Bernard Zuel

Sydney

Music Writer and Critic at Freelance

Music writer/critic; lecturer Sydney University; “cloth-eared poltroon” at SMH/Guardian/Rhythms/bernardzuel.net; media trainer; brown type. Seeking the joy.

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Articles

DANCE, PRAY, LOVE - GOD'S PLAN FOR US SAY ANNIE AND THE CALDWELLS

1 week ago | bernardzuel.net | Bernard Zuel

WELL, THIS IS A BIT WEIRD, and I don’t mean a long conversation about gospel music in 2025 with two women who laugh often and with such joy that you too might start to believe just for the pleasure.
SECOND BITE AT A FIRST TASTE OF GARY CLARK JR IN WIND BACK WEDNESDAY

1 week ago | bernardzuel.net | Bernard Zuel

He’s here again, as obviously we like him ‘round these parts – maybe you’ll be in the room with me tomorrow night at the Enmore, his last for this tour – or he just really, really likes rugby league and couldn’t make it to Vegas six weeks ago. Either way, Gary Clark Jr is no blow-in, or blues-in if you prefer. But even when he first showed up, he looked anything but an overnight sensation about to have his five minutes, as Wind Back Wednesday recollects.
SUPERSTAR OF A SHITTY YEAR: HOW MELODY POOL DREAMT HER WAY OUT OF TROUBLE

1 week ago | bernardzuel.net | Bernard Zuel

ART IMITATES LIFE/LIFE IMITATES ART is meant to be a journalistic cliché, not an actual case study. Unless you’re Melody Pool. Exactly a year ago, after a long time out of the business (see story link at the end for why), Pool returned to tell us via a new song that she was a fantasy girl. This week, after a break that was not quite as long but still surprising, she releases a new song where she explains to us that she is a dreamer.
WHAT HAVE YOU DONE FOR ME LATELY?: A PLAYLIST

1 week ago | bernardzuel.net | Bernard Zuel

This website and its content is subject to copyright - © Bernard Zuel 2021. All rights reserved. Except as permitted by the copyright law applicable to you, you may not reproduce or communicate any of the content on this website without the permission of the copyright owner.
MARLON WILLIAMS - TE WHARE TIWEKAWEKA: REVIEW

2 weeks ago | bernardzuel.net | Bernard Zuel

MARLON WILLIAMSTe Whare Tiwekaweka (Independent/Secretly Distribution)MIDWAY THROUGH LAST YEAR, in a City Recital Hall show that began in darkness and finished in lamp-light, Marlon Williams sang in English and te reo Māori, sang originals and covers (including a near-hymnal First Time Ever I Saw Your Face), and in one of the loveliest shows of the year, offered a kind of universality.
THEIR WAY AND THE HIGH (FI) WAY- WHY YOU AM I OWN WIND BACK WEDNESDAY

2 weeks ago | bernardzuel.net | Bernard Zuel

Bernard Zuel3 hours ago8 min readIn the midst of a national tour that is a double hit and double celebration of what the old music press used to call “seminal albums” – 1995’s Hi Fi Way and 1996’s Hourly, Daily – You Am I are reminding people. Reminding them what a catalogue of songs You Am I have. Reminding them how those songs so often have come in live shows that killed, no, absolutely slaughtered audiences and any foolish band trying to compete.
IT’S NEVER ENOUGH FOR ELI “PAPERBOY” REED, AND THAT’S THE GOSPEL TRUTH

2 weeks ago | bernardzuel.net | Bernard Zuel

Bernard Zuel3 hours ago7 min readIT’S NOT JUST HIS TIME that Eli “Paperboy” Reed is giving up to talk today ahead of an Australian tour that is ostensibly a celebration of his 20 years-so-far career; his kids have sacrificed bedtime with him, and they are not even getting the ego stroke of an interview. This is no small thing the reading time: the soul shouter/gospel teacher/multi-instrumentalist/producer and his wife have a child allocated each for story time at night and it’s serious.
CLOWN TIME'S NOT OVER: A PLAYLIST

2 weeks ago | bernardzuel.net | Bernard Zuel

This website and its content is subject to copyright - © Bernard Zuel 2021. All rights reserved. Except as permitted by the copyright law applicable to you, you may not reproduce or communicate any of the content on this website without the permission of the copyright owner.
GRENTPEREZ - BACKFLIPS IN A RESTAURANT: REVIEW

3 weeks ago | bernardzuel.net | Bernard Zuel

GRENTPEREZBackflips In A Restaurant (Awal)THERE ARE SOME MUSICAL DECISIONS you can look at and say, well they know their business, and business is their game. The sound is very now, the marketing on point, and the style meets every topical requirement of the people in corner offices with KPIs to hit this quarter. Give them an ARIA/Golden Guitar already. Grant Pérez, or grentperez as he styles himself in a world too busy for capitals, spelling, and space between words, is not one of them.
FAYE WEBSTER’S DICTIONARY OF MUSIC SWAYS WIND BACK WEDNESDAY

3 weeks ago | bernardzuel.net | Bernard Zuel

Atlanta’s droll purveyor of soul-ish pop/folk music, Faye Webster, has announced a return to Australia – or at least Sydney and Melbourne, which apparently is Australia enough for some – in July. Tickets are on sale today, so while you wait on the phone or online to get through for your tickets, here’s a chance to read a bit more about her. How much more?