Sam Valentine

For Dunedin micro-independent record label Fishrider Records there might never be another year quite like this one.

It's a familiar narrative: a band announces an indefinite hiatus, then six months later, it's back.

For semi-anonymous lo-fi pop savant Trick Mammoth, sharing his music can often be more difficult than making it.

New Zealand independent label Powertool Records comes to Dunedin's Crown Hotel tonight, with a diverse line-up featuring Brother Love, Peter Gutteridge (Snapper), Squirm, Sandra Bell, Come Down Kid and Nick Raven.

The Bemsha Swing doesn't swing - at least not in a conventional sense. Rather, the Auckland pair jackhammer - sending a pneumatic knife-tipped art-punk rhythm straight into the skulls of their listeners.

When Anthony Lander's band, The Tweeks, bade farewell to Dunedin in late 2008, they chose to close their final show with a tribute to the psychedelic 1960s comprised almost entirely of Beatles and Kinks covers.

Next month, Dunedin funk-grunge trio Left or Right will attempt something few local bands have attempted before - an Australian tour.

Despite the images that their name may conjure, there's nothing heavy, or "starchy", about the music of Auckland duo Carb on Carb.

September 2012 welcomes the New Zealand arrival of a defining name of 1980s British punk rock: Subhumans.

Auckland's Wilberforces have played in more formats than most since they released their debut album, Haunted, in 2009.

Website-cum-record label Dunedinmusic.com is celebrating its seventh birthday, and is throwing an all-day party at Re:Fuel today to celebrate.

For Auckland four-piece Artisan Guns, music has been a process of growing up in public.

Although Lyttelton has a population of only 3000, its music scene is one of the most talked about in the country.