Various Artists

Are sounds sent on a journey they come back in echoes. This compilation is widely traveled - around half of the world and to another time. To the 1980ies when just in New Zealand the archetype of what was called Indie Pop later on was pressed on vinyl and soon defined a new way of how Indie pop has seen itself, concerning sound as well as attitude. "Flying Nun", "Xpressway", "IMD" or "Corpus Hermeticum" were the names of the labels, The Clean, The Chills or Tall Dwarfs the names of the bands. Pop songs or rather hits were born in garages and pressed on screen printed seven inches. A relevant music culture beyond a big and global music industry was thought and lived. Maybe just because it has not reached New Zealand before.
There was a promise in songs like "Not given lightly" by Chris Knox or "Pink Frost" by The Chills. And this promise was heard. In the US Pavement, Yo La Tengo and Sonic Youth referred to New Zealand's Alternative music scene directly. In Germany artists as well as label runners adapted this DIY-idea. Markus Acher, who is part of this compilation with "Lali Puna", played together with Graeme Jefferies. Suddenly, LoFi was present everywhere. And last but not least Morr Music would not have been thinkable without this DIY-idea. Even if the musical means and forms differed in the meantime New Zealand was carried in the heart. "Since a few years", says Thomas Morr, "I have begun to play Flying-Nun-records more often. The songs are simply too great, it would be a pity to leave them to a specialist's knowledge only." Now the Morr Music family has made them to their own in a fantastic way.
Morr Music has recorded its own being and becoming in conceptual compilations twice before. In 2000 "Putting the Morr back into Morrissey" defined the way of how Morr Music sees itself. Besides, it defined the aesthetics of a genre that was called Indietronic once. "Blue Skied An' Clear" - a homage to the British band Slowdive - set to music the status of individual as well as collective sound biographies within the Morr universe.
Now there is "A Tribute to the Giant Golden Book of New Zealand's Alternative Music". It is here partly because the world goes in circles, because this timeless music fits perfectly in a time in which the production conditions of pop music are radically restricted last but not least because of economic conditions. But there is no reason to complain about - this can be learned from the records of that time, too. Particularly because the laptop is heir to the four-track recorder today and at least the sounds have all the freedom possible. "Not Given Lightly" is the archaeology of an atmosphere of breaking up. The latter - consciously or unconsciously - resonates too within most of Morr Music releases. "Not Given Lightly" is an affair of the heart, not only for Thomas Morr. Almost inevitable that with Surf City a young band from New Zealand has meanwhile put its name down on the Morr Music map.