A: Knock, Knock.

B: Who’s there?

A: Chris.

B: Chris who?

A: Chris Knox!

Not given lightly. This is the most beautiful song ever written by a Kiwi. If you play this song you will become rich and wealthy!

Inside story. Johnny Marr eat your heart out.

And finally some Tall Dwarfs – Nothings Going to Happen…

Chris Knox is a demigod of New Zealand music. What he cannot do with a cheap synth and an four track nobody can do with Apple Studios and half a million euros. Super.

Here is what wikipedia has to say about Mr. Knox:

Chris Knox (September 2, 1952) is a New Zealand rock and roll musician who emerged during the punk rock era with his bands The Enemy and Toy Love. After Toy Love disbanded in the early 1980s, he formed the group Tall Dwarfs with guitarist Alec Bathgate, much loved for their honest, unpolished sound and intense live shows. His 4-track machine was used to record most of the early Flying Nun singles.

He has also released a number of solo, self-produced albums which feature his trademark vocals and catchy hooks and loops generated by his trusty Casiotone. Chris Knox has also released an album under the pseudonym ‘Friend’. Continue »

Ok, thought we should kick things off with some of that classic “Dunedin Sound” Flying Nun magic. This track is She Speeds by the legendary Straitjacket Fits off the 1987 ep Life in One Chord. This track was later re-released on the UK version of the 1988 album Hail put out by Rough Trade.

There is a great post at the mixotheque blog with a whole bunch of New Zealand mp3’s you can download. Not sure about the copyright of those tracks, but if it gets people into the whole Flying Nun thing then it can’t be a bad thing. For an introduction to the Dunedin Sound and the Flying Nun story check out Stylus Magazine’s great feature In Love with Those Times: Flying Nun and the Dunedin Sound.

I never did see the Straitjacket Fits live although I did get to change Shayne Carter’s guitar strings during a gig in Christchurch back sometime in 1994 or 1995 when he was fronting Dimmer. A great claim to fame. I am not sure what effects pedals he was using on She Speeds but I assume he was using a hotcake. If anyone out there has some info about that his set up it would be greatly appreciated.