Looking for some funky tunes to sambal up your cabin fever? Or are you keen to get the noggin juices flowing with a bit of reading? Whatever you’re after, Craccum rounds up the hottest tracks and thinkiest books to keep you occupied over the next couple of weeks because – let’s face it – you’re never going to do your course readings. May as well Kindle it up while you can.
Also if you and your Balmoral garage band are mad that there ain’t enough Tāmaki Makaurau content featured here email us at lifestyle@craccum.co.nz with ur bandcamp deetz.
Olympic Girls Solo by Tiny Ruins
Tiny Ruins is melancholy, wistful and emotional in the best kind of way. All acoustic and folky, this Auckland trio’s 2019 album is best suited for some gentle daydreaming out the window. Maybe as you position the teddybears in the window for the kids to spot on their government sanctioned walk. Favourite tracks include: My love leda (solo) and How much (solo).
All those who live on islands by Rose Lu
I met Rose Lu a few years ago: we were standing in the line to get a book signed by Jenny Zhang at the Auckland Writer’s Festival. She told me she was writing a novel, and I was like sure. I just met you, but that sounds cool. Two years later her book pops up at Unity Books and it is a breath smashing text on growing up as a young Chinese-New Zealander in the 21st century. A collection of essays that throw you in deep with frank honesty between the multi-lingual space of mandarin and village dialect. A personal favourite.
On Earth We’re Briefly Gorgeous by Ocean Veong
This book is beautiful, haunting and visceral. I have to pause every other page because it brings tears to my eyes. It’s a difficult read but worth it. The non-linear narrative is a series of letters a gay Vetnamese-American son writes to his illiterate mother. The poetic language captures the pain and the complexities of growing up in an abusive home, and one of my favourite lines includes “I kicked my shoes, gently at first, then faster. My sneakers erupted with silent flares: the world’s smallest ambulances, going no-where.”
My neighbours over the fence
Fuck if you don’t have spotify premium. Don’t even worry about it. My neighbours in Sandringham have been playing some mean as bangers. I swear every night is doof night in self-isolation. An eclectic dj mix of funk and jazz in the mornings, shifting to rap in the arvo. My other neighbours are between the age of 7-12 so Senorita by Camilla Cabello has also been popping off. I’ve been having a kanikani in the lawn to these fusion sounds. If you get the chance to go outside for a stroll, listening to the bird song and the neighbourhood sounds is a really free interesting ambient experience.