Heavenly Pop Hits

I just found a great documentary about the New Zealand music scene during the eighties and nineties. It tells the story of the legendary label Flying Nun Records whose DIY work ethic gave birth to the famous Dunedin sound and is home to bands like The Chills, The Bats and The Clean. All of them still tour and release records, much thanks to people like Stephen Malkmus and other bands listing them as important influences. The documentary also shows the strengths and limitations of releasing music the DIY way without large funding or big company bosses trying to interfere with production. Although mistakes were made and many of the bands unfortunately didn't reach their full potential, the label won international acclaim for its unique sound which captured that era and can be recognized as an influence on today's music. The label has recently started up again with the ambition to put out re-releases and take on new kiwi bands, yay!

There are nine episodes available on the tube. Here's the first one, followed by a couple of videos.