Various Artists: Christchurch: The Music

Herald rating: * * *

As Aucklanders who venture out of their hometown know, there's a lot of regionalism out there. And on record, too: collections from Waiheke, Raglan, Hamilton, Rotorua, Wellington, and dozens from some weird place called The Past.

This 45-track double CD is perhaps the most schizophrenic so far: here Anika Moa (Falling In Love Again) is up before Dinah Lee's Do The Blue Beat (1964), and Love's Ugly Children lead in to the Tommy Kahi Group with Bumble Bee Boogie (from 1963).

If there is a virtue to this haphazard and aurally hazardous collection it is the excellent booklet which briefly backgrounds the bands and the song: "We were local legends and national nobodies," says singer Al Park of Louie and the Hotsticks (1985). True.

Yes, there are some nuggets here (the Secrets' late 60s soul-pop Soothe Me), some genuine classics (Max Merritt's Slipping Away) and even a few hits (Bic Runga's Get Some Sleep, Zed's Glorafilia).

But a regional approach works best if there is something generic and identifiable in a sound. What this proves is that Christchurch has no over-arching sound or style. Maybe that's the point?

Still, it's a rare collection where the Androidss, Chants R&B, Stellar*, the Bats, Pop Mechanix, Scribe, the Gordons and Ray Columbus share the same space.Label: EMI