Subscribe Sign in ‘I Didn’t Expect It to Be All Over Social Media’: High Dependency Unit Discuss Their New Zealand Tour and EP Reissue In my latest for Rolling Stone AU/NZ, I caught up with the cult Dunedin trio to reflect on their experiences in the 1990s and early 2000s, while looking forward to what comes next Share HDU — Supplied Selected Works is a weekly (usually) newsletter by the Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Aotearoa (Wellington, New Zealand) based freelance music journalist, broadcaster, copywriter and sometimes DJ Martyn Pepperell, aka Yours Truly. Most weeks, Selected Works consists of a recap of what I’ve been doing lately and some of what I’ve been listening to and reading, paired with film photographs I’ve taken + some bonuses. All of that said, sometimes, it takes completely different forms. In 1997, the cult Ōtepoti/Dunedin trio High Dependency Unit (HDU) was throwing everything they had at the dream of making it as a band. They weren’t earning a lot, but the rent was cheap, the cost of living hadn’t shot through the roof, and there was electricity rippling through the air. That year, Neil Phillips (bass, guitar), Tristan Dingemans (guitar, vocals), and Dino Karlis (drums, percussion, synth, and samples) headed into Tailgater Studios with the engineer and producer Dale Cotton, assisted by Nick Abbott, to record one of the masterpieces in their hefty catalogue, the Higher EP. Over five expansive tracks that reach into the infinite, HDU feeds sci-fi references, jittery rhythms, and richly textural guitar and synthesiser drones into an all-consuming ocean of sound. As the EP opens with “Babaya”, Dingemans sings in languidly haunted tones of “the blue matrix blue,” creating universes and “all we need in the next world.” It’s a fitting portal into the band’s explorations of noise rock, wall-melting psychedelia, and punk, all rendered with a hypnotic sensibility informed by techno, goa trance, and ambient music. In an era when guitar bands could be dismissive of dance music and DJing, HDU were more than happy to stay out until dawn at an outdoor rave. Twenty-eight years after Higher was released on CD by Flying Nun Records, it’s time for these songs to find new life. This time around, the vector for their transmission is the EP’s first-ever vinyl reissue, arriving via Waikato’s Haymaker Records, the label that issued Christoph El Truento’s beloved dub reggae album, Dubs From the Neighbourhood . On the surface, following up with ambient noise rock might seem like a leap, but when you hear Higher’s immersive depth, it all makes sense. Serendipitously, between November 20th-29th, HDU are touring Aotearoa and Te Waipounamu for the first time in close to a decade, playing shows from Ōtepoti to Tāmaki Makaurau, where they’ll be appearing at The Others Way . Halfway through the run, they’ll be playing a special double headline show in Te Whanganui-a-Tara/Wellington alongside the legendary Zamrock pioneers W.I.T.C.H. Subscribe Ahead of the tour, I caught up with Dino and Tristan by video call, from their respective homes in Berlin and Ōtepoti. Over a lively, wide-ranging conversation, they reflected on their experiences in the 1990s and early 2000s, while looking forward to what comes next. You can read the full story here . ODDS + ENDS: The lads from Sydney, D.D. Mirage, have a killer new lovers rock 10” out on the Adelaide label Isle of Jura. I wrote about it for Test Pressing here . On Saturday the 29th of November, I’ll be playing a lovers rock reggae DJ set at the Hataitai Bowling Club in support of Michael Llewellyn’s short film fundraiser. We kick off at 6pm. More details here . Share WHAT I’VE BEEN READING: CCL will change your mind: CCL operates in a mode of their own. The Berlin-based DJ, producer, and founder of the subglow label and party weaves intricate narratives and emotions into their sets, imbuing a reverence for UK sound system culture and dance music histories with a flair for psychedelic sensuality and sonic worldbuilding. In conversation with Eoin Murray for DJ Mag, they unravel their uncompromising approach to the dancefloor, and discuss their label’s new ‘sub-alchemy’ compilation, the Invisible Cities mixtape-fiction project, breaking the feedback loop of trends and accepted industry norms, and their unyielding sense of curiosity. Read here . The Mix 083: object blue: Three years in the making, object blue is about to release her debut album ‘what resembles the grave but isn’t’ on TT. She shares a mix of dark, heady beats and speaks to Mixmag’s Patrick Hinton about the gruelling process of the LP’s creation and the industry conditions it arrives in. Read here . Rewind: Daniele Baldelli — Cosmic Tapes: A crucial figure in Balearic history, the Italian DJ reimagined music for nightclubs in the ‘80s with his daredevil mixing and adventurous selections. Welcome to his Cosmic sound. Joe Roberts for Resident Advisor. Read here . WHAT I’VE BEEN LISTENING TO: A thoroughly fascinating modern folk record. The sound of vaporwave in Aotearoa, circa 2022. Lo-fi noise jazz-rap to vibe out/relax to. FIN. Source: https://selectedworks.substack.com/p/i-didnt-expect-it-to-be-all-over?utm_source=substack&utm_medium=email&utm_content=share&action=share