Stay obscure long enough, and people might just cry when they finally hear you play.

That was one lesson from Thursday night’s concert at Le Poisson Rouge, a benefit for the beloved if little-heard New Zealand musician Chris Knox. For three decades, with his band Tall Dwarfs and as a solo artist, Mr. Knox, 57, has been playing whimsical, fractured and heartfelt pop that owes as much to the Beatles as it does to the Fall, and doing it lo-fi. According to Trouser Press, the pre-Pitchfork bible of alt-rock, “If Iggy Pop, Joan Jett, Robyn Hitchcock and Lou Reed were all the same person, that’s how important he is to Kiwi pop.” Hmm, maybe not Joan Jett, but you get the idea.

Last June, Mr. Knox had a stroke, and indiedom mobilized in support. In December Merge Records released a tribute album with Jay Reatard, Stephin Merritt, the Chills and, in a track heard ’round the blogosphere, Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel, who in the 12 years since his band broke up has been rock’s J.D. Salinger.

Thursday’s show featured Mr. Mangum, Yo La Tengo, Kyp Malone of TV on the Radio, Claudia Gonson of Magnetic Fields, David Kilgour, the New Zealand band Dimmer and several others, and its $75 tickets sold out in 20 minutes. Counting merchandise sales, the event raised about $52,000 for Mr. Knox’s expenses, said Ben Goldberg, the show’s organizer.

The concert celebrated the idea of Mr. Knox even more than it did his music. One after another, musicians strummed rough, beginner-level guitar chords, and most sang with a level of pitch control that would have been fatal on “American Idol.” But that was the point. “If it’s a little out of tune, it’s what Chris would want,” Sharon Van Etten announced in her three-song set. Mr. Knox would have probably also approved of Ms. Van Etten’s ability to stir, from the simplest elements, raw feelings of love and defiance.

To say that Mr. Mangum stole the show would be an absurd understatement. After a couple of hours of polite listening and beer-slurping, the crowd of 750 erupted with World Cup-level roars at 8:41 p.m., when Mr. Mangum appeared stage right in a plaid short-sleeve shirt and a beret. On the Merge album, “Stroke: Songs for Chris Knox,” he played Tall Dwarfs’ “Sign the Dotted Line,” but Mr. Mangum’s 25-minute acoustic set at Le Poisson Rouge was an unabashed Neutral Milk Hotel sing-along. Playing unamplified, he did five songs: “Oh Comely,” “A Baby for Pree” (with a bit of “Where You’ll Find Me Now”), “Two-Headed Boy, Pt. 2,” “In the Aeroplane Over the Sea” and, yielding to cries for an encore, “Engine.” (Mr. Mangum’s ties with Mr. Knox are deep: his last known major concert was with Mr. Knox in New Zealand in 2001.)

Mr. Mangum’s songs unfold with dream logic, swelling from tenderness to grand, sometimes desperate emotional heights and then back again; the constant is a melody that sounds as if it was always there and will never end. The crowd was probably hoping for that: Mr. Mangum has made only a handful of public appearances over the last decade, even as Neutral Milk Hotel’s reputation has continued to grow. His fans sang and hummed along reverently; behind me a young man seemed to be weeping.

Patrons had been sternly warned not to take pictures or video at the show, but at this point that is like asking dogs not to bark; YouTube has already started to fill with shaky films of Mr. Mangum’s set. To most musicians, this response would be a very clear signal: PACK YOUR BAGS AND GO ON A REUNION TOUR — RIGHT NOW! But Mr. Mangum has never liked to do things conventionally. Will the response to this show change his mind?

Perhaps he’s e-mailing Mr. Knox for advice right now.

By Ben Sisario in the NY Times

A benefit show for Chris Knox in New York on May 6 sold out 20mins after the tickets went on sale on Tuesday, New York time. The tickets sold for US$75 each.

The show will be held at Le Poisson Rouge (The Red Fish), a nightclub in the Lower East Side of Manhattan. Performing on the bill are Kyp Malone (TV On The Radio), The Clean, Yo La Tengo, Dimmer, Portastatic, Claudia Gonson (The Magnetic Fields), John Mulaney & Sharon Van Etten. An extra special feature is a short acoustic set by Jeff Mangum of Neutral Milk Hotel fame. Although not widely known in New Zealand Mangum is a highly respected artist in the States despite rarely performing since the release of the acclaimed album ‘In The Aeroplane Over The Sea’ ten years ago.

The show has been organised by Ben Goldberg the head of Brooklyn record label Badabing Records. Ben says “Putting this whole benefit together has been so easy to do. Everyone involved cares about Chris and wants to help him so much, that they are all taking on responsibilities way beyond their calling to assist. I love his music so much, my goal in organizing this benefit is really two-fold - yes, to get him money, but also to spread the word about his particular genius.”

The tickets were sold on Kickstarter.com a new website that helps people fund creative projects.

Chris Knox & The Nothing will be performing on April the 8th at the Kings Arms supporting US band The Mountain Goats. The Nothing’s recent set at Laneways was a highlight of the music festival for many.

Chris’ recovery from the stroke he suffered on June 11 2009 continues with some improvements & occasional setbacks. The album ‘Stroke – Songs For Chris Knox’, a compilation of musicians from around the world playing Chris’ songs, went gold in NZ earlier this year and is now available in Australia and USA.

For further information contact Jackie Dennis This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it 021 762 562

Chris Knox—this is John Darnielle, out here in North Carolina, sending you all the power, any reserves of power I might have that’ll help you up the hill, but I know you can go there because I used to watch you every night, in 1995, when we were in the back of a van together,  and I’d think ‘That guy’s got some power’, so I know you have it, and I know that you will climb up ... on your two magnificent feet.
—John Darnielle, intro to the Mountain Goats’ “Brave”

There’s something genuinely wonderful about listening to Stroke: Songs for Chris Knox, and part of that is knowing that by the end of it, a hell of a lot more people are going to know who Chris Knox is.

This boldly-named Stroke lets you know right off the bat what this double-disc compilation is all about: raising money to help singer-songwriter Chris Knox with the medical expenses that have stemmed from the crippling stroke that he suffered in 2009. Having been a staple of the New Zealand rock scene for decades—first with the more polished rock sounds of Toy Love (and to some extent that group’s previous incarnation The Enemy) and later as part of the delightfully unhinged duo Tall Dwarfs (with Alec Bathgate)—Knox has been known for placing radio-ready rock melodies in the center of gritty DIY-styled recordings, with his remarkably vulnerable lyrics often belying the lo-fi surroundings that they emerged from. His mixture of the playful and the poignant resonated deeply with the ‘90s indie-rock boom in America, greatly influencing the likes of the Elephant 6 collective and the Merge Records stable, just to name a few (the fact that Stroke was released on Merge should surprise no one).

Of course, much of the pre-release buzz about this album centered around the fact that the ever-reclusive Neutral Milk Hotel mastermind Jeff Mangum had come out of hiding to record a track for the album (a simple, to-the-point cover of “Sign the Dotted Line”), which, along with contributions by everyone from Yo La Tengo to Will Oldham, made this one of the biggest underground rock events since last year’s Dark Was the Night compilation. Things took on a bit of a bittersweet tone, however, following the passing of Jay Reatard, whose cover of Toy Love’s furious “Pull Down the Shades” (the album opener) was one of the last recordings he ever made, making Stroke become a monument to more than just the songwriter at the center of it all.

Yet as easy as it would be for Stroke to rely on sheer star-power to drive its point home, the compilation producers instead give about half of the tracks to lesser-known New Zealand bands like the Checks, the Chills, and the Bats, many of whom outshine their more-famous peers to turn in some of Stroke‘s biggest highlights. Take Boh Runga, for example, the powerhouse vocalist behind NZ’s long-running pop-rock outfit Stellar*, who transforms Knox’s 1989 lo-fi ballad “Not Given Lightly” into a fully-blown “Earth Angel”-styled prom number, something that Knox’s original very much wanted to be but couldn’t quite reach. Runga’s sweet, forceful vocals give the song a new perspective without trampling the spirit of the original—the way a cover song should be done. The very unknown Peter Gutteridge, meanwhile, takes the early guitar strut of Toy Love’s “Don’t Catch Fire” and transforms it into an absolutely haunting piano ballad that battles Bill Callahan’s gorgeous re-do of “Lapse” for the album’s Best in Show title. Even with the big names attached, it’s the smaller gems that prove to have the most staying power.

That’s not to say that Yo La Tengo’s drastic acoustic reworking of “Coloured” or Will Oldham’s utterly heartbreaking rendition of “My Best Friend” aren’t worthy of inclusion here (quite the opposite, actually); it’s just that for every big-name artist that stumbles (A.C. Newman’s take on “Dunno Much About Life But I Know How to Breathe” doesn’t really add much to either the original or Newman’s own catalog for that matter), one of Knox’s own peers delivers a deceptively simple cover that manages to wisely expand upon the original to create something altogether new and exciting (like the Mutton Bird’s Don McGlashan doing a wonderful Casio-keyboard driven take on “Inside Story”, a minimalist pop moment of sheer joy). Knox fans can take solace in the fact that all of Knox’s well-known songs are covered (the Finn Family do a great take on “It’s Love”), and even some lesser-known tracks wind up getting the full cover treatment (Knox’s Tall Dwarfs songwriting partner Alec Bathgate does a very straightforward version of “Glide” that sounds as lived in as it does unbelievably sweet). Although there still remain numerous Knox originals that are dying for proper cover treatment, this is as solid an overview of Knox’s body of work as you’re likely to find anywhere.

Furthermore, for those curious about Knox’s past recordings, this album is best experienced in conjunction with Knox’s official website, wherein just about every single song off of Stroke (with a few notable exceptions) is streaming in their entirety, right next to the original Knox version, so listener’s can compare and contrast exactly what each artist decided to do with their rendition (a bold move by the label’s producers that pays off in droves).

Each of Stroke‘s two discs end with some unheard Knox recordings: the first disc with the Hamish Gilgour’s meandering/frustrating mash-up of unreleased Knox tracks called “Knoxed Out”, the second with a pair of brand-new Knox recordings: the Nothing’s noisy/surprising piece of pop art “Napping in Lapland” and a wordless (but vocal-filled) Tall Dwarfs number called “Sunday Song”, which sounds as warm and friendly as just about any song Knox has ever done (reports indicate that this is the direction he’s going to be taking his recordings in once he’s recovered). And as good as these new tracks are, they only serve to be the icing on the cake for Stroke, which is as smart, funny, and memorable a tribute album as you’re likely to find all year. Get better Chris—we can’t wait for your return ...

Review by Evan Sawdey from Pop Matters

The following article appeared on pitchfork on 23 Feb 2010.

The New Zealand punk legend and stroke survivor talks about his favorite records, with help from a friend, Shayne Carter of Straitjacket Fits.

Joshua Klein's review of Stroke from pitchfork January 29, 2010

For decades Chris Knox has loomed over New Zealand's music scene. While Knox occasionally ventured outside his native land, the charismatic/confrontational Enemy/Toy Love/Tall Dwarfs frontman and solo act spent most of his life home supporting New Zealand's productive arts scene, paving the way for such acts as the Clean, the Chills, and the Verlaines. Along the way Knox amassed more than his share of fans around the world, too, and when news spread that he suffered a stroke last summer, support and sympathy arrived in equal measure to his stature.

Still, that doesn't quite prepare you for the quantity and quality of A-list acts that appear on Merge's Stroke: Songs for Chris Knox, a 2xCD tribute to the man and his music whose proceeds will go toward his recovery (Knox, 57, currently has limited speech and mobility). (Pre-orders are currently being accepted, and the record is out now digitally.) The sheer breadth and diversity of this recorded response almost begs disbelief, considering how quickly it came together, and really shows how far Knox's influence has reached, from several of his Kiwi peers to kindred spirits. The already much missed Jay Reatard starts off the set well-paired with the Toy Love nugget "Pull Down the Shades", "recorded in the bathroom of a hotel in Denmark on a 4-track," and the just plain missing Jeff Mangum, whose cover of the Tall Dwarfs' "Sign the Dotted Line" marks a rare recorded reappearance of the Neutral Milk Hotel mastermind, whose own lo-fi inclinations lined up well with Knox's.

Incredibly, the presence of Mangum is just the tip of the iceberg. The cavalcade of high-profile support continues with Bill Callahan and Will Oldham, whose versions of "Lapse" and a stunning "My Only Friend", respectively, remind that Knox could be as moving as theatrically manic. Stephin Merritt (who enlisted Knox to close the first 6ths album) simultaneously pays homage to Knox's aesthetic while reminding us of his own home recording roots with his (allegedly circa 1983!) version of "Beauty". Yo La Tengo mellow out "Coloured" and Lambchop offer a faithfully piano-led ren dition of "What Goes Up". Elsewhere AC Newman's "Dunno Much About Life But I Know How to Breathe" channels Knox's trademark lust-for-life brio, while John Darnielle personalizes his sympathetic Mountain Goats track "Brave" with a get-well introduction. Longtime Kiwi pop aficionado (and top secret Merge Records co-founder) Mac McCaughan tackles "Nostalgia's No Excuse" as Portastatic, replete with an approximation of Knox's sneer and dollops of fuzzy distortion.

And then, of course, there's the host of New Zealand acts paying their respects to their friend and inspiration. Flying Nun peers and veterans such as the Bats, Verlaines, Hamish, and David Kilgour (of the Clean), the Chills, Peter Gutteridge (providing a hypnotically reinvented "Don't Catch Fire"), and Shayne Carter (of Straightjacket Fits) make appearances, as do relatively fresh faces like the Checks (doing Toy Love's "Rebel"), the Mint Chicks, and Pumice. Even some bona fide Antipodean stars show up, including Don McGlashan (of the Mutton Birds) and Neil Finn (who covers "It's Love" with his wife and two kids). It's a bit of a bummer that MOR singer Boh Runga gets Knox's beloved "Not Given Lightly", especially considering Pearl Jam covered it well on tour in New Zealand last November and could have provided this comp yet another ringer, but her heart is in the right place.

Special mention, of course, must go to Alec Bathgate, Knox's longtime partner in the Tall Dwarfs and the co-writer of many of these tracks, who contributes a sterling version of the solo Knox gem "Glide". There are other treats and surprises in store, too, from Jordan Luck's inspired choice of "Becoming Something Other" (about a father stricken by Parkinson's, highlighting Knox's sometimes twisted but always humanist lyrics) to SJD namesake Sean Donnelly's lovely "The Outer Skin" (a song covered by the Hope Blister way back when) to Lou Barlow's "Song of the Tall Puppy", from 2008's Chris Knox and the Nothing album A Warm Gun, a gentle reminder that the guy still makes records.

Which leads us to the best surprises of them all: new recordings from both the Nothing and Tall Dwarfs. The Nothing song in particular, "Nappin' in Lapland", offers a glimpse of Knox's novel, inspiring way around his predicament: songs with singing, but no words. Leave it to Chris Knox not to ever let a little thing like a debilitating stroke get in the way of making music.

Joshua Klein of pitchfork January 29, 2010

Since the late '70s, Chris Knox's can-do attitude has inspired a long list of musicians both here and overseas. Last weekend, in tribute to the songwriter, who suffered a stroke earlier this year, a collection of friends and fans celebrated the release of a double album. Shane Gilchrist reports. Last week was a busy one for Chris Knox.

The influential New Zealand songwriter, who suffered a debilitating stroke on June 11, attended a media conference on Tuesday, November 17, with fellow recipients of the Arts Foundation Laureate Awards, carver Lyonel Grant, musician Richard Nunns, photographer Anne Noble and writer Witi Ihimaera.

Undergoing residential rehabilitation, Knox couldn't take part in the night-time presentation ceremony, so the award was picked up on his behalf by friends Roger Shepherd, founder of Flying Nun records, and music journalist Nick Bollinger.

A couple of days later, Knox's cartoon character, Max Media, who had been "resting" since mid-June, reappeared in the Timeout entertainment section of the New Zealand Herald.

And last Friday night, Knox joined a large bunch of friends to celebrate the release of the double tribute album Stroke at Auckland venue the King's Arms.

That the 57-year-old was not content to remain among the audience, but rather got up on stage and contributed vocal phrasing to a song was typical, according to a couple of those present at the gig.

The Verlaines founder and music academic Graeme Downes: "Chris sang a song at the gig last Friday. Wordless, because words currently fail him, but musical nonetheless in the phrasing and pitching of the sounds he generated. But, above all, it was the attitude of the delivery - defiance, defiance and more defiance. Chris, to borrow from Dylan Thomas, is not about to go gently anywhere, and never has".

The Clean's David Kilgour: "At sound-check for the tribute concert, I was told Chris wanted to play a 'song' with me and Noel Ward along with the Nothing rhythm section. We made it up on the spot on the night and it's one of the most intense and wonderful moments I have ever had on stage. This man has courage and is a great living force. His days as an artist are not over yet; it's just part two".

Knox, who since the mid-'70s has fronted The Enemy, Toy Love and Tall Dwarfs as well as performing his own solo material, has been a mentor to a variety of musicians, either directly through his early recordings of Flying Nun bands, or indirectly by way of his uncompromising artistry.

Flying Nun founder Roger Shepherd recalls the first time he saw Knox, in 1978.

As a Christchurch punk rocker, Shepherd and a few friends drove his unreliable Morris 1100 for four and a-half hours to visit Dunedin for the first time.

The venue: a Beneficiaries Hall crammed with surfers, bogans, punks and "future friends".

The band they had all come to see was The Enemy.

"They were the real thing," Shepherd recalls.

"Raw and concise but sophisticated musically and fronted by Chris Knox. He looked the part, was extremely confident and oozed charisma. Significantly, he could sing rather well.

"There was no doubt that this was the best punk band in New Zealand. And that was confirmed when the band relocated to Auckland. The Enemy transmuted into Toy Love and influenced a huge number of bands that came after them. It was because of their formidable music and performances as well as their attitude and experiences ... 1980s New Zealand music was shaped by them."

But, equally, Knox was shaped by his own early experiences, Shepherd says.

"As a music, film and comic-loving only child growing up in Invercargill, he made the escape to the big city of Dunedin via university. That was soon dropped and he worked causal jobs while honing his critical skills seeing and heckling bands at the Captain Cook.

"Punk rock energised many into forming bands and Chris was one of them. It was his doorway to a life that would eventually revolve around the interests he had developed as a child.

"Writing songs and singing with The Enemy was the start of a journey that saw him travel through the major record company experience, react against it and find his own voice by recording at home and releasing personal and idiosyncratic records that would influence many around the world.

"And let's not forget how important Chris was in the emergence and development of Flying Nun Records," Shepherd says in reference to Knox's involvement in a variety of the label's recordings.

"In many ways, Chris is a shining example of the modern version of the Renaissance man. He is the archetype 'post-punk' man. He is an intelligent and gifted individual who jumped into the fray of the initial punk explosion and then developed his thinking and skills with new and diverse work.

"Primarily, he is an exemplary New Zealand songwriter and musician but has also done important work with video and film, the long-running Max Media cartoon strip, and as a critic in print, on radio and television.

"He worked only in areas that interested him. Those were defined in childhood and his experience with The Enemy allowed him to move into a creative world that eventually afforded him a lifestyle on his own terms, a lifestyle altered by his recent stroke.

"Despite this setback, I have no doubt Chris' creativity will continue to emerge and evolve."

Want further proof of Knox's standing? Read the liner notes to Stroke, which was released last week (proceeds will go towards the cost of Knox's rehabilitation).

The double album features 34 cover versions of Knox songs, recorded by musicians from New Zealand and overseas, including Knox's long-time musical companion Alec Bathgate, Neil and Liam Finn, The Verlaines, Kilgour (brother Hamish also makes a contribution), The Chills, The Bats, Shayne Carter, Don McGlashan, Boh Runga, Jordan Luck, Will Oldham and Lou Barlow.

The Otago Daily Times contacted some of those artists listed above in an attempt to celebrate, rather than eulogise, Knox; the aim being to shed some light on what it is they enjoy about Knox's songs, their thoughts on his contribution to New Zealand music and, also, the reasons for their choice of Knox cover.

Here's what they had to say . . .

Graeme Downes, of The Verlaines: "Chris became disenchanted with the music industry after his experience with Toy Love. He channelled that disenchantment into a DIY attitude that spawned the first recordings of Tall Dwarfs.

"But more importantly, and like any good revolutionary, he offered his expertise and technology - primitive though it now seems - to others that they may get a foothold on the rock and roll ladder and taste the thrill of his ideology.

"Through his efforts and enthusiasm a whole generation of musicians, myself included, were set on a pathway. The alternative universe without him doesn't bear thinking about as far as the health and diversity of the New Zealand music scene is concerned.

"Knox's Driftwood [from 2008 album A Warm Gun] seems to me to offer something of a departure in terms of its lyricism and the sheer emotional weight of its central metaphor.

"Chris has written a good many fist-shaking mortality songs in the past but Driftwood struck me as striking a new conciliatory tone.

"I had a fair amount of email chat with Chris around the time of its release, partly because I'd used another song from the album in a lecture.

"There was a bit of teasing involved, for Chris - having seen Dylan for the first time earlier in the year and been blown away by the experience - had to put up with me needling him that this song seemed to be written under the influence of his royal Bob-ness.

"His reply was, `yeah, Driftwood is totally Geldof,' - a points victory at least, after years of my Bob-olatry falling on deaf ears.

"The main thing that attracted me to cover it was how easy it was for me to inhabit it and make it my own. As other recent email traffic had been about period instrument recordings of Beethoven, I messed with the harmony a little in the style of Ludwig, whilst the quartet instrumentation is pastiche late period.

"There is no greater testament to the strength of this song than the fact that it survived the treatment I gave it. Well, I think it lent itself to the hyper-lyricism I brought to it - the reader, of course, may disagree."

Jordan Luck, of The Exponents: "I believe that if were not for Chris Knox I would not be here. In the late 1970s, I was living in Geraldine ... a guy in our band who was playing bass, Paul Scott, who went on to form Pop Mechanix, went down to Timaru with our guitarist to see The Enemy and they came back with this unique, different attitude about how our music should be played.

"The Enemy's attitude changed everything . . . anything was possible. Split Enz were obviously influential, but this was different. It was real, immediate, and visceral. You know that guitar that a mate's got at school, that he doesn't even use? I thought, 'I'm gonna pick that up'.

"As for Becoming Something Other [from the 2000 solo album Beat, and a song inspired by the mental and physical degeneration of Knox's father], the lyrics really hit home. My dad died in 2001 from Parkinson's. We were kind of happy when Dad died. My mum said his soul had left the shell a long time ago."

David Kilgour, of The Clean: "The Enemy had some great songs - Pull Down the Shades is as good as any old punk classic from the time. There's a huge list of wonderful songs Chris has written and co-written that I couldn't even begin . . .

"The Enemy and friends were a huge influence on me as a person and musician, and still are in many ways. I would not be the same person I am now and I would have not have lived the life I have lived without those guys. I mean it.

"I'd like to say that as well as being like a brother to me, Chris has always encouraged me - from the first time I stepped off a stage until just before his stroke.

"As artists struggling in a world of money, we all have our ups and downs and Chris has always been quick to try and lift my artistic spirits when seemingly down ... I love him dearly.

"When asked, I immediately requested my track be Nothing's Going To Happen, New Zealand's answer to Like A Rolling Stone perhaps. The first Tall Dwarfs EP that it came from was certainly some kind of watershed in New Zealand music.

"I will always remember The Clean staying with the Jessels (what we called the Knox/Hood whanau at the time) and Chris playing the just-recorded tracks straight off his four-track, as it hadn't been mixed yet. Of course The Clean were on our way as well but this just helped kick us up the bottom and see what great work could be done on a four-track ...

"Funnily enough, I ended up doing a semi-instrumental version of the song. I hope my version makes people go back and find the original and the follow-up 'studio' version. I've played this song with Chris and Alec a few times and The Clean used to back up Chris when he did it on a US/European tour we did back in the late '80s."

Martin Phillipps, of The Chills: "I first saw Chris Knox perform with The Enemy - twice - in 1978 and then numerous times with Toy Love and I was constantly impressed by his friendly yet confrontational performance approach and the great quality of the songs.

"By the time The Chills were up and running and then Flying Nun had come into the picture, we had become friends of a sort and I have always taken his advice seriously - if, often, with a grain of salt, as he has always had a tendency to criticise first and quietly make the same changes or mistakes himself. I would still rate him as one of the most influential male figures in my life.

"I chose to cover the song Luck Or Loveliness [from the Tall Dwarfs' 1981 debut EP Three Songs] because of its great, simple raw structure and Alec's guitar-playing and the lyrics, which were hard, cynical yet very true.

"A friend suggested to me that, 'If the Tall Dwarfs were about deconstruction then I had reconstructed that particular song'. I think that's not a bad way to look at it. I thought that there was a different, more intense power within the song which I might be able to bring out and I am, personally, very pleased with the result."

From the ODT

Nick Dwyer reviews Stroke – Songs for Chris Knox, which is a fundraising album featuring 34 musicians from around the world.

Trevor Reekie interviews Roy Martyn, Roger Shephard, Graham Reid, Shayne Carter and Don McGlashan about Chris Knox and Stroke the album.

Click to listen on Radio New Zealand.

By Ali Ikram TV3 News

Stroke, an album of songs by former Tall Dwarfs front man Chris Knox was launched tonight with a benefit gig at Auckland’s Kings Arms.

The songwriter, cartoonist and film critic suffered a life threatening stroke earlier this year, and proceeds from the sale of the CD will go to help his recovery.

The Flying Nun crowd at the Kings Arms were a bit greyer than back in the day, but none the less they came to help out one of the architects of what's become known as the Dunedin sound.

“New Zealand music owes him a debt and some gratitude,” says Graeme Hill of the The Abel Tasmans.

“Being silenced is such an awful thing to happen to someone who is so vocal.”

Knox suffered a major stroke in June, he still struggles to speak.

But those watching his recovery say he is slowly improving every week.

“Without giving him saintly type attributes, because Chris can be a pain in the arse I think we should establish that everyone's got stories of Chris being a pain in the arse, but his strength through this whole thing has been inspiring,” says Shayne Carter of Dimmer.

These days Flying Nun is owned by Warners, but founder Roger Shepherd was expecting a party atmosphere at the benefit concert for a man whose music and art was at the core of the indie label.

“It's really brought people together and it's not just the Flying Nun part of the music community, it's the whole New Zealand music industry that has rallied around Chris,” he says.

“I think it's a sign we now have a mature music business in this country.”

Neil Finn on drums was joined on stage by wife Sharon, SJD and Don McGlashan -calling themselves the ‘pyjama party’.

Stroke a double album of Knox’s songs performed by artists both here and overseas who he has inspired is in stores, proceeds will go towards his recovery.