Keith Shackleton on April 29th, 2010

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[Friends of Buzz Bands know of my longtime affection – some might call it a fetish – for Kiwipop. Buzz Bands is also fortunate to have a correspondent who lives in the neighborhood. So, straight outta Auckland, a nice album for you to download:]

Arch Hill Recordings was born in a studio on the Great North Road, in Auckland, New Zealand, more than 10 years ago. Label supremo Ben Howe and a clutch of musicians from Flying Nun bands Superette and the Jean Paul Sartre Experience recorded there, and subsequently launched the fledgling label in 1999 with David Mulcahy’s first solo album “Oddy Knocky.”

To commemorate more than 10 years of recording, the good people at Arch Hill are currently offering a free 18-track anniversary compilation for download, featuring the best of their up-and-coming artists, new recordings from old stagers, and classic tracks from the back catalogue. It’s terrific.

Highlights are the woozy C86 vibe of Surf City (a big success at SXSW a few weeks ago), Wellington’s Family Cactus (their Go-Betweens-y pop is making waves on American college radio as I type), and the-band-most-likely-to on the Auckland Scene, fizzy pop-punk youngsters Street Chant, who scored a prestigious support slot on the Dead Weather’s Antipodean jaunt a short while ago. Jack White likes them and so do I.

And there’s more. The “Kiwi gothic” alt-folk of The Haints of Dean Hall, the Kinks-a-like ’60s frug of Grand Prix‘s “Always Beginning.” Luke Buda is the mainstay of Wellington indie-rockers the Phoenix Foundation, represented here with the winning “Weekend Dad” from his fine sophomore solo effort “Vesuvius.”

Included also are recent tracks from Nun legends the Clean and the Bats, old favorites like Mestar’s terrific chugging “Konked Out” from 2006, and if you’d like to find out what ex-Mutton Bird Don McGlashan is up to these days, here’s your opportunity.

Check out the view from the Hill.

||| Download: “Arch Hill 10th Anniversary Sampler”

– By Keith Shackleton