Fishrider Records

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Fishrider Records is a tiny “micro-independent” label based in Dunedin, New Zealand. It is dedicated to releasing occasional albums of literate melodic underground Psych-pop, No Wave and whatever else takes our fancy.

LATEST RELEASE
FISH006 OPPOSITE SEX– Opposite Sex – LP/ CD
Haunting waltzes & hyperactive melodic no wave, darkness & light, good & evil, innocence & guilt. The sound of this young trio is, they say, some kind of absurdist-logico mix of Euro pop, Beat poetry, and subterranean lo-fi adventuring. Listen to/ buy the album here

Opposite Sex by Opposite Sex (CD Digipak)

“The new wave of New Zealand pop begins here… Opposite Sex share with their compatriots a penchant for vernacular psychedelia and lop-sided songwriting….For a debut, it’s remarkable, leaping from sea-sick waltzes and crunchy post-punk to ADD-pop (see the hyper opener “La Rat”)” **** (4/5) Uncut (UK)

“a wonderfully spontaneous album that boasts a scuzzy ramshackle charm and oozes a woozy youthfulness… Sitting somewhere between oddball pop and disjointed 1970s No Wave, the album is experimental without being alienating and embracing without being sickly. ..It’s a debut album that contains all the elements you desire in a first outing.” 8/10
Kicking Against the Pricks

“head-nodding, chanting strangeness – the same eerie shimmer that bands like Black Tambourine and The Raincoats achieved… some people will fall in love and defend it to the death” Volume #15

“Where pop and anti-pop collide… Opposite Sex’s debut album is wonderfully curious and weird.”
Cheese on Toast

“a record of duality and uniqueness. ..Opposite Sex have created a manic, ever-progressing experiment of peculiar pop. A perplexing, disarming but ultimately fascinating listen.” The Corner

“While their psychedelia listening and understated indiepop cool are spiritual descendants of [the Dunedin Sound], their metier lies in absurdist flights of fancy drawn from weird, lolling melodies that hang on to themselves for dear life… as Jad Fair might have written and Alison Statton might have sung.” Sweeping the Nation (UK)

Listen to the album on the Opposite Sex Bandcamp page
You can also download it or order the CD and LP from their bandcamp page. You get an immediate free download when you order the physical release.

Fishrider Records has also released:

Robert Scott & Adalita Srsen/ The Puddle split 7″ (FISH005 2010)

The Puddle – “Playboys in the Bush” CD/ LP (FISH 004 2010)

The Puddle – “The Shakespeare Monkey” (2009)

The Puddle – “No Love – No Hate” (2007)

The Dark Beaks – “Spill Your Heart” (2006)

The Puddle’s Fishrider Records catalogue is available on their Bandcamp page

COMING SOON – A new two-EP album from The Puddle called Secret Holiday/ Victory Blues, featuring Graeme Humphreys (Able Tasmans, Humphreys & Keen) on keyboards as well as new member and multi-instrumentalist, Alan Starrett.

For a catalogue of Fishrider Records releases please e-mail fishrider (dot) records (at) yahoo (dot) co (dot) nz

RECENT RELEASE by The Puddle – “Playboys in the Bush”

The Puddle’s semi-mythical almost-lost “Wellington album” was released after the two albums that pre-date it. For those of us who have had faith in George’s talent and his vision for The Puddle for a quarter of a century now, patiently enjoying the occasional bruised fruits along his unconventional but persistent journey, “Playboys in the Bush” is the sweet vindication.
“Fans of Pavement and the 1990s American slack school can squint and see the southern-hemisphere source of those insouciant grooves, and the decision to retell Norse mythology chug-guitar-style on the nine-minute Valhalla is inspired.” Sunday Times (UK)

“Playboys in the Bush” can be heard at The Puddle’s bandcamp site.

PREVIOUS RELEASE – The Puddle – “The Shakespeare Monkey”

These are difficult times for business generally and the music business specifically. But business is one of the things Fishrider Records doesn’t stand for – it really is all about the music for us.  We’ve responded to these challenges by making sure “The Shakespeare Monkey” is the most lavishly packaged album we’ve released.

It’s a 63 minute CD packaged in a 6 panel cardboard sleeve with lyric book. It is very good, a huge advance in songs and sounds from “No Love – No hate”, but of course we would say that. Don’t take our word for it though… take the word of these fine publications:

“Led by George D. Henderson this Dunedin band is on fire right now, with two great albums in as many years following more than two decades of illness, addiction, incarceration and patchy pop action.  Such tender vocals, such wonky guitars, such marvelous meandering arrangements, such knowing meditations on human frailty – indie pop comes no better” Sunday Star Times (NZ)

“Beautifully resigned guitar pop…full of the kind of articulate and well-read pop songs that made Henderson’s home country the epicentre of literate guitar music in the 1980s and ’90s.”  Uncut (UK)

“This unexpected new album encapsulates perfectly that distinctly velvety Aotearoan drone-pop sound…the tortoise of New Zealand rock finally honours his forgotten promise.”  Sunday Times (UK)

“The Shakespeare Monkey represents the pinnacle of the indie pop craft in Aotearoa. It’s an album that, at 17 tracks long, is best (and easily) absorbed in a single sitting, where its lovely ebb and flow can best be appreciated.” * * * * The Southland Times (NZ)

“Puddle songwriter George D Henderson has absorbed Nick Drake’s melancholy, The Stooges’ raw power, The West Coast Pop Art Experimental Band’s desolate psychedelia, The Verlaines’ literate noir and krautrock’s menacing hypnotism to create an epic of vulnerable splendour.” Fire Escape Talking (UK)

“a new album of shimmering, shambling pop songs which could have come from nowhere else but New Zealand. For anyone lusting after the Flying Nun glory days, this album makes a perfect soundtrack to summer” Real Groove Magazine (NZ), Editor’s Top Ten Deadline Distractions

“a heartening return on a 25-year investment. Rich in craftily constructed melodies… it places Henderson squarely where he has long deserved to be: among the pantheon of Kiwi rock deities… it’s impossible to deny the charm of these 17 tracks.”  * * * * Otago Daily Times (NZ)

“It’s endearingly eccentric, with an almost hypnotically laidback feel that keeps you wanting more” SoundsXP (UK)

“This is an album which keeps attention at every turn…Already in the Best of Elsewhere 2009. Unquestionably.” www.elsewhere.co.nz

“I was reminded of American bands like Sebadoh, Firehose and even Galaxy 500… If Flying Nun was ever your thing, or still is, seek this out… you will not be disappointed.”  * * * * Waikato Times (NZ)

“The right honourable George D. Henderson’s the epitome of under-rated in the songwriting stakes, right from the start he’s produced lyrical pop beauties and his latest isn’t an exception, just exceptional.” * * * * Real Groove Magazine (NZ)

“All the ingredients that make up the Puddle sound are here, from rambling psychedelia to Flying Nun jangle and garage rock, complete with Henderson’s understated vocal delivery and delightfully deconstructed guitar solos. At times wistful and melancholic Henderson’s lyrics can also be sharp and witty and show a literate if eccentric insight into his world. There’s nothing else quite like The Puddle and it’s this eclectic originality that gives ‘The Shakespeare Monkey’ its considerable lo-fi indie charm.” New Zealand Musician

New Zealand psych-pop pioneers The Puddle, a revolving line-up of musicians assembled around the unstable core of George D. Henderson, have been around, in one form or another, since 1984.  Three albums and a 7” single on Flying Nun between 1986 and 1993 attracted critical appreciation and notoriety in equal measures for “pop as shambling and sweet as you could possibly imagine”. In 1993 The Puddle toughened up and recorded the brainy outsider rock album, “Songs for Emily Valentine”, but, apart from a 1995 single on a French label, the SFEV recordings were not released until 2005. Then, in 2007 The Puddle released the acclaimed “No Love – No Hate” adding a further unexpected twist in the long, strange and frequently derailed odyssey of this unique NZ musical institution which “The Shakespeare Monkey” continues.

This, the Puddle’s 6th album in over 25 years (and only the 4th studio album to be released), sees George joined by Gavin Shaw (Sferic Experiment, Children’s Television Workshop) on bass and brother Ian Henderson (The Dark Beaks) once again on drums to deliver a wildly diverse collection of tunes.

The new album by The Puddle is currently available from the following stores and mailorder sites:

Rough Trade stores in London, England
Missing Link Records, Melbourne, Australia
Last Visible Dog records, USA (mailorder)
Powertool Records, Germany (mailorder)
CD Baby, USA & the world (mailorder)
Amplifier, NZ (mailorder)
Marbecks records, NZ

The album is available through retail stores in NZ, distributed by Yellow Eye music.

Retail stores in the USA can order through Super D distribution or contact Fishider directly -  we will send them anywhere and happy to negotiate suitable terms with anyone who wants to stock the album. E-mail fishrider [dot] records [ swirly at symbol] yahoo [dot] co [dot] nz

Anyone who wants a copy now can get it very easily by contacting Fishrider Records directly and letting me know your mailing address. It’s NZD$20 or $USD 13 incl P&P or equivalent.

Check out the recent blog posts for updates and news. Thank you!