It’s almost time for Auckland’s favourite street party, The Others Way 2024, returning on Saturday, November 30th.
The Others Way is set to take over the Karangahape Road precinct tomorrow, bringing with it a stellar mix of local and international talent.
There are highlights wherever you look on the bill. Hip-hop pioneers Dam Native will perform, buoyed by the recent acclaim for the reissue of their 1997 album Kaupapa Driven Rhymes.
Taite Music Prize nominee Erny Belle, who topped Rolling Stone AU/NZ‘s countdown of the Best New Zealand Albums of 2023, will also be there, as will alt-pop powerhouse Theia (read her recent Rolling Stone AU/NZ interview), psych-pop purveyors Soaked Oats, and indie rock multi-instrumentalist Ladyhawke.
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Ahead of this weekend, Rolling Stone AU/NZ looked at five up-and-coming local artists who’ll be hoping to win over new fans at the event.
Below, find out more about the overseas artists playing The Others Way 2024, from sublime indie singer-songwriters to dream-pop legends.
Tickets to The Others Way 2024 are available here. Find out more information about the festival, including the schedule, here.
A. Savage
Taking time out from being part of Parquet Courts, one of the best punk bands of their – or any – generation, Andrew Savage also performs as A. Savage, and his solo output is just as striking.
His second solo album, Several Songs About Fire, was stealthily one of the best albums of 2023, a wistful but optimistic collection of ruminative storytelling.
Aided by stripped-back instrumentation, Savage sounded completely unhurried on the album, concerned with processing the changes in his life, both big and small, through words. (“I consider myself a lyricist before a musician,” Savage once told Post-Trash.)
Parquet Courts are still very much a band, but Savage’s solo work is more than enough to sustain him and us until they’re ready to release a new record.
Dean & Britta
Galaxie 500’s flame burned briefly but ever so brightly. The trio of Dean Wareham, Damon Krukowski, and Naomi Yang released three albums in three years at the end of the ’80s (1988’s Today, 1989’s On Fire, 1990’s This Is Our Music), a trio of records that placed them at the pinnacle of the dream-pop genre.
Wareham went on to form a duo with his wife Britta Phillips, simply called Dean & Britta, but at The Others Way this weekend they’re returning to the music of Galaxie 500. Alongside drummer Roger Brogan, Dean & Britta will play Galaxie 500 classics interspersed with other cuts from Wareham’s extensive songbook.
And it couldn’t be a better time to see Galaxie 500 songs performed live: the band’s first release of new archival material in nearly 30 years, Uncollected Noise New York ’88-’90, arrived in September, hailed as “their most comprehensive collection of unreleased and rare archival material ever.”
Mildlife
If you want a mind-bending sonic experience, psychedelic jazz collective Midlife’s set at Studio is the place to be on Saturday evening.
“Hearing Mildlife for the first time provides the sort of euphoric experience that countless people chase with hallucinogens, transcendental meditation, and even religion,” we wrote about their second studio album, Automatic, in 2020.
They followed that up this year with the equally well-received Chorus, which just won Best Jazz Album at the 2024 ARIA Awards, their third category win in just four years. Expect them to celebrate their win in style at The Others Way.
Andy Shauf
Consistency isn’t all that matters in music, but the remarkable consistency of Andy Shauf is still to be greatly admired. On record after record, the Canadian artist has proven himself to be one of the most thoughtful and reliable songwriters and storytellers of his generation.
Coming to The Others Way for a special solo set inside Pitt St Church, it’s the ideal place to hear Shauf’s beautifully furnished songs up close.
Olof Dreijer
As one half of Swedish duo The Knife alongside their sibling Karin, Olof Dreijer significantly impacted the electronic music landscape in the 2000s and early 2010s. When The Knife disbanded in 2014, Dreijer kept producing at an impressive rate, including last year’s Rosa Rugosa EP, which The Guardian hailed as “a masterclass in dancefloor freedom.”
Dreiner is also a bit of a legend outside of music, passing on his expertise through teaching music to undocumented migrants in Berlin and Stockholm. Catch what’s sure to be a sweaty and scintillating set at the East St. Hall stage at the end of Saturday night.
