Altmusic is an ongoing series of audio events, regularly bringing a vital injection of contemporary and avant-garde sound art from around the world to New Zealand. Altmusic gives audiences the opportunity to share space with audio artists at the very pinnacle of their field, and previous years have seen programmes of performers who tour rarely and are highly regarded around the world.
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MERZBOW
16 November 2013 - AUCKLAND - Kings Arms Tavern
17 November 2013 - WELLINGTON - Bodega
20 November 2013 - DUNEDIN - TBA
21 November 2013 - CHRISTCHURCH - Physics Room
Altmusic is 100% excited to announce that Japanese noise legend Merzbow (Masami Akita) will be touring New Zealand this November! A titan in the world of innovative/experimental music culture, Merzbow (Masami Akita) is arguably THE definitive Japanese musician of the late 20th / early 21st Century. With a torrent of speaker-blowing releases under his belt Merzbow's oeuvre is one of all-encompassing, unrelenting and uncompromising sound production. Merzbow is a singular artist... Read more
Altmusic 2013 presents Leighton Craig (AUS)
1 February 2013 - Christchurch - Physics Room
2 February 2013 - Dunedin - None Gallery (24 Stafford St)
7 February 2013 - Wellington - Robert Heald Gallery (209 Leftbank, Cuba Mall)
9 February 2013 - Auckland - Audio Foundation
Altmusic is proud to present Leighton Craig (AUS) as part of Altmusic's programme of independent & adventurous international musicians touring New Zealand in 2013. Since 1995, Brisbane resident Leighton Craig has has etched out a varied musical existence, recording and performing a unique body of solo and collaborative work. His practice ranges from solo keyboard studies, song based explorations, site specific environmental recordings, sound installations and group... Read more
Altmusic presents Heather Leigh (Scotland)
10 October 2012 - Auckland - Audio Foundation HQ
13 October 2012 - Wellington - Medusa
18 October 2012 - Dunedin - Chicks Hotel
19 October 2012 - Christchurch - Physics Room
Altmusic is proud to present Heather Leigh (SCOT) as part of Altmusic's programme of independent & adventurous international musicians touring New Zealand in 2012. Well known for her transgressive pedal steel performances both solo and alongside collaborators such as Chris Corsano (as half of Jailbreak), Richard Youngs and noise/dream merchants the Charalambides, Glasgow-based guitarist Heather Leigh's expressively rich amplified string and vocal tangles electrify audiences... Read more
Altmusic presents Pete Swanson (US)
10 August 2012 - Christchurch - Physics Room
11 August 2012 - Dunedin - Chicks Hotel
18 August 2012 - Wellington - Bodega
22 August 2012 - Auckland - Whammy Bar
Altmusic is proud to present Pete Swanson (US) as part of Altmusic's programme of exciting & innovative international musicians touring New Zealand in 2012. Pete Swanson is an electronic multi-instrumentalist based in Oregan (US). A veteran of form-destroying psych/noise punks Yellow Swans as well as collaborations with The Skaters and Grey Daturas - Swanson's solo album Man With Potential has been hailed as a masterpiece of noise-infused post-techno; wrought from... Read more
Mark McGuire
2 February 2012 - Auckland - Audio Foundation HQ
8 February 2012 - Wellington - Fred's
15 February 2012 - Dunedin - Chicks Hotel
16 February 2012 - Christchurch - The Darkroom
Altmusic is proud to present Mark McGuire (Emeralds) as part of Altmusic's programme of exciting & innovative international musicians touring New Zealand in 2012. Read more
Keith Rowe
13 November 2011 - Christchurch - Chambers@241, 241 Moorhouse Avenue
18 November 2011 - Dunedin - Dunedin Public Art Gallery
25 November 2011 - Wgton - Freds - 46 Frederick Street.
27 November 2011 - Auckland - The Classic, 321 Queen St
British guitarist Keith Rowe, a member of AMM, is one of the improvisors who has most contributed to the definition of a new vocabulary for the guitar. Read more
Eric Copeland
12 October 2011 - Auckland - Audio Foundation HQ
13 October 2011 - Wellington - Happy
14 October 2011 - Dunedin - Chicks Hotel
15 October 2011 - Christchurch - The Archive
"Copeland is a pop idiot savant let loose in the mad scientific library of a Smile-era Brian Wilson" Guardian UK Read more
C Spencer Yeh
1 October 2011 - Auckland - Audio Foundation HQ
5 October 2011 - Dunedin - None Basement
6 October 2011 - Christchurch - The Archive
7 October 2011 - Wellington - Happy
"Yeh (spews) forth nothingness like the good-boy-turned-bad from the anti-drug filmstrips that stoners now laugh at with their glazed glee." - Tiny Mix Tapes Read more
Hildur Guðnadóttir
19 August 2011 - Auckland - Kenneth Myers Centre, Shortland St
20 August 2011 - Wellington - The Adam Art Gallery
25 August 2011 - Dunedin - Dunedin Public Art gallery
27 August 2011 - Christchurch - Chambers@241 Gallery
“Her themes and melodies are simple, rarely more than a few bars, but the way she overlaps and combines them or pits them against long held tones, gives her music a tension between restless activity and quiet stasis, as well as an intuitive, almost improvised feel” - Dusted magazine Read more