One for you northern hemisphere folk... "Record Kicks is also happy to announce that on Sat 09 Nov will celebrate its 10th Anniversary with a massive FEST at legendary 100 Club London feat TRIO VALORE – Live, MARTA REN - Live, HANNAH WILLIAMS & THE TASTEMAKERS – Live, CALIBRO 35 – Live, GIZELLE SMITH BAND – Live, IAN WRIGHT – DJ, ADRIAN GIBSON – DJ, JO WALLACE – DJ, CORRINA GREYSON - DJ, NICK RECORDKICKS and more."
Lee Fields and the Expressions are set to play their first-ever show here on Saturday 11th January 2014, at the Powerstation in Auckland. This promises to be a dynamite night of super soul! Presale tickets start Nov 5, see here for more info.
From the press release:
"There aren’t too many artists making soul music today who had a release in 1969; Lee Fields, however, is one such artist—or maybe he’s better labelled a phenomenon.
Since the late sixties, the North Carolina native has amassed a prolific catalogue of albums and has toured and played with such legends as Kool and the Gang, Sammy Gordon and the Hip-Huggers, O.V Wright, Darrell Banks, and Little Royal. With a career spanning 43 years, releases on twelve different record labels, and having toured the world over with his raucous-yet-tender voice, it’s mind-blowing that the music he’s making today with Brooklyn’s own Truth & Soul Records is the best of his career.
With a catalogue that ranges from James Brown-style funk to lo-fi blues to contemporary Southern soul to collaborations with French house DJ/producer Martin Solveig, Lee Fields has done it all. Today, with The Expressions–Truth & Soul’s house band, Lee Fields continues to evolve, enmeshed into the group’s sweeping, string-laden, cinematic soul sound. Their first full-length together, My World, released in June 2009 on Truth & Soul, was called “one smoking mother of an old-sound soul record” and a “throwback done right” by Pitchfork.
While drawing comparisons to groups like The Moments, The Delfonics, The Stylistics, and–of course–James Brown, My World has been able to create a space of its own due to the group’s desire to interpret and further the formulas of good soul music rather than parrot and imitate them.
“In a curious case of musical evolution, the older Fields becomes, the closer he gets to perfecting the sound of soul that he grew up with as a young man,” so said music writer, scholar, and DJ Oliver Wang about Fields in a piece for NPR in July 2009. The latest LP from Lee Fields and The Expressions, titled Faithful Man, is the next step towards this perfection. A step that may find Fields& The Expressions, finally being bestowed the contemporary soul music crown."
Hat tip to DJ Pause (BaseFM) for putting me onto this cat... he does a mean flip of Mayer Hawthorne on this...
Ayebro blog write that "Tausani, a producer from Grey Lynn, Auckland releases a 6 track EP ‘Confessions of A Time Traveller’ with features by Mr Fisher and Raiza Biza – All tracks produced by Tausani.
‘First Light’ featuring Raiza Biza got accepted for a grant from NZ On Air for music video and production. Tausani’s influences include J Dilla, Boonie Mayfield, Freddie Joachim, Mr Carmack, Afta-1, and Erykah Badu. Like what you hear? Name your price and purchase."
Via Digital Music News, with news clips of John Campbell and Kim Dotcom... " The following comes from producer, composer, engineer and now activist Mikael Eldridge (aka, Count), who has spent the past two years making a film about the realities musicians actually face in a digitized industry.
The film starts with the bigger picture, then tracks the stories of several artists – Jurassic Five, Zoe Keating, Diplo, Tycho, and Cracker, Camper van Beethoven, and Old 97′s. ’Unsound’ is now in the process of being crowdfunded to finance its completion and make it ready for major film festivals."
Interviewee quote: "Kim Dotcom lives in a mansion, living the good life, purely off the backs of creators."
That screengrab with the Hunter S Thompson quote on the music business being a cruel and shallow money trench is a bit flawed - he never said it, as I discovered in early 2011, when a local journalist used that same quote.
The quote comes from Thompson's book called Generation of Swine: Tales of Shame and Degradation in the '80s. It reads...
"The TV business is uglier than most things. It is normally perceived as some kind of cruel and shallow money trench through the heart of the journalism industry, a long plastic hallway where thieves and pimps run free and good men die like dogs, for no good reason...." Source: Urbanlegends.com
"Paris DJs with some insight from Zakari Frantz (The Souljazz Orchestra) have prepared for this 4th volume in the 'Tropical Grooves & Afrofunk International' series a special treat, since they opted from day one to go into an Afro Rock direction with the title 'Have You Ever Been To Electric Afroland'. With only that title in hand, illustrator Ben Hito prepared a psychedelic cover artwork, which we then sent all over the place asking for submissions.
Exclusive tracks are numerous, starting with a surprising Ethio-Twist number from Dereb The Ambassador (Australia), and going on with more unclassifiable stuff from Nikhil P. Yerawadekar & Low Mentality, Hard Proof (both USA), Onom Agemo and the Disco Jumpers (Germany), the Grant Phabao Afrofunk Arkestra or The Afrorockerz (both from France)."
New music by Christoph el Truento with help from fellow humans waiata evans, karnan saba, simon koziarski, lontalius & julien dyne.
Bandcamp Weekly's host Andrew Jervis featured a track off this on release, and he writes "Having heard the whole thing I can safely say this album will be in my top 10 for the year. Christoph is a bit like New Zealand's answer to Madlib's YNQ. Mad jazz + beats."
"Since their humble beginnings in a Wolverhampton suburban bedroom, Leeds-based hip hop, space jazz and bass-loving outfit Paper Tiger have carved their own niche in the electronic music scene, both as a heavyweight production outfit and as a damned fine live band (sharing stages with the likes of Jaga Jazzist, Rustie, Gaslamp Killer, Daedelus, Alice Russell, Amon Tobin and many more).
Following on from their first of three releases on Wah Wah 45s, the six-piece found themselves highly sought-after, and consequently working with a wealth of talent that included Benin City's Joshua Idehen, British rap superstars Foreign Beggars, leftfield US trio Archie Pelago and, most recently, Stones Throw recording artist (and possibly the greatest MC out there right now) Homeboy Sandman.
The latter's collaboration with the band's resident wordsmith, Raphael Attar, is just one highlight of Paper Tiger's debut long-player, appropriately titled (for a crew who work as hard as these guys do) 'Laptop Suntan', released October 28.
The album is, as you might expect from artists with such broad tastes, a wonderfully diverse yet cohesive package.
From the dextrous lyricism of Attar, as well as guests that include highly-rated UK MCs King Kaiow, Infinite Livez and Bang On! (Big Dada), to the sultry, soulful sounds of Sabira Jade (DJ Vadim, Frameworks), this album covers a myriad of palettes within electronic music.
There's a sonorous, mature quality in cuts like 'Gundam Bling' and 'Drift', as well as a keen sense of humour on tracks such as 'David Starkey' and 'The Sting'. Paper Tiger make music that's one moment subtle, sensitive and delicate, and then another witty, sharp and supremely funky - it all comes together beautifully on 'Laptop Suntan', an album that will appeal to lovers of hip hop, soul and dance music in equal measure.
Cutty Ranks - The stopper - Richard Dorfmeister meets Markus Kienzel remix Prof Oz - Waves - Grant Phabao remix Freddie Cruger - Running from love Diatribe - Dangerous game Soul vendors - Swing easy Steely and Clevie feat Leroy Sibbles - Fatty fatty Jackie Mittoo - El bang bang Tokyo ska paradise orchestra - Big man still standing - Winston Hazel and Marc Woolford remix Lord Echo - Molten lava Magic circle express - Magic fever 20th century steel band - Papa was a rolling stone Luiz Bonfa - Jacaranda Gene Dudley group - Hilo half way - Gene Dudley disco dub mix The Controllers - Hello - Simon S edit Alice Russell and Quantic - I'd cry - 7" edit Nicola Conte and Rosalia de Souza - Maria Moita Aretha Franklin - I am in love - Cutec edit Tony Allen - Ole - Moritz von Oswald remix Richie Phoe - Thriller Groove corp meets Twilight circus feat Luciano - What we gotta do now Groove armada - Tuning in Hallelujah Picassos -Rewind - playing LIVE at the Kings Arms tonight! Shogun orchestra - Cherry blossom Lord Echo - Creator has a master plan Jose James - Desire -Moodymann remix
From Cherries Records... "For our very first cassette release, we bring you the smooth sounds of Cermakk, the mysterious producer from our very first (out of print) vinyl release, featuring legendary R&B vocalist Doug Shorts.
This limited edition blue audio cassette contains 28 minutes of all original instrumental productions from this Chicago producer, in classic mixtape style. "Just A Touch" exudes the original Cherries sound with smooth & sensual 80s r&b and swing inspired melodies, while complimenting Cermakk's signature "cold & grown" sound of deep and intricate drum patterns, surely to make your head nod.
Light the candles, pour the bubbles in the bath, and listen to "Just A Touch" of Cermakk. Limited Edition. 100 copies pressed, out now." Listen to snippets below...
Expat Kiwi Mark de Clive Lowe (now based on LA after a decade in London) is working on fundraising for his next recording, via Kickstarter. He's already raised a quarter of the funds he needs, check out more about it below, sounds like a very cool project...
Mark says : "For the past three years I've had a live music event resident in LA and NYC that we named CHURCH. It's equal parts jazz club, live remix experiment and dance party - part acoustic, part electronic; part planned, part improvised.
"Each month I'd bring in special guests to collaborate with me and meld creative minds. From my favorite musicians, to my favorite singers and MCs, to my favorite DJs, I've been fortunate to have so many of them be part of the vibe. There's been amazing shows outside the US as well - Germany, Holland, Portugal and Australia have all hosted the event at different festivals and venues.
"Playing with the likes of Eric Harland, James Genus, Nate Smith, Mark Kelley, Chris Daddy Dave, Casey Benjamin, Jean Grae, Questlove, Nia Andrews, Gaslamp Killer, Jose James and others has been an amazing experience and tells me that this album is going to be something very special for sure. Every time we throw the event, people 'get' why it's called CHURCH. It's not about a religious angle - it's about uplifting the spirit and the human condition through the power of music.
"I've been wanting to capture the essence of the live shows and share that as an album with the world. Now it's that time! The album is going to feature some very special collaborators from NYC and LA and I'm writing and arranging a whole stack of new music for the record. There'll be a mix of instrumental songs and vocal guests. We'll be in studio for a few days recording, then there'll be post-production before mixdown, mastering and finally having it sent off to be manufactured on CD and vinyl."
Lady dropped their gorgeous debut album back in March, on NYC label Truth and Soul - the duo of Nicole Wray and Terri Walker made for a sweet soul combination. They set out touring to promote the album, alongside label mates Lee Fields and the Expressions. They've recently released a remix ep of their tune Good Lovin, with mixes by DJ Spinna, T&S, Ticklah and Oh No.
But at some point mid-year Terri Walker quietly dropped out of the band and returned to her solo career. I noticed this recently when I saw that the social media posts on Twitter and Instagram only featured pics of Nicole. The label updated the artist page for Lady on their website to remove all mentions of Terri. It was like her contribution to the album got wiped, even tho its audibly there for all to hear. Weird. So, what happened?
Nicole Wray has just done an interview with Wax Poetics, where she talks about Terri's departure, and plans for a new album... excerpt below... When exactly did the split happen? I want to say it happened maybe four or five months ago. We really didn’t say anything about it because we were kind of hoping that we could keep it going, but unfortunately things happen in the world and in our lives and we gotta keep it moving. You said that you and Terri never set out to do Lady forever. So you kind of knew this would happen eventually? No, we did not set out to do this forever. We’d done a lot of interviews and we were excited, but, honestly, she knew I had my own thing going and I knew she had her own thing going. Eventually, I’m sure, one of us was going to take off and do some other things outside of Lady, and that’s what happened....
Is there anything you’d like to say to your fans? I just want to let them know I thank them for their support even through the ups and downs that we’ve had this year with Terri leaving and me staying on-board. I appreciate it. We—our label and management—didn’t send out a press release saying anything. We just tried to go really smooth. But I do realize that we have to talk about it, because people want to know. I want fans to keep their ears and eyes open, because we’re coming and this next album is going to be super exciting, and the sound is going to change a little bit.
Before I wrap up, you said that your team didn’t release a press release about Terri leaving. Was it because you were uncomfortable talking about it? I think we all were uncomfortable. I think at the time that it happened, everybody was like, “Oh my God, what are we going to do?” because we’re kind of in the middle of things. It wasn’t a panic, but I think we were just trying to roll with the punches, as it was a new group. I think both of us have diehard fans regardless of if we stay together or part, and I don’t think that we really wanted to entertain a bunch of drama for no reason. So instead of a press release, I would just talk to people who would interview me and ask me about it and move forward.
Wellington's arts festival, The New Zealand Festival (brilliant rebranding, that, for a Wellington-focused event) has announced its lineup for 2014. The festival runs from Feb 21 to March 16.
The music contingent includes Charles Bradley and his band The Extraordinaires, Yo La Tengo, Neko Case, and Frente Cumbiero, to name a few.
Charles Bradley performs two shows at James Cabaret, Saturday 22 Feb and Sunday 23 Feb, tickets $43-48, on sale Oct 31. It will be a blast of pure soul that will knock you off your feet.
Great mashup of MIA with Lorde, via The Clash, harmonies work seamlessley... hat tip to Cheese on Toast for this one.. and then Bob Daktari hit me with this one... cheers, sir...
Team Dynamite's video for Shepherds Delight, some NSFW language, so y'know. Title track off their recent album form a few months back, still up on Bandcamp as name your price. Check it, especially the jam Coconut Lime featuring Che Fu.
The winners for the technical categories for the 2013 NZ Music Awards were announced earlier this evening, along with the finalists in other categories, and the Legacy Award, which goes to Shona Laing.
Leading the pack, Shapeshifter are up for six awards, and Aaradhna is up for five. Lorde and Unknown Mortal Orchestra both have four nominations each - note Lorde's album came out after the June 30 cutoff date for eligibility in this year's awards - and The Phoenix Foundation and Fat Freddy's Drop are up for three awards - they also picked up some of the technical awards.
Performers on the night of the awards, held at Vector Arena on Nov 21, are Lorde, Aaradhna, Titanium, Jamie McDell, Iva Lamkum, and Jamie McDell. Ruby Frost will perform a tribute to Shona Laing. Were Shihad unavailable? (jokes). Tickets to the awards are open to the public, and cost $25, via Ticketmaster.
Technical Awards Winners Best Album Cover to Gina Kiel & Harry A’Court – ‘Blackbird’ (Fat Freddy’s Drop) Best Producer to The Phoenix Foundation/Lee Prebble/Brett Stanton – ‘Fandango’ (The Phoenix Foundation) Best Engineer to Brett Stanton/Lee Prebble/The Phoenix Foundation – ‘Fandango’ (The Phoenix Foundation) VNZMA Finalists Mentos Album of the Year Aaradhna ‘Treble & Reverb’ Fat Freddy’s Drop ‘Blackbird’ Shapeshifter ‘Delta’ The Phoenix Foundation ‘Fandango’ Unknown Mortal Orchestra ‘II’ Vodafone Single of the Year Aaradhna ‘Wake Up’ Lorde ‘Royals’ Shapeshifter ‘In Colour’ Stan Walker ‘Take It Easy’ Unknown Mortal Orchestra ‘So Good At Being In Trouble’ Steinlager Pure Best Group Fat Freddy’s Drop ‘Blackbird’ Shapeshifter ‘Delta’ The Phoenix Foundation ‘Fandango’
Spotify Best Male Solo Artist Lawrence Arabia ‘The Sparrow’ Unknown Mortal Orchestra ‘II’ Willy Moon ‘Here’s Willy Moon’
Spotify Best Female Solo Artist Aaradhna ‘Treble & Reverb’ Iva Lamkum ‘Black Eagle’ Jamie McDell ‘Six Strings and a Sailboat’ Westpac Hotpoints Breakthrough Artist of the Year Jamie McDell ‘Six Strings and a Sailboat’ Lorde ‘The Love Club EP’ Willy Moon ‘Here’s Willy Moon’ Best Rock Album Beastwars ‘Blood Becomes Fire’ The Datsuns ‘Death Rattle Boogie’ Villainy ‘Mode. Set. Clear.’ The Edge Best Pop Album AnikaBoh&Hollie ‘Peace of Mind’ Jamie McDell ‘Six Strings and a Sailboat’ Kids Of 88 ‘Modern Love’ Best Alternative Album Lawrence Arabia ‘The Sparrow’ The Phoenix Foundation ‘Fandango’ Unknown Mortal Orchestra ‘II’ Best Urban/Hip Hop Album @Peace ‘Girl Songs’ Aaradhna ‘Treble & Reverb’ P-Money ‘Gratitude’ Best Roots Album Fat Freddy’s Drop ‘Blackbird’ Latinaotearoa ‘Sonido de Latinaotearoa’ Soljah ‘Aotearoa’ George FM Best Electronica Album K+LAB ‘Space Dirt’ Shapeshifter ‘Delta’ Sola Rosa ‘Low and Behold, High and Beyond’ NZ On Air Best Music Video Joel Kefali – ‘Royals’ (Lorde) Nick Dwyer – ‘In Colour’ (Shapeshifter) Thunderlips – ‘Frankenstein’ (Randa) NUMA Trust Best Maori Album Kirsten Te Rito ‘Te Rito’ Maisey Rika ‘Whitiora’ Ngatapa Black ‘I Muri Ahiahi’
Best Gospel/Christian Album Edge Kingsland ‘Edge Vol.2: Due North’ Go Stop Go ‘Go Stop Go’ Strahan ‘Posters’ Best Classical Album Gillian Whitehead ‘Arapatiki’ Helen Webby ‘Pluck’ Michael Houstoun ‘Lilburn’ Vodafone People’s Choice Award Shapeshifter Aaradhna Lorde Stan Walker Titanium NZ Herald Legacy Award recipient Shona Laing Hallenstein Brothers 2013 Critics’ Choice Prize Line-Up (Nov 6 at Kings Arms) Janine and the Mixtape Paquin Sheep, Dog & Wolf
News from Bastard Jazz: " The mighty New Zealander known as LORD ECHO will be releasing his second album Curiosities on Bastard Jazz in early November. Expect boogie-laced Funk, disco-primed dub, futuristic soul, and timeless African rhythms from this cult favourite.
Out Nov 15 on Economy Records (home to The Yoots, Shogun Orchestra), NZ release thru Rhythm Method/DRM on CD/digital/vinyl. The album is being released on Wonderful Noise in Japan, Bastard Jazz in the US, UK and Australia, and Jakarta in Europe and South America.
"Curiosities picks up right where Melodies left off, with the sun-drenched psychedelic dub sounds of tracks like “Bohemian Idol” (featuring vocals by Toby Laing of Fat Freddy's Drop), and the jerky funk vibes of cuts like “Digital Haircut” and “Street Knowledge”.
The album provides a wealth of DJ fodder, with forward thinking 70s-inspired disco tunes such as “Molten Lava” (featuring the soaring vocals of Leila Adu), as well as analog Afro-infused burners like “What Is That Feeling” and “Put It In My Head” (complemented by the golden-voiced Mara TK of Electric Wire Hustle fame).
Down-home spiritual jazz/electronic meanderings ("Ghost Hands", “Arabesque”) provide a counterpoint to Echo's driving cover-version of the Pharoah Sanders & Leon Thomas classic “The Creator Has a Master Plan”. His inspiring take on the track is uplifted by the soulful singing of Lisa Tomlins (who's notable vocals on Echo’s rendition of Sister Sledge’s “Thinking Of You” made it a standout hit from his Melodies album).
The finely-tuned collaborations throughout Curiosities underscore Lord Echo's pivotal position in the thriving New Zealand music scene. "I generally only work with people I know quite well personally", says Echo.
That personal and organic approach to creating his music is revealed as the album unfolds, layer by delectable layer. "I made this record primarily with DJs in mind," he continues.
"They are generally people who really love music and are often obsessed with various aspects of it. I'm not making music for people for whom it's just some background noise in their lives, I'm making music for people for whom it IS their lives. And for better or worse, I guess I am one of those people."
Lord Echo is currently splitting his time between New Zealand and New York. In New York he is recording with Victor Axelrod (aka Ticklah) who has been a key player in the NY scene for the last decade and is affiliated with the Daptone crew, Antibalas and Mark Ronson.
In New Zealand he is the house engineer for Wellington-based Economy records. Summer 2013/2014 will see him producing the next Lawrence Arabia album, the next Black Seeds album, and starting work on a 3rd Lord Echo album.
[CD] 1.What Is That Feeling 2.Endless Dawn 3.Bohemian Idol(feat Toby Laing) 4.Digital Haircut 5.Street Knowledge 6.Molten Lava (feat Leila Adu) 7.Arabesque 8.Put It In My Head(feat Mara TK) 9.The Creator Has A Master Plan (feat Lisa Tomlins) 10.Ghost Hands
[12"] Lord Echo / Curiosities album sampler E.P.(12" Vinyl) side A 1.The Creator Has A Master Plan 2.Molten Lava
side B 1.Digital Haircut (Dub Version)*only 12" 2.Street Knowledge
From UK Label Wahwah45s, the Hackney Colliery Band recently played a gig last Friday to launch their own beer! That is pretty cool...
"The world's greatest brass outfit, Hackney Colliery Band, are taking to the stage to launch their very own beer! That's right, not content with cornering the market on jazz flavoured sausages with the Hackney Colliery Banger, they've gone one step further and hooked up with The Truman Brewery to launch their Bold As Brass beer at The Hoxton Hall Theatre, Oct 20.
Entry includes a free pint, and the choice of either a copy of the new HCB album, "Common Decency" or an exclusive HCB t-shirt."
Overproof sound system - Get with it Randys vintage dub selection - Natty inna babylon dub Jackie Mittoo - Casanova Dark angel - Free da mind Com K and the freestyle mellowship - Dancing skulls - main mix Shogun orchestra - Mifune Zilla Mayes - Calypso blues Bahama soul club - Tiki suite pt II feat Arema Arega - Club Belugas RMX Monday after - Merry go round pt I Brenda and the tabulations - California soul Dee Dee Sharp Gamble - Easy money - Todd Terje re-edit Blue Moderne - Through the night - Danny Krivit edit Kraftwerk - The model Rhythm and sound feat Paul St Hilaire -What a mistry Katchafire - Sensmillia - Pitch Black remix Ermehn - Walls of steel Che Fu -Misty frequencies - Manuel Bundy remix feat Finsta Radio city - The hop Bella Kalolo, Lionel Reekie, Philip Fan - Royals Pimps of joytime - PJT's high steppin TSU Tornadoes - Getting the corners Manzel - Space dreams -Dopebrother remix Earth wind and fire - C'mon children Baby Huey - Hard times Curtis Mayfield - We got to have peace Junior Murvin - Give me your love Hortense Ellis - People make the world go round Noiseshaper - Only redeemer
This year marks the tenth anniversary of Scribe's landmark NZ hiphop album, his debut, The Crusader. Grindin.net has pulled together a fantastic track by track flashback from the people involved with the record - MCs, producers and all. They talk about how songs like Not Many (orig and remix), and Stand Up came together, it's great reading. Here's an excerpt...
SO NICE FEAT. LADI6 (PRODUCED BY P-MONEY) Scribe – Probably the most feel good track on the album P-Money did it again with this joint I got this the same time as “My Lady” remix beat. P had just evolved in his beatmaking to a whole other level with this batch. This beat just made me feel good warm and summery. It gave me the same vibe as “Oh Boy” Camron so I went to work straight away. An ode to Hip Hop and my family I talk about my discovery of Hip Hop as a kid going to school and growing up with my cousins in the hood and one of them just happened to be Ladi6.
My brother and I started breakdancing as kids watching Beat Street and that was my introduction to Hip Hop although at the time just thought it was dancing. The last verse namecheck most of my cousins but I have way to many so couldn’t name them all as my Mum has 11 brothers and sisters and my dad 13 but its a family song and I love performing it with Ladi6.
Also it does have some prophecy as in the 1st verse opens with “Im so hot put me on..this year we number 1..” I still get shit from some cousins who’s name didn’t make the song..it is pretty hard to rhyme fa’ama’atalatolotitasese..lol
P-Money – Scribe and Ladi6 are first cousins. They are really close. There was no way we could complete the album without her vocals on there. This song is pretty much Scribe’s dedication to his whole family. He name drops almost everyone in the third verse. I always thought it was cool that he did that. Including the whole family on the album.
Ladi6 – This album is now an embedded piece of my (our) families history. Malo (MC Scribe) had made some of these verses/songs well known family classics before he had even moved from Christchurch to Auckland to start on his infamous and historic road to record breaking success. He cleverly slaved over them with an eye for detail and an ear for the sincere.
We all moved up to Auckland together living out of our cousins house in South Auckland where Scribe set up shop, bucket bong, black book, pens and a tape player in the laundry room where we would all pack in there day in and out, straining to hear his newest verse, over his latest P-Money instrumental, memorising every last lyric. By the time the album came out most of us cousins knew every damn word to every damn song.
Scribe was kind enough to ask me along to sing backing vocals and perform our own rap jam, ‘Scribe,L.6,’ as part of his BDO Oz tour and around various shows in New Zealand. It was such an incredible learning curve for me as an aspiring artist and musician, an experience I have and will always treasure. Even though “The Crusader” was MC Scribes beginning, it also marked a start to my own journey. Something I will always be grateful to him for.
oh, and I love this snip from Con Psy (now goes by David Dallas) on working on the Not Many remix, his first time in a proper studio...
"I might’ve been the only one who had a car at the time, because I recall after Scribble came through and did his verse we had to hop into my fucked up 94 Civic and go pick up Sav [Savage] and bring him to the studio after his shift finished at the gas station. On a comedic note, later that night I was dropping Scribe off at his cousins house and my car died in the middle of G.I on this busy ass street, [and] without saying a word the bro got out the car and pushed us to the nearest BP LOL… I only met him that day and his single had just hit #1 on the charts yet here he was, no shame, pushing this car through the intersection with traffic beepin' at us etc. LOL, he will forever be the man in my eyes just off that."
Some freshness from Cascade Records... dirty old blues samples and beats... "After having made some big noise this summer with a sublime Limited Vinyl 7" release on Cascade which featured the legendary Phat Kat and Raashan Ahmad [that song is on the album too], Zo aka La Chauve-souris is back with Cascade for a full length LP, entitled Mississip’hip.
This time, he’s drawing his inspiration from Afro American roots of Blues and Gospel. With this new album created with a MPC, beatmaker Zo shows us his ability to explore and use sampling to get a pure innovative concept album with a very hot live dimension (organic jazz bass lines equal intelligent boombap science). Official release date: October 21th. Free download of a song off the album below... Pre-order Limited CD Digipack, available now : Cascade Shop (worldwide), HHV (worldwide), Amazon (worldwide), FNAC (France). Pre-order Digital Album, available on Bandcamp, iTunes
The Apra Silver Scrolls were held last night at the Vector Arena, a departure from their usual venue, the Auckland Town Hall. They managed to squeeze in between One Direction and Beyonce, one presenter pointed out, which explains why it was on a Tuesday night.
The evening kicked off with an introduction from Apra's Anthony Healey, who mentioned the success of having a New Zealander at the top of the US charts for the first time. What a BIZARRE thing to say. HOW very BIZARRE. Maybe I misheard him.
The first of the cover versions of each of the finalists, as is Apra's tradition, was Rackets [watch] taking to Thames Soup by the Phoenix Foundation giving it a rough, noisy edge, but not really bringing anything new to the song.
The Sounz Contemporary Award went to Karlo Margetic for Lightbox, which was performed by the MPC Trio [watch], a delightfully leftfield combo of Jeremy Toy (She's So Rad), Lewis McCallum, and Johnnie Fleury. That was some out-there space rock.
Then we got to the induction for the latest NZ Music Hall of Fame recipient, Dave Dobbyn. Warren Maxwell delivered the speech, toasting Dave, his songs, and his life.
Maxwell talked about Dobbyn's place in our history saying that "Your Wikipedia bio is ingrained in New Zealand folklore." Maxwell talked of reading through Dobbyn's lyrics, and choosing a few of them to read out.
He recited Beside You (which won Dobbyn the Silver Scroll in 1998), and Lap Of The Gods, adding in a few asides to lines he particularly liked. Maxwell said of Dobbyn that "You are living the dream, of being a successful human."
Then there was a video presentation, of Dobbyn's musical friends and mates talking about him, like Chris Bourke talking about Loyal, saying even the America's Cup couldn't kill it - intercut with voxpops from people on the street, talking about his music and what it meant to them.
Dobbyn came up and accepted the honour, to a standing ovation. He worked thru his thank you list, chronologically, and said he'd thank the big guy at the end. He commented on the kind words said about him in the video, saying "It's like being at your own funeral, and you get to talk to everybody." He also said "To the record companies and labels, thank you. It's over!" And then he laughed.
The musical tributes to Dobbyn [watch] came from country singer Tami Neilson singing with harpist Weiting Shyu doing Language, a very sparse, spooky version; Mark Vanilau (who often plays in Dobbyns current band) with Scribe doing It Dawned On Me, which started with Scribe rapping, then joining in singing in beautiful harmonies with Vanilau, and totally nailing it - NZ Herald's Russell Baillie said "it was "one of the all time great #silverscrolls performances"; and the closer of this section was Shihad rocking out on Be Mine Tonight, an energetic photocopy of a rendition.
[The day after the awards, I saw someone on Twitter congratulate Scribe on his singing, suggesting the singing lessons had paid off. Scribe replied "I've never had singing lessons. I take it as a compliment! I hate singing. I did it for Dave Dobbyn! #TheMan". I also remembered later that Scribe sang on his debut The Crusader, like the hook on Dreaming, for example.]
The Maioha award was next, presented by Te Awanui Reeder. He talked a bit of the history of the award, and listed some Maori performers, from Tui Teka and Dalvanius, to Pieter T "and our favourite Maori, Lorde!" Then he got serious for a second and congratulated her on her success.
The finalists were Iwi, Maisey Rika, and Ngatapa Black. Maisey Rika, along with co-writers Te Kahautu Maxwell, and Mahuia Bridgeman-Cooper, won for their song Ruiamoko. It was then performed by Tama Waipara [watch] with University of Auckland percussion ensemble and guests, which included Godfrey De Grut, who also acted as musical director for the evening. Cos doing that job wasn't enough for him. Super busy dude. Respect!
Apra board member Don McGlashan took the stage, and talked about the recently departed Dave McArtney, then shifted to congratulating Lorde, peering out into the crowd saying "I hope I'm looking at you - there's a lot of people here with big hair - I could be looking at Lorde, or Laughton Kora."
Later the MC for the evening, Dai Henwood, talked the house band into singing Happy Birthday for Jordan Luck, and everyone joined in. The house band onstage was a nice touch.
After a million years, someone other than Neil Finn won the award for most performed NZ work internationally. Brooke Fraser took this out (and also the prize for most played NZ song in NZ), and her manager, Campbell Smith, got up to accept it, saying "I spent the last two years drunk in Paris while this song did its work."
He said he felt like he was in a Trivial Pursuit question - Neil Finn won this award for 100 years, Ella (Lorde) and Joel will win it for the next 100 years -which song won it in between? Nice touch.
Anna Coddington's Bird In Hand got a big, beaty, bouncy treatment from Sola Rosa [watch], with Cherie Mathieson on vocals, killing it.
Royals got a suitably radical take [watch], starting with Lionel Reekie wandering onstage singing and playing accordion, then joined by splendid soul diva Bella Kalolo, and a young Asian beatboxer by the name of Phillip Fan. He even did a beatbox solo half way thu, then switched up the tempo and it went drum n bass for a second. Brilliant.
Tattletale Saints' Complicated Man got covered by Jesse Sheehan [watch] with Chip Matthews and Tom Broome, rocking it up in a brisk fashion.
And the last finalist, Aaradhna's Wake up, well how do you make a funky song even funkier? Get three drummers to perform it. That was just monstrous.
The drummers were Nick Gaffney, Scotty Pearson, and Katie Everingham [watch]. They were lit from behind in silhouette mostly, hammering away like they were auditioning for the Glitter Band (hat tip to Russell Baillie for that reference). Pounding good time.
I wanted Aaradhna to win the Silver Scroll, her song Wake Up is such a gorgeous pop tune, but Lorde and Joel Little took it out. Did the final voting process happen before or after the song started to take off? Who knows. But it is unlikely to slow down its trajectory any time soon.
The top five finalists were voted on by Apra's 10,000 members in August from a long list of 20 decided by a judging panel (all of whom are significant APRA writer member themselves) - voting started on July 25 and closed August 18, and that list of five finalists was announced on 12 September.
Lorde's speech [watch] was warm and goofy: "What's cool about this is I'm so new to this, and everyone has really accepted me, which is awesome." Then Joel had a brief natter, saying that it took him ten years to get on that stage, and Lorde did it in ten months. He also said to her "the scary part of it is you definitely haven't written your best song." The winner gets to keep the Silver Scroll trophy for 11 months, and a $5000 prize.
I observed Little doing an endless string of interviews in the media room before the event, with Lorde and manager standing 6 feet away, back to the media. I saw a journalist approach them and get rebuffed - Lorde is not doing any interviews tonight. And then at one point, Lorde turned around, pointed at Little and laughed, and then went back to her company. Watching her boy do all the work. Answering the same questions over and over, And people wonder why she doesn't want to do media.
Then we had the closing number. I heard a whisper about this a few weeks ago, and I couldn't really quite believe it was gonna happen. Hats off to whoever pulled this off.
The closing act was,... Sisters Underground, doing In The Neighbourhood, their big hit from 1994 [watch]. With a choir. It was so freaking rad. People jumping up and dancing all over the arena. And Greg Semu's video playing behind them, with scenes of South Auckland playing out. What a blinder of a finish.
This year and last year, I noticed a trend is starting to emerge - the calibre of the presentation and performances around the NZ Music Hall of Fame inductees seem to be so high now that they are overshadowing the awards, to a certain extent.
This is also happening with the NZ Music Awards - see the level of excitement generated around Toy Love's induction last year. It's a fascinating problem to have. The outcome may be that it makes everyone raise their game across other areas of the awards, to meet this. And that can only be a good thing.
ADDED MC for the evening Dai Henwood, filled in some time mid-show by asking the house band to improvise some music based on his random descriptions, watch house and member Sam Allen's video here.
Via NZ Herald - Dave Dobbyn's induction, in full, below...
CALIBRO 35 has established themselves as one of the coolest alternative bands on the international scene, releasing 3 full length albums and gained a bunch of enthusiastic followers worldwide.
"Calibro 35 are the most fascinating, retro-maniac and genuine thing, that's happened to Italy in the last few years..." Rolling Stone Magazine
Their new allbum "Traditori di Tutti" is out October 21 on Record Kicks, including a ltd edition transparent vinyl LP. Here's the single off it. Also on 45. Watch the video of the single below... madcap antics with the master tape...
Dave Dobbyn’s induction into the New Zealand Music Hall of Fame is on tonight, as part of the Apra Silver Scrolls awards. The NZ Herald will be streaming the event, watch it live this evening here.
Here's an interview I digitised from 1995 (off Frenzy), with Dobbyn talking about his album Twist, his first since moving home from Australia after a decade away. Dobbyn talks about working with Neil Finn, who produced the album. Like Finn, Dobbyn was working through on reconnecting with his homeland, and making sense of his place here.
Photo via Audioculture
Back in 1984 Russell Brown was a journalist at Rip It Up magazine, and his reporting on the Queen St riot is here (scans one and two). He's written a piece for Audioculture recalling those events, with great photos from Murray Cammick and Bryan Staff. Dobbyn's band DD Smash was playing when the riot kicked off. He was accused by Police of inflaming the crowd with his alleged comments from the stage. There's a transcript of a tape recording of that on Audioculture too.
Dobbyn ended up getting hauled in front of the courts over the riot. He told NZ Herald's Greg Dixon the case cost him $12,000 in lawyer's fees. His lawyer was Peter Williams.
Russell writes "... The truth was that although he said one thing he still regrets, the Queen Street riot was not Dave Dobbyn's fault. Alcohol certainly played a major part (laws on public drinking were changed as a consequence). So did an unruly public mood that had grown during the Springbok tour and brewed in the dying days of the Muldoon government.
But, overwhelmingly, the cause of the riot was a series of disastrous decisions by the police. A dark era of policing – the one of Gideon Tait's team policing units and their provocative raids on pubs where bands played – met its end in disaster. My reporting later went to the commission of inquiry on the riot, where I gather it was of interest.
Christmas of 1984, at a barbecue at my parents' place in Upper Hutt, I was talking to a senior Māori policeman, a friend of the family.
"So," my dad piped up, "Russell says you guys blew it at Aotea Square." I cringed and inwardly cursed my father for raising it.
"Yeah," said the policeman, sadly, looking at us both. "We did."
Ripper Records' Bryan Staff (top right) taking photos in Queen Street - Photo by Bruce Jarvis, via Audioculture
This Wellington combo led by Lucien Johnson, dropped their splendid debut on Economy Records (home to The Yoots/Lord Echo) back in 2010. Jakarta Records in Germany picked it up and pressed it on vinyl. That album was a blend of the music of East Africa, The Caribbean and the Indian Subcontinent. Ethio jazz, afrobeat, and soca. It's a great listen.
"Following on from triumphant gigs at WOMAD and Wellington’s State Opera House, Shogun Orchestra are back on the road to celebrate the release of their second album ‘Black Lotus’.
Described as “a musical odyssey, which roams the planet in search of lost and exotic melodies”, their first release made major waves in Europe after being licensed to Berlin label Jakarta Records. Shogun’s ‘Bamako’ was play-listed on influential Paris station Radio Nova and was selected for inclusion on their prestigious compilation ‘Nova Tunes 2.6’.
The new album is a unique blend of simmering funk, mysterious melodies and references to ancient samurai culture.
The 10 piece band showcases the talents of sizzling hot Venezuelan born vocalist Jennifer Zea, along with a first rate lineup of Wellington musicians, assembled by composer and saxophonist Lucien Johnson (also of the Black Seeds).
As reviewer Nick Bollinger put it, Shogun Orchestra’s music is "beautiful, celebratory, uplifting, with grooves that seem to wrap themselves around the world".
Via Vanguard Red: " ‘Journey’ is the lead single off Orchestra of Spheres second album Vibration Animal Sex Brain Music, due for release in November via Sound Explorers and Fire Records.
Recorded to 24 track tape at Outside Inside Studios in Italy during Orchestra of Spheres 70+ date 2012 European tour, Vibration Animal Sex Brain Music builds on and develops their ancient future funk aesthetics, folding garage rock sonics into the mix, and capturing this hyperminded collective in the white hot heat of the moment."
"Just in time for Halloween, Wah Wah 45s unleash a splendidly spooky seven incher from Brighton's very own answer to Lee "Scratch" Perry, the one and only Richie Phoe. Released October 14th 2013 (7"vinyl/digital).
His take on the Jacko classic is a brutally bass worrying dance floor dub delight, complete with sinister sound effects and cackles galore!
On the flip, Richie gives Leon Haywood's much sampled classic, "I Want'a Do Something Freaky To You" the deathly dub treatment too – look out for those pertifying piano licks.
Richie Phoe's trademark reggae productions have garnered attention from tastemakers and DJs alike. In 2008 Richie released the critically lauded "Eye on the Prize EP", featuring UK reggae legend Tippa Irie. The following year he dropped a 7"covering Isaac Hayes'tune Bumpy's Lament, and his debut album Echo Outernational dropped in 2012.
Richie's first forays into the world of music production began on his Amiga 500, back in the early '90s; by 1999 he'd progressed to an MPC 2000 and began making his own beats, inspired by the likes of De La Soul and D.I.T.C. As his style progressed he started collecting reggae vinyl and began DJing at reggae and hip-hop nights weekly in clubs and bars in Portsmouth."
Featured tracks are: Sandi Sheldon - You're Gonna Make Me Love You Earl Jackson - Soul Self Satisfaction The Exciters - Blowing Up My Mind The Precisions - If This Is Love Major Lance - The Beat The Vel-Vets - I Got To Find Me Somebody Edwin Starr - Time Frankie Valli and The Four Seasons - The Night Duke Browner - Crying Over You The Parliaments - I Wanna Testify The Vibrations - Cause You're Mine 7th Avenue Aviators (AKA Frankie Karl & The Chevrons) - You Should O' Held On Turley Richards - I Feel Alright Mel Britt - She'll Come Running Back Dobie Gray - Out On The Floor The Salvadors - Stick By Me Baby The Carstairs - It Really Hurts Me Girl Jimmy Radcliffe - Long After Tonight Is All Over Holly St James - That's Not Love Gene Chandler - There Was A Time Gloria Jones - Tainted Love The Jades - I'm Where It's At Tobi Legend - Time Will Pass You By
PLUSBBC's Paul Mason talks northern, from Jan 2012. "While following Paul Masons (BBC Newsnight) twitter feed, I noticed amongst all the "current affairs" type tweets one or two comments/connections that could be taken as northern soul related, which at the time made me look twice, but didnt really give it that much thought.
After seeing last week that he had tweeted a youtube link of the Carstairs, this again stirred my interest and led to me replying to his tweet asking if he was up for passing on a quick word or two on his northern background (so to speak).
Anyway Paul replied seemingly well up for it and within a few days he passed on the following set of words all about his northern background, which also included a photo of himself back at Ms, which is a lot more than I originally expected!"
Lord Echo - Miracle dance Kashmere stage band - Superstrut - Kenny Dope remix Julien Dyne - Rice and beans Sola rosa - Never too far feat Georgia Anne Muldrow Calibro 35 - Vendetta Marcia Griffiths - Feel like jumping The Maytals - Night and day Tommy McCook - Beirut Lee Thompson ska orchestra - Hello Josephine Skatalites - Exodus Jose James - Desire - Moodymann remix Fulgeance - Tribute to Masekela Eru Dangerspiel - Chilli moules Jackie Studemire - Invisible wind - Shoes edit Willie Bobo - La descarga del Bobo - MAW remix Mantronix - Scream Mr Magic and positive choice band - 2001 kazoos Fatback band - Wicky wacky Sharon Jones and the Dapkings - Better things Mar-keys - Last night East side symphony - Hot pants road
Zo - Sugar blues Ross McHenry - Distant oceans ptII Hackney colliery band - Superhero disco Tom tom club - Genius of love Herbie Mann - Spirit in the dark Hector Lavoe - Mi gente
It's been another big week for Kiwi pop star Lorde. Here song Royals is still sitting at #1, for the second week in a row on the US charts. She has two releases in the Billboard Top 200 albums, Pure Heroine and Love Club EP.
Her song Royals was covered by some street urchins in a tv ad for Samsung, featuring football star Lionel Messi. He uses Samsung's latest technology to demolish a building in the slums and create a playing field for the grateful urchins. Apparently the ad is inspired by Messi's own charitable foundation doing similar work.
The reaction online to Royals featuring in a tv ad right after it topped the US singles chart was lively, to say the least. Many online commenters were turned off by what looked like a sudden grab of a pop hit from Samsung, although Billboard quoted an ad exec saying they estimated the music was signed off in late July, well before Royals headed up the charts.
The comments on that post suggest that Patel has a long history of taking any opportunity to slam Samsung. Is he trolling, or does he have a point? He also mentioned on Twitter that it's "particularly bad timing for Samsung as Royals is currently under fire for being racist." Let's not go down into that particular cesspit.
The Verge's followup piece talked to the ad's director, Adam Hashemi... "Choosing a song proved difficult, and Hashemi makes it sound as though one wasn't selected until late into production. His team considered tracks ranging from David Bowie's "Starman" to Johnny Mercer's "Ac-Cent-Tchu-Ate the Positive." When they finally landed on "Royals," it only had 2 million views on YouTube, he says, and wasn't yet a hit single, although they saw potential. Now, it's at closer to 28 million, and sits atop the Billboard Hot 100. Hashemi isn't sure if Lorde ever saw and approved her song's use in the ad, but a licensing team did clear it."
So, will Lorde cash in on this ad? Her co-writer, Joel Little, has a publishing deal with Sony ATV, and Lorde is yet to sign a publishing deal. Her record company probably won't get any income from the ad, as they have used their own recording of the song, not the original recording. Lorde's publishing will have been done thru AMCOS, in lieu of a publishing company. [Updated Nov 14 2013 - Lorde has signed a publishing dealwith Songs Music, possibly worth about US$4M].
Will the exposure in the Samsung ad hurt her or help her? Simon Grigg (OMC's label) says if the ad only has a short run, then it will help ingrain the song, but if it has a long run, it will become known as the song from the Samsung ad, which may be offputting to radio.
Grigg says "most radio will not want to play a song that is seen to be endorsing a brand." Her future income will be from publishing, and that is linked to airplay. Grigg says when OMC's album came out it sold 1.5 million copies and made it to #39 in the US charts, but that was back when albums were still selling in big numbers. Lorde's album sold 127,000 copies in it's first week, which Grigg described as soft sales.
Meanwhile, she's started doing more interviews, as her album gets released in various parts of the globe. The Guardian's Alex Petridis talked to her, ahead of her album's UK release on Oct 28.
"... Interviewing an international pop sensation while their mum hovers in the background is a slightly odd experience, but then, as Yelich-O'Connor points out, she shouldn't really be here herself. She should be back home in New Zealand, in Davenport [sic], a suburb of Auckland that's apparently known locally as the Bubble – "because it's so insular and closed off from everything" – and which she describes, winningly, as "the kind of suburb that people make movies about, there's quite weird mums everywhere".
ADDED 31 October 2013 - Lorde is on her 5th straight week in a row at #1 on the US singles chart -she posted this on Twitter today - "@billboard: .@lordemusic #Royals crowns the #Hot100 for a fifth week: http://blbrd.co/1aDPEtw ” - soon they'll run out of puns.' Royals has just hit #1 on the UK singles chart too.
She and her co-writer Joel Little recently won her first award, the APRA Silver Scroll, for songwriting. Read more about that night here.
It's a fascinating backgrounder on Ella and her family life. Why is she so assured onstage for a newcomer? That will be eight years of doing drama classes. Originally published in Metro magazine, the story is now available online in full at FasterLouder.
There are approximately six million covers/remixes/mashups of Royals floating round the internet right now, here's the funkiest one. Hat tip to Murray Cammick for the above clip. Video info says "Two of the guys playing on Royals (Window & Rooster) are in a southern-fried-voodoo-funk band named "Harvey Knows A Killer". They are hard at work on their debut album, check them out at the following link"... http://www.indiegogo.com/projects/harvey-s-debut-album-fund. The Rekkids on Facebook
On Tuesday November 5th 2013, Lorde was in New York, performing at the MOMA for an event honouring Tilda Swinton. See the photo below...
The next day was Lorde's 17th birthday (in NZ) - she was still in New York, a day behind on the dateline. She wrote about that over on her Tumblr, read that here... she reflects on her previous birthday , which "...fell in the middle of exam revision but a bunch of my friends came over anyway to eat cake and ruffle my hair and talk about pokemon. Weirdos..."
One of my favourite remixes of a local tune is Bic Runga's Something Good, remixed by the Submariner (Andy Morton). It appeared as a bonus track on Bic's CD single for Something Good way back in 2002.
The Submariner is responsible for several hugely important records here, including early groundbreaking work by the likes of hiphop MCs like King Kapisi, Che Fu, and Ermehn. He had contributed keys, programming, and engineering to a few tracks on Bic Runga’s 2002 album Beautiful Collision. Read more about him over at Audioculture.
In 2004 he produced Break It To Pieces, the critically acclaimed debut album by Kas Futialo, aka Tha Feelstyle - he raps in Samoan and English on this album. Kas had previously worked under the name The Field Style Orator, and featured on this remix billed as that.
Submariner has also done some great remixes for Mark de Clive Lowe, Julien Dyne, Rhombus, Che Fu, Nathan Haines, Recloose, and more - check the Soundcloud tunes here.
I've been wanting to put this remix on Youtube for a while, and then recently I saw Robyn Gallagher write about Bic's video for the original song, as part of her fantastic 5000 Ways project, reviewing every NZ On Air music video - go take a look if you haven't seen this site.
I had an idea. I grabbed a copy of the video, chopped and hacked it up on an ancient iMac and found an old video of The Field Style Orator and included a few grabs from that. Added some breakdancing, cause it's about time Bic had some b-boy action in one of her videos. Kidding. Love your, work Bic. Please don't sue me.
If you missed the Audiocultue talk at the Auckland Library last week, here's the audio - featuring Audioculture's Simon Grigg, Murray Cammick, and Steve Shaw.
Press Release: The full list of finalists for the Technical Awards at the 48th annual Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards is:
Best Producer Fat Freddy’s Drop for Fat Freddy’s Drop – ‘Blackbird’ Sam McCarthy, Jaden Parkes, Jordan Arts for Kids of 88 – ‘Modern Love’ Shapeshifter and the Upbeats for Shapeshifter – Delta The Phoenix Foundation / Lee Prebble / Brett Stanton for The Phoenix Foundation – Fandango
Best Engineer Brett Stanton / Lee Prebble / The Phoenix Foundation for The Phoenix Foundation – Fandango Lee Prebble for Iva Lamkum – Black Eagle Neil Baldock for Eden Mullholand – Feed the Beast
Best Album Cover Gina Kiel and Harry A’Court for Fat Freddy’s Drop – Blackbird Heather Liddell for Strahan – Posters Nick Keller for Beastwars – Blood Becomes Fire
The winners of the Technical Awards are revealed at VNZMA Finalists Announcement at The Pullman Auckland on 22 October.
The line-up for this year’s Hallensteins Brothers Critics’ Choice Showcase and the 2013 New Zealand Herald Legacy Award recipient is also being unveiled at the event.
MORE: Recorded Music NZ announces the Technical Award finalists for the 2013 Vodafone NZ Music Awards.
The Technical Award finalists for the 48th annual Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards have been announced by Recorded Music NZ shining the spotlight on Kiwi music’s backstage-professionals.
The 2013 finalist line-up includes a mix of previous winners and finalists as well as several multi-talented artists who have worked behind the scenes on the technical side of their albums.
Renowned indie rock band The Phoenix Foundation dominates the call-up with nominations in the Best Engineer and Best Producer categories.
The Wellington-formed band shares its nomination with Brett Stanton and Lee Prebble who worked with them on their fifth album, Fandango. The album debuted at number four on the Official NZ Music Charts.
Lee Prebble demonstrates his noted engineering skills with a second solo nomination for his work on Iva Lamkum’s album Black Eagle.
Neil Baldock also joins the Best Engineer line up and he’s no stranger to the limelight. In his 23 years of engineering Neil has clocked up some stellar achievements, including working with iconic Kiwi music stars Fred Dagg, Che Fu, Nathan Haines and Flight of the Conchords. Neil also took out the award for Best Engineer last year.
Shapeshifter and Fat Freddy’s Drop continue the theme of bands recognised for their technical work on their own albums.
Shapeshifter and the Upbeats are finalists in the Best Producer category for Shapeshifter’s album Delta. Fat Freddy’s Drop joins them in the Best Producer line-up for the Blackbird album.
Blackbird also features in the Best Album Cover category with designers Gina Kiel & Harry A’Court nabbing a spot.
Recorded Music NZ chief executive Damian Vaughan says: “It’s important to recognise the very special talents of the skilled technicians who bring the music to life and we have a fantastic line up this year. Congratulations to all the finalists.”
"There's good news to report regarding Sharon Jones, the vocalist of the Brooklyn-based soul ensemble the Dap-Kings, who was diagnosed with stage-one bile-duct cancer in June. According to a press release, Jones is "doing much better" and the band plans to release its postponed album "Give the People What They Want" January 14 2014 via Daptone.
Jones and the Dap-Kings also announced plans for a return to the stage, as they're set to play New York's Beacon Theater Feb. 6.
Last month, Jones announced she was recovering in upstate New York following a successful surgery in June to remove the cancer. In August, she began a six-month regimen of chemotherapy.
“The entire Daptone Family is overjoyed and inspired to see Sharon’s recovery,” says the band’s bassist and bandleader Bosco Mann, via a news post on the band's official site. “Without a doubt, this album is the greatest thing we’ve ever recorded and I’ve been anxious for the world to hear it. Everything will culminate in February at the Beacon. That moment when Sharon walks out to join us on stage again is going to be insane.” Via Billboard
From Daptone: "This past spring, we had just announced the August release of Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings’ Give the People What They Want when Sharon Jones was diagnosed with cancer.
The scheduled release and supporting tours were immediately put on hold and all efforts were quickly shifted to her treatment and recovery. It brings great joy and relief to announce that after a successful operation, ongoing treatment, and the continued support and love of friends, family, and fans, Sharon Jones is back. Give the People What They Want is scheduled to drop January 14th, 2014, followed by Sharon Jones & the Dap-Kings’ triumphant return to the stage on February 6th at the Beacon Theater in New York City, their first show in nearly a year. Ticketing information will be available soon."
Give The People What They Want tracklisting 1. Retreat! 2. Stranger To My Happiness 3. We Get Along 4. You'll Be Lonely 5. Now I See 6. Making Up And Breaking Up (And Making Up And Breaking Up Over Again) 7. Get Up And Get Out 8. Long Time, Wrong Time 9. People Don't Get What They Deserve 10. Slow Down, Love
ALLO LOVE VOLUME THREE - COMPILED BY STAC featuring The London Bulgarian Choir, Natural Self, Matthew Halsall, Hejira and more.. out now.
"Amidst the fervent anticipation of the release of Stac's long awaited second album (due in the spring of 2014) our favourite soulful songstress has found the time to gather together ten of her favourite pieces of contemporary music for your delictation, in the shape of the third instalment of the "Allo Love" series.
Stac is a real music lover (not a fighter) and her selection exemplifies the breadth of her knowledge, and her perfectly pitched taste.
A sonorous collection, it kicks off in grandiose style with music from The London Bulgarian Choir, no less, and remains in deep musical waters with the Matthew Herbert produced Hejira, trumpeter and friend Matthew Halsall and close contemporaries, Natural Self and Blue Daisy.
You'll also find a quartet of cherry picked Wah Wah 45s nuggets, with music from The Gene Dudley Group, Henri-Pierre Noel, Lea Lea and Scrimshire fitting perfectly into Stac's personal soundtrack, and the latter's cut also featuring the lady herself on fine vocal form.
Finally, Stac duets on the stunning downtempo "Delight" from the mysterious William Sommers. We think you'll find "Delight" sums this compilation up perfectly. Enjoy."
