Sunday, February 28, 2010

Counting the beat...
The Sunday Star Times has an interview with form Split Enz member Phil Judd, talking candidly about his recent troubles....

"I've had a year of disaster," he said during an exclusive, in-depth interview with the Star-Times, his first since news of his conviction broke last year. "You know how many famous people... come unstuck in the end. It seems it was my turn to come unstuck."He's through with Facebook, he says. "The internet has cost me a lot of money, and a lot of humiliation, and ruined my life. I'm done."

Radio jocks dined out, announcing his conviction to the strains of the Enz track "My Mistake". A sign went up in his neighbourhood: "The only record for Phil Judd in 2010 is a criminal one". Anonymous callers threatened to burn down his house, kill him in the street. "It freaked me out, and it freaked my ex-wife out even more." One night, he says, she arrived unannounced and bundled their 10-year-old son, over whom they shared custody, into her car. Her new partner, 20 years Judd's junior, wrestled to keep him at bay. "I was yelling, 'Please don't take him, please don't take him. Can we just talk about this?"' he says. "I slipped over on the driveway and just lay there."...

... Judd's chronic heart disease was discovered after a stroke in 2004 wiped out his spleen. "I lived pretty hard and I've paid the price," he says. Although he was a reluctant performer in his Split Enz days, he says he'd like to be able to take the stage again, but would be unlikely to make it through a song without collapsing. His bipolar syndrome is just as debilitating, and is only exacerbated by his drinking problem.

"Some of us have got through life self-medicating," he says. "I didn't even know I was bipolar until 18 years ago. Maybe, if I live a bit longer, I'll get more involved in support for bipolar people, because we're a very misunderstood bunch. People think you're a bit wacky, but you can't help the way you are. It's just the way the chemicals in the old noggin are working."


Read it here. It's tough going.

Thursday, February 25, 2010


Webstock 2010  - Hey DJ, what's that sound?
I'm gonna write this really fast, cos I have a lot of ideas to compress into this, and it's all gonna flow into one, so hold on...

Last Wednesday I flew down to Wellington for Webstock. Surprising lack of turbulence landing too. Nice. I had scored the gig as offical Webstock DJ from Jeff and Lisa of Mukuna, who held down the job last year but have since moved away from Welli (thanks guys). So you're going what is Webstock? It's a two-day conference featuring web developers, designers, thinkers and more. 24 guest speakers, kicking off with Scott Thomas, the design director for the Obama campaign. Just got better from there. I heard some incredible speakers.

My job was to DJ during the breaks and lunch. And when everyone was arriving to register on the first day - starting from 730am, which is a hell of a time to get your head around playing records. I also DJed the cocktail party on Thursday night, and after the Onya Awards on Friday night, from the top of the stage in the Wellington Town Hall, in front of the organ pipes. I discovered that night you can play Good times by Chic (scored another copy in Slowboat) and people will always dance. Dead cert.

I also got to hang out with some of the folks attending the conference, including some cool Wellington peeps I'd met on Twitter, who took me to their fave bars. It was my first time at Webstock, and other folk that I know who'd been raved about it, and now I see why. It's really hard to put down exactly what it is that makes Webstock so special, but it's a non-stop exchange of ideas and information for 48 hours. And a whole lot of fun.

On the Saturday night (after chilling out in Titahi Bay for the day, escaping the hordes at Homegrown) I did a Dub Asylum show at Havana Bar, an absolutely gorgeous little spot, with the Sounds Almighty crew, dropping loadsa reggae niceness. All in all, a fantastic time. Catching up on sleep is taking time....

Top photo by Anthea Whittle. Slideshow below by me, shot on my phone.

Poi-e boy.
The latest film from Taika Waititi is called Boy. It's set in 1984, so they use Poi-e in the soundtrack, cos it's the right period, and, well, it's just damn cool.


Fulgeance
Fulgeance is a French producer, and according to his Myspace page, his music "is a perfect blend of huge, synth-laced French Electro and modern Instrumental Hip Hop." It's a whole lot more than that - a delightful mish mash of squirmy, bouncy beats and squeeks that is mighty entertaining and very funky. He plays live with two MPCs, which would be a lotta fun to see. I discovered his music over the past year, especially his wonderful tune Tribute To Masekela, which is a must-have. Have a listen to his Myspace and check this interview with him (snip below). There's a free mixtape from him to download there too.

"...I think nerds are now the new rich and talented guys. Ask Bill Gates or that kind of important guy if he was famous at school. For sure he was trying to have a girl, and every jerk was laughing at him because he was workin’ on a new ‘geek’ computer project. So to be a nerd in France—because I’m not from Paris, but Caen and Normandy—is more now a fashion thing... From my side, to be nerd is to have a proper way to work in your passion or job—to not care about what’s happening outside but care more about what’s happening in what you like in music, films, games. … To be an addict, to work your own way—wakin’ up when you want, eating when you want—and to not care about what’s cool and hip....

Q: Samiyam sampled someone’s head getting crushed (from the movie Zombi) on Rap Beats Vol. 1. You have sampled your cat growling—how did you use it?
Fulgeance: "I never sampled my cat? Where did you get that? The crazy thing is I always wanted to, but my cat always stop breathing when I bring the mic to his mouth—crazy Minette! The weirdest thing I ever grabbed in a song—it never happened, and that’s cool and not cool—I sampled my girlfriend snoring, but I thought it was not cool for her if I put it in a track! Even if I really wanted to."

Wednesday, February 24, 2010

84 styles.
Local graffiti artist Askew recounts his artistic journey, discovering some of our city's earliest graffiti crews and their work, here on his blog... It's a fantastic read, with some great pictures...

His family moved from Palmerston North to Auckland in 18984... "...Our street was mainly Samoan and Cook Island families, a handful of Pakeha families and one Maori family who were part of the Twelve Tribes Of Israel and threw epic parties at the bottom of our street... It’s fair to say that 1980’s Auckland city was as stark a contrast to Palmerston North as you could get and one I’m very thankful to have experienced first hand..."
Local Sony staff worry over likely Trans-Tasman merger
As reported earlier today by Newstalk ZB, "Staff at Sony New Zealand fear there may be job losses, with the company reorganising its operations. Sony spokesman Peter Buckton has confirmed the company is looking at amalgamating its Australia and New Zealand operations... However he says there is is no suggestion there will be redundancies."
Reclaiming FNun - Roger Shepherd in his own words
From the latest issue of NZ Musician magazine, worth a read. No mention by name of Ben Howe (see his involvement on the FNun deal here), although Roger alludes to "... some friendships have been put on hold, something which I do regret...."
Next Stop: Soweto
This new comp sounds like it's gonna be mean... "Strut follow their recent forays into Nigerian and Ethio grooves with"a brand new wide-ranging three-part series exploring underground South  African music during the late ‘60s and ‘70s, Next Stop Soweto Volume 1 explores the vibrant energy of the township jive sound, whilst Volumes 2 and 3, released across (the northern) Spring and Summer 2010, cover rare SA soul, funk; Hammond R and B and the country’s rich jazz scene." More at nextstopsoweto.com.


[Free download] S. Piliso & His Super Seven- "Kuya Hanjwa" (mediafire) (zshare)

Tuesday, February 23, 2010

Prince and the Revolution: video of rehearsals from 1984
Go watch this quick before it gets taken down. Seven videos in total. HOT DAMN!
A Walk Through Fort Greene - TRAILER

A Walk Through Fort Greene - TRAILER from Diane Paragas on Vimeo.


"A feature length documentary of the black arts movement that exploded in Fort Greene from the mid 1980s through the 90s as intimately told by writer, historian and director, Nelson George. The film features Spike Lee, Chris Rock, Rosie Perez, Branford Marsalis, Vernon Reid, Carl Hancock Rux, Saul Williams, Lorna Simpson, Alva Rogers, Kevin Powell, Toure, Bill Stephany to name a few."
Stussy - JDilla documentary, part 2
Sure, it's everywhere on the internets, but you need to watch this. (Watch part 1 here.)

Roger Shepherd in Dunedin, talking with Chills, Verlaines, Clean...
Roger Shepherd was in Dunedin late January, according to this report from Dunedin tv station Channel 9, talking with members of the Clean, Martin Phillipps of the Chills, and Graham Downes of the Verlaines about what is happening with the Flying Nun label, and his plans and how it affects their back catalogue.

He is also adamant that he will sign new bands - "No matter how good the music is, there's nothing duller than a reissue label,"says Shepherd. "New signings are essential... in many ways its easier to sign a new band than repackage old material..." That sounds like flawed logic to me. A new signed requires money for recording and promotion, while back catalogue material largely sells itslef, especially on the strength of the label's sterling reputation. Still, will be interesting to see who Shepherd signs.

He says he will also be visiting the Clean out in the Caitlins, where they are recording a new album, which may even come out thru Flying Nun.

Monday, February 22, 2010

Neil Finn, Roger Shepherd and...???

I have heard that the new company formed for the recently revived Flying Nun is called FNR Limited. The Companies Office website search reveals the shareholders are...


Total Number of shares 400

Number of Shares 100
Shareholder(s) SHEPHERD, Roger Norman

Number of Shares 100
Shareholder(s) FINN, Neil Mullane
SMITH, Michael
FINN, Sharon Dawn

Number of Shares 100
Shareholder(s) COCKROFT, Graham - ex Netherworld Dancing Toys, now Chief Operating Officer for Contact Energy (after a 19 year stint at British Gas)

Number of Shares 100
Shareholder(s) 1259481 - R RECORDS LIMITED (
RISHWORTH, Robert Peter)

FNR Limited was registered on Nov 25, 2009, and the shareholders other than Shepherd were added on 28 January.

UPDATED 9 Sept 2012: According to the Companies Office website, Roger Shepherd is now the sole director - Graham Cockcroft was a director from 02 Nov 2010 to 20 Apr 2012.

The share allocation has changed twice, indicating an infusion of money - while Shepherd retains 100 shares, the other three shareholding parties have had their allocation increased, first on 10 October 2011 from 100 to 178, and again recently on 19 July 2012, from 178 to 291. The shares were issued on 08 June and registered on July 19.

Sunday, February 21, 2010

Simon Grigg talks about OMC
Simon looks at the detail (or huge lack thereof) about the group OMC and various dates.

"Just a thought on media weirdness and the journey that erroneous data can take. In particular I’m thinking today of the reportage drivel that was the core of much of the reporting of Pauly Fuemana’s untimely death...."

More here
Flying Finn
The SST has a story on Neil Finn fronting some dosh to help Roger Shepherd buy back Flying Nun, headed "Finn helps finance rebirth of Flying Nun cult record label." Finn is now a part owner of the label. I posted back in mid January on the behind the scene machinations of the FNun deal, after a disgruntled Ben Howe of Arch Hill Records talked about how he had been working behind the scenes with Shepherd on the deal, til it all went pearshaped (which he alludes to) and Howe got the boot. 

As the SST notes... "... [Shephard's) 11th-hour decision to cut out local record label owner Ben Howe from the deal, scuppering a two-year "gentleman's agreement" to purchase the label together, led to a rift between the men and prompted others in the industry to urge them to resolve their differences.

Howe, the founder of Auckland-based independent label Arch Hill Records, has been blogging about the failed partnership. He says he "put considerable time, expertise and cash" into the proposal since learning in 2007 that Warners was open to selling the label. The pair agreed Shepherd would front the talks with Warner, while Howe would do the budgets, fund the expenses and help reintroduce Shepherd to the industry, in which "a lot had changed in the 10 years he had been away".

Howe had been blindsided by a call from Shepherd last November, on the day he had flown him from Wellington for talks with Warner. "He said he was doing it on his own," said Howe. "It was a business decision and he wanted to look after his own interests."

Shepherd said the failed partnership was "really unfortunate" and offered to reimburse the funds Howe had invested in the partnership, which were "not substantial". "I know I managed it badly. Ben's got a right to be upset. But at the end of the day, it was a rather unfortunate, ugly commercial decision that had to be made."

Friday, February 19, 2010

Hollie Smith broke

This story from yesterdays Dom Post says soul singer Hollie Smith lost $100,000 on her last album (for big jazz label Bluenote) and is broke. Then she says it lost $100,000, which is different. That means she lost that amount of money for her record label, by my thinking. Good to see she's managed to extract herself from their contract.

CORRECTED: The story says she lost hundereds of thousands, not $100,000 .

Wednesday, February 17, 2010


Dub Asylum playing in Wellington, Sat Feb 20 at Havana
I'm off to DJ  at Webstock for the next two days. I have managed to squeeze in a Dub Asylum gig, at Havana on Saturday Feb 20, with Sounds Almighty, splendid reggae selectors from the capital. Free entry, kicks off at 10pm. Come on by and escape the hordes from Homegrown. Cool vibes in abundance.
EMI rehashes Grey Album fiasco over Wu-tang vs Beatles
Looks like the Wu-tang/Beatles mashup got a little too popular, as EMI are going after it. Read more here.

"... Its latest move is to force offline a wildly popular mashup, mixing The Beatles with The Wu Tang Clan., despite it getting rave reviews and lots of attention... and despite a history of similar actions backfiring massively for EMI.

Let's take a look back. Apparently the folks over at EMI/Capitol Records have no sense of history. Back in 2004, DJ Danger Mouse put together "The Grey Album," a fantastic mashup of The Beatles' "The White Album" with Jay-Z's "The Black Album." EMI/Capitol, who holds the copyright on much of The Beatles' catalog went nuts, and started sending cease-and-desists to pretty much everyone, leading to the infamous "Grey Tuesday" on February 24, 2004, where lots of websites posted the album in protest.

Years later, EMI admitted that the Grey Album didn't do any harm, but the company didn't care, saying "It's not a question of damage; it's a question of rights." Except, that's not true at all. If no damage is being done -- and, in fact, such a mashup is likely to attract a lot more attention to your back catalog from an audience who might not be that familiar with it, you're making a pretty huge mistake. That's just business..."


Wu-tang vs Beatles,  more on it over here
Universal Music's  new CEO thinks CDs are the future
This article is hilarious. First, there's the quote from former CEO, Doug Morris, who said, in a 2007 interview, that  "There's no one in the record company that's a technologist. That's a misconception writers make all the time, that the record industry missed this. They didn't. They just didn't know what to do. It's like if you were suddenly asked to operate on your dog to remove his kidney. What would you do?"
"We didn't know who to hire," he says, becoming more agitated. "I wouldn't be able to recognize a good technology person -- anyone with a good bullshit story would have gotten past me."

The incoming CEO is Lucian Grainge, who previously headed the company's international division. So, what's Grainge's take on the future? "I believe that the CD will out-survive me as a format," Mr. Grainge said in an interview.

Wow.

Tuesday, February 16, 2010


Zodiac Records revisited
Simon Grigg has studiously complied a fascinating look at the catalogue of one of NZ's most important record labels, Eldred Stebbing's Zodiac Records. Read it here

Simon says "... I decided, a couple of years back, to put together a singles discography of what may be NZ’s most important record label, Eldred Stebbing’s legendary and groundbreaking Zodiac, and it’s associated bits and pieces.


With Eldred’s passing last year it seemed timely to finally finish this, or at least take it to a publishable standard, and post it, which I did a few days ago. This does however remain a work in progress and I’ll add more images and data as it and they become available.  The work of Chris Bourke, who’s forthcoming book on NZ music pre-rock, is one that I’m gagging to get my hands on, and Chris and historian John Baker have helped immensely...."

Sunday, February 14, 2010

Pauly Fuemana's family to put out his unreleased music
The Sunday News reports that "Pauly Fuemana's family may release his unrecorded music.
They are set to go through scores of unreleased tracks he recorded in the years following his worldwide hit How Bizarre... Older brother Tony Fuemana, boss of Urban Pacifika Records, said there was now a chance more music from OMC could be released posthumously.

"There are lots of songs that we have and we will have to look through them with the help of some of the labels and one of Paul's great friends, [ex-manager] Grant Thomas."


But while his family go through his unreleased back catalogue, huh! Records, confirmed it won't be doing anything with its own archived material. Simon Grigg, who owned huh! Records, said it did not "feel right" for him to release OMC material posthumously.

"Pauly put out the stuff that he wanted to put out," Grigg said. "We have got a whole lot of unreleased stuff that we will never release. Pauly didn't want it released at the time. It doesn't feel right."
Read the full story here

Saturday, February 13, 2010

BaseFM playlist, Ring The Alarm, Feb 13
Played a ton o soul cos today is the Soul Alldayer at the King's Arms, 12 hours of soul, starts 2pm. Get along!

The Equatics - Aint no sunshine
Rose Royce - Sunrise
The Emotions - I like it
OJays - Backstabbers
Ann Sexton -You're gonna miss me
Curtis Mayfield - Freddie's dead
Linda Lyndell - What a man
Sharon Jones and the Dapkings - I learned the hard way
Myron and E with the Soul Investigators - Cold game
Stevie Wonder - Uptight (everything's alright)
Spinners - It's a shame
Jr Wallker and the allstars - Shotgun
Pointer sisters  -Yes we can can
Barry White - Can't get enough of your love
Rose Royce -Righteous rhythm/Water
Dionne Warwick - Zip dee doo dah
Booker T and the MGs - Melting pot
Marlena Shaw - California soul (Diplo remix)
Roy Ayers - Running away (12" mix)

RJD2 - Let there be horns
Gil Scott Heron  -Me and the devil
Mint chicks vs Scratch 22 - IMAYB remix
Kion and murda - No 1 sound feat Jr Murvin
Dub Gabriel feat U-Roy - Liv n lov (Ming vs Subatomic sound system)
Nigerian Police Force Band - Askio mi ni
Quantic and his combo barbaro  -I just fell in love again
Labelle - Don't bring me down
Chaka Khan  - I feel for you

Friday, February 12, 2010


Ba Ba Boom hits  #2 on Serato charts!
I recently put my Ba Ba Boom! single out thru Serato's Whitelabel.net service, which goes out to Serato DJs worldwide.  After one week on there, my single hit number two on their weekly downloads chart, behind Basement Jaxx (and ahead of Timbaland). So stoked!
Still Bill (film review)
Bill Withers is a dude. The documentary Still Bill covers his life, revisits the coalmining town he grew up in, and talks with his family. And most importantly, there’s a lot of his music, and some great live clips.

Bill talks about joining the Navy at 17, and working in the aircraft industry before he had his first big hit at age 32. He tells a story about sitting at home, with Aint No Sunshine at the top of the charts, and he gets two calls. One is from his old job at the aircraft factory, wanting him to come back to work (he’d been laid off a few months earlier), and the other was from The Johnny Carson Show, booking an appearance.
He ends up doing the Johnny Carson Show, telling Johnny about his previous job at the aircraft factory, installing toilets in 747s. Bill jokingly lets slip that as part of his job he put cameras in every toilet too, so that the airlines can watch you.

It’s a very moving documentary, capturing Bill talking very honestly about his life and music. At one point, he talks about how his record company went bust and his master tapes ended up being owned by the IRS so he signed with a super-duper big record label, and suddenly had all these people telling him the right way to make music.

He mentioned one record company exec who told him that his songs needed horns, and an intro. Bill observes that Aint No Sunshine didn’t have an intro and that did alright. Another one told him he should cover In the Ghetto by Elvis Presley. Bill said he called these record company types ‘blacksperts’.

There's Bill making new music too - his wife says that he's been writing and recording off and on for the past 10-15 years. Its' not like he stopped being a musician, he just stopped being part of the music industry.

It's a fascinating doco, paying tribute to a musical legend, but also a sensitive portrait of a fine, fine man. If you get a chance to see it, don't miss it. Spending an hour and a half in the company of Bill Withers will do your soul a world of good.

Thursday, February 11, 2010

Soul Alldayer this Saturday, 2pm til 2am
To get you in the mood for the NZ Soul Alldayer at the King's Arms this Saturday Feb 13th (killer lineup here), check this mean clip, from BBE, for the Lost and Found - Real Soul and R'nB compilation from Keb Darge and Paul Weller.

And don't forget, tonight is the only Auckland screening of the highly acclaimed Bill Withers documentary, Still Bill. 

I'm off to Webstock next week....
Landed a sweet gig, DJing at Webstock, next Thursday and Friday. It's going to be a blast. What is Webstock? Have a look here. It's "5 full-on days. 13 hands-on workshops. 24 kickass international speakers. 24 must-see presentations. Design, development, mobile, usability, content, community, open data, innovation & inspiration."

Webstock interviewed me via the internets, read it here. Some of it is even true.

I'm also doing a Dub Asylum show on Saturday 20th February at Havana, more details soon.

Wednesday, February 10, 2010

Kon and Amir go digging at Amoeba Records
This video makes me happy. Watch it here... Won't let me embed it. Hat tip to Crate kings.

Tuesday, February 09, 2010

Mint Chicks Musichyped.
The Mint Chicks recently announced they were ditching Warners for a new digital music startup called Music Hype. I blogged about it last week, which garnered a response in the comments from Music Hype's Dave Moskovitz. I've reposted it below.

"Unfortunately, Pattrick (the journalist) misheard what I said in the phone interview ... I said "a few cents", not "two cents". See this article for a description of how much your typical artist might see from an iTunes sale. Most are lucky to see 8-15c from each iTunes download. I'd like to point out that it isn't really iTunes fault, it's the decrepit underlying structure where labels call the shots and collect the cash, distributing crumbs back to most artists.

We want to change that by putting artists in the drivers seat. MusicHy.pe is a platform they can use to build community and better engage, collaborate with, and inspire their fan bases. We're facilitators, not controllers of production nor distribution.

We'll be using BandCamp for direct music sales. Currently the only fees they charge are PayPal's micropayment charges which work out at about 10c on the dollar.

Fact or fiction? Middlepeople have been taking advantage of musicians for too long, and we're fixing that."


I contacted Stephen O'Hoy at Amplifier.co.nz for his thoughts on Moskovitz's comments. His reaction, via email...

"The quote from the original article was removed after I spoke to the journalist involved.  It was incorrect and misleading and the only reason I can see for such rubbish being printed is to support Musichype’s business model.

DRM represents more New Zealand artists at iTunes than any other label or aggregator in the land.  Even after our commission and in several cases non-resident international withholding tax being taken into account, artists are seeing back around or in excess of 50% of iTunes retail price.  This is considerably more than the $0.08 - $0.15 that Dave is asserting.

Far from the “decrepit underlying structure” with “labels calling the shots” the truth of the modern, digital industry is that the power of distribution has passed back to the artist and independent label.  Couple this with independent physical distribution (Rhythmethod, Border, Pure….) and independent promo/plugging (Maiden, The Label, Isaac) and there’s probably never been an easier time to do it yourself."

Monday, February 08, 2010


More on Pauly Fuemana - it's Pauly, not Pauley
Yesterday the Sunday Star Times managed to produce a tawdry little story by Tim Hume with the headline "Pauly Fuemana: the money, the violence, the drugs." It depicts Pauly as a rock'n'roll victim.

Hume talks with Ermehn about Pauly, who tells a funny story about how he and Pauly stole one of Dave Dobbyn's guitars from a concert: "We took the nicest one off the stands and put it in the car. When we came back, everyone was upset -'Somebody's taken Dave's guitar'!"

The Sunday News ("Pauly Fuemana: The real story") managed to get extensive interviews with Pauly's brother, Tony, and Pauly's wife, Kirstine.Tony talks about some of the things he saw on tour with his brother - Tony played bass in the OMC touring band...

"We had taken a 20-hour bus trip and we got there at six in the morning. They wanted a TV interview at 6.30am. Pauly asked them if he could just have a shower and something to eat before he left," Tony said.


"They threatened to pull the concert that night, if he didn't [do the interview]. The rep said, 'You have to be there at 6.30 or we will pull the plug on your show and the rest of your shows'. Pauly said he wanted to go back and talk to me, but they got him and pulled him from his shoulder off the bus.

"Paul turned around and pushed him back, he [Pauly] didn't want to be manhandled, and he [the rep] fell through the window. The guy said, 'I am going to sue you'.

"Not being pushed around and standing his own ground counted against him," he said.

Thankfully, some clever person at stuff.co.nz (which hosts content from both the SST and the Sunday News) chose the Sunday News story to put on their front page, not the SST one.

A large part of the SST story is sourced from the 20/20 interview I highlighted last week, and also, I suspect, taken from this comments pages on TV3's website, regarding Pauly's unhappy neighbours in Beachaven.

On Friday the NZ Herald published this story by Kara Segedin, which failed to even spell Pauly's first name right - "Pauley Fuemanas funeral today" (it was also wrong in the story and the photo caption)I emailed Kara via the link at the bottom of the story on Friday, and also asked the NZHerald late Friday via Twitter to fix it. (and again on sunday) It's still there, four days later. UPDATE - I emailed someone at the NZ Herald and he was able to go and stand over someone til it was fixed. The NZHerald never responded to me via Twitter or email.

THEN I was sent another NZ Herald story by Vaimoana Tapaleao , headed "Singer broke down cultural barriers" from Feb 1st. The photo caption says "Pauley Fuemana shot to fame..." and in the story it happens again... "Mr Kightley said Pauley Fuemana's passion and knowledge for music was still growing..."

Clearly, spelling someone's name correctly is no longer a priority for the NZ Herald. And Pauly isn't around to complain about it.

ADDED: The Sunday Star Times also features an article on female singer Sheba Williams, who will be performing at the Big Gay Out. The SST described Sheba as a drag queen. Ah, NO.  No link to the story, as they had the good sense not to put that blooper online.

Sunday, February 07, 2010


Afro-Rock Vol 1compilation reissue.
I remember scoring this wicked comp back when it first came out in 2001. Now it's  finally been reissued. Check that cover. Heavy heavy heavy! Liner notes are great too.

DOWNLOAD: Steele Beautttah- "Africa" [mediafire] [zshare]
From: Afro-Rock (March 2nd, Strut)
"... Originally surfacing on Duncan Brooker’s indie Kona label in early 2001, the album single-handedly kick-started the thirst among jazz, funk and soul fans and ‘diggers’ to rediscover lost music from Africa made during the ‘60s and ‘70s from a time when many countries were gaining independence and celebrating a Pan-African identity within their music. The album was one of the first to reach a far different audience than the traditional ‘world music’ market and spawned many further projects and labels in its wake. A year later, the Nigeria 70 compilation surfaced on Strut and labels like Soundway and Analog Africa would continue to unearth amazing lost gems from the Motherland..."
LCD Sound System in the studio (video)
The temporary studio set up is in a rented mansion in LA. Best quote - "Why would anyone want to go to a studio? Look at this place! Its fucking awesome!" True.


clip 1 from lcd soundsystem on Vimeo.

Bob Blank remembers Arthur Russell
Watch it here or below (there's three other videos too). Bob Blank- The Blank Generation: Blank Tapes NYC 1975-1985 out on Strut, Feb 1. Tracklisting here... from Gladys Knight to Sun Ra, Lydia Lunch and James Blood Ulmer. Includes an extensive interview with Bob Blank by Bill Brewster. The compilation is the first collaboration between Strut and well-respected authors Brewster and Frank Broughton of djhistory.com.


Saturday, February 06, 2010

Ring The Alarm playlist, BaseFM, Feb 6
Three generations walking - Midnight bustling
Brother culture - Warning dub
Dub colossus - Azmari dub
Noiseshaper - Only redeemer
Adrian Sherwood - Ciched dub slave
Super cat - Dolly my baby (Bad Boy extended mix)
Damian Marley and Nas - Strong will continue
Bob Marley and the Wailers - Soul shakedown (Afrodisiac sound system remix)
Rhythm and sound feat Sugar Minnott  -Let Jah love come
Whitefield Brothers - Sad Nile
Sharon Jones and the Dapkings - I learned the hard way
Bill Withers - Harlem (Bill Withers doco "Still Bill" screens this thursday at Academy cinema, 8pm, one night only)
Bill Withers - Use me (live)
Gentle rain - Use me
Ed Watson and brass circle - Breeze and soul
Sam Baker - Coming to bring you some soul
Lee Dorsey - Working in a coalmine
Plumstead radical club - One way (Natural self remix)
Cooking on three burners - Cars
Bronx river parkway - Nora se va
Grover Washington Jr - Inner city blues
Myron and E with the Soul investigators - It's a shame
Dub traffik control - Bongo dub
Adrian Sherwood and Lee Scratch Perry  -Lucky Tarzan
Massive attack - Girl I love you (She is danger remix)

Thursday, February 04, 2010

Mint Chicks dump Warners/Flying Nun for digital music startup
This story is worth a read. Some of the numbers are way off -  the figure on returns to bands from itunes sales is a fiction.

The ironic thing about the Mint Chicks trumpeting that they're ditching Warners is that they were signed to Flying Nun (which was owned by FMR when they signed, and was subsequently sold to Warners), and that label is now back in the hands of it's founder Roger Shepherd. So it's once again, an independent.

"Wellington-based global internet entrepreneur WebFund is backing what it hopes will be a new way to make money in the cruel and unusual world of digital music sales.

The MusicHy.pe proposition allows fans to remix their favourite bands' music and is being promoted as "the un-label", says Wedbfund chairman Dave Moskovitz.

To prove the point, MusicHy.pe's first signing is Kiwi band The Mint Chicks, who say they "sent their major label Warner packing last December", and are using the local start-up to launch their new EP “Bad Buzz”.

Moskovitz says the business model is based on the expectation that straight music sales are increasingly difficult, whereas artists are increasingly using digital presence to promote their live appearances and merchandise sales, and incentivising music sales using competitions.
Artists will see most of the revenue on download sales, says Moskovitz.  "Bands get very little money from downloads. If you publish on I-Tunes for 99 cents a track, you might see 2 cents of that. With MusicHy.pe, it's more like 90 cents."
Read more here.

ADDED Feb 7 - the above quote regarding the returns bands allegedly get from iTunes has since been deleted from the original story, and the headline changed to  reflect the editing - "UPDATED: Mint Chicks dump Warner for local digital music start-up"

Waitiangi Day fun and games
If you're out and about, I'm DJing at Northcote, alongside Bobby Brazuka, Cinzah Merkens and more, plus live painting from Cut Collective and friends - free too. It starts at midday til 6pm, at Little Shoal Bay Reserve, Maritime Terrace, Northcote.

Then in the evening, I'm DJing at the Racket Bar, Britomart, from 8pm til 930pm, and then the Koretake Sound System jump on til midnight. Free too!



Monday, February 01, 2010

How to offend Pixies fans in one easy lesson
Listen to this...Bassnectar remix of Where is my mind.

QUOTE: "This teeth grindingly shit remix of “Where Is My Mind” is going to open the floodgates for a slurry of mediocre rock/dubstep mashups... This Bassnectar haircut is going to have a lot to answer for. What an absolute fucking rotter."
How does a one man band break up and reform?
A lot of the news coverage of the death of Pauly Feuemana in the last 24 hours has repeated the claim that OMC broke up in 2000 and reformed in 2007 (see ODT, NZPA and here). If you watched the 20/20 story I posted yesterday, it seems that Pauly got sick of touring in 2000 and came home and put his feet up. And what is the source of this break up/reformed tale? The OMC entry on Wikipedia, which has got a fair few mistakes in it.  It makes no mention of the original incarnation of the group, before the other members left and Pauly kept the name, heading in a more pop direction.

Here's TV3s reporting last night, and TVNZs. TV3 talks to Tony Fuemana and onscreen labels him as John Fuemana.

Russell Baillie wrote a good piece on Fuemena in today's NZ Herald but he (or one of the Herald's subeditors) got the name of Pauly's wife wrong, unfortunately.

The Dominion Post's Paul Easton (with Michael Fox, Stuff.co.nz) wrote a story, "Pauly Fulemana mourned" that also repeats the claim that OMC broke up in 2000 and reformed in 2007, and then takes a few more leaps of the imagination. Easton gets some quotes from the local hiphop community, such as this:

"Rest in peace, the one and only Pauly Fuemana," wrote rapper P-Money on his Twitter page."

P-Money is NOT a rapper. Easton also grabbed two other quotes off Twitter without mentioning it as his source, or asking permission.

See...

"Kirk Harding, of hip-hop label MTC, said Fuemana would never be forgotten. "Pauly put South Auckland on the global stage." Porirua-based musician Ben Aitogi said he "made the impossible possible". 

I asked Ben (@USOuljah ) and Kirk (@KirkMTC) via Twitter what they thought of their comments on Twitter being used without permission, and Kirk noted that they could've at least asked permission tho. Both told me that if they'd been asked a quote, they would've sent the journalist to someone who was close to Pauly, like Ermehn or his family. And Easton rewrote Harding's original tweet.


The Dom Post article also mentions his parentage, and mispells Niuean (in reference to his father).

The story continues with...

"How Bizarre made him at least $1.5 million. However, a natural generosity and the cost of a rock'n'roll lifestyle saw the cash slip through his fingers. He was declared bankrupt four years ago.
"I bought my brother Phil a Range Rover and my sister a BMW ... because they were at the bottom of their glass, they were struggling," he said in a 2006 interview. "I said, `Here, have some money."' 

The 20/20 interview  I posted yesterday includes Pauly stating that How Bizarre earned about $11 million, of which he says he got about $5 million, NOT $1.5 million.

It appears Easton sourced some of his information from a Sunday Star Times article in late 2006 - it's no longer online but I posted to my blog at the time, here. Pauly talks about his bankruptcy, returning to the studio with Alan, being hit by his record company for 50% of touring expenses, and studio zombies... "I went to these studios and there were like three guys in there doing the same job that Alan (Jansson) does. Fifty thousand American dollars later I'm like, `what does he do?' `What's he doing?' I call them studio zombies."


I'm sure there will be several thoughtful, well-written tributes in the media to Pauly Fuemana soon enough, but this is not one of them.

ADDED: This thoughtful piece is from Campbell Live, and talks with Pauly's family and friends (Ermehn, Brotha D), as they bring Pauly's casket home late this afternoon. Campbell Live reports that Pauly died from pneumonia.

As John Campbell says in the story, even tho we live in an age of Scribe, Savage, Tiki Taane, Nesian Mystik and so on, its not that long ago that being brown meant never being played on the radio, and How Bizarre was a breakthru song not only for Pauly, but for a generation of young Polynesian musicians who realised they could do it too.