Tuesday, January 31, 2006

Sound of silence
Via Coolfer.. "The Rambler Blog has a long (long, long) list of music-related deaths in 2005. Well known names are on the list (Lou Rawls, Link Wray, Robert Moog) but more relatively known ones such composer Robert Wright, Chet Helms (Janis Joplin' promoter), and Afgani pop star Nasrat Parsa."

On the same theme, Smacked Face hinted about her top 5 list "Lest we forget, music heroes who went to the big gig in the sky 05" in the latest Remix mag (very pricey) which looked like this...
1 Robert Moog, 2 Lyn Collins, 3 Luther vandross, 4 Ibrahim Ferrer, 5 Willie Hutch plus honourable mention for service above and beyond etc: Hunter S Thompson.

ADDED: Mikey Dread and Channel One Sound System at Big Day Out - Fakes!!!
Just got this email from the real Mikey Dread. Seems the Mikey Dread on the BDO tour is an imposter...


Greetings,

This is Mikey Dread/ Dread At The Controls www.mikeydread.com


I would like you and others over there to be notified that someone is out there using Mikey Dread- from /Channel One Sound UK claiming that he ,is me, Mikey Dread , Michael Campbell, Dread At The Controls the artist, producer, and radio pioneer and deliberately tricking innocent people, fans and promoters with my stolen identity as a international reggae artist.Please be advised Mikey Dread from Channel One sound is NOT me, the original, Dread At The Controls.Preview www.mikeydread.com


I have had emails from the UK, Australia and NZ from my fans who were mislead by the advertising of this FAKE MIKEY DREAD FROM LONDON, going around and using my name as if he was me, and cashing in on this identity theft.

I respect you guys and would appreciate that you make public the distinction that Michael Campbell, Mikey Dread- Dread At The Controls is not the same as Mikey Dread from Channel One Sound from the UK.This needs to be addressed today.A lot of times promoters knowingly or un-knowingly refer to my bio for him and make false claims using my accomplishments in reggae and this has become overbearing. Some people actually go to the event then email me that
they were tricked.

Firstly I live in the USA this guy is a rip off using my name illegally to get out there and continues to con people.

I have warned them already and they continue now its gone too far and must stop.

I am making sure you and your associates have been notified by me as it is illegal for anyone to steal another persons identity and is punishable by law.

I will handle that part myself as this has to stop this year and clear the air on all doubts and he will have to pay damages for his illicit behavior and intent to defraud me of all clients who booked him thinking that thy were really booking the original Mikey Dread.

Thanks

Mikey Dread
Ring The Alarm playlist, BaseFM, Saturday January 28
Romanowski - Flatpicker
Junior Dan - Yanks and ises
Cedric im Brooks - Mun dun go
Hugh Masekela - Languta
Fabulous Counts - Lunar funk
Sound providers - No time inst
Chezedek - Dem a fight we
Son Sine feat D.E.W. - Believ'n
BT Express - Express (Kenny Dope remix)
Human League - Love action
DJ Djedi - Body surfin
Erakah Badu vs Junior Byles - Cut it aaaht Badu
Jahmali - Fireman
Bill Wolfgramm and his Islanders - Haere Mai
Booker T and the MGs - Fuquawi
Nas vs D'Angelo - Chicken luv
Unification - Guru
One lung - Cinema 90
Amadou and Mariam - La realite
The Bamboos - Tighten up
Dod G - Trojan soap
Jackie Mittoo - Wall street
Gwen McCrae - 90% of me is you
Freddie Cruger - Simply fresh
Butch Cassidy Sound System - Hear what I say
Fugees vs Butch Cassidy - Fugee-la sound system
Sharkey feat Pharcyde - Snobird
Dr Dre and Snoop Dogg - Next episode (Upstate remix)
Beat Conductor - Big T's pachanga

Monday, January 23, 2006



I am just a modern guy, I've never had it in the ear before…
.. not til last Friday, anyway. I've got the day off work, ready for the Big Day Out, 'cept I've had a blocked ear all week and can't hear properly. So it's 8.15am, and I'm at the doctors getting my ear syringed. This procedure is slightly disturbing and rather unpleasant (warm water pushed into your ear via syringe), but will be worth it to be able to hear with two ears instead of one and a half.

This process goes on for half an hour, with no noticeable results. Then the nurse gives me a recipe to try at home, with bicarbonate of soda (the doctor gave me some drops earlier in the week, also ineffective). So, I go to the supermarket and buy some baking soda, give it a try (I'll give you the recipe if you like). And what do you know, I can hear again! That delightful home remedy cost a grand total of $1.67, which was a lot cheaper than that trip to the doctor. And then it's off to catch a bus to Ericcson Stadium.

First up, my friend and I (Hi, Ria!) check out the Greenhornes. All I know of their music is a few charming indie rock tunes on the Broken Flowers soundtrack, but they rock out in a sixties/Kink/Yardbirds kinda way, and we decide their bass player is the spitting image of Austin Powers, but nerdier.

We're strolling past the St Johns setup behind the grandstand, and they've got ear plugs there – overhear a young fellow walk past the St Johns then double back to grab some. But he sees they are charging a dollar a pop, and decides against it – "I don't care about my hearing THAT much".

Catch Pluto getting all arty on the main stage – they are a fine band but their songs don't seem to carry in that kind of space, unlike say, Shihad. Not stadium rock material, methinks. Could be proven wrong at a later date tho.

We venture into the Boiler Room, that hideous car park with a tent over it. US boho-hiphop MC Edan is getting into it, but he's battling technical problems, getting his gear to work, so he tells the crowd "We're gonna freeform, and I'm totally comfortable with that and I hope you are too".

He and fellow MC Daga went at it, swapping lyrics line for line acapella style, then Edan started up on the turntables, cutting between two copies of the same record with one hand, while holding the mic with the other hand and rapping over the top, which was a very impressive feat, and if the lighting had been better you could have seen it too. When Edan dropped a beat then wandered over to the other side of the stage, he disappeared into the shadows. This problem plagued his entire set, til the last few tunes when the lighting guy stopped texting on his cellphone and looked at the stage (or maybe he was asleep) and turned on a few lights that weren't wild-dance-party-trippy lights.

Never mind, Edan was battling to overcome these obstacles, and he did so brilliantly – his verbal skills are hugely impressive. Mid set he strapped on an acoustic guitar and wandered out front to sit on a chair and play for a bit - acompanying himself on kazoo. Then he went back to the turntables and dropped Femme Fatale by The Velvet Underground, and when it hit the chorus he bought in a hiphop beat under the Germanic tones of Nico, very entertaining.

He dropped a few more rhymes then picked up the guitar and played another tune, and said "We're gonna leave you with something mellow, we hope you enjoyed this, cos we don't give a f*ck, but we have a lotta love you too, at the same time…" and then he strummed away for a
few notes, then hit a distortion pedal, and blasted out the intro for his final tune, before the beat came in and he and his MC rapped to the close, when Edan pulls out a Theremin and uses it for a bit of crowd participation to finish. Brilliant, oddball-off-the-planet but brilliant. Next up, DJ Sirvere and his MCs jump in, with the cry "Auckland city, are you ready for some real hiphop?" And we've gone from oddball to predictable in 20 seconds.

Wandered off to see some of Sleater Kinney, who were throwing out shards of guitar heavy angst, which seemed at odds with the sunny day - I suspect they work a lot better indoors at night. Very energetic set tho.

Back to the Boiler Room to check out DJ James Murphy, and he was playing some gay-disco-house nonsense – I thought he might be playing something more interesting than that, from what I'd read about him. The Herald suggested that he should get the award for Best Sample with his snippet of the Bee Gees "You should be dancing", but that's still lame-ass disco. Sucked then, sucks now.

Spied a famous person – look, there goes Aja Rock, looking cool – she's wearing cowboy boots at the BDO. She walks past, heading for the wristband tent. Then a photographer walks by with his official fluro vest on, sees her across the crowd, and from 10 metres away points his camera at her and shoots, then walks off. She has no idea she's has been snapped. Mean.

We head off to catch the Go! Team. What a demented bunch of Brighton nutters. They are totally endearing, lots of jumping up and down on stage, then when the songs finish, there's a mad flurry of activity, as the guitarist runs (not walks) to the second drum kit, the other
guitarist grabs a melodica, then a recorder, then the singer grabs a recorder too – dueling recorders, now there's something you don't rock out to every day.

Then the drummer comes out from behind her kit and makes her way to the front of stage, and after a minute finally manages to catch her breath and say in a lovely Japanese accent – " I have a confession to make – I keep dropping my drumsticks. I am very sorry, but hope you are enjoying our music anyway. We are very happy to be here on this beautiful day in your beautiful country" and everyone cheers. Then she sings a charming little number accompanied by two of the members playing the same keyboard. The rest of the band bound back on stage, and their singer, a pint sized dynamo by the name of Ninja brings proceedings to a close. It's not hard to see why these cats were the buzz band at last years SXSW Festival.

They're followed by the Brunettes – This is one of their legendary extended lineups, which on this occasion seems to draw in every single other band on the Brunettes label, Lil Chief Records. Twenty people on stage, playing all sorts of instruments, from vibrophone to sitar – it looks fantastic. Sounds pretty damn good too. TV reporter guy Garth Bray was standing nearby and he rightly observed that the Brunettes had managed to get more people onstage than Fat Freddys and Fly My Pretties combined, an impressive achievement. The Brunettes live are usually quite delicate, but this scenario, what you lost in the detail you made up for with pure spectacle.

Off for a bit to eat, we munch out to the sounds of Shihad doing Home Again. Jon Toogood gets the crowd going, singing the chorus for him… "I'll be home again…" which makes me think that Shihad are destined to become the Exponents if they carry on with the singalongs - that's their future right there. Odd.

Managed to see the last few songs by Mikey Dread (think Bankrobber by the Clash – he produced it) and Channel One Sound Sytem in Lilyworld (formerly the Lily Pond). This area of the BDO has previously been home to trivial nonsense, but a reggae sound system from England, that's well tasty.

Then it’s off to catch a bit of Franz Ferdinand getting all angular and poppy with it, and assess the best place to see Iggy and the Stooges. We find a spot and wait. Will they be any good? What if they suck? The anticipation …

Then the moment arrives, the band run on and plug in, Scott Asheton takes the drum seat, Ron Asheton stands in front of a handful of Marshall stacks, and ring-in Mike Watt (filling the shoes of the late Dave Alexander, who passed in the mid 1970s) hovers near his amp. Then Iggy bounds on as the band launch into Loose. It's blisteringly good for the first note. Then Iggy greets the audience in his own unique way - "We are the f**ken Stooges, and we know where we are, and we're very happy to be here". No "Hello Auckland!"BS, just straight talking from Mister Pop. I like that.

Next, Down On The Street, followed by I Wanna Be Your Dog, during which Iggy jumps off stage and climbs into the crowd and goes crowd surfing, all the while singing. He makes his way back to the stage, finishes the song and thanks the crowd for their applause – "Ah, f**ken bless you". Then we get blasted with TV Eye. Iggy introduces the next song. "When you're up, you're a genius. But when you're down, you're dirt." And into the cool slithering riff that is Dirt.

Watching the band play on the video screen at side of stage, you get to see the level of concentration these guys put into it. Ron Asheton works his guitar, throwing out riffs he knows like the back of his hand, Scott Asheton pounds the drums, and Mike Watt is constantly watching Iggy – he never takes his eye of his singer, focusing all his energy him, rather than the crowd, watching for every cue. And Iggy is all over the place, throwing his arms around, prowling the stage, dancing and leaping about. Franz Ferdinand's Alex Kapranos noted on their site that "Iggy looked astounding, like a four thousand year old teenager." (his comments on the Auckland skyline... "I'm sitting 29 stories up, overlooking Auckland harbour. It's a great view and there's one of those needle communication tower things off to the left a bit. I love those. They're such an ostentatious flash of '60s technology...")

The band launch into Real Cool Time, then No Fun, with Iggy inviting the crowd onstage to join him, cos like the song says "No fun to be alone…". The song ends, the stage clears, and Iggy points at the folk exiting the stage, applauding their efforts… "Kiwi dancers, the f**ken Kiwi dancers, yeah…"

Next, 1970, then Fun House (they're joined onstage by Steve Mackay the original sax player from those sessions for a major avant-rock freakout ending), Skull Ring and they reprise I Wanna Be Your Dog to close, cue Iggy jumping off stage and going into the crowd a second time, Dude is most definitely interactive. Iggy Pop is may be 58 years old, but he is a total bad-ass on stage (witness him jumping on top of Mike Watts amp and giving the crowd the finger), and he wouldn't have it any other way. And you gotta respect that.

Next up, the White Stripes, who seem to take a while to fire. Current single My Doorbell sounded sweet. But can't stay - heading off to catch Common, and stop on the way for Che Fu at the Local Produce stage.

Che and his band are in fine form, and Che proves what a splendid showman he is, working the crowd. One song ends with him and fellow MC Hazarus doing silly phone voices, going "Hello, who is this?" "Are you there?" The Che tells us "If you think that's weird, wait for this", and the band launch into a mercifully brief chunk of elevator music, with Che intoning something that sounds like supermarket specials – "and in aisle three, check out detergent, on special this week..." or something freaky like that. But then it’s back to the familiar, Light Work off his latest album, and then Che starts in with his DJ vs the band battle.

It goes like this: his DJ plays a tune, then Che counts the band in, and they play a tune, and back and forth it goes. His DJ plays b-boy classic Apache, his band play Rockit. His DJ plays Snoop Dogg, his band play Gold Digger. The DJ plays Usher, then the band serve up their ace – Che Fu crooning Home Again by Shihad with the band rocking out. It was noted that Che sounded better than Shihad's rendition earlier in the day. One major problem tho, every time Che came to the front of the stage, he was in darkness. Hazadus, standing a few feet behind him, was under the lights, but not Che. The same thing happened on the main stage with Iggy and The Stooges – every time Iggy came and sang at the front of stage, he was in the shadows. You couldn't see him. It's astonishing that the lighting wasn't set up to allow for this, especially for one of the headline acts like Iggy and the Stooges. I don't know who was responsible for the lighting of the various stages, whether it's one company or a bunch of different ones, but there is one clear thought that springs to mind – you suck. My anecdotal research suggests that I'm not the only person who thought the lighting overall was poor. Please fix.

Finally make it over to catch Common, he's in full swing, his DJ playing some old school electro, while Common does a little breaking, eventually getting down and doing a few backspins. Very cool. Then he's back to rapping, backed by a percussionist and keyboard player too. He's very entertaining, telling the crowd to "sing along if you know the words, and if you don't, act like you do…" He invites a young lady onstage and sings to her – her name is Shaneece and she's from Auckland – "Where'd you say you're from – Brooklyn?" teases Common, and she corrects him. They slow dance, and then he thanks her politely and she departs, and he finishes with The Light. Classy.

As we try to leave, a huge crowd tries to pour into the narrow walkway to the Green stage to see Fat Freddy's Drop. The crowd starts pushing towards us and it gets a bit scary. There's several thousand people surging towards a walkway that's probably only 5 meters wide and already jammed full. I don't want to get crushed - all it will take is someone to trip and then its chaos. Starting to feel very nervous…Eventually escape the crush…

On reflection, I'm surprised and concerned that there were no security on hand to deal with this horrible bottle neck – I fail to see how the organisers couldn't have predicted this problem. 60,000 albums sold, sellout shows in Auckland... not hard to predict, really. I think that a local band that is that popular should probably be on a bigger stage with better crowd access.

We catch the bus home, lamenting missing the Kings of Leon (and wondering what happened to Jean Grae), then the driver gets slightly lost trying to find the right street to turn into to get to the stop outside the Civic and then we're home. Time for a nice cup of tea. Ahhh...

ADDED: Russell Brown blogged the BDO, plus put together a tasty assortment of related posts by other folk. Well worth a read.

Sunday, January 22, 2006

Ring TheAlarm playlist, BaseFM Saturday January 21
Don Drummond and the Skatalites – Heavenless
Freddie McGregor – Get involved
Stevie Wonder - I wish
Bobby Byrd – I know you got soul
Thievery Corp – Coming from the top
Nextmen feat Demolition Man – Piece of the pie
Jackie Mittoo – Juicebox
Mere Mortalz feat U Brown – Dis a boom
Mulatu Astatke – Yegelle tezeta
Ballistic Brothers – Peckings
Family of percussion feat Archie Shepp – Here comes the family
Breakstra – Hiding
International Observer – London dub
Iggy and the Stooges – No fun
Esso Trinidad Steel Band – I want you back
Mr Perfect - Hi grade tree
Horace Andy – Just say who
Patti Jo – Make me believe in you (Ashley Beedle and Phil Asher re-edit)
Eddie Palmieri – Condiciones que existen
Tiombe Lockhart – Drifter
Quantic Soul Orhcestra – Pushin on
The Enforcer – Pay them (version)
Simon Bogle and Ghtetto Priest – Dry Bone (Groove corp remix)
Herbie Hancock – Spank o lee
Manzel – Space funk

RIP Wilson Pickett.
Big day out - get mashed
Here's some BDO artists getting mashed up, in case you're feeling left out...

White Stripes vs Eric B and Rakim - Pump up the doorbell (link)
Franz Ferdinand vs Chic - "(Triple) Freak Me Out" (link) scroll down
The Stooges - TV Eye GHP REMIX (link) scroll down

"In the 60s when we started out, there were very few other bands articulating our concerns. In a very short time music had gone from Bob Dylan's `It Ain't Me, Babe' to Sonny and Cher's `I Got You, Babe'. Feelgood crap was everywhere, and the Stooges never fitted into that. We never set out to piss anybody off, but people got so pissed off anyway!" Iggy Pop.

Iggy interviewed on Canadian TV... "on March 11, 1977 Iggy Pop, a singer synonymous with a new musical movement called punk rock, joins CBC host Peter Gzowski for an interview. Iggy Pop is wearing black dress pants and a beige blazer but he's forgotten his dress shirt. He's also forgotten his manners and Gzowski's name. He picks at his nails, saying they're dirty, rather than answering the host's questions. But when Gzowski asks him what punk is, Iggy Pop's heavily-lined eyes brighten: "It's a term that's based on contempt." Link.

More Iggy footage, live in 1970..
"Here's a video (51 MB mpg video, for download) from a 1970 Cincinatti concert, in which a boyish looking James Osterberg has his way with a vat of peanut butter while singing TV Eye and 1970. Pay special attention to the play by play announcer ("That's..peanut butter!") and the various shrieks, cries and etchings of audience members as they swarm Iggy..." Link.


Great article on Iggy and the Stooges in the Listener by Gordon Cambell, who gets on Iggy's nerves asking fanboy questions - nice one! - see story here.

snip...

"... In 2001, Ron Asheton gave a thoughtful and generous interview about, among other things, what a genius prick Iggy has been over the years. It can be found at furious.com/perfect/ronasheton.html and is worth checking out. It may finally be time, though, to bury the great Iggy issues of the early 1970s. Like, for instance, the eternal question – Funhouse v Raw Power? You choose. Or the Ron Asheton v James Williamson battle for supremacy, so central to any decent undergraduate programme on Stoogesology. Not to mention the different forms of crappiness that afflict both the Bowie and the Iggy mixes of Raw Power, which leave plenty of room for a third remix that might finally do justice to the rhythm section. Shouldn't we all just get a life, though, and move on?

No way, at least not today. Argument is good. "It's one of the joys of literature," Iggy replies. "And once music is recorded, it becomes a lot like literature. It's covered by the same copyright laws, as a matter of fact. One of the joys is that it can be reassembled and ripped off – and it's there to be argued about."

Fine, let's argue. When it came to his songwriting chemistry with Ron, the lasting perception is that Ron came up with the riffs, which Iggy would then edit, and add the lyrics. Was it as simple and clear-cut as that? "No, no, it wasn't always that way." Though, come to think of it: "It was that way with some of the really key [songs]. With some of the other ones I would have a riff, and Ron would come up with a counterpart."

For instance? "No, no … that's all you need to know," Iggy says tersely. "Especially in a short interview before a tour … [But] when I write a lyric, it reflects the culture of the whole group." The way he sees it, that's part of his special burden, being leader. "That's usually typical of the frontman position. Frontmen tend to be the mouth of the group, backed up by the muscle of the others …"

Foolishly, I try to push on further. "Hush!" Iggy orders, now in full-blown captain-of-his-ship mode. "Hush! I'm talking!" It is not, and never has been, he indicates, a Ron v Iggy situation. Why, it's really been about Scott the drummer, all along. Imagine that. "My or Ron's contribution would be f--- all, except for the drummer. Really, Scott sells the group. In the same way Led Zeppelin really needed to disband when something happened to [drummer John] Bonham. This couldn't be done, without Scott's peculiar style." And, heh heh, that's all he has to say on the subject. "That's all ya gonna get out of me."

Oh, apart from one final word on this stuff about the Stooges being all about being nasty'n'all. So utterly untrue. The way Iggy depicts it, the Stooges made music that was built to last, that was classic, that was humane. "It's clean work, done in a way that's allowed it to last a long time. Not a lot of fuss or ornament. The lyrics are generally universal. And large. Because of that, they're not really so nasty as has been made out in the press. They're generally inclusive, in some way." Truly, a Funhouse for all the family."

Tuesday, January 17, 2006

Jean Grae goes MIA
The Big Day Out has often shied away from bringing down international hiphop acts, sticking with hoary old rock. This year marked a departure, with the announcement of Common, Jean Grae and Edan. However, the first lineup schedule had Jean Grae and Edan playing at the same time (1.20pm) on different stages. This scheduling clash had me fretting, but it looks like Jean Grae is no longer coming.
Her name has been taken off the artists list on the official BDO site (Its stil visiible via Google cache), and the official timetable PDF lists 'TBA' (to be announced) playing at 1.20pm on the Green stage, the slot that was allocated to Ms Grae. I'm picking that the organisers try and swing M.I.A. to fill that slot. No official announcement about any of this on the BDO site tho. Anyone heard anything?


Scott Storch, the Most Loathsome Man in Music
That's according to gawker.com, who "recommend you read the piece [in the NYT] just for a hateful chuckle, but if you can’t make it past the first 5 paragraphs because of projectile vomiting, we’ve a handy list of why Scott Storch [pictured above] deserves to be bound, gagged, and flogged:

• He has called himself the Meyer Lansky of hip-hop.
• He bought Paris Hilton a Bentley while they were dating.
• He charges $80 - $90k per song and produced 80 tracks last year.
• He has a “leggy but silent” Brazilian girlfriend.
• His yacht is named Storchavelli.
• He owns 13 different cars and drives something different every day.
• He wears a 32-carat canary-yellow ring.
• He willingly posed for that portrait."

New York Times story here. I'm thinking he aint fussed about flak over working with Ms Hilton - $80K per track, 80 tracks in 2005. Paid in full.

Monday, January 16, 2006

Back to the top
Fat Freddys returned to the number one album slot last week, third time at number one. I'm guessing that there were a few hundred folk among the thousands at Rhythm and Vine in Gisborne for New Years who hadn't purchased the album raced out when they got home and nabbed it.

Fat Freddys came up in the Weekend Herald's Business section in their article called Kiwi Music Hits Manistream (link) . here's a snip..

Sony BMG boss Michael Bradshaw ... said there was a view out there that when the main labels were not around, the independents would pick up the slack. That was not going to work - not if bands wanted to start selling internationally.

"I've been involved with marketing our records internationally for many years and we're talking millions of dollars and I really don't see where that money is going to come from unless we're here," Bradshaw said.

So, let's look at a few recent examples of Kiwi acts cracking it internationally, and see how many of them signed to a major label here, and used that megabucks offshore marketing to make it.

Fat Freddys Drop
Steriogram
The Brunettes
The Datsuns
Zed

None of them signed to a major label here before making headway internationally except Zed, who managed to get signed in the US and went on to do a song for an Adam Sandler movie (The Hot Chick). The Brunettes had a distribution deal with EMI NZ for their last album, but their US tour last year was set up independently, and led to their signing with US label Subpop.

The sidebar to this story was on the success of Dirty Records (Link) who have sold 280,000 albums, mostly on the back of Scribe's album.

Another good look at the music industry popped up in the Sunday Star Times at the end of last year - it's no longer on their site, so here it is in full.


Music lesson for everyone
18 December 2005, By ROD ORAM, Sunday Star Times

Perhaps over the holidays you'll have more time than usual to listen to the radio and to one of the great New Zealand success stories of recent years.

New Zealand artists now account for 21 per cent of the music played on air, up from less than 2 per cent in 1996.

This is a triumph of industry ambition rather than government regulation. With great enthusiasm, radio stations, record companies, artists, retailers and industry associations have worked together to exceed the voluntary target they set themselves.

In the process, they have enlivened our lives, helped define us as a nation at home and abroad and encouraged many more young people to write, sing and play. But the industry and its artists still struggle to make a living. Music is a host of mostly minuscule unsustainable businesses.

Retail music sales have been falling by about 7 per cent a year for the past six or seven years, in line with world trends. Sales may total only $200m this year, of which NZ artists have roughly a 20 per cent share.

While there are some money-making hits, other success is usually a relative term. A CD is a winner if it sells 1000 copies. But thanks to extremely low costs through digital DIY recording and production, it might be slightly profitable. An independent label and its band might
share perhaps $5000 in profits - a meagre return for months of hard work.

In the wider world, a deluge of artists has turned music into a commodity. And the internet's brutal assault has massacred record company profits. Trying to capture an audience - and make money out of it - has never been harder.

Since everybody else in the world has access to the same technology,success will flow to those who use it in the most creative and persuasive ways. This is New Zealand's big chance. We have rich and diverse music thanks to our many cultures, we have a slightly exotic, intriguing story to tell about who we are and where we are in the world, and we're good at striking a rapport with people.

To do so, though, requires the New Zealand recording industry to make an enormous improvement to its skills.

Here are seven lessons:

# Nurture the talent.
The upsurge in interest in local music is attracting teenagers into writing and performing. This year's Coke Smokefree Rockquest competition drew 650 secondary school bands playing their own compositions. The Play it Strange song writing competition for the same age group had 315 entries. A recent television documentary on Play it Strange and an upcoming commercial double CD of its top 30 songs reveal the passion and growing sophistication of these young composers.

This broad base is crucial to talent development, says Mike Chunn, chief executive of the Play it Strange Trust, NZ chief executive from 1992 to 2003 of the royalty body, the Australasian Performing Rights Association and a member of the legendary NZ band Split Enz in the 1970s.

It's a numbers game, he says. The more teenagers deeply into music, the better the chance a few will rise to the top of world rankings. He likens it to rugby. We have a large and talented All Blacks squad because of the depth and intensity of school, club and provincial competition.

# Use the technology.
Artists and labels are starting to make money from selling songs through internet downloads. Most of the activity has been through home-grown sites such as Amplifier but a few Kiwi songs have achieved global distribution through Apple's i-Tunes. But paradoxically, it might never have been easier. The internet and mobile phones are radically changing the way audiences are won, music delivered and money made.

Since everybody else in the world has access to the same technology, success will flow to those who use it in the most creative and persuasive ways. This is New Zealand's big chance. We have rich and diverse music thanks to our many cultures, we have a slightly exotic, intriguing story to tell about who we are and where we are in the world, and we're good at striking a rapport with people.

# Build a rapport with audiences.
Local bands are excellent at building local audiences, which explains how this year, Fat Freddy's Drop was the first band recorded by an independent label to enter the charts at number 1. It also swept the music industry's Tui awards. But local bands are only just learning to build global audiences over the internet. Given Kiwis' personalities, more are likely to succeed.

# Develop business skills.
The local music industry has made great strides in sorting out its structure and organisations and getting them to work better together. It has also built better relationships with major international labels. But it does not have the skills to be a serious or sustainable
wealth generator, and it never will if it remains almost entirely a domestic business.

# Create new ways of making money.
Licensing of Kiwi music for films, commercials, video games and other uses is starting to increase. Innovation is crucial. For example, Tardus, an independent label, has put together a CD of Kiwi music which will be distributed to about 200 US creative directors of JWT, the international advertising agency.

# Outgrow government assistance.
Six years of sizable government funding under a Prime Minister who doubles as Culture Minister is great, but it won't last. When the government changes, support and money will probably dry up. The industry has used the money well so far but is still a long way from self-sufficiency.

# Forge a distinctive NZ brand.
We're too diverse and interesting a nation to have a narrow "Kiwi" brand of music. But we can create highly distinctive forms of music under a distinctive brand of New Zealand music business. To cut through the global cacophony, we need to be just as famous for the way
we make money from music as we are for the music we make.

At the heart of the business brand will be some of New Zealand's greatest strengths - our ability to be small but global, to be remote but accessible, to be different but authentic. These qualities are highly prized in the world. People will pay well for them.

Yet, this isn't just a music thing. These lessons apply to almost any business. They are our hope for a fulfilling and prosperous future.
Ring The Alarm, BaseFM, Saturday 14 January
Bobb Deep - Got it twisted
Shark Wilson and the basement heaters - Make it reggae
Sharkey feat Jean Grae - Summer in the city
Erma Franklin - Light my fire
Breakstra - Stand up
Greenhornes feat Holly Golightly - There is an end
Nina Simone - Seeline woman
Freddie Cruger - Something good
Jackie Mittoo - One step forward
Newmatics - Riot squad
Capleton and Dennis Brown - Moving on (Yard club remix)
Cubalooba - Cubalooba
Ghostface Killah - Cherchez la ghost
Joint Force - AK2000 instrumental
Roots combination -Spoony Bill
Blacknificent Seven - U wot (Skitz remix)
Cornerstone Roots - Forward dub
Common - Testify
Boozoo Bajou feat Joe Dukie and U Brown - Take it slow
Lou Rawls - For what it's worth
A certain ratio - Shack up
Rodney Hunter feat Paul St Hilaire - Vampire
Chezedek - Dem a fight we
JA-13 feat Rico Rodriquez - Wareika vibes
Recloose - Mana's bounce
Lalo Schifrin - Enter the dragon theme
Femi Kuti - Truth don die (Lagos dub)
John Gibbs and US Steel Orchestra - Steel funk
Joe Tex and U Black - Standardization
Iggy and the Stooges - Down on the street

Spot the Big Day Out theme? Well done.

Wednesday, January 11, 2006

Boom boom!
Robyn beat me to the jump, but hear the Radio NZ piece I did over here - thanks to James. Nice work, fella.
"Well, it looks like National Radio aren't going to archive the 3D Radio show that I was on back on New Years Eve, but fortunately one of my co-panellists, James from Noizyland, has kindly hosted the whole shows as a podcast (i.e. an mp3) for your listening pleasure."

3D Radio on National Radio - Internet Panel Discussion.

Listen out for the bit where James lets slip that he's surfing the net during the show, and Robyn calls him a geek. Too right!


Via Coolfer, some holiday reading... "Jason Gross of Pefect Sounds Forever compiled a list of the best music writing of the year.

Gross looks for good writing in many locations. One honoree was an album review from San Francisco's Aquarius Records. (The store's new release emails are great reading, though they're lengthy.) An article at the satiric The Onion made the list. And Damian Kulash's op-ed for the New York Times got a nod. Very nice. And since there's always bad to go along with the good, Gross has a list of the worst music writing of 2005."

Copped from Beats and Rants, a great interview with Questlove Thompson from The Roots. "I stumbled upon this old interview with the Roots mastermind Questlove. It was conducted in 2003 by journalist-turned-BET personality Touré for online magazine Believer. I don't know if any other bloggers linked this interview up besides Soulmind, but it's recommended reading. This piece features Q offering some insights on the Roots' recording process, why D'Angleo is so damn fat overweight and Q's views on hip-hop..."
snip...
How do you feel about hiphop today?
Questlove:
Does it speak volumes that I listen to the White Stripes more than I listen to anything in hiphop? The only album I’m listening to from start to finish right now is Elephant.

Monday, January 09, 2006

Ring The Alarm playlist, BaseFM, 7 January
Cedric Im Brooks – Shaft
Marcia Griffiths – Feel like jumping
Roy Ayers - Boogie back
Hugh Masekela – Languta
Jackson Sisters – I believe in miracles (remix)

Al Brown – Aint no love in the heart of the city
Damian Marley – Move
Bushwackass – Who's wylin Inst.
Self Scientific – What you need
Breakstra – Stand up
Cornerstone Roots feat Ranking Joe – Forward movement Pt 2
Barrington Levy – Many changes in life
Pete Rodriquez – Oh that's nice
20th Century Steel Band – Heaven and hell's on earth
James Brown – Funky drummer (Muro remix)
Kora – Politician (Paddy Free remix)
Iggy and the Stooges – No fun
Zaguzar -Welcome to England
Jackie Mittoo – Chicken and booze
The Pleb – Ride one
Roberto Carlos – O Calhambeque (XRS remix)
Tanya Stephens – Need you tonight
Mantronix -Who is it?
Augustus Pablo – Song of the east
Sean Paul – Yardie bone
Kraftwerk –Electro Kardiogramm
Ohio Players –Take the funk off, fly
David Walters – Mesy bon dye (Bigga Bush dub version)
One Lung – Cinema 90
Tiombe Lockhart - Tip of my tongue