STACK November Issue 68

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NEWS EXTRAS
MORE BRICKS IN THE WALL
BURGERS COME TO JB!
Tami Neilson enjoyed the challenge of scoring the series The Brokenwood
Mysteries – but wasn’t so keen on appearing in front of cameras.
The second series of feature-length whodunits
set in the sleepy fictional small-town of
Brokenwood is out this month on DVD and, as
with the first season of the show, homegrown
country music features prominently on the
show.
However, this time as well songs from local
favourites like Marlon Williams and Delaney
Davidson, Series 2 of The Brokenwood
Mysteries also boasts an original score by roots/
country songstress Tami Neilson, whose latest
album Don’t Be Afraid has just been released.
“That was big dive into something new,”
Neilson told STACK. “With the first series, a lot
of us are on the soundtrack. But when it got
renewed for a second series, they approached
me and said ‘we would really like you to score
the second series as well’.”
Working with her Canadian-based brother
and regular songwriting partner Jay Neilson,
she admits scoring a TV show proved to be very
different from traditional songwriting, so it was
a steep learning curve. “In a song you’re telling
a story in three minutes, whereas with scoring
you are sometimes having to tell a story or
convey an emotion in 10 seconds, and instead of
words, you have images.”
Although mainly instrumental music, Tami
and Jay also had to come up with three songs
– actually two and a bit – for use in one of the
mysteries, which involved the murder of a
country singer (played by Go Girls ’ Bronwyn
Turei). “For the final episode I had to write songs
for the character to sing,” she says. “They also
wanted the tail end of a song; that was quite
strange, to write just half of a verse!”
The character in question actually looks to
have been modeled on Neilson and she confides
that she was approached about playing the part
herself. However, the idea of ending up dead in
a bathtub didn’t appeal. “If you’re going to die,
you want to look glamorous,” she laughs. “For
my first try at acting, I was kind of thinking a
cameo, maybe the waitress who puts the coffee
on the table and walks away.”
The Brokenwood Mysteries once again stars
Neill Rea as the country music loving Det Senior
Sergeant Mike Shepherd and Fern Sutherland as
his often exasperated sidekick Det. Kristin Sims.
Guest stars this time include the likes of Robyn
Malcolm (Upper Middle Bogan), Ben Barrington
(The Almighty Johnsons) and Shane Cortese
(Nothing Trivial).
The Brokenwood Mysteries: Series 2 is due out
on November 24 Although it hasn’t quite enjoyed the same
sort of profile of other Fox animated shows
like Family Guy and The Simpsons, Bob’s
Burgers is set to pass an important TV
milestone.The sixth season of the quirky
animated series has just begun airing in
the US and will soon celebrate its 100th
episode. Featuring the voice talents of
H. Jon Benjamin (Carl in Family Guy) and
Kristen Schaal (Flight Of The Conchords ),
the show follows the adventures of Bob
Belcher, a third-generation restaurateur at
his family’s food joint Bob’s Burgers.
If you haven’t yet caught up with this
wacky animated comedy, check out Bob’s
Burgers: The Complete First Season,
available exclusively at JB Hi-Fi from
November 11.
visit
06 NOVEMBER 2015
TAMI’S TAKE ON TELLY
Tami Neilson Bronwyn Turei
Roger Waters has revisited his Pink Floyd
landmark The Wall with a brand new feature
film and album
Roger Waters’ The Wall – available this
month on CD, DVD and Blu-ray – is both a
concert film and a personal pilgrimage, with
the former Pink Floyd man reflecting on the
lives of both his grandfather and father, both
of whom died in the first and second world
wars, respectively.
The concert is taken from his epic ‘The
Wall Live’ world tour, which ran from 2010-
13 and was seen by more than 4 million
fans. The film, shot in 4K and mixed in Dolby
Atmos, features never-before-seen concert
footage and includes the hits Another Brick
in the Wall Part 2, Comfortably Numb and
Run Like Hell.
Roger Waters’ The Wall is out on DVD and
Blu-ray on November 20; the 2-CD soundtrack
album will be released on November 2.
As well as the fictional whodunits of The Brokenwood Mysteries, this month
also sees the release of a collection of TV movies telling the stories of
some of New Zealand’s most notorious crimes.
True New Zealand Crime Stories is headed up by the three tele-
features – How To Murder Your Wife, Venus & Mars and The Monster of
Mangatiti (pictured) – that screened earlier this year in Television New
Zealand’s ‘Sunday Theatre’ slot, plus two previously released TVNZ
movies based on famous murder cases, Siege and Bloodlines.
The 2-disc set features a host of familiar faces – Geraldine
Brophy, Craig Hall, Miriama Smith Joel Tobeck, Sara Wiseman
and more – and is due out on November 18.
REAL KIWI MURDER MYSTERIES