Phoebe Rings
music culture 34 minutes ago
So'omalo chats to Alex from Phoebe Rings about an exciting north america tour aswell as their new music Janay tells us about her new work force and the jobs they have done for her
Tags: culture
music
Culture
Music
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
RNZ News
a day ago
- RNZ News
Musicians fly the flag for Aotearoa at Wales Festival
music culture 44 minutes ago Award-winning UK festival Focus Wales celebrates emerging talent and artists. The festival which has been running for 15 years saw more than 22 thousand attendees, showcased 250 artists across 20 stages in various venues around Wrexham. As part of a cultural exchange last month, bilingual musicians, Jordyn with a Why, MA and Mohi travelled to Wrexham in Wales to represent Aotearoa. The reclamation of both the Welsh language Cymraeg, and te reo Maori through music is a common and powerful connector between the two countries. The Kiwi artists each performed two sets with their bands and attended panels discussing how language can transcend genre barriers. Jordyn with a Why was recently nominated for Best Maori Artist for her album Hibiscus Moon, Love & Justice and for the Mana Reo award for her waiata Maori 'Reia' at the Aotearoa Music Awards. Singer-songwriter Ma released her sophomore album this year, Blame It On The Weather, and was named as one of the New Zealand ones to watch by Rolling Stone Australia in 2023. Both join Culture 101 to reflect on their trip. Tags: arts culture music Wales arts and culture
RNZ News
2 days ago
- RNZ News
Weinstein concedes he acted 'immorally' as jury deliberations pause
By Andréa Bambino , AFP Harvey Weinstein. Photo: ETIENNE LAURENT / AFP Disgraced Hollywood mogul Harvey Weinstein conceded that he acted "immorally" but insisted he did nothing criminal as jury deliberations on his fate in his sex crimes retrial paused for the weekend. Jurors said after two days that they needed "more time" to deliberate on a verdict for Weinstein. He is on trial again after a New York state appeals court threw out his 2020 convictions, citing irregularities in the original proceedings. The former movie industry titan's 23-year prison sentence for the initial conviction was thrown out, but he remains imprisoned for separate offences. Although Weinstein did not take the stand, he spoke out in an interview aired by FOX5 television on Friday (local time) as the jury considered six weeks of testimony. "I have regrets that I put my family through this, that I put my wife through this, and I acted immorally..., but never illegal, never criminal, never anything," he said. Weinstein pointed to comments by his defence attorney Arthur Aidala who suggested the three women who testified against him at trial "had four million reasons to testify, as in dollars". Judge Curtis Farber issued initial instructions on Thursday to jurors, one of whom had to be swapped out for an alternate after falling ill, before they retired to consider their verdict. He called on the panel to use "common sense" for this "very important decision" and reminded them that Weinstein was "presumed innocent." On Friday, the jury panel of 12 heard a read back of emotional testimony from Weinstein's former assistant Miriam Haley. The jury must decide whether Weinstein - accused by dozens of women of being a sexual predator - is guilty of sexual assaults in 2006 on Haley and former model Kaja Sokola, and of rape in 2013 of then-aspiring actress Jessica Mann. One juror came forward on Friday to report tensions between his fellow panelists, alleging "people are being shunned. It's playground stuff". He asked to resign as a juror, but Farber denied his request. Aidala requested that a mistrial be declared, but the judge denied his motion, and the jury will continue to deliberate Weinstein's fate on Monday. On Wednesday, prosecutor Nicole Blumberg summarised the evidence of the three alleged victims of Weinstein who testified at the trial for jurors saying simply "he raped three women, they all said no." The Hollywood figure had "all the power" and "all the control" over the alleged victims, which is why jurors should find him guilty, she said. "The defendant thought the rules did not apply to him, now it is the time to let him know that the rules apply to him. "There is no reasonable doubt; tell the defendant what he already knows - that he is guilty of the three crimes." Weinstein's defence attorney insisted the sexual encounters were consensual, pointing to a "casting couch" dynamic between the movie mogul and the women. Weinstein, the producer of box office hits Pulp Fiction and Shakespeare in Love , has never acknowledged wrongdoing. The cinema magnate, whose downfall in 2017 sparked the global #MeToo movement, has been on trial since 15 April in a scruffy Manhattan courtroom. He is already serving a 16-year prison sentence after being convicted in California in a separate for raping and assaulting a European actress more than a decade ago. - AFP
Scoop
3 days ago
- Scoop
PHOEBE RINGS Release Their ‘Quietly Beautiful' Debut Album Aseurai
June 6, 2025: Tāmaki Makaura dream-pop quartet Phoebe Rings – dubbed an 'indie supergroup' by RNZ given its members' involvement in other notable projects such as Tiny Ruins, AC Freazy, Princess Chelsea, Fazerdaze and Lucky Boy^ – today release their anticipated debut album Aseurai via Carpark Records with the focus track 'Playground Song', alongside a string of new live dates including supporting Japanese Breakfast in Auckland tomorrow night + their first live shows in South Korea and Japan this month (full details below). Stream/order Aseurai HERE. A lullaby-like, cyclical track which reflects on childhood friendship and nostalgia, focus track ' Playground Song ' features stereo acoustic guitars, warm synth textures, and gentle wave-like noises, with its centrepiece – a flute solo played by Lukas Fritsch – adding a dreamy, reflective touch. It's released alongside its floral-adorned live performance video directed by Nahyeon Lee – watch HERE. On Aseurai, Phoebe Rings continue to explore their disco and city-pop influences while staying true to the dream-pop sound of their self-titled debut EP released last year. 'Aseurai means around you in the atmosphere, hard to reach, fading away,' singer Crystal Choi says, 'it's a poetic expression. You wouldn't say it in normal conversation, but I like that.' Across its four singles so far – 'Aseurai', 'Drifting', 'Get Up' and 'Fading Star' – the album has garnered praise from international outlets like Pitchfork, FLOOD, Beats Per Minute, Rolling Stone, frankie, Happy, Northern Transmissions and Paste Magazine, who said the album finds the band 'sharply in the pocket that makes them terrific.' While Phoebe Rings – named for the outermost ring around Saturn which is known to be the largest, but the least visible – was originally a solo project of singer Crystal Choi, who is also a university-trained jazz pianist, Aseurai marks a shift with contributing songwriting credits from the whole band, which includes guitar/synthesist Simeon Kavanagh-Vincent, bassist Benjamin Locke and drummer/producer Alex Freer. With a more ambitious collection of instruments, Choi says this album heralds the start of true collaboration: 'I feel more precious about this LP because it includes everyone's gems.' The broth is richer with more cooks in the kitchen, and the brewing of textures creates a distinct ' Phoebe Rings ' sound. If their S/T EP was spacey, then Aseurai settles on earth, rooted in tangible moments. 'Without getting too gloomy, it's a weird world out there. A lot has changed in the world since the EP came out,' says Kavanagh-Vincent on this transformation. The album delves into hope and longing across all possibilities, and this exploration of holding on and letting go is organically threaded throughout. They mark out a brilliant new constellation in their sky, bringing their individual compositions to the fore whilst seamlessly threading them into one celestial body all underpinned by their ongoing inspirations: Studio Ghibli films, Zelda and Stardew soundtracks, Bossa Nova, Stereolab, and 90's Korean ballads. Phoebe Rings' storytelling ranges from tongue-in-cheek musings on gentrification, to commentary on the housing crisis (' Mandarin Tree '), musicians moving on in their careers (' Fading Star '), finding small oases in everyday life (' Not A Necessity ') and tender autobiographical memories – including on the title-track and 'B lue Butterfly ' both wrapped in grief, Crystal yearns for people she can't see anymore, in this case her late grandmother who she was separated from for a large period of her life (she also thinks that's why she wrote ' Aseurai ' in her mother tongue of Korean, in a way using it to be closer to her grandmother through song and shared language), ' Get Up ' on which drummer Benjamin Locke talks of the paralysis of extended periods of struggling with mental health and leaning on the famous scene from The Matrix to try to will yourself out of it, and ' Goodnight ', a tender, loving ode to our cats and the comfort they bring us.
