Ring The Alarm playlist, Aug 31

Hall and Oates - I can't go for this - Daz's deep dub
Orange Juice -Rip it dub  -Dicky Trisco edit
Ian Dury & the seven seas players - Spasticus autisticus dub
Pam Todd and the Love exchange - Lets get together -Solid bond edit
Boozoo  Bajou - Take it slow feat Joe Dukie and U Brown
Lennie Hibbert  -Real hot
Matumbi - Law of the land
Foxy Brown - Sorry
Ninja man - Murder dem
Ragga twins - Love talk
Koliphones - Jungle concerto (moog)
Hackney colliery band - Inner city life
Ladi 6  - Diamonds
Roy Ayers -Baby doll
Mighty Mocambos - Physique feat Caroline Lacaze
War - Low rider
Chicago gangsters - Gangster boogie
Luther Vandross - Til my baby comes home
American gypsy - The champ - Evil smarty edit
Betty Wright - Keep feelin'
Phoenix foundation - Sideways glance - SJD remix
Opensouls - Sweet love - Adi Dick remix
Rhythm and sound feat Willi Williams - See mi yah
Rhythm and sound feat Sugar Minott - Let Jah love come
Rhythm and sound - See mi version
Black seeds - Come to me - International observer remix
Salmonella dub - Problems - Zion train remix
Steel n skin - Afro punk reggae dub

RIP Karel Van Bergen (The Features)

Confirmed by Simon Grigg (via Twitter) "Cantankerous bugger, but often warm and wise. I'll miss you heaps Karel Van Bergen. RIP". He passed away in Munich, Germany, on August 28th, 2013.

Van Bergen was a member of acclaimed Auckland 1980s post-punk band The Features, alongside Jed Town, James Pinker and Chris Orange.

back cover of Features debut single

From Audioculture's story on The Features: "Drawing from the likes of Public Image Ltd, Wire, the emerging New York no-wave movement and Town's passion for late period Beatles, The Features offered a far more experimental and jagged sound than most of their peers and were instantly popular, drawing strong crowds at Liberty Stage, XS Café, the Rock HQ and the assorted hall gigs that were increasingly regular weekend events in the city...

... In late September, 1980, Jed Town left for Sydney, thus effectively ending the band, however four songs from the Harlequin sessions were mixed by James Pinker and Simon Grigg. These were issued as the numbered limited edtion The Perfect Features Exposed 12-inch EP in December. Town returned for the release of the record but soon returned to Sydney.

Van Bergen and Pinker followed Town across the Tasman early in the new year. In Sydney, James Pinker played with SPK (Van Bergen would tour the US with them); Town would form Fetus Productions, initially with Van Bergen, Pinker and others, and later ICU.

In the UK from 1982, James Pinker was a member of Dead Can Dance and played with The Jesus And Mary Chain.

Karel Van Bergen was later in The Band Of Holy Joy in the UK (with former Proud Scum member John 'Atrocity' Jenkins), recording several albums for Rough Trade, then moving to Germany in the 2000s. He passed away in Munich on August 28th, 2013.

Despite their brief lifespan and handful of releases, The Features are repeatedly named as a primary influence by many acts that followed them, breaking down, as they did, the barriers that had been constructed by the first and second waves of New Zealand punk."

Chris Orange, Karel Van Bergen, Jed Town, James Pinker. Photo by Peter Cathro

From Amplifier: "Auckland punk band who in their brief time on the scene managed to get to number 32 on the singles chart and have their video to Secret (a twisted version of The Beatles' Do You Want to Know a Secret) banned because it featured the group throwing bodies off Grafton Bridge onto the motorway.

Their single City Scenes/Secret/Police Wheels was recorded at Mascot Studios for $1100 and sold about 1000 copies over three or four weeks. City Scenes was featured on the [1993 reissue of] 1980 punk compilation AK79."

Haiti Direct

Haiti Direct: Big Band, Mini-Jazz & Twoubadou Sounds 1960-1978
Compiled by Hugo Mendez of Sofrito. (out October 29th, Strut)

Via Strut: "Haiti Direct celebrates the overlooked musical legacy of Haiti, going beyond Ra-ra and voodoo stereotypes to trace the development of a unique sound that echoed across the Caribbean.

At the dawn of the '60s, as Jamaica twisted American R’n’B into ska and reggae, and musicians from Cuba and Puerto Rico codified the sound of Salsa, Haiti gave birth to Compas Direct, an updating of the traditional Meringue rhythm, adapted with a new swing and complex arrangements.

The driving sound and irresistible beat of Compas swiftly dominated the French-speaking Caribbean as well as taking root in the urban centres of New York, Paris, Montreal and Miami.

As the decade waned, the big band orchestras of Compas-originator Nemours Jean-Baptisteand musical rival Webert Sicot gave way to new, smaller groups like Shleu Shleu and Les Frères Déjean. Raw electric guitars, wailing sax lines and driving percussion combined as the groups blended local rhythms with rock and jazz influences, producing a raucous, punchy and densely textured sound that paved the way for the next decade.

Into the ‘70s, the Mini-jazz sound had become a major force across the Caribbean and into mainland Europe and South America. Tabou Combo filled New York’s Central Park for a Summer concert and topped the charts in France, bringing the sound of Compas to a new and wider audience. They would eventually form one of the cornerstones of the Zouk wave in the '80s.

Compiled by Hugo Mendez, co-founder of the excellent Sofrito label and sound system [Hugo was in NZ for Womad earlier this year], Haiti Direct features classic material from the early days of groups such as Tabou Comboand Les Frères Déjean as well as rarities from lesser known groups - bringing together the sound of Compas with Latin workouts, psychedelic experiments and the Cuban influenced Twoubadou singers that continued to be a key part of the fabric of Haitian musical life.

Featuring in-depth liner notes and interviews with some of the musicians and producers that shaped the sound, Haiti Direct is one of the first widely available compilations to celebrate the unique and innovative sounds of Haiti in the ‘60s and ‘70s.

Haiti Direct will be available on 2CD, 2LP and digital formats. Part of the profits will be donated to the charity Partners In Health."

Dubdotdash turns ten!

I have no idea quite how this happened, but August marks the tenth birthday of my blog. Wow.

I never really had any great ambitions for my blog - it started off as a way for me to keep my hand in doing some writing, after I ditched magazine journalism in the early 2000s. It grew into this musical scrapbook that I throw ideas at, and now it gets about 12,000 to 15,000 unique visits a month, on average.

About a third of my readers come from NZ, a third from the US, and the rest from around the globe. It's really gratifying hearing people tell me they discovered new music via my blog. 

Thanks for the support, interwebs peeps!

Here's some virtual cake. Enjoy.

Got to be real

Crate diggers: DJ Eclipse

Julien Dyne - 'December' is coming

Third album from Julien Dyne (Opensouls, Ladi6) drops late next month thru Japanese label Wonderful Noise, take a listen. Julien is touring Japan from October 11 -19.

Release dates: vinyl 30th Sep / CD 23rd.Oct

Track listing
1. Fools
2. December feat.Parks
3. Slider
4. Clearing Fog Newnew
5. Real Life feat.She's So Rad
6. Limes
7. Dirty Cristal feat.Mara TK
8. Wood and Brick
9. Tonight feat.DALZIEL
10. Spanlye (interlude)
11. Cron Melody
12. Smilings Skies
13. Kingawesome
14.Thinking Shorter

Here's a great backgrounder on Wonderful Noise and their NZ associations, by NZHerald's Alan Perrott.

Buzz buzz

Free DL... "This tune is aptly named "Buzz", its a raw vibariffic journey where 60s rock organs collide with choppy beats and double zinger bass combos!"

NZ Musician review: I Believe You Are A Star

NZ Musician's Martyn Pepperell reviewed my book in their Aug/Sept issue... thanks!

"These days Auckland musician, graphic designer, DJ and writer Peter McLennan is probably best known for the social and cultural commentary he offers up through his dubdotdash twitter handle and blog. Between 1992 and 2003 however, McLennan was a freelance journalist for a number of now defunct and still-running magazines such as Pavement, Selector, Lava, Rip It Up, North & South and yes, us here at NZ Musician.

Earlier this year, McLennan collected up close to 40 of the more crucial music articles and interviews he wrote over that time, compiling them into this slim yet illuminative volume, I Believe You Are A Star: Interviews with New Zealand musicians, DJs and artists.

Being titled after a Dimmer song of the same name, McLennan kicks things off with an awkward yet interesting discussion with Shayne Carter, conducted just prior to the release of Carter's ‘Dimmer’ album of the same name. From there he surveys the ’90s and early 2000s of New Zealand's indie rock, hip-hop, soul, electronica and dub reggae scenes, more often than not catching now prominent names on the cusp of rises which, viewed retrospectively, often have a certain inevitability about them.

Amongst other gems, we hear from P-Money during his first interview in which his father actually felt like he was reading about his son; the sadly departed Darcy Clay dreams of travelling to Africa; and the heavily tattooed (and then dreadlocked) Tiki Taane recounts the day he wandered around Dubai in shorts and a t-shirt.

McLennan is a thoughtful listener and observer, and a writer who misses little. With I Believe You Are A Star he gives us the opportunity to reflect. A segment of our musical underground invaded the mainstream, and McLennan was there, documenting some of the pivotal shifts, when and as they happened."

You can buy the book at Conch Records, Real Groovy (Akl), Slowboat Records, RPM Music (Wgtn) and online from Amazon.com, and also on Kindle here.

Back2Basics, 2001

Found this while sorting some magazines, the Pioneer issue of Back2Basics, Aotearoa's own hiphop mag. They gave it a formal launch at the 2001 Hiphop Summit, from memory. 

Chief Editor Sen Thong, aka Khymer, Editorial Manager/News and Reviews Editor Brett Wagner aka Omega B, Diggin' Editor DJ Sir-Vere, Soul Searching Editor Ayesha Kee, published by Corners Covered Charitable Trust. 

The magazine was relaunched in 2004, and in 2005 Satellite Media revived it with DJ Sir-Vere as Editor. They later folded it into Rip It Up in mid 2009.

Rough Opinion, from Back2Basics magazine Pioneer issue, Sept 2001

UCD, from Back2Basics magazine Pioneer issue, Sept 2001

Pioneers page, from Back2Basics magazine Pioneer issue, Sept 2001

Back2Basics, 2005 relaunch

Spark it up: 94 NZ hiphop

Here comes 26 minutes of rare footage from Big Day Out 1994, courtesy of Deepgrooves. Live snippets of Urban Disturbance (feat Zane Lowe) dropping No Flint No Flame, my man Bobbylon joins 3 The Hard Way for Hiphop Holiday (at 11.21) and there's "Damn Native, Joint Force [doing Nightmare Man] and the Pacifikan Descendants amongst others. We also see an array of who's who in the local Hip Hop scene backstage along with other familiar faces, Mr. Chris Sinclair, Mr. Nathan Haines to name a couple."

Follow the link for an interesting commentary on local hiphop in the 90s and the label's take on the Hiphop Holiday controversy ...

Screengrab: Bobbylon with 3 The Hard Way, at Big Day Out 1994.

Sousamaphone

Been enjoying sent this tasty, brassy album from Manchester's Riot Jazz Brass Band, take a listen here... out now on on First Word Records (Tall Black Guy, Ariya Astrobeat, Yosi Horikawa)..

"Following on from their storming debut single in May, Riot Jazz Brass Band are back with a full-length album of horn-fuelled dancefloor heaters. The group have been making waves for 5 years now, blowing away audiences across Europe with their infectious live shows. Based around the creative nucleus of Nick Walters (Trumpet) and Steve Pycroft (Drums) they take their influences from the likes of Hot 8 Brass Band and Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, adding an unmistakably Mancunian twist."

www.riotjazz.com
www.facebook.com/riotjazzrepublic

Sensitive To A Simile

More outstanding, angular, electro bleepiness from Wellywood. Check this.

Jet Jaguar says " Fourth of six EPs I'm releasing this year. These tracks were written between 2011 and 2013. Any payment you make will go straight into the "bad jokes jar" to atone for the track titles. Apologies to Crowded House, Split Enz, Herbs and When The Cat's Away (and Blue Mink!) ..."

LeaLea + Horace Andy > DJ Vadim remix, free!

Just a touch

Ring The Alarm playlist, Aug 24

Horace Andy - Jah provides
King Tubby - Tubby get smart
Jackie Mittoo - Juice box
Unknown - Make it funky - DJ Avatar edit
Inner circle - TSOP
Fatback band - Do the Spanish hustle - Danny Kirivit edit
Latinaoteaora - Fuego en mi corazon
Ananda Shankar - Dancing drums
Darondo - Didn't I
Naomi Shelton and the gospel queens - Trouble in my way
Sharon Jones & the Dapkings - Stranded in your love - Cool calm Pete remix
Gary Byrd - The crown
The Clash - Magnificent dance
Robert Glasper experiment - Twice - Questlove's twice baked remix feat Solange
Future wildstyle - Garden remix
James Brown - Funky drummer - Muro mix
Wilson Pickett - Get me back on time, engine no 9
Tony Alvon and the Belairs -Sexy coffee pot
Baby Huey and the baby sitters - Hard times
Jack McDuff - Hunk o funk
Nate Dogg - Get up - Upstate reggae mix
Digidub - Conquering lion - Moody boyz remix
Rebel MC - Wickedest sound - Don gorgon mix
Zed Bias - Jigga up (ring the alarm)
Quantic and Alice Russell - I'd cry
Connie Price and the Keystones - Sucker punch
Joy Denalane feat Lupe Fiasco - Change

MC OJ and his boots

Photo: Audioculture/Murray Cammick

There's a great piece freshly posted up on Audioculture this week by Gareth Shute, documenting the rise of a couple of AK honky rap boys, MCOJ and Rhythm Slave, loads of awesome photos too. My old band Hallelujah Picassos played with them a bunch of times, they were/are great guys. We even played the Auckland Town Hall with them, on a weird ass bill headlined by Push Push. And I remember we did a support slot alongside Joint Force (OJ, Slave, DLT) for Supergroove, in a basketball stadium in Mt Maunganui. That was a funny gig.

OJ (from Audioculture): "Back then, people always said – you’re just two white middle-class honkies, you can’t rap, it won’t work. We were like – just watch. And that’s how we gained our place in the history of local rap music. There’s some fucking gems in our hip-hop careers, but we never expected that we’d blow up and be huge. We just wanted to have a lot of fun and we definitely succeeded in that respect.”

The post on Audioculture mentions a song we did, called MCOJ and his Boots. I dug it out and uploaded it to Youtube...





LISTEN: Hallelujah Picassos - MCOJ and his boots / Picasso core, both off the 1993 album Drinking With Judas. OJ and Slave did a song called Dr Martens, about OJ's boots, and we did one too. Listen and you will hear OJ's disgust with our song. Sorry, OJ. On the end, OJ and Slave do a lively acapella of Picasso core. Warning - some swears.

Joint Force (OJ, DLT, Slave). Photo: Greg Riwai

Psychedelic Reggae

Go grab this! From DJ Avatar, who says "edit of an obscure Jamaican 45 I know not the name of...if you know it, let me know so I can give proper credit." Hat tip to Stinky Jim for the link

Time flies

New one from London producer Catching Flies, collab with Ifan Dafydd.

Kiwi recording flashback

Frank Douglas, 1965

The Golden Years of HMV: An interview with Frank Douglas

By Nick Bollinger, originally published in Music in New Zealand, Autumn 1992; editor - William Dart. [Posted here with kind permission of the author.]

Looking back the 'sixties seem like a golden age in New Zealand recording. There were a number of local record labels releasing a steady stream of singles, plus the occasional album. These received generous radio and television exposure, sold in impressive numbers and had a high profile on the pop charts. During this period there were very few recording studios operating in the country and the majority of homegrown hits came out of the HMV Studios in Wellington. (The studio and its associated record label had been owned by the English EMI company since 1964. In the early 'seventies both changed their name to EMI).

Frank Douglas worked at the studio as a recording engineer from its inception to the day it closed in 1987. In conversation Douglas always stresses the team spirit that made the studio tick. But his former colleagues are quick to credit him with a vital role in its success. As one of them said: 'Frank was HMV'. Frank Douglas is now a freelance engineer based in Wellington. The following conversation with Nick Bollinger was conducted at Douglas 's home in December 1991.

Nick Bollinger: How did you become a recording engineer?

Frank Douglas: I started off as a radio serviceman apprentice and served my five year apprenticeship and came out registered. I spent one year servicing at Columbus Radio Centre in Wellington, and Columbus had a studio called Tanza which they needed an engineer for. I was offered the position and transferred there.

I more or less learned my craft from a fellow named Terry Patterson, who was the manager at that stage. We had a record label (Tanza Records) that had been going since the late 'forties. It was all 78s in those days. There wasn't much local recording going on in Wellington at that stage. 80 per cent of our work was radio commercials, which were directly cut on to acetate discs which the radio stations used to play.

N.B: In those days what did recording engineering involve?

F.D: It was simple. It was all valve. Basically all you had was a microphone channel .We had 8, and you connected 8 microphones to these. You had bass and treble controls and you had to mix each channel while you recorded. You either had to get it right the first time or do it again, so it was pretty hard really, compared to nowadays. You just recorded everything at once and hoped to heaven it turned out right. You had to trust your ears.

There were usually one or two people who had a say in the balance, but once we got the balance right we just went and recorded straight through. If there was a mistake then we had to go over it again; sometimes you did the same thing maybe 50 times.

N.B.:Was this on to magnetic tape?

F.D.: It was magnetic tape in 59; before that you would do it straight on to disc.

Maria Dallas listens to the playback of ‘Tumblin Down’, 1966

N B : How did you come to work for EMl?

F.D.: I left Tanza in 1960 and Terry Patterson and I started another studio, called Lotus Studios , which was owned by Tasman Vaccine Laboratories. Lotus lasted two years then Fred Green bought the studios off TVL, and in 1964 EMI bought the studios off Fred Green. EMI originated in Britain but had branches throughout the world - there were probably up to 50 or 60 EMI outlets worldwide.

N.B: What spurred them to take over a studio in Wellington?

F.D: Basically to see if there was a profit in local productions, which there was.

N.B: Did you find you needed to develop new techniques to record the pop groups and singers?

F D: I used to do a lot of disc cutting as well so of course you would hear everything that came from overseas. You'd hear certain things and think, 'Now how have they done that?' and try to work it out and maybe try and use it on a session, see how it worked.

We developed our own little techniques of echo and repeated echo and those things that were popular back then. In the early days we didn't have what was called an echo plate which was probably worth about seven or eight thousand dollars, which in those days was a hell of a lot of money. So we made our own, which probably cost us about $100 and worked very well.

N.B: Who designed and built it?

F.D: There was a chap named Brian McIllwaine who worked with me in those days, and he and I built it together. It consisted of a huge steel pipe bent around a frame, and a sheet of steel anchored to it, with a loudspeaker driving this sheet of steel with a crystal pickup on top to pick up vibrations - and it really worked well. We used it one lot of stuff. The early Maria Dallas recordings. From early '64 to probably '68, it was used.

N.B: Once EMI entered the picture did the nature of your work change much?

F.D: Yes, with Lotus we were basically doing radio commercials and radio programme production. When EMI bought into it there was a chap called Alec Mowat who was more or less in charge of local repertoire. He was really keen on local artists and basically if anyone came in who he thought might have a reasonable chance, we went ahead and did an audition tape. If it turned out right we went ahead and made a recording. Usually it was a 7 inch single, double-sided, and if the single took off we did an LP.

N.B: And EMI provided the budget?

F.D: Yes, EMI had a budget for these things. 'Local productions' they called it. We were probably doing 80 per cent of the local production at that stage. They all recorded at EMI, but not necessarily for EMI's HMV label. John Hore recorded for Joe Brown Records, Maria Dallas and Dinah Lee for Viking. There were all these different labels.

We also started doing work for television when it started. Pete Sinclair did a programme once a week (Let's Go) and we used to record all the backings three days before it was due to air. They would go out live, with the backings performed. We used to record 8 or 10 backings a week but that was only a day to a day-and-a-half's work.

Frank Douglas and EMI's cutting lathe

N B : When did the studio progress from the mono recorder with the eight channel desk?

F.D.: In about 1966 we got the first Ampex stereo machine. When we went to stereo we had to build a new mixer for a start. We actually had two stereo machines come to think of it. We used to dub from one machine to the other and each time we dubbed we would add an extra section in, either a vocal or an instrument or whatever. Some of the early recordings had six or eight dubs on them, from tape to tape to tape to tape to tape.

N.B.: Didn't you lose a lot of quality in that process?

F.D.: Surprisingly enough I don't think we did, listening to those old recordings now. The evidence is still around, what we achieved with it. All those early ones like the Maria Dallas/Dinah Lee material, all of that was dub to dub to dub. There's an album we did with the Chicks too, I think. All of that early stuff was usually four or five dubs before we got a master.

NB: Did you go to any lengths to try and get separation within the instruments, as they do these days?

F.D. Yes, we used to screen things off. But we didn't worry too much abut it. There wasn't really much point in it: all it did was clean the sound up slightly. But what we used to aim for was an overall sound - not individual sounds - a pleasant group backing sound.

We'd try and balance the thing within itself in the studio half the time. You'd stand in front of the instrument or amplifier and listen, and if it sounded all right you place microphones in front and it usually came out much the same in the control room.

N.B: Were you far behind the overseas studios in terms of technology?

F.D: Probably, at that stage, five or six years really. But it's amazing when you talked to people from overseas you'd find that really you're not behind. They would do things the same way.

We used to get various people coming over from Britain to discuss recording sessions and how they did it, and you would pick up an awful lot of knowledge that way. They'd just drop the odd little hint about something and you'd try it. There were no books on the subject, hardly any information at all. It was just a matter of perseverance half the time. There was the enthusiasm in those days and it just all happened..

N.B: Were you working alone at this point?

F.D: Peter Hitchcock did a number of artists also. In those days we shared the recording of local artists. We worked together occasionally. We had to have two engineers on the job to get certain effects. We worked very closely together and we learned by doing - that's inevitable. Peter was a brilliant engineer and was very good at building up equipment. Anything new that came out we'd try and copy it and install it in the studios - some new gimmick to help with production, odd bits and pieces the company wouldn't allow us to spend money on.

N.B.:What sort of things?

F.D.: There were all sorts of equalizers built into the desk which weren't on the market in those days. The main aim was to produce certain effects on voices and instruments.

NB: An effect that seemed to be used on a lot of HMV/EMI recordings around 67-68 is that swishing sound known as 'phasing'. I think of Simple Image's 'Spinning Spinning Spinning” and Shane's 'St Paul'. How was that achieved?

FD: This is when you have to have two engineers. You had two tape recorders and we used to vary the speed of one very slowly to put it slightly out of phase with the other one, which gave you that swishing effect. And you had to have someone slowing down the other recorder to make it happen. To get it to happen in the right place was very hit and miss.

N.B.: How long did 'Spinning Spinning spinning' take to perfect?

FD.: Well we spent one afternoon - it could have been up to five hours. Peter was on the desk and I was on the tape recorder trying to slow it down in the right place to make it go out of phase. Anyway, we got it in the finish after many attempts, many attempts.

N.B: On a number of HMV/EMI recordings from that period, such as Allison Durbin's "I Have Loved Me a Man' and some of the Avengers' tracks, there seems to be a harpsichord. Did you have one in the studio?

F.D: No it was a piano, We'd slow the tape down and record the piano normally, then speed it up to normal and of course the pitch went up and it sounds a bit like a harpsichord. It was just a gimmick; we used it a lot on different things. With half-speed recording when you speed it up the pitch goes up double so it's still in tune.

N.B: How long did it take to make a single in those days? "I Have loved Me a Man' for instance?

F.D: About four or five hours work, that's all. The Blerta single, 'Dance Around the World' was one evening, maybe four or five hours too. And they were top sellers. It was just something that happened in the studio: you could tell immediately. You had a feeling it was going to be a great hit and it usually was. It was the atmosphere during the actual creation of the things.

Mark Williams at the Neve mixing desk (now at York St Studio), note cigarette!

N.B: Until the late sixties, production credits were rarely given on records. Who actually produced records up to this time?

FD: Well, quite often someone from the record company, usually a salesman or somebody, would come down with the group, but it was generally left up to the engineer. This went on for quite a few years, until EMI started taking on producers. Howard Gable was one of the first - he produced 'I Have Loved Me a Man'.

After Howard left two years later, Peter Dawkins arrived and Alan Galbraith came in on the scene later. They had their own style and a certain sound they wanted. So the whole thing sort of went away from the engineer being a producer to having a producer there telling the engineer what he wanted.

There's a certain producer I won't name who used to arrive at the studio, we'd get things going he'd take a few puffs of something, disappear under the desk and go to sleep. He'd wake up when we'd finished and say, 'How was it?' We'd play it to him, he'd say 'That's all right', take a few more puffs and go out again. There were a few interesting things like that that happened, but of course the engineers in those days were all innocent - we didn't realise what was going on around us half the time.

N.B.: There are credits given for various different roles on recordings later in the 'sixties, such as A&R manager, musical director, arranger, producer etc...

F.D: A&R was artists and repertoire manager, and he was the person who selected the material to be recorded. It was generally a cover version, as there wasn't much original material done in those days. In fact, I think some of the record companies used to hold back releases from overseas and get the local artists to record them. After the local artist had done it they released the overseas one. And half the time they didn't release the original version - to promote sales of local artists.

The musical director was the person who arranged for the musicians to collect at the studio to perform; he often conducted as well. There were several - Don Richardson, Garth Young, Brian Hands. Probably Brian Hands and Don Richardson had the most to do with the arrangements on later LPs.

N.B.: In the late seventies EMI shifted their studios to Lower Hutt. How did this change things?

FD: It was a drastic change really. It did a lot of damage to the studios. We had beautiful new studios out there but lost 80 per cent of our clients in the shift. The management of EMI in England said it would make no difference. We had fought against it, tried to get studios built in the Wellington area.

EMI at that stage owned the land in the Hutt where the studio was to be built and they weren't prepared to buy another property and build in Wellington. EMI at the Hutt became basically a manufacturing unit. We did cassette mastering, disc cutting and the odd recording.

N.B: Was it a superior studio to the old Wakefield Street one?

F.D: It's very hard to say. Some studios give a certain sound. I thought it was superior, but I don't know. The Wakefield Street studio was just a box-shaped room with a very high ceiling. We had curtains all around the walls, pinex and stuff, probably 25 metres by 50. So it wasn't big at all, but it had a certain sound. I think a lot of the recordings we did at that old EMI studio turned out fairly well, sound-wise.

The Hutt studio was very large - too large I felt for some of the things we did out there. It was all right for orchestral things, with say 20 or 30 players, but for smaller groups it was too big, with too much space between everything. You had to separate everyone to isolate instruments and it led to a feeling of estrangement between players, I think. Whereas at the old studio they were all crammed in together and they had that feeling of being one.

N.B.: It seems as though there were few rules in the early days of recording, whereas today there's more of a set method.

FD: Yes, well I think there is now and this is possibly why a lot of today's recordings sound very similar. There's no personal preferences that go into it now. It's all set out and you do it that way.

At EMI we had all had a go at everything. We tried to give ourselves an interest in everything. If one person wasn't there to do something, someone else could do it. We were all fairly versatile so we could swap over and do each other's job if we had to. It made life fairly easy really, because you could always rely on someone helping you out.

[The B&W photos are by Frank Douglas. Colour photos EMI. Sourced from Chris Bourke's blog]

ADDED 20 Sept 2013: Chris Parkinson commented on this interview after it was posted on the 'NZ music scene, bands and niteclubs' Facebook page, writing "Frank Douglas has his dates wrong in that interview. I worked at HMV Studios starting late 1962. I was there in March 1963 when my son was born and left in late 1963 or early 1964.

"So Lotus became HMV before I started - probably late 1961. Frank is also mistaken over the construction of the echo plate too. I mostly built it with Frank assisting. His description is correct however. Brian McIlwain was involved mostly in record [disk] production working in both studio and pressing plant.

"Other personnel who worked there at the time I was there were Roy Singleton, who did all the mastering on the Neumann disk cutter [the one Frank is shown at looking into the microscope] and Brian Pitts an excellent engineer who had returned from London after working at Landsdown Studios. Brian is retired now and living in Tauranga ... We worked together later at TVNZ when he took over on-air promotions when John McCready appointed him."

Land of plenty?

Local blogger Amar Trivedi writes about the new Audi ad... "What is a good TV commercial? End of the day, it's great audio-visual content that makes it memorable. Just what the new Audi New Zealand commercial "Land of Plenty. Land of Quattro" - Audi's first ever NZ made television commercial - has in heaps.

"The best TV ad I've seen in a while, it features an awesome audio track by Kiwi singer songwriter,Greg Johnson. The song was composed especially for the Audi ad. It could (and should) be used for NZ Tourism. Hear! Hear! Tourism New Zealand, this song is a floor-filler, ear-puller."  More about the making of the commercial on AdMedia.

Now, go and have a listen to the song Land Of Plenty by OMC (below) and see if you notice any similarities. Perhaps the "audio visual content that makes it memorable" works because it sounds like something you may already know? Will be interesting to see how this plays out. Maybe it's just a coincidence?

The BNZ used OMC's Land of plenty for an ad back in 2001, watch it here.

I am told that it's not uncommon for ad producers and directors to use an existing song when editing a commercial as a 'temp [temporary] track', and then once the client approves it, commission a soundalike version that has stylistic similarities without being an exact copy. That appears to be what may have happened with this Audi ad, though that is speculation.

ADDED I have it on good authority that the agency who made the Audi ad tried to licence the original but decided it was too expensive.


UPDATED Sept 15, 2013: Today's Sundar Star Times reports further on this...

Upset widow hears How Bizarre track in car ad [note: the song title is incorrect in both the online and print versions of this story, unless you read as suggesting that technically, it's off the How Bizarre album]

"... The issue came to light when Pauly and Kirstine Fuemana's children saw the advert on TV.

"The thing that upset me the most is that the kids were watching TV and saw the ad and they yelled out, ‘hey Mum, they're playing Dad's song'," she said. "I rang Pauly's publishing company because they usually run these kinds of things by me and asked them what was going on. They told me it might sound like it but it wasn't Pauly's song."

She was left to raise the couple's six children when Fuemana died in 2010. 

Land of Plenty's co-author Alan Jansson said he "felt sick" when he heard the commercial. "It was hideous because it just sounds so much like Land of Plenty. I've produced commercials so I understand how songs can be played around with in the studio and tweaked but it just sucks."

... Lawyers for Kirstine Fuemana and Universal Music have written to Audi, pointing out what they claim are "noticeable similarities" between the soundtrack for its "Land of Plenty. Land of Quattro" advert and OMC's 1996 hit single Land of Plenty. The song featured on OMC's multi-platinum chart-topping album How Bizarre.

The letter claims the advert's soundtrack could amount to "passing off and/or misleading and deceptive conduct under the Fair Trading Act, not to mention copyright infringement". It asks Audi to make a "sensible offer" to avoid further legal action.

... The lawyers' letter for Fuemana and Universal Music says the melody and shape of the lyrics are similar, the vocal delivery resembles Fuemana's, and the concept and lyrical themes are the same, with images in the commercial similar to the OMC video of the song. The commercial aired until mid-August.

Audi has indicated it is comfortable with its position. A spokesperson said it was considering the letter and would respond.... As a comparison, Tasti paid a six-figure sum to use Fuemana's How Bizarre as the basis of a new ad campaign for its snack bars, currently screening.

SST's Mike Alexander notes that "Audi has previously been taken to task over music use in commercials. American singer-songwriter Tom Waits won a landmark case against the car company in Spain in 2006. The Appeal Court in Barcelona ruled in favour of Waits after he accused the company of wrongfully misappropriating his vocal styles in a sound-alike TV commercial."

Updated Sept 22 2013: The Sunday Star Times reports that  TV advert song 'not a copy' - Audi

"... Audi denies the claim, saying its song was an original created for the commercial. It said while its advertising agency bcg2 had made early inquiries about licensing the chorus of Land of Plenty, the song proved too costly and not original enough as it had been used in another commercial.

"Advertising often looks to popular culture for its references, as does pop music and OMC's Land of Plenty is great, so we briefly considered it," said bcg2 chief executive James Blackwood.

"But Audi is a prestigious and innovative brand so we chose to create something new and unique."

Audi New Zealand said it took pride in its reputation for professionalism and integrity, and accordingly denied all claims that its song was not original. It said to prove its case, it had asked the head of the department of music at Otago University, Dr Graeme Downes, to analyse the two songs.

Downes said in his opinion there was no basis for plagiarism. "There is no coincidence of harmonic patterning, nor melodic patterning," a statement read. "Any similarity is based on a schema of recited/sung as a structural device that no-one can own. Tempo, grain of voice and instrumentation reinforce the differences to the extent this report has hardly had need to discuss them."

The song's author, Kiwi singer-songwriter Greg Johnson, also denied claims he copied Fuemana.

"To say I sound like Pauli (sic) is really ridiculous," he said. "I couldn't if I tried. No one could. To suggest I'm trying to pass myself off as OMC is blatantly untrue.

"I was pleased to be asked to write a tune for Audi as an expat Kiwi, celebrating the beauty of place, old friends and missing home.

"This is how I make a living, writing original songs. The song I wrote, Love to Live, is completely original. In short, all the lyrics, melody, chords, tempo and instrumentation are totally and utterly different."

RIP Diamond Lil (Marcus Craig)

Via Newstalk ZB, also confirmed in today's Sunday Star Times by David Hartnell... "It's been revealed that Auckland cabaret and variety artist Marcus Craig, who worked on stage and television as drag queen Diamond Lil, died in Australia last Saturday.

His passing at the age of 73 has been confirmed by long-time friend Kevin Hodges, appointed by the coroner in Queensland to act for Mr Craig in the absence of any known next of kin.

The outrageously camp befeathered and bejewelled Diamond Lil was a fixture at the Ace of Clubs in Auckland during the 1970s and 80s.

In recent years he suffered from poor health and passed away from a heart complication caused by his diabetes. Mr Hodges says Mr Craig was increasingly immobile recently.

Marcus Craig had been a featured player in the New Zealand TV series The Spotlight, and was in other programmes as well."

The liner notes below are from my copy of Diamond Lil's 1976 album Listen! Listen!, written by Ace of Clubs owner Phil Warren....

Prime Minister Rob Muldoon and his wife Thea, with Diamond Lil

Top pic, Diamond Lil performing with Fred Dagg (John Clarke)

LP front and back covers. Released on Ace Records, cat no LIL 001

Added 26 August, published originally on GayNZ.com, dated 24 August.

[GayNZ Editor's note: The following brief sketch of Marcus' life was provided through associates in Queensland It appears that when he died he was out of contact with any New Zealand relations and the person attending to his estate is eager to contact any NZ kin or friends. In the first instance email, in confidence: news@gaynz.com.]

Marcus Craig was born as David Lennard, in Adelaide, Australia, in 1940. The son of an Aussie railwayman and an English actress mother, he was brought up in the South Australian village of Naracoorte. His father served in the South Pacific with the AIF during WW2 and returned unscathed, only to die in a railway accident a year later. His mother toured with the Carl Rosa Opera Company in Brisbane and his maternal grandmother was a pianist for silent movies and his grandfather once sang with Dame Clara Butt.

As a child David learned piano, sang as a boy soprano and acted in school dramas. As a teenager, working in an Adelaide music store, he decided to become an actor.

“A girlfriend persuaded me top take the part of a wedding guest in an amateur show. I went reluctantly but on the night of the first dress rehearsal I went out in front of the lights and it hit me – pow!”

With the Adelaide based Flinders Revue Company he played Tony in The Boy Friend, Timothy in Salad Days and Conrad Birdie in Bye Bye Birdie as well as revue. He played for several years in Adelaide’s own Old King’s Music Hall.

He appeared in three Skippy television programs, played a barman in the Mick Jagger movie, Ned Kelly, worked on various television series and was an out of breath athlete in the Ryan O’Neal film, The Games.

Here’s a quote from critic Bute Hewes on the occasion of the opening of William Forbes-Hamilton’s Victorian Music Hall at the Star Hotel in November 1971.

“Then of course there was Mr Marcus Craig, queening it over everybody and upstaging his fellow artists atrociously. As an unloved pantomime fairy, fat and fourtyish, he brought the house down. As a dainty diminutive red-coated soldier, he was straight out of the military camp. Mr Marcus Craig could take his performance to any Victorian music hall anywhere in the world.”

By November the show had moved to Auckland’s Inter-Continental Hotel and run up 500 performances.

By 1974 Marcus had withdrawn from the Music Hall and joined Edye Parker’s Troupe at Oliver’s Restaurant in a floor show based on the film Cabaret.

He moved to New Zealand by accident in 1974, stopping on his way to London for a few weeks and ending up working with the Mercury, Central and Independent theaters.

His most memorable theatrical experience was an Auckland opening night playing the part of Shakespeare in Bernard Shaw’s “Dark Lady of the Sonnets.”

“Right at the opening the buckle in my trousers went and I had to go through the performance clutching at my waist to keep my trousers up.”

In 1975 he developed his Diamond Lil character and was performing at Phil Warren’s Ace of Clubs nightspot at the back of the Civic Theatre.

"I don’t play the character of Diamond Lil as a woman, I play it as a male, dressed up as a woman, sending the character up. I don’t treat it for real. That is different from a female impersonator endeavoring to appear like a woman. I even use my hairy chest as part of my send up. When one writer described me as a‘drag queen of Music Hall’, I was furious. In the ‘Diamond Lil’ show I play one brief male role (The Pink Shadow) and assume the femme comedy characterisation for the rest of the show.”

At one time Marcus was considered as a replacement for John Clarke when Clarke left TV2 to move to Australia. In 1976 he recorded a live LP, Diamond Lil live at the Ace of Clubs. His live recording of Gumboots with John Clarke made the NZ Top Twenty.

Marcus received a VAC Scroll of Honour in 1978 and in 1981 won the Benny and the Shure Golden Microphone. He served on the VAC committee in 1978, 1981-83 and was President in 1991.

He suffered ill-health in recent times. His blood circulation to his legs was operated on in 2011. He was currently living in Brisbane at the time of his death. His health over the last four or five years was in steep decline with diabetes as the root cause of most of it.

Ring The Alarm playlist, Aug 17

Manzel - Midnight theme - Dopebrother 7" remix
Paul McCartney - Check my machine
Talking heads - Psycho killer - Greg Wilson edit (free DL)
Mandrill - Feeling good - Theo Parrish re-edit
Chi-lites - For gods sake give more power to the people (dedicated to John Key)
Jean Knight - Do me
Rufus Thomas - Boogie aint nuttin' (but gettin' down)
The Emotions - Blind alley
Staple singers - Everyday people
Elza Soares - Mas que nada
Monguito Santamaria - Groovetime
Dennis Coffey  - Plutonious - Recloose rerub
Ladi6 - Diamonds
Controllers - Hello
Riot jazz brass band - Slinky
The Jam - Town called Malice
Lee Thompson ska orchestra - Mission impossible
Gregory Issacs  - All I have is love
Shark Wilson and the heaters - Make it reggae
Dillinger - Cokane in my brain - Sly n Gitsy remix
Rockers delight - Natty dread dub
Zap mama - Bandy bandy  -Carl Craig remix
Pains People - Dimension X (free DL on Bandcamp)
Soulance - BBQ and Pimms
George Benson and MAW - The ghetto
Betty Wright - Clean up woman
Ermehn feat Feelstyle - Walls of steel
Team Dynamite feat Che Fu - Coconut lime

Bay all day

Brand new video from Tipene, his song West Side Hori is nominated for the Apra Silver Scroll Awards this year. I caught him performing last week at MaiFM's 21st birthday party at the Powerstation, wearing his Bay All Day t-shirt, he's definitely a bit of a character...

Find out more about him below.... debut album Tautoko (title track samples Prince Tui Teka) on the way.

Rhythm Records closing

Rhythm Records on Ponsonby Rd are closing down. Previously owned by local music distributor Rhythm Method, the store manager bought it last year. According to the Companies Office website, Rhythm Records Ltd was placed in liquidation from August 14, 2013.

Oh bugger. Rhythm Records in Ponsonby in liquidation and closing #NZMusic pic.twitter.com/xjCkeyNq0P
— Stephen (@yohohos) August 15, 2013

Ladi6 - Automatic, out today

Headed off early this morning to Conch Records for the launch event for Ladi6's new album Automatic (produced by Parks and Wajeed), picked up a copy, got Ladi to sign it, AND scored a free coffee. Mean. How was the start of your day?

Feel the Pain

New music from Pains People (John Pain, ex Hallelujah Picassos, Nudie Suits). Name your price bizzo. Grab it!

Wax hoarder

Via Fact Mag: "Canada’s Apollo Music has shared a glimpse into the “hoarder house,” a true-to-its-name collection of 250,000 records which the company purchased last year. “When we first go there we couldn't even get through the doorways!” they write. “It took us 6 months to pack and remove all the records from the house!” More photos over here.

Apollo Music say "The two storey house was filled to the brim by a 68 year old collector who had lived in the house since his childhood. He passed away in 2011 and the family was shocked at what they discovered. They soon realized why they had never been invited over and why he had been so reclusive.

His Car was filled to the brim with records and the family suspected that he had been sleeping there over the last few years, as it was impossible to enter the house. The Bathroom and shower were also full of Records. We didn't know it was the bathroom until we came upon a toilet.

The Family tried to sell the house as is, but found it difficult and general word of mouth led them to call Apollo (he had previously been a customer). At first glance, we wanted to “Pass on it” as it looked like a nightmare, but we knew the collector well and figured there could be something worthwhile under all that.

It was actually fairly clean, overall, other than the piles of dust from over the years.

What kind of records are they?

ALL kinds. While he combed thrift shops and bought anything interesting to him over the last 10 years, the older stuff showed he also bought a variety of Rock and Rockabilly & Elvis records (His favorite) back in the 50s and 60s and kept them on shelves in pristine condition.

The best thing there? The 45′s, about 20,000 on shelves, mostly all original ‘as new’ store stock Rock & roll & Rockabilly, and oddball stuff, plus hundreds of Pristine EPs ranging from Elvis, Ricky Nelson, Country Artists, to the Rare Carl Perkins Columbia EP..."

Kon debuts

Debut album from Kon (of Kon and Amir fame), out now on BBE. Check the double coloured vinyl!

"What leads an individual to walk the often obsessive path of the crate digger? Raiding filthy basements and accumulating back-breaking stacks of wax on a tantalising search for the unearthed groove, Kon cites early exposure as the source of his calling: "One of the first physical records I fell in love with was Electric Light Orchestra's El Dorado. The music on that LP is incredible, climatic strings, and full of amazing songwriting. To digest and absorb music with such depth is the best thing for a 4 year old. Get 'em going young! I know this is part of the reason why later in life I searched further than what was just on the radio."

Kon's father was a drummer, and his love of the break not only inspired the quest for the funkiest rarities that birthed the iconic On Track and Off Track compilations, but also informed his approach to the edit. Check the 'Nite Time Remix' of 'Hooked' as the perfect introduction to his style: breaking things down to the bare essentials of a classic disco workout. 

The natural next step for this beat-juggling heavyweight was a return to the crafting of his own original productions. Bringing together a close-knit team of musician friends, Kon has revived a longstanding partnership with BBE and recorded his debut album On My Way. 

We are treated to the unmistakable vocals of UK talent Ben Westbeech, who Kon first met at the Southport Weekender. “I was with Amir leaving to catch the car service back to our hotel when I heard a guy yelling our names. Turns out it was Ben, and I had no idea he knew about our On Track compilations. And in turn he seemed to be shocked that I knew who he was! I've always liked Ben's work and I was staying in London with him when we first cut this tune. It was originally recorded to a totally different track that was all samples.”

Review from Turntable Lab: "It's been a longtime coming, but it was well worth the wait. On My Way follows a string of killer edit 12"s, hot remixes, a couple prized digger compilations, and years and years of record collecting. Through the years Kon has earned a rep as one of the most respected digger/djs on the scene (BBE crowned him King Of Diggin'), and more recently has proved his skills on the production side of things with reworks of original multi tracks to classics from MJ, Sylvester, Cerrone, and more. 

Now with On My Way, Kon goes full circle by crafting completely original tracks from the ground up. Along with a close-knit team of musician friends, Kon has created an impressive set of funk-laced grooves that straddle the line between boogie, soul, and disco. 

The result is not only brimming with modern dancefloor energy, but also well informed about dance music's rich history. 

Check the funk on tracks like "All Night" with Amy Douglass or "She Was A Queen," get down to the smooth disco soul on "Dont'cha Wanna" with George Levin and "Awe Baby," then take it to the top with tough boogie grooves like "Blow Me A Kiss," and "On My Way." Impressive! Pressed up on double colored vinyl (one red, one orange) and housed in glossy gatefold sleeve. Recommended."

BDO 97 mini-documentary

Big Day Out 2014 tickets went on sale on Monday, they sold 10,000 early bird tickets in 45 minutes, then released a further 10,000. Obviously the lineup has attracted some solid interest, which is great news for the promoters. They got the mix of acts right for their audience.

Flashback to late 1996... The local organisers for the Big Day Out announced that the 1997 BDO may well be the last one in Auckland. This may or may not have been done to help sell tickets, but of course, the BDO did came back.

I decided to make a documentary on the so-called 'last' BDO, and borrowed a video camera from work. I shot lots of local bands - Fontanelle (w Mikey Havoc), DLT and the True School (Che Fu, Danny D, Asterix, Slave), Tall Dwarfs, Thorazine Shuffle, Bailter Space etc.

Watch out for BFM folks Gemma Gracewood, Nick D'Angelo, and the voices of Hugh Sundae and Bob Kerrigan, amongst others. And lots of loose unit punters.

Director/camera/editor: Peter McLennan, camera/interviewer: Adrianne Rikihana, radio broadcasts from the BDO courtesy of BFM.

Upside down

Nile Rodgers has a house in Westport, Connecticut - he's lived there for 30 years. Here's a talk he gave about his book at the local library in Westport (duration: 1hr 13min).

No more buddy buddy

The NZ PM wants extended access to our emails, facebook account and lord knows what else Instead we sent him SNAPPER. http://t.co/AfqnZnv3h6
— Flying Nun Records (@FlyingNun) August 13, 2013

John Key, the NZ Prime Minister said in a recent interview that he thought  NZers were more interested in snapper than the GCSB Bill.

This bill makes it legal for the GCSB (a NZ govt spy agency) to spy on NZers - previously it was only allowed to spy on foreign nationals in NZ. The government is also moving to tighten snapper quotas for casual fishermen.

In January last year, the GCSB illegally spied on Kim Dotcom, who is a NZ resident.

More info: Does the new GCSB Bill give them the power to spy on New Zealanders?

Riot Jazz Brass

Got sent this absolutely wicked album from Manchester's Riot Jazz Brass Band, take a listen... out August 19 on First Word Records (Tall Black Guy, Ariya Astrobeat, Yosi Horikawa)..

"Following on from their storming debut single in May, Riot Jazz Brass Band are back with a full-length album of horn-fuelled dancefloor heaters. The group have been making waves for 5 years now, blowing away audiences across Europe with their infectious live shows. Based around the creative nucleus of Nick Walters (Trumpet) and Steve Pycroft (Drums) they take their influences from the likes of Hot 8 Brass Band and Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, adding an unmistakably Mancunian twist."

www.riotjazz.com
www.facebook.com/riotjazzrepublic

RIP Edwin Linder

Edwin Linder: Photo via NZHerald

Usually when I pull together an obituary post, it's for someone music-related. Today is different.

In the city I live in - Auckland, which is New Zealand's biggest city for you overseas readers - there's about 120 people living homeless on the streets in the city centre. Edwin Linder was one of them.

Last Wednesday he was viciously beaten up, and died in hospital last Saturday, from his injuries. He was 42 years old.

No one deserves to be treated like that, even those at the bottom rung of society's ladder. It makes me incredibly sad that something like this can happen in my city.

Auckland City Missioner Diane Robertson said the assault on the man was horrific. "He is known to the mission. We all find it incredibly difficult when someone that we know is assaulted."

His funeral was held yesterday at St Matthews Church, next door to the Auckland City Mission, and was attended by many of his fellow street dwellers.

The NZ Herald reports that "...Edwin's friends from the homeless community stood at the back of the church, some with heads bowed, others dressed for the occasion with an ill-fitting suit jacket or mismatched shirt and tie...

Edwin's mother's introduction was met with hellos and kia oras from members of the congregation.

"When I woke up this morning I didn't want to get out of bed. I didn't want to get up and face every mother's worst nightmare." Edwin was different, even as a child, she said. "He always marched to the beat of his own drum. He lived his life the way he wanted to and we just had to accept that."

Her eulogy was followed by the latecomer with his loaf of bread and bag of flowers. "You were a street poet," he said to the congregation, recollecting their time on the street together. "Nobody should ever have attacked you," he said, before placing a cup of flowers - gathered from his travels - on top of Edwin's coffin.

A businessman called Mike then took his turn to pay his respects. He said he had known Edwin for three years. "He used to park himself outside my business on 87 Queen St. He was a bloody good guy.

"Whether I gave him $1 or $30 his reaction was always the same; 'Yeea!'."

Mike said one day after giving Edwin a $20 or $50 note, he cautioned Edwin not to spend the money on booze, drugs, or women.

Edwin's reply was he would then spend the money on a rope to hang himself with. "Because without booze, drugs or women - what's the point."

A rousing rendition of Ka Mate marked the end of the ceremony as Edwin's family carried a simple pine casket out into the waiting hearse. Mourners each took their turn to say goodbye, placing daffodils onto the coffin. "Kia ora cuz, see ya later."


A 17 year old youth has been charged over the assault with Police expecting to lay more serious charges.

Ring The Alarm playlist, Aug 10

Rae and Christian - Wake up everybody -  Rae and Christian remix
Nightmares on wax - Ease Jimi
Lightning head - EVA
Riot Jazz Brass Band - Slinky
Helene Smith - You got to be a man
 Bill Withers - Sweet Wanomi
Al Green - Take me to the river
Chic - Open up
Many styles - Combinations
Primal scream vs Jungle bros - Playloaded
Thes One and Rashaan Ahmad - Doin it
Kenny Dope feat Screechy Dan - Booming in ya jeep
Dawn Penn - No no no
Clive Smith - Rema jam
Jackie Mittoo - Chicken and booze
DJ Vadim - Watch that sound - JStar remix
Joe Isaacs - One more time
Solomonic sound - Children of Israel
Round four feat Tikiman - Find a way
Moodorama - Sweet toffee
Metrophonics - Latin racer
Willie Bobo - Evil ways - Kareem Riggins remix
Nuyorican soul - Black gold of the sun - MAW remix
Monday after - Merry go round pt1
George Duke - Brazilian love affair - Namuh edit
Zilla Mayes - Calypso blues
Lancelot Layne - You  think it sorf
Lee Thompson ska orchestra - Ali Baba

Rip It Up sold

Via TV3News (hat tip to The Corner): Rip It Up magazine has been sold by Satellite Media to Groove Guide publisher Grant Hislop. "A 20-year veteran of the New Zealand music industry, Mr Hislop also owns Groove Guide Magazine and was a co-founder of RadioWorks and The Rock radio station. Hark Music manages the bands Goodshirt and Sherpa.

Originally released as a free publication, Rip It Up is bi-monthly magazine covering music, lifestyle and entertainment. It was founded in 1977 by Murray Cammick and has a readership of 89,000 people."

Hislop rescued Groove Guide in 2011 after its previous owner, Tangible Media, shut it down as being unsustainable. They had also closed its sister magazine, Real Groove. 

Updated August 19: Via The Corner... "Speaking to Radio New Zealand, Hislop said that the new Rip It Up will follow a similar model to fellow street press magazine Groove Guide – it’ll be published monthly, a change from the current bi-monthly release, and will be distributed for free throughout the country.

Current editor Leonie Hayden won’t be joining the team; instead the magazine will be driven by the editorial team at Groove Guide which includes Grant Hislop, Tyler Hislop and designer Greta Gotlieb. The new look will be A4 and about 80 pages in length with a print run of 20,000 copies per issue."

Watch Nile Rodgers Talk Bowie With Prince Paul

"The All Purpose Show has been popping up on YouTube as of late. Presented by hip-hop Renaissance man, Prince Paul, the Brooklyn based show features a kaleidoscopic array of guests, from punk icons The Melvins to director and pop icon John Waters." Via Prefix Mag

RIP George Duke

NPR: George Duke, Legendary Jazz Keyboardist, Dies

Here's how NPR's Felix Contreras describes him:
"He was also a very successful record producer who worked with folks like Gladys Knight, The Pointer Sisters, Anita Baker, Rachelle Ferrell.

"As an instrumentalist he started by working with Sonny Rollins and Dexter Gordon. But he made his mark in the jazz fusion vein, most notably with fellow fusion musicians Stanley Clarke and Billy Cobham. He had a series of respected fusion albums going back to the late 1970's.

"From the mid '60s, he also worked as a member of Frank Zappa's recording and touring band. Most recently he had been a big draw at jazz fests around the world that catered to the mix of R&B and jazz artists."


Duke was 67. His wife Corine, passed away , from cancer, a year ago. Time reports that "A representative for Duke said the performer died Monday night in Los Angeles. Duke was being treated for chronic lymphocytic leukemia."


Wax Poetics featured Duke on their cover for issue 46, and have posted up the interview from that issue online, as a tribute... read it here

" After a legendary but short stints with Frank Zappa's band and then drummer Billy Cobham, George Duke forged a new path and ruled the R&B charts with eccentric funk...

What is your earliest musical memory?

George Duke: Probably the single most important thing that I remember was a Duke Ellington concert that my mom took me to when I was four years old. For whatever reason, it really stuck in my mind, and I knew right then and there that that’s what I wanted to do—that I wanted to play music. I mean, I don’t even know what songs he played. I just kind of remember how he was dressed, the way he spoke—he had that kind of thing where he was saying words like “hip,” “jive,” stuff like that.

So, okay, so he sounds like guys in the neighborhood with the lingo of the day, but at the same time he was speaking very properly. He was doing something with his hands, which I found out later was directing. It was just interesting to me. And of course when I grew up, you didn’t see any Black people on TV.

Other than the pastor at the church that I was going to, he was the only guy outside of my community that I saw doing something that made me say, “Hey, this is cool. I want to do this.” And there was all kinds of people watching him: Whites, Blacks, everything. And so I said, “There’s something about this.”