Bürgen's gone and supermarket wholemeal is a disaster. Gary Steel's been making his own bread for 18 years with a no-breadmaker recipe that takes 5 minutes of effort. Here it is. 🍞

Your daily bread – How to survive Bürgen buggering off and remain happily wholemeal - Witchdoctor

Bürgen exiting Aotearoa leaves us with a miserable selection of wholemeal breads to choose from. GARY STEEL has a surprising fix.

witchdoctor.co.nz

Pat Pilcher toured the Ecovacs factory in China: anechoic chambers, battery torture tests, a robot dog, and a chef that cooks 300,000 recipes. Your robo-vac works hard for the money. 🤖

Where the robots are made: Inside the Ecovacs robot factory - Witchdoctor

Ever wondered what goes on in a Chinese robot vacuum factory? Witchdoctor's suction specialist PAT PILCHER got a secret tour through the Ecovacs complex in Suzhou, and it was a real eye-opener.

witchdoctor.co.nz

She’s a sublime singer-songwriter raised in Australia but of Indian heritage. Gary Steel dips into his archive for this 2006 interview with Susheela Raman. Listen along as you read https://www.witchdoctor.co.nz/2026/worldly-wonder-susheela-raman/

Phil Parker has been imbibing the delectable drinkable produce of iconic Central Otago Rockburn winery. Wine review – Rockin’ it in Central Otago  https://www.witchdoctor.co.nz/2026/wine-review-rockin-it-in-central-otago/

Our weekly round-up of up and comings to get you out of the house

Another ultra-premium phone, another ultra-premium day, but Pat Pilcher genuinely likes Motorola’s Signature smartphone. https://www.witchdoctor.co.nz/2026/motorola-signature-smartphone-review/

From Auckland’s North Shore to Saint Petersburg, Russia, Simon Patterson has built a life in music through distance and discipline. Cameron Officer talks to the author of more than 1,500 songs. https://www.witchdoctor.co.nz/2026/music-during-wartime-simon-patterson/

Samsung's Fold8 lineup is here — bigger battery, new shape, and a clear shot across Apple's bow. Pat Pilcher has the details. https://www.witchdoctor.co.nz/2026/samsungs-new-galaxy-lineup-announced/

Andrew MacLennan (Pop Mechanix, Coconut Rough) and Eddie Rayner (Split Enz) have a new album out as The Another Life. Gary Steel got the story. Two codgers, zero regrets. 🎶 https://www.witchdoctor.co.nz/2026/the-great-witchdoctor-qa-andrew-mclennan/

Logitech's G316 X 98 mechanical keyboard: genuinely satisfying thock, hot-swappable switches, $230. Loud enough to annoy your workmates though. Pat Pilcher reviewed it. ⌨️ https://www.witchdoctor.co.nz/2026/logitech-g316-x-98-keyboard-review/

Gary Steel sifts through the mountain of NZ-available streaming TV and brings your attention to great new and old shows as well as those to avoid in best-to-worst capsule reviews. Read the best and worst of streaming 👇 https://tinyurl.com/bdepk9d4

We added dark mode because staring at a bright screen at midnight doing deep dives on turntables is a life choice, not a cry for help. Toggle at will. We don't judge.

Gary Steel pays tribute to Lee Underwood – Tim Buckley guitarist, music journalist, poet – who died last week. https://www.witchdoctor.co.nz/2026/tribute-to-lee-underwood-1938-14-july-2026/

Witchdoctor phone fiend Pat Pilcher takes a look at the just-announced Samsung Galaxy lineup. https://www.witchdoctor.co.nz/2026/samsungs-new-galaxy-lineup-announced/

A North Shore kid who fled to Siberia, wrote 1,500 songs during a pandemic, and is now making his best music yet — from Saint Petersburg. Cameron Officer interviews Simon Patterson. 🎸 https://www.witchdoctor.co.nz/2026/music-during-wartime-simon-patterson/

Pink Floyd’s The Dark Side Of The Moon – one of the most popular cassette tape releases of all time – is to be reissued in a limited edition pack with a cassette player. And we want one!! https://www.witchdoctor.co.nz/2026/exclusive-edition-of-pink-floyd-masterpiece-released-on-cassette/

Anyone who regularly reads Pat Pilcher’s reviews knows that he’d rather be quaffing a pint than sweating away while mowing his hilly Wellington lawn. Here’s his preview of three significant new @ecovacs.bsky.social  products handy in the great suburban outdoors. https://tinyurl.com/3ynbru8x

Song man Peter Kearns auditions 10 new Kiwi singles https://www.witchdoctor.co.nz/2026/tracklines-10-more-nz-singles-for-july-2026/ #NZMusic #kikorangi

Tracklines -10 more NZ singles for July 2026 - Witchdoctor

The odds are stacked against NZ music on the streaming platforms, on which overseas sounds dominate. So Witchdoctor figured it was time to give NZ music pride of place. And who better than to write the Tracklines column than words and song man PETER KEARNS, who auditions 10 new Kiwi singles.

witchdoctor.co.nz

Susheela Raman's Ghost Gamelan is her seventh album and still like nothing else. 

Worldly wonder - Susheela Raman - Witchdoctor

She's a sublime singer-songwriter raised in Australia but of Indian heritage. GARY STEEL dips into his archive for this 2006 interview with Susheela Raman; the brief original story first, with the complete transcript below.

witchdoctor.co.nz

Rockburn, Central Otago — Phil Parker tastes through the range so you know what to buy.

Wine review - Rockin' it in Central Otago - Witchdoctor

PHIL PARKER has been imbibing the delectable drinkable produce of iconic Central Otago Rockburn winery.

witchdoctor.co.nz

Honor Watch 4 Pro: gold badge. 14-day battery, stainless steel, and a crown that actually feels mechanical. NZ$549.

Honor Watch 4 Pro - Review - Witchdoctor

At last PAT PILCHER finds a smartwatch that really goes the distance with incredible battery life and looks to kill.

witchdoctor.co.nz

Georg Hólm on fans crying at Sigur Rós shows: not sympathetic. Gary Steel's 2006 interview is back and it's still brilliant. https://www.witchdoctor.co.nz/2026/sigur-ros-tears-of-ice/

Motorola's Signature is a genuine flagship comeback — great screen, solid cameras, 7-year updates. Bloatware's the only sting.

Motorola Signature Smartphone - Review - Witchdoctor

Another ultra-premium phone, another ultra-premium day, but PAT PILCHER genuinely likes Motorola's Signature smartphone.

witchdoctor.co.nz

John Cale, Wellington 1986. Gary Steel's verdict: commanding, heavyweight, and utterly merciless to the support act. https://www.witchdoctor.co.nz/2026/john-cale-wellington-october-1986-live-review/

Peter Hook. Wellington Opera House. Get Ready in full, then Joy Division & New Order. @annahmn.bsky.social  reviews some well-worn basslines

Hooked - Witchdoctor

Peter Hook & The Light — Get Ready 25th Anniversary, Wellington Opera House, 10 July 2027 From the first rib-cage wobble of ‘Crystal’ cracking open – keep it coming. There were a lot of ghosts in the Opera House on Friday. Fitting, for Matariki. A room full of people of a certain age, hold...

witchdoctor.co.nz

LG's new dehumidifier runs quietly enough for a bedroom and backs its compressor with a 10-year warranty. Pat Pilcher reviewed it.

LG 26L Smart Inverter Dehumidifier with Smart+ Mode - Review - Witchdoctor

PAT PILCHER's room had just started stinking like mouldy old dough when a fabulous LG smart dehumidifier arrived to review. Good timing, great product, so sayeth he.

witchdoctor.co.nz

McIntosh breaks a decade of silence with the MA2375 — an all-tube integrated amp, KT88s, blue meters, $34,995 NZD. https://www.witchdoctor.co.nz/2026/mcintosh-announces-its-first-new-vacuum-amp-in-over-a-decade/

In the first of his Tracklines columns, writer and songwriter PETER KEARNS auditions 10 Kiwi singles. https://www.witchdoctor.co.nz/2026/tracklines-10-nz-singles-for-june-2026/

Marvel tried to launch a pop star in 1991. It did not go well. Matt Kelly investigates. https://www.witchdoctor.co.nz/2026/worlds-worst-records-nightcat/

They cleared landmines before the gig. Gary Steel's 1990 eyewitness account of Roger Waters' The Wall in Berlin is still a cracker. https://www.witchdoctor.co.nz/2020/blast-from-the-arse-the-wall-berlin-1990/