the Vatican's favourite artists. ...more

Italian Prime Minster Silvio Berlusconi has been named "rock star of the year" in the December issue of the countries Rolling Stone magazine. ...more

The parents of Baby Lamont Harper Davidson were forced to pay a sizeable price to get their three-month-old son into the Pearl Jam concert in Christchurch, Sunday night. ...more

A German orchestra has announced plans to play a concert in a brothel in an effort to bring classical music "out of the concert hall and to where people are." ...more

A British survey has found people who download music illegally also spend an average of £77 a year on music. ...more

The Auckland Philharmonia Orchestra are holding auditions for owners of vintage vacuum cleaners and floor polishers in preparation for The Last Night of the Proms concert at the Aotea Centre, on 28 November. ...more

The following is a CLARIFICATION media release sent out by Universal Music NZ regarding the recent reports of drummer Jay “Bula” Foulkes’ drug charges. ...more

(UK) Market research carried out into the future needs of music fans has revealed a requirement for wider seats in music arenas. ...more

The Rolling Stones have been named the world’s most expensive wedding band, charging five million pounds per performance. ...more

UK - Pigs on a farm where the musical festival Harvest at Jimmy’s is to be held are being given ear protectors. ...more

J.K Rowling's 'Harry Potter' series has spawned a new genre of music. Wizard Rock or Wrock dates back to 2002 and the genre now consists of at least 600 bands. ...more

Ever been given good reason to be pissed at an airline for mistreating your valuable tools of the trade - your guitar, cello, amp rack or drum kit? ...more

An unusual dispute between two Westport youths culminated with one allegedly being struck on the head with a violin. ...more

ASCAP, the American Society of Composers, Authors and Publishers have filed a lawsuit against American mobile phone carrier AT&T, claiming that every time a musical ringtone rings in public it is a violation of copyright law. ...more

A group of DJs allegedly used stolen credit cards to buy their own songs on iTunes and Amazon, boosting their chart ratings and netting them nearly £200,000 in royalties. ...more

Think you've seen it all...Check out these Guitars. ...more

90% funny 10% useful ...more

What started out as an on-air jostle between RadioLive announcers Andrew Fagan and Willie Jackson on Wednesday ended with a shameful stand-off in the boardroom later that day in front of shocked colleagues and bosses. It all began when a caller named Karen phoned in to Jackson's show on Wednesday to complain about Fagan. ...more

Some people look like their pets and some.......their records? ...more

Wellington reviewer Simon Sweetman lays his brain out on the chopping block with his thoughts on NZ hip-hop. ...more

A whistling orangutan could be set to give the world's music stars a run for their money. Ujian, who resides at Heidelberg Zoo in Germany, has become a celebrity after a whistling delivery man gave him inspiration. The 14-year-old ape reportedly mimicked the man and let out an exasperated whistle as he waited for his dinner to be served. ...more

German police said an elderly man was so annoyed at hearing the same serenade over and over that he called authorities to report his neighbours - only to discover the culprit was a musical greeting card on his own windowsill. ...more

The internets first orchestra, the YouTube Symphony Orchestra gathered 93 musicians, ranging in age from 15 to 55, from more than 30 countries for a three-day classical music summit in New York before the debut performance of the symphony at Carnegie Hall. ...more

Staged in the grand foyer of the Auckland Museum, the launch party for 'The Great New Zealand Songbook' proved almost as inspired as the product itself. ...more

The human voice is one of the most versatile and amazing instruments. It is able to produce highly intricate arrays of sounds and pitches. It’s tone can also be modulated to suggest emotions such as anger, surprise, or happiness … and of course it can be used to sing. ...more

A researcher in Tokyo, Japan who studies the mind and artificial intelligence has taken this one step further. He is trying to show not only that music and sound can affect your mind, but that it can also make physical changes to your body. ...more

The Webster Hall cleanup crew was left with quite a mess to deal with after Australian country singer Keith Urban's performance at the club last week. ...more

Hye Yeon Nam, a visual and kinetic artist living in Atlanta, has come up with a music system that uses the tongue, rather than the hand, to generate sounds and melodies. ...more

The people at Audioquest are selling a new speaker cable called the Audioquest Everest that’ll put a Moon size dent in your bank account at a whopping US$21,000 for three metres of cable! ...more

Iri5 is an artist who specializes in using non traditional media such as old books, audio cassettes, playing cards, magazines, credit cards to create very impressive pieces of art. ...more

The charming and creative wit of various Lil Chief contributors is not restricted to their winsome music - as the following from the label's blog site shows... ...more

The Homebrew Crew released their first EP ‘Last Week’ late last year with beats by Haz and Truent. The concept had the crew recording a track a day from ‘Monday’ through to ‘Sunday’. ...more

Michael Mayell of CookieTime fame has recently declared himself dDub's number one fan; and as a sweet treat Michael has created a download page on the CookieTime website so people can download the song Hesitate No (as featured on Outrageous Fortune!). ...more

Perennially unfashionable and virtually unsalable, indefatigable Kapiti Coast songwriter Stefan Wolf has produced yet another shelf sitter. ...more

Messrs Campbell, King, Palmer and Lynch (formerly collectively known as Zed), were possibly not as amused as we to learn..... ...more

This is Awesome! ...more

A showdown between Australian children's entertainers The Wiggles and Ngai Tahu Tourism over a trademark clash is unlikely, a spokesman for the South Island tribe says. ...more

A Personalized Greg Johnson Song for Your Valentine! Sick of giving roses, chocolates, and the usual Valentines Day cliche's? How about a Personalised Song recorded especially for your Wife, Lover, Girlfriend, Child, Pet Pig, lawyer or Mother-in-law? ...more

Jamaican regulators are cracking down on indecency on the airwaves - banning all songs or music videos with explicit sexual references. ...more

A former New Zealand Idol singing star has swapped the bright lights of show business for work in the hot sun on a road gang. Michael Murphy, from Taupo, found fame five years ago when he finished runner-up to Ben Lummis. ...more

NZ musician Don McGlashan is fuming after TVNZ used one of his songs to accompany a montage of images celebrating National leader John Key's election victory last Saturday. Anchor Me, by McGlashan's former group, The Mutton Birds, was used during a post-election wrap on TV One last Sunday. In an angry letter to the network, McGlashan said he had never voted National and "would rather have sex with a very ugly crayfish than let them use my music". ...more

Hayley Westenra has taken a stand against the music industry, saying she 'refuses to dress like a tart' to sell records. The 21-year-old claims she has been in a battle with her record company over her wholesome image. ...more

It was one of those evenings which reminded me why I love working in the NZ music industry. Last night, Radio NZ National and Roundhead Studios (Neil Finn's Auckland base) teamed up to bring us the 'Roundhead Sessions' - two hours of live music performed in Roundhead's gorgeous A and B studios, broadcast across the nation on Radio NZ. ...more

Hip-hop legend Snoop Dogg touched down for a one-off concert in the capital but seemed a little confused as to where he actually was. ...more

You'll know him as Lawrence Arabia, or maybe as James Milne, but either way he's a clever bugger with a satirical bent, and known as a one man band. ...more

Global Battle of the Bands (GBOB) mean anything to anyone? Didn't think so, ...more

There's been a whole lot of excitement on the All Blacks camp this week as MTV superstar Lil Jon has specifically asked All Blacks management for permission to write a crunk song for the team. ...more

Digital file copyists sour that our newly amended copyright legislation still impinge on their rights to pirate music and film for nix oughta be relieved that they live in New Zealand not Nouvelle Zealande. ...more

Damn. We do like to get the details right here at NZM but need to acknowledge a noun error printed in the June/July 2008 issue cover story "Independents Movement". ...more

As reported on stuff.co.nz, Opshop have been "kicked out of Britain, but for red tape not rock 'n' roll reasons." ...more

After numerous failed attempts and equally numerous misalignments over the years AND after totally trying to avoid it, I fell in love over Christmas. ...more

Roots reggae band Unity Pacific's family-and-friends album release party was held in the confines of the Thirsty Dog pub on K'Road late last month; a friendlier pub you'll never find for sure ...more

Legendary poet/musician Bill Direen doesn't make too many appearances in these parts, having spent much time in Europe and the US. ...more

Our favourite indie-house band Pig Out are about to prove that pigs can indeed fly when they head to Europe for a series of shows starting with the prestigious MIDI Festival in France. ...more

Talk about a buzz. The final three shows that Fat Freddy’s Drop were to play in Auckland before they embarked on their Fantastic Voyage were all sell-out affairs. ...more

Oh my gawd... the Broadcast button on the computer of EMI's Publicity Mangler Lauren W. must have got stuck down with Easter chocolate... ...more

Celebrating her very own birthday with a select band of friends at the Thirsty Dog in K' Road recently, our hardworking, (good) music-loving website manager Renee, was more than a little surprised on looking up from her pint to witness the grand entrance of Mr Wayne Anderson, Auckland's almost-legendary Singer of Songs. ...more

The Sandwiches Summerset festival held on Saturday was one of the most eagerly anticipated events in March in Wellington... ...more

Press releases from our local record co. outposts are often good for a titter, but in their defence it can be easy to get it embarrassingly wrong - as this admission from Seymour Duncan reveals... ...more

The Hawkes Bay Today newspaper has revealed a good reason why the Mission Estate Winery concert featuring Eric Clapton didn't live up to expectations for many in the crowd. ...more

The king was dead, long live the king! Our very own global pop music icon Pauly Fuemana is back from self-imposed musical exile with the first single from a renewed association with his OMC-heyday producer Alan Jansson. ...more

When it was announced that grunge era survivors Greg Dulli (ex-Afghan Whigs), Mark Lanegan (ex-Screaming Trees, Queens of the Stone Age) and the band of accomplished musicians who make up the Twilight Singers were to play in New Zealand, fans had heard rumours that in addition to their own material the Singers also dallied with a decent number of covers in their live shows. ...more

If you can measure success by the length of the queues outside the venues then the recent on-the-fly bNet Awards night in downtown Auckland was b-normous, although the ceremony itself was perhaps more b-grade. ...more

History Never Repeats so the song goes, but there was a sense of deserved familiarity last night as Team NZ Musician once again took line honours in a hotly contested NZ Music Industry Commission Pub Quiz. ...more

The spirit and resolve of Greylynners shone through the torrential spring rain last Saturday to prevent their annual festival being cancelled by the weather for the second year in a row. ...more

So did you hear the one about the Aussie t-shirt shirt that means air-guitarists can actually play music as they strum the air? Sound distressing or what? ...more

The publicist for Wellington band Dekline is responsible for the best press release to cross our desktops in a good while. ...more

Proving that being born and raised in Turakina and owning perhaps the world's most irresponsible guitar need not place a Dominator garage door between you and international fame... ...more

Coldcut's wonderful assault on the senses drove us to Wellington's waterfront after the concert in search of somewhere to come down and readjust to the shock that is Courtney Place on a Friday night. ...more

Outstanding Acts Confirmed For Silver Scrolls An all-star line up will play at next week’s APRA Silver Scroll Awards, but just who the organisers have chosen to perform on the night remains a much-guarded secret. ...more

Now that Rockstar: Supernova has finally dragged its arse over the finish line and decided who the rockstar is gonna be (Canadian Lukas Rossi - the one who has problems with his eyeliner application), it seems that the Supernova part has become a death star. ...more

RIANZ bestowed the Technical Tui Awards and simultaneously announced the New Zealand Music Awards finalists at a toned down function on Wednesday, the Mayor of Auckland taking a comedic turn in his sponsor/VIP guest speech. ...more

Juice seem to be taking their dark horse role seriously if the electronic press release for the 9th outing of their annual Juice TV Awards is anything to go by. ...more

After four years of hard slog, Wellington band Cherry's Gemstones have announced they are splitting up. ...more

Marlborough-raised songbird Sarah Brown may be pretty, young, blonde and clad in a fabulous dress on Friday night... ...more

Talk about lack faith in your music, this is what Black Seeds guitarist Mike Fabulous had to say in an interview to The Wellingtonian about 'Into the Dojo' entering the chart at number one. ...more

The recent Film Festival included the debut screenings of Costa Botes' documentary of Wellington institution band The Windy City Strugglers, and the making of their most recent (2004) album 'Kingfisher'. ...more

When a band gets people wearing pelican suits to move through the crowd at their gig handing out chocolate fish stored in their beaks, there is no doubt that this is a classic moment. ...more

The unfortunate side effects of Auckland entertainment's inner city decay has played spectacularly into the hands of The Mint Chicks. ...more

The July 9 Herald On Sunday Business piece about the state of our music industry was about as insightful as it was accurate. ...more

Deja Voodoo celebrated the release of their new album 'Brown Sabbath' in true bogan celebrity style ... ...more

The following is an outtake from a Bob Lefsetz international industry newsletter - still wanna be a promoter when you grow up? ...more

In a recent interview with 95bFM's Troy Ferguson, Nick Zimmer, guitarist from visiting New York City band du jour the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, 'fessed up that one of his musical influences is our very own OMC. ...more

Auckland’s Voom announced their return with two nights at Queen St’s Classic Comedy Club. As suggested by the venue name, the shows were classics. ...more

Great to see TV One's Good Morning show continuing to do its bit for the cause, now with NZ music uber-enthusiast and former host of National Radio's Homegrown, Liz Barry, appearing weekly. ...more

Greg Johnson is back with a new album called 'Anyone Can say Goodbye', recorded in LA where he is based these days. The NZ shows supporting the album release will be in hotel ballrooms done up cabaret style, with ticket prices including dinner. ...more