#joe sampson

[bandcampsnoop]

12/24/25.

As far as I'm concerned, Joe Sampson is a behemoth in the New Zealand indie music scene (Christchurch to be specific). He runs Melted Ice Cream and has been a member of Salad Boys, T54, The Dance Asthmatics, 83 Girls.

I'm not sure how I missed this cassette release of his demos (File Under: Jangle/Demo Rock), but this release reminds me of Peter Dinklage's character in "Elf" Miles Finch, who pounds his black book declaring there are a ton of great ideas in it. I imagine that Joe Sampson is pounding this cassette tape the same way - indeed there are 30 GREAT ideas here. Thanks Joe - just in time to save us from the holiday doldrums.

[bandcampsnoop]

8/5/22.

Ah, Melted Ice Cream...my favorite label from Christchurch, New Zealand. There have been so many great releases from this label run by Joe Sampson (Salad Boys).

This release is Violet French backed by The Horrible. Violet was originally from Dunedin but now lives in Christchurch (where The Horrible are also based). The music and vocals have the feel of Opposite Sex or Terror of the Deep (which I had forgotten how much I love).

But French's vocals and melodies also hint at the beauty and range of Natalie Merchant. The band is made up of members of Kool Aid, Dogfish,Wurld Series and Kane Strang.

This is one of favorite releases in a while.

[bandcampsnoop]

2/14/22.

Local Tourist's Erin Umstead traveled to New Zealand from the United States and immersed herself into the music scene. I'm amazed that she was able to work with Joe Sampson (Salad Boys) and Rory Dalley (Ben Woods Group). To me this recalls some of the work of New Zealand artist Tiny Ruins, or Palm Springs from Australia.

This is a lathe-cut release on Joe Sampson's (Christchurch, NZ) label, Oh Yea, Haha. This appears to be a clearinghouse label for many of Sampson's side projects. Excellent. Any fan of Diana Darby, Vashti Bunyan or Jana Horn take notice.

The Local Tourist full length LP will be co-released by Melted Ice Cream (NZ) and Lovers Weekend (US).

[bandcampsnoop]

10/5/19.

We’ve only posted ONE release from Melted Ice Cream (Christchurch, New Zealand....Joe Sampson T54 and Salad Boys). 

Pavlov’s Puss (great name) is a “collaboration” between Joe Sampson and Andrew ‘Ox’ O’Connell who is described in the release page as a person who “was run out of Dunedin in his uni years for inciting some sort of riot. He is a man of many talents: a poet, a ‘leisure consultant’, a downhill mountain biking legend.”

I’m not saying Ox is like Daniel Johnston - I’m sure he’s not.  But, some of this reminds me of Daniel Johnston or Jad Fair’s  collaborations with other bands.  Joe Sampson, Ira Kaplan, and others know genius/eccentrics of their collaborators, and just want to make music.

[bandcampsnoop]

3/28/24.

I don't know if there is some algorithm at work, but Bandcamp on shuffle has been increasingly playing music I bought pre-blog. While mentioned in a post about fellow Melted Ice Cream band The Winebox Inquiry, '83 Girls (Christchurch, New Zealand) have never been mentioned.

Amazing considering I love Joe Sampson's work as a musician. He's been in '83 Girls, T54, Local Tourist and Salad Boys (among others). He is the mogul behind Melted Ice Cream. And while Melted Ice Cream isn't nearly as prolific as it was in its early days, it still puts out great music.

'83 Girls sound like you'd expect a Joe Sampson band to sound like.

[msmarymillspaulos]

“What if all I want is a small, slow, simple life? What if I am happy in the space of in between? Where calm lives.”

- Krista O’Reilly-Davi-Digui, A Life in Progress

Joe Sampson

[bandcampsnoop]

9/30/18.

I know summer’s been over for 9 days or so, but I’ve always marked the end of September as the end of summer.  So, in the spirit of a end-of-summer-bash, here is Best Bets from New Zealand.  They are made up of members of Transistors, and are released by one of my favorite New Zealand labels, Melted Ice Cream (Joe Sampson of Salad Boys runs this label).

“Life Under The Big Top” (cassette) reminds me of Salad Boys. But really, most of these songs have the fist-pumping, anthemic feel of Soul Asylum (early Soul Asylum...best exemplified by “Cartoon”).

If this would have come out a few years ago, Rick, Micah and I would have been fans - listening to this at 1 a.m. before eating nachos and opening packs of baseball cards.

[bandcampsnoop]

2/6/18.

I loved everything that New Zealand’s Salad Boys have put out.  Joe Sampson also runs the excellent label Melted Ice Cream. 

Trouble in Mind (Chicago) is releasing this and appear to still have a few of the limited edition colored vinyl left.