A little bit of...

I'm all done and dusted with 2013, time to split - cheers for your support over the past year. Share the love.

Rakinos shuts down

Rakinos. Photo:Flickr/Wonderferret

Long-standing Auckland venue Rakinos confirmed reports yesterday that it was shutting down. The High St venue has been in operation since 1991, opening with distinctive tables cut out of iron to mimic the shapes of all the islands in Auckland's Hauraki Gulf.

The cafe/venue has been thru several incarnations, boasting live music and DJs across the musical spectrum. I remember seeing a very early version of The Brunettes play live there, and also host numerous jazz acts. In recent years it has mutated into a hiphop venue, with noted DJs such as Dylan C establishing the long-running Loop Sessions, among many others.

It is the last venue in High St, dating back to the 1990s when that area had a range of spots with soul - from The Box/Cause Celebre nightclubs, to Rosinis restaurant, to Escape bar, to De Bretts... it's hard to believe High St ever had soul, looking at it these days.

Rakinos' Andy JV says on Facebook that "We have slowly and gradually found the going harder and harder to sustain, especially in the last two years - a non-renewable lease on a building that requires earthquake strengthening, the increasingly growing number of bars in our city.. the fight just got away from us and at the end of the day, our pockets simply aren't deep enough compared to some of the bigger groups to keep growing the brand and maintain a competitive edge. That, and we have done 13 years maintaining the business in the Auckland scene as shareholders - sometimes, you simply just get tired..." He also pointed to increased competition from Britomart bars.

Meanwhile, in Wellington, popular live venue San Francisco Bathhouse celebrates for the final time this year on New Years Eve, as they close down. ADDED: The venue will close for about two months, for repairs. Earlier this year the venue’s capacity was halved from 500 to 250 after receiving a complaint regarding fire safety requirements via the Wellington City Council.

"It's the first step towards getting the capacity back up to what it used to be. There are strong indications [getting it back to 500] is going to be possible, but there are few more things to achieve there. The building also require s earthquake strengthening." Source.

ADDED April 12 2014: Former co-owner Andy JV posted the photo below on Facebook, of the current state of the former Rakinos space - now converted to generic office space....

Adults vs orchestra

This cool gig is happening 30th January, featuring material off The Adults debut album, and some new pieces - maybe Shayne Carter might preview something off his forthcoming piano-based album... go on, Shayne! When you gonna get another chance to rock out with an orchestra, bro?

Adults meet the APO
Conductor Hamish McKeich; The Adults - Jon Toogood, Julia Deans, Shayne Carter and Steve Bremner, plus Ladi6 and Anika Moa.
"New Zealand supergroup The Adults, led by Shihad bandleader Jon Toogood and featuring Julia Deans from Fur Patrol, are no strangers to collaboration. In this innovative concert in the new acoustics of the Aotea Centre, The Adults join ranks with the APO, adding the power of orchestration to their unmistakable sound.

Alongside hits including ‘Nothing to Lose’, 'A Part of Me' and ‘One Million Ways’, The Adults present new ensemble pieces accompanied by full orchestra, with special guest appearances by Anika Moa and Ladi6.

From meditative and melodic to high-octane drama, this meld of band plus orchestra brings you contemporary New Zealand music at its best."

First Word Recs xmas goodies

Free download from the nice folk at First Word Records. Features some cool cats like Souleance, Ross McHenry, Riot Jazz Brass Band and more.

"The 10th instalment of our Two Syllables Compilation series. This is our Christmas gift to all of you who have made 2013 such a memorable year for us at First Word. Every artist who released something on the label this year is included, with tracks from Teotima, The Fontanelles, Tall Black Guy, Comfort Fit, Frameworks, Yosi Horikawa, Ross McHenry and Souleance. We also have a couple of new tracks from Essa and Riot Jazz Brass Band (look out for more music from both of them in 2014), and tracks from a couple of artists from our extended family in the shape of Sleepin' Giant and Strangelove."

Ring The Alarm playlist, Basefm, Dec 21

Lord Echo - Put it inside my head
Wally Badarou - Hi life
George Duke -Percussion interlude - Jeremy Sole edit
Dub traffik control - Fresh prince of babylon
The Orb feat Lee Scratch Perry - Hold me upsetter
Loopless - Pink blue hotel
Nathan Haines - Sonovabitch
Ramsey Lewis - Back in the USSR
Charles Wright - Doing what comes naturally
Betty Davis - Anti love song
The Tennors - Ride your donkey
The Pioneers - Trouble deh a bush
Lee Thompson ska orchestra - Napoleon  solo
Cheryl Lynn vs Kool Keith - Got2blarge
Ladi6 - Diamonds - Oddisee remix
James Brown - Santa Claus goes straight to the ghetto
Electric jungle - Funky funky christmas
Souleance - Mais um
Shriekback - All lined up - disco mix
Aretha Franklin - I am in love - Cutec edit
Jose James - Blackmagic - Joy Orbison's recreation
U-Roy and Francois K - Rootsman
Beat pharmacy feat Paul St Hilaire - Sunshine
Robert Glasper Experiment -Twice - Questlove's twice baked remix

Picassos at Wine Cellar this saturday

"Come Celebrate one of the wildest most liberating holidays of all Time The Wine Cellar & Whammy Bar are opening their doors together one last time in 2013 for festive madness. The Legendary Hallelujah Picassos joined by Wilberforces, Storehouse Blues with Harkness Tofu's Loud Ghost and Chris Cudby's new Power Nap project. other random acts of musical madness are bound to take place. "

Saturnalia, featuring Hallelujah Picassos, Wilberforces, Storehouse Blues with Harkness Tofu's Loud Ghost and Chris Cudby's new project Power Nap
The Wine Cellar & Whammy Bar, Saturday Dec 21, $10, 8pm

Lord Echo - Digital haircutz

Form Bastard Jazz Recordings: "Wig out" to this cheeky video for Lord Echo's digital haircut done by our neighbour & compatriot Navarro Stark, featuring a lovely cast of 1970's mannequins, meandering lips and flying afros."

on Bastard Jazz: http://bastardjazz.bandcamp.com/album/curiosities

Ring The Alarm playlist, Basefm, Dec 14

Shoes - El bantu
Liberators - Water somewhere
DJ Shinya - Nigerian reggae edit
Lord Echo - Molten lava
Junior Murvin and the Upsetters - Get ready - Bongo mix
Joe Tex and U-Black - Standardization
Jimmy London - I'm your puppet
Fat Freddys Drop - Hope -Sonsine remix
King Errison - Conga man
DJ Nu-Mark feat Aloe Blacc, Charles Bradley - Don't play around
Quantic - Linda Morena
Liquid crystal project  -Tribute to Dilla
Eddie Senay - Cameo
War -World is a ghetto - special US disco mix
Ariya astrobeat arkestra - Crosstown traffic
Onra - The anthem
Son palenque - Palenque palenque
Prince Charles and the City Beat Band - Cash (cash money)
Cameo - I just want to be
Prince and 3rd eye girl - Da bourgeoisie
Ladi6 - Diamonds - Oddisee remix
Dub traffik control - Fresh prince of babylon
Blood sisters - Ring my bell
DLT feat Mighty Asterix - One love
Adrian Sherwood - Zero zero one

Reva DeVito & Roane Namuh / HOT16

Some cool disco boogie remix ish plus some space beats...

"HOT16 and Roane Namuh's new digital and split 7” single bridges the gap between two other great releases on Liquid Beat Records, Reva DeVito and Roane Namuh’s “Cloudshine Deluxe” digital and vinyl LP, and the forthcoming 6 song LP by producer HOT16 entitled “1983”.

The two beatsmiths swapped remixes from each other’s projects to give each song a unique twist indicative of their respective sounds.

Side A finds HOT16 reworking Reva & Roane’s jazzy “C(h)ampagne” into a Modern Funk floor filler that will no doubt be a DJ favourite.

Side AA has Roane Namuh applying his signature soulful boom-bap sounds to the collaborative effort from HOT16 and up and coming Hip-Hop artist MC Melodee and their ode to love entitled “Falling”.

Run DMC

 
2013 is the 30th anniversary of the recording debut of Run-DMC. The release of “It’s Like That/Sucker MCs,” dropped on March 12, 1983. Then there's “Hard Times/Jam Master Jay,” which dropped on December 11th, 1983. RIP Jam Master Jay.

Nasty Jawns

Following up Mixed Jawns... "The smallest of professors has struck again with his newest entry into the 'Jawns' series, an ode to freaky thangs. Inspired by 9th Wonder's remix of Amerie's "Why Don't We Fall In Love" & random RJD2 vocal edits, NJ is mainly a continuation of a section of Small Professor's "Cool Story, Pro" album...the part of the story about sexy times, that is.

"On this short release, Marvin from "Sexual Healing" and Marvin from "Let's Get It On" are paired, as well as Isaac Hayes x Jodeci & Drake x Ron Isley...all combining to form a project that's absurd, funky, blasphemous...but most of all, nasty."

Scalper: new single

Dark, moody new track from Scalper, name your price over on Bandcamp, have a listen.

Ring The Alarm playlist, Basefm, Dec 7

Reuben Wilson - Got to get your own
Milton Hamilton -We have all the time - Danny Kriivit edit
Chic - Open up
Charles Wright and the Watts 103rd st rhythm band - Loveland
Sly and the Family Stone -You can make it if you try
Archie Bell and the Drells - A thousand wonders
Sister Sledge - Love dont you go thru no changes on me
Loraine Ellison  - Got my baby back
Esther Phillips - Just say goodbye
Ella Fitzgerald - get ready
Joanie Sommers - Dont pity me
Mark Williams - Yesterday was just the beginning of my life
Dalvanius and the Fascinations - Love train
OJays - 992 arguments
Erykah Badu  -Baglady
Nona Hendryx - B-boys
Electric wire hustle - Numbers and steel
Souleance -Mais um
Yellow magic orchestra - Comupter games
Kevvy Kev - Higher dread
Lord Echo - Bohemian idol
Busy signal - Well prepared
Lee Perry and the upsetters - Big neck cut
Junior Murvin - Roots, train, Police and thieves
Lee Perry - Jungle youth - Congo natty remix
Jose James - Desire - Moodymann remix
Andrew Ashong and Theo Parrish - Flowers

RIP Junior Murvin

Via The NME: "Reggae artist Junior Murvin has passed away at the age of 67.

The Jamaica Observer writes that the singer died at the Port Antonio Hospital in Portland earlier this morning (December 2). Best known for the Lee 'Scratch' Perry produced 1976 single 'Police and Thieves', Murvin - real name Murvin Junior Smith - was apparently suffering from advanced stage diabetes at the time of his death.

The 1977 album 'Police and Thieves' was Murvin's LP debut and saw him backed by The Upsetters. He released his last studio album, 'World Cry', in 1995. The Clash covered the song 'Police and Thieves' on their 1977 debut album. Scroll down to hear Murvin's original version, as performed on Top Of The Pops."

The Guardian: Junior Murvin has died but the story of Police and Thieves lives on

"... The tune was the soundtrack to the Notting Hill carnival in the summer it was released, 1976. The perfect groove for a hot and sticky August bank holiday on the streets of west London.

Eerily, the record had been pumping out of sound systems and shebeens in London W10 and W11 postcodes in the days and hours before the community tensions of the time erupted in an all-out battle between (predominantly) black youth and the (predominantly) white police on the streets of Ladbroke Grove. Everywhere you went for the following few
weeks – parties, blues dances and even university student unions – the tune was being rinsed out like it was the pick of the pops.

Every young rebel seemed to have a copy. Joe Strummer and his bandmates included. Even though John Peel had been playing Murvin for months, it was the Clash's version on their debut album that would turn the song into a punk anthem. Strummer told me he preferred Murvin's original. It was one of his favourite records..."

LISTEN: Police and Thieves original,  then Junior Murvin's versioning of the same riddim with Cool Out Son, and another great tune off the album, Roots Train. A classic reggae album you must own. 

NZ Soul All Dayer #3

NZ Soul All Dayer #3: Christmas 2013 Edition. What a wicked lineup!Privileged to be playing it. From midday, Saturday 7 December, at the Golden Dawn.

Featuring... Jennifer Zea and Bobby Brazuka (Latinaotearoa) (PA set), and there's gonna be a record swap too. Free entry before 6pm, $5 after 6.

Set times below...
Midday - Tido
1pm - Kirsty Hargreaves
2pm - Morgan Hammond
3pm - Scott Towers
4pm - Peter McLennan
5pm - Sene
6pm - Simon Grigg
7pm - Bevan Keys
8pm - Matthew Crawley, Tina Turntables & DJ Automatic
9pm - Gene Rivers
10pm - Jennifer Zea with Bobby Brazuka
11pm - Campbell Ngata
12am - Jay Jeffrey
1am - Kris Holmes

Florelie Escano vs Lotek

Tasty reggae rework by Lotek of a song written and perfromed by Australian soul singer Florelie Escano. The original is called "The Liberating Kind". Free download at http://florelie.bandcamp.com/track/the-liberating-kind-remix-riddim-by-lotek

Mimika - space jazz

Here's something delightfully twisted. Balkan space jazz outta London via Mars. Check it.

Some info from the band - "Mimika is set somewhere in Outer Space, but realises its dreams in London (UK). It is a 16 piece balkan space orchestra (big band for the youth, a mixture of Sun Ra, Duke Ellington, Balkan Folk Music and Urban Hip Hop alongside everything else) run by the young composer Mak Murtić and involving a multicultural group of humans. The band is currently presenting a new project about a future Martian civilisation of humans and Earth's society collapse.

Mimika has performed on the London Jazz Festival 2012, The London Olympic Festivals, Pizza Express Jazz Club, Richmix, Hootananny's, The Bussey Building and other venues in London, UK as well as Croatia."

Teotima

From First Word Records... "We're proud to announce the debut album from 14-piece spiritual jazz ensemble Teotima.

Formed by guitarist-composer Greg Sanders, the album blends grooves from West Africa, Cuba and Brazil, adding the sensibility of classic American soul and funk. As an intrinsically live project, all the individual band members were key to the project and their improvisation is a central part of the album. 

Recorded live at London's Fishmarket Studios under the watchful eye of engineer Ben 'Nostalgia 77' Lamdin, the record achieves a synchronicity that only this kind of old-fashioned approach can produce.

You can check out the album teaser below, and the video for lead-track 'Orange Lamps' (as debuted on Okay Player affiliate site 'Revive') here.

Band-leader Greg has also put together an influences mix over at our Mixcloud page, you can find that here. Most importantly you can listen to, and buy the album right here. It's available on vinyl, CD and download. Londoners can see what is sure to be a rare live show at the stunning Wilton's Music Hall on December 10th. Details of that are here."

Ladi6 remixed by Oddisee

Remix of one of my fave cuts off the outstanding album Automatic from Ladi6 (features production by Parks, Wajeed).