Monday, June 30, 2014

Shandy, Will & Grruff


"New Mastersounds bassist and veteran independent music producer Pete Shand finds an outlet for his Jamaican roots with this sun-drenched pop-reggae album, a collaborative studio project recorded between Menorca (where he is now based), Yorkshire (where he hails from) and New York City (where he regularly records & performs) - an international collaboration featuring vocal performances from Brian J (Pimps of Joytime, Brooklyn), Aoife Hearty (Rodina, UK) and Kirsty Rock (Easy-Star All Stars, NYC). Perfect laid-back summer sunshine music.



Pete explains how the album came about:

"Since I relocated to the island of Menorca some seven years ago, the ambience and cool Balearic pace has been a constant inspiration, so it wasn't too long before it started to be reflected in my music. The formation of SWG as a music-making team occurred quite naturally, with William Woodlock - the musician/producer responsible for introducing me to the island - and Gareth Colley, my long time production partner in UK.

Having set out just to have fun and make beats in the sun, as an album began to take shape we consciously decided on a feel-good vibe: holiday music; nothing too challenging or intense. To keep the good times rolling we have featured vocals from our very talented friends on both sides of the Atlantic - respect! We hope you enjoy having our soundtrack in your lives."

"Pete Shand is cut from the same cloth as George Evelyn from Nightmares on Wax - literally. They both come from the old textile town of Leeds in the North of England but both now live in the sunshine on Islands in the Mediterranean. You can tell they are enjoying life as they have both produced happy-go-lucky albums with the sun on their skin and a cool breeze on the keys. If you enjoyed ‘Feelin’ Good’ from N.O.W you will be happy to spend some ‘Island Time’ with Pete Shand." - Ralph Lawson, Basics/2020Vision


Egon plays wax



"Boiler Room set up shop in Egon’s office in Highland Park, Los Angeles, CA as he digs through his own collection, playing a few records."  Via Rappcats

Lunokhod album coming



I posted the debut from the Belgian/Italian duo Lunokhod back in February, now their album is finally dropping - here's the first single off it. Free DL

Saturday, June 28, 2014

RIP Bobby Womack


Rolling Stone reports that legendary soul singer Bobby Womack has passed away aged 70. His label XL Recordings has confirmed it.

Womack played a fantastic live concert in Auckland at the Civic in May 2013 He may have been moving slow, but his performance was pure soul. He had played here previously, in December 2010, as part of Damon Albarn's live extravaganza for The Gorillaz tour. Seeing Womack standing centre stage singing, surrounded on either side by Paul Simonon and Mick Jones of The Clash was something else.




Via Rolling Stone: "Three months after the death of [Sam] Cooke in 1964, Womack married Cooke's widow, Barbara Campbell, and the Valentinos disbanded after the collapse of SAR Records. After leaving the group, Womack became a session musician, playing guitar on several albums, including Aretha Franklin's landmark Lady Soul, before releasing his debut album, Fly Me to the Moon, in 1968. A string of successful R&B albums would follow, including Understanding and Across 110th Street, both released in 1972, 1973's Facts of Life and 1974's Lookin for a Love Again.

After the death of his brother, Harry, in 1974, Womack's career stalled, but was revived in 1981 with the R&B hit "If You Think You're Lonely Now." Throughout most of the Eighties, the singer struggled with drug addiction, eventually checking himself into a rehabilitation center for treatment.

A series of health problems would follow, including diabetes, pneumonia, colon cancer and the early signs of Alzheimer's disease [this turned out to be a mis-diagnosis - Womack did NOT have Alzheimers], though it was unclear if any of these ailments contributed to his death. Womack was declared cancer-free in 2012.

In 2012, Womack began a career renaissance with the release of The Bravest Man in the Universe, his first album in more than 10 years. Produced by Damon Albarn and XL's Richard Russell, the album made Rolling Stone's 50 Best Albums of 2012 alongside numerous other critical accolades. "You know more at 65 than you did at 25. I understand the songs much better now," Womack told Rolling Stone at the time. "It's not about 14 Rolls Royces and two Bentleys. Even if this album never sells a nickel, I know I put my best foot forward."

Upon his death, Womack was in the process of recording his next album for XL, tentatively titled The Best Is Yet to Come and reportedly featuring contributions by Stevie Wonder, Rod Stewart and Snoop Dogg."

More The Guardian on Bobby Womack
Wax Poetics: Bobby Womack is a thread that runs through soul music


ADDED July 11: via Facebook... A note from the Womack Family:

"We’d like to thank everyone for the support and love you have shown us in the days since the passing of our beloved Bobby on Friday June 27th. Bobby died peacefully in his sleep at his home in Tarzana, CA. The outpouring of appreciation and memories of Bobby have been heartwarming to see and he is definitely up there smiling because so many people loved the music he made.

A private memorial service for Bobby's family is happening this week in Los Angeles and plans are in the works for public tribute services at some point also in Los Angeles and hopefully in New York also. We will announce them as soon as we can. Thank you."




Ring The Alarm playlist, BaseFM, June 28



Dave Pike set - Mathar
Guy Pedersen - Le copains de la basse
Johnny Hammond - Tell me what to do
King Sunny Ade - Synchro system
Opotopo - Belema
The Hykkers - I want a break thru
Hugh Masekela - Languta
Manu Dibango - Soul fiesta
Bohannon - Do the everybody get down
Ebonee Webb - Something about you
George McCrae - You treat me good
Lee Fields - In the woods
El Michels affair - Run Fay, run
Boozoo Bajou - Hirta
Stinky Jim - Strictly love explosion
Grace Jones - Use me - long version
Tenor Saw / Gussie P - Have you loved somebody dub
Pyramid blue - Aracnido in dub
Barrington Carey  - Love you forever - Boxsaga vocal mix
Chubby Digits - De-composed
Malcom X / Keith le Blanc -No sellout
Marc Rapson - The kalimba
Tom Browne - Funkin for Jamaica
Bacao rhythm and steel band - Bacao suave
Ramsey Lewis - African boogaloo twist
Neneh Cherry and The Thing -Dream baby dream  - Fourtet remix
Sola Rosa - Real life - Azaxx remix
Bobby Womack - Lookin' for a Love
Illmatics feat James Brown - Get up and get down - Soulmates remix
DJ Spinna - Abyzmal


Stinky Jim: Bellini bizz



Brand new 2014 styles from the Stinkster, grab it....

Rare psych, Moogs and Brass




This is pretty much the maddest slice of music I' ve been sent in ages. Just the title alone gives that away. Out June 30th on Buried Treasure Recordings. Available via | Bandcamp | Juno Records | Etch Shop

"Eighteen tracks of rare & previously unreleased music from the Sonoton music library.

Founded in 1965 by Rotheide and Gerhard Narholz, Germany’s SONOTON library remains one of the largest independent production music companies in the world. This compilation focuses on psychedelic grooves, synthesized funk and big band belters produced for Sonoton between 1969 and 1981.

Many of the featured composers also worked for other libraries - John Fiddy for KPM & Bruton, Walt Rockman for Studio One, Sammy Burdson for Conroy & Colorsound and Claude Larson for MFP.

Compiled by audio archivist & producer Alan Gubby (Revbjelde / Jung Collective) who also produced the BBC Radiophonic Workshop compilation “The John Baker Tapes” on Trunk."

“enjoying this new library comp… takes a different angle on what’s been done before - superb mastering, a fantastic sleeve by Rob Crespo (with) plenty of Brass and modular keyboard sounds all over the selections” DJ FOOD / Strictly Kev – NINJA TUNE (UK)

“bloody marvellous...full of winners - will defo be playing some of these tunes out” Marc Mac – 4HERO (UK)

“Impossibly funky collection of brassy, and moog heavy inst's from the Sonoton production library - in Bandcamp’s 'New & Notable' section & the next Bandcamp Weekly show” Andrew Jervis - BANDCAMP

Friday, June 27, 2014

Marc Rapson: Dark vs Light




Cool, jazzy hiphop beats, worth a listen. Kalimba is a very dope tune... "Pianist, hiphop producer, remix artist for the likes of Atjazz & Scrimshire: Marc Rapson is a man of many dimensions. From rocking BBC's Maida Vaile and Later with Jools Holland as part of Ben Westbeech's touring band, to releasing stellar re-edits of Marvin Gaye and Sarah Vaughan to the acclaim of Gilles Peterson: Marc has spent the last decade quietly building a following amongst those in the know.

Dark vs Light seamlessly blends crunchy, low swung hiphop beats with Marc's jazz inflected Fender Rhodes and synth sounds. The album is the product of a mind that grew up on Ahmad Jamal as much as A Tribe Called Quest: the jazz pianist with a passion for raw beats. It's a duality that should resonate with hiphop classicists and beat fans alike."

Format: Digital / Ltd Edition 12" Vinyl
Release Date: 27th June 2014



Thursday, June 26, 2014

James Brown get down



Some tasty mashups of the Godfather of Soul., with the likes of Biggie, Bob Marley, Nas and more... from Amerigo Gazaway.

1. Bob Brown = James Brown x Bob Marley
2. Busta Brown = James Brown x Busta Rhymes
3. The Notorious J.B.'s = James Brown x The Notorious B.I.G.
4. Mobb Brown = James Brown x Mobb Deep
5. Fela Brown = James Brown x Fela Kuti (feat Jeru The Damaja)
6. Jackson Brown - James Brown x Michael Jackson
7. The Illmatics = Nas x The Dramatics (feat. James Brown)

First Word Recs turns 10!



First Word Records is a label I've been following for a little while now, they've dropped some incredibly tasty music in the past year - Ross McHenry's great jazzy album featuring Mark de Clive Lowe and Myele Manzanza, Riot Jazz Brass Band, Yosi Horikawa, Ariya Astrobeat Arkestra, Souleance, Kid Kanevil, Tall Black Guy, and many more.

To celebrate their tenth anniversary, they've released a great compilation drawing on their back catalog, their very own customised record weight,  PLUS two ten inch vinyl EPs, one which collects some tunes that have never been released on vinyl, and the other EP pulls together some of their most popular vinyl tracks to date.

Most wanted: Featuring 4 tracks never previously available on vinyl.
African Kings - Ariya Astrobeat Arkestra
The Nuts - Red
Good Morning, What's New? feat Andreya Triana (Capstone Re-Version) - kidanevil
Time Difference feat J-Live (Marc Mac Remix) - Homecut

Second chance: Featuring 4 tracks currently out of print - our biggest sellers on vinyl to date.
Traveller Part Two - The Haggis Horns
Rebel Hifi - Lotek
One Step Re-Edit - Souleance
The Dark Streets - Tall Black Guy

Wunmi remix ep



Funky remix bizznizz, dig the frantic drums on the Richard Olatunde Baker remix. Name your price.




Wednesday, June 25, 2014

New Miles Tackett (Breakestra)



New album from Miles Tackett, the main man behind LA's Breakestra.

"The new solo album from Miles “Music Man” Tackett, The Fool Who Wonders, is a guitar-centric, soulful collection of new vintage sounds. As founder/leader of the Breakestra, Tackett has been busy writing, producing, and performing the funk and soul-jazz sounds that have shaped the Los Angeles underground funk scene for over a decade.

On his new solo release, recorded on analog tape at New Tilt Studio in Los Angeles, Tackett’s master skills as a songwriter, guitarist, vocalist, producer, and engineer are at the forefront as he warmly weaves together soul, & jazz-bluesy psychedelia with the funky soul sounds he is known for.

“Just What I Need” is the first single featuring Tackett on vocals, guitar and keys. Fans of Tackett’s previous projects or even his weekly all-vinyl DJ sets at FUNKY SOLE will all find something unique in The Fool Who Wonders

Release date: 08 July (CD/digital), LP out early August

New Mara TK (Electric Wire Hustle)



Free download, name your price.

From the original soundtrack for Hikoi, a play by Nancy Brunning.
Contains samples from the film Te Matakite o Aotearoa - The Maori Land March (1975).
www.youtube.com/watch?v=XimM4gjMxRw

Lee Oskar goes to war



Lee Oskar, harmonica player with famous East LA band War, is suing Pitbull's label for $3m over copyright infringement. An interpolation of his song San Francisco Bay (off the 1978 LP Before The Rain) was used by Pitbull, but the songwriters Lee Oskar, Keri Oskar and Greg Errico (former drummer with Sly and Family Stone, and producer of Lee Oskar's early solo albums) seem to be suggesting he didn't licence it properly.

NY Daily News reports that "In papers filed in Manhattan Federal Court, Lee Oskar, Keri Oskar and Greg Errico charge the rapper’s song borrows liberally from their 1978 tune “San Francisco Bay,” but his record company hasn't been paying them for the “copyright infringement.”

Lee Oskar is a renowned harmonicist, the suit notes, and the Pitbull-Kesha collaboration makes “copious use” of “San Francisco Bay’s” melody and “original harmonica riff.”

The suit says the harmonica player on “Timber,” Paul Harrington, had been told to “emulate” Oskar’s “harmonica performance from ‘San Francisco Bay’ so that the harmonica lines in ‘Timber’ would have an identical texture and sound.”

The suit says Pitbull’s record company, Sony, “might have obtained a license” to use the song from a different license holder, but the company didn't get it from the songwriters.

They say they haven’t been paid a dime, even though the song was a number one hit in the U.S. and did big business overseas as well."

Dallas native Paul Harrington was interviewed by the Dallas Morning News [cached] on Dec 5 last year:

"Since “Timber” interpolates “San Francisco Bay” by former War harmonica player Lee Oskar, the only instruction Harrington received through Seeley from producers Dr. Luke, Cirkut and Sermstyle, was to make it sound like Oskar. Harrington played to a spare backing track, with just the beat and a synthesizer playing the chord changes. It took him about 90 minutes to nail it.

“When I heard the finished track, I was knocked out,” said Harrington. “Boy, did they turn me up loud.” Harrington received a flat fee of $1,000 for the session. He won’t get any royalties, but he’s hoping the exposure will get him more studio work."





Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Fat Freddys X Lightning Head - Midnite Marauders RMX



Saw this cool Fat Freddys Drop remix posted via their FB page, and what do you know, it's floating on the internet as a legit free download.... hooray! Off Sound Sensation, from Bigga Bush, released back in 2005.

Saturday, June 21, 2014

Ring The Alarm playlist, BaseFM, June 21



George Benson and MAW - The ghetto/El barrio
Mark de Clive Lowe - Ghaziya
Latin blues band - Lay an oz on me baby
Patti Drew - Hard to handle
Judy Clay - Sister pitiful
New mastersounds - Detox
Panchasila - Lam pheune (cumbia molam) free download
Shandy Will and Grruff - Loverdub time
Viceroys - Give it to him
Eric and the Loveletts - I've been searching
Lizzy and Dennis Alcapone -Ba ba riba skank
Hortense Ellis - People make the world go round
Noel Ellis - Rocking universally
Sound dimension - Real rock
Shaboom - Woman cry - Blak doctor dub
Beat pharmacy feat Spaceape -Ghost ship
Rebel MC - Comin on strong
Ragga twins -Wipe the needle
Pepe Braddock - Peer pressure
Myron and E -Do it disco - Tom Noble remix
Sylvester -Rock the box -Dub version
Pete Shelley -Homosapien - elongated dancepartydubmix
Shirley Scott and the soul saxes - Get back
Watts 103rd st rhythm band -Yellow submarine
Sola Rosa - Promise - Scratch22 remix
Melodians steel orchestra - Voodoo Ray
Charles Mingus - II B S - RZA remix
Mike Nock underground - Space bugaloo
Noel Pointer  - Living for the city


Friday, June 20, 2014

MaxTV flashback: Real Groove, 2009

Max TV's Hans Hoeflich


I want my Max TV

The ambitious music TV venture contributed much to the Auckland music scene of the 1990s, before being ignominiously shut down. By Gavin Bertram. Real Groove, Issue 180, May 2009, p24-25.

Ive got my 'TV tuned to channel U
Cruise Control. Headless Chickens


Culturally, New Zealand was coming of age in the early 90s, and a vibrant, young generation was finding its feet.

Auckland music station Max TV was one of the most visible gauges of where things were at. It only existed for a few years but during that time it had a huge impact on Auckland. Max's arrival in late 1993 coincided with the arrival of the Australian Big Day Out festival to New Zealand shores.

Both reflected the redefining of youth culture by late Gen X and early Gen Y members. The spark created by Nirvana and a whole wave of boisterously alienated guitar bands wrought a cultural revolution of sorts. It had been bubbling under for large part of the 80s, and it was as true in New Zealand as anywhere else.

Here there was an underground music scene that simply got on and did what they needed to. A whole substrata of independent labels, video makers, multimedia artists, promoters, underground media, dedicated to making creative things happen.

Max was borne out of this ferment, and out of an entrepreneurial imperative that imagined a land of home grown MTV. That’s precisely what the station's owners, veteran broadcaster Kevin Black and Geoff Thorpe, believed it could be. Ironically, it was someone elses MTV dream that eventually brought Max down.

The genesis of Max was around 1990. A syndicate including Black, Allan Rutledge and other FM radio types purchased a UHF frequency from the government in the newly deregulated broadcasting environment. They were unable to get a TV station operating and the frequency was again put up for tender.

"I went along straight to the receiver and bought the frequency," Thorpe remembers. "It wasn't worth very much, nobody had UHF aerials except Sky subscribers, and Sky was just fledgling. And it cost you a lot of money to broadcast at the time. One of be best ideas was doing music channel, and we did a deal with the record companies and got all their videos and got the thing going." Thorpe says it was an uphill struggle, as the agencies that held the advertising dollar purse strings had no faith in the enterprise.

They wanted hard viewer numbers, and these weren’t available. But people were watching. Max had a captive audience, because New Zealand at the time was starved of music on TV. Come the summer of 1993 and Auckland's youth suddenly had a music channel that catered to their diverse tastes, with a bunch of new personalities on screen.

Broadcasting out of a studio near Auckland Grammar in Mount Eden, a partnership had been established between Thorpe and Black, seasoned music TV producer Dale Wrightson, and technical whiz Reston Griffiths. They broadcast on the UHF bands 46.49, and 57 through a microwave link to TVNZ and onto the Waiatarua transmitter in the Waitakeres.

For the most part, chaos reigned. MaxTV's on air presence was anarchic, fresh, and prescient of what youth broadcasting would become a few years later.

''It was like a whole bunch of kids playing television, which is what the best kind of television is," Luke Nola, who presented Box Dog and Chat Bungalow, says. "In those days, to get anything on TV was so hard. What was on Max, you just didn't see then, but it's quite common now.” Others who presented on Max included TV3 weather presenter Toni Marsh, Auckland's best barman Hans Hoeflich, and George DJ Nick Dwyer. And Zane Lowe, who now broadcasts on the UK's BBC1 radio and MTV2, and won the 2006 Best Music Broadcaster award.

''They amassed a roster of VJs and people working for them who were really passionate and talented,'' Dwyer says. "No one told us what to do, and they really gave you creative freedom. So it allowed you to grow as a presenter far quicker than other stations.''

Max was tight financially, because the big advertising dollars never came in. Individual clients would spend. but the agencies never really came on board until near the end. Even so, the management invested in making better television. That had an impact, and events promoted on Max went through the roof while others floundered.

In the middle of their four year existence, Max moved from Mount Eden to the old Ponsonby post office on College Hill.

This was because both Wrightson and Griffiths had departed the fold, and the early Maori TV station Aotearoa Television Network (ATN) had become Max's landlords. Tuku Morgan, later a NZ First MP, was one of four directors overseeing the $8 million of taxpayer money at ATN. They were interesting times, Thorpe recalls.

"(ATN) were of a different world, really,'' he says.''We saw all the equipment just walking out the door, people were cutting up chairs and making a bonfire in the car park to cook their dinner, they spent money like water. They all had laptops and newish cars. I could see the writing on the wall, but we stuck that out for a year."

The extravagance at ATN was in stark contrast to Max's new Ponsonby studio, which was constructed during a working bee. Despite this, the Max TV management were ambitious, and working behind the scenes to win the local MTV franchise.

Thorpe and Black knew that TVNZ'S boss, the late Neil Roberts, was also chasing it, but they thought they'd usurped him. They even went to London to negotiate with MTV Europe, who they'd been told would administer the New Zealand franchise. Meanwhile, TVNZ were negotiating with MTV in the United States.

"We had the meeting at 930 in the morning and they said they couldn't do anything until New York opened later on," Thorpe reflects. "I said to Kevin as we walked out the door 'this isn’t going to work'. Because they'd lied to us, told us they could make a decision, and now it was being made in New York. We'd only got there that day, and we just booked a flight for the next morning."

This steeled Max's resolve to beat TVNZ, and for a while it worked. Advertising revenues rose, as did viewer numbers, and TVNZ became worried. Thorpe says Max even announced expansion into other centres, forcing TVNZ to change their advertising strategies around their new MTV franchise.

Eventually in September 1997, Neil Roberts called a meeting with Black and Thorpe, and asked what it would cost to buy Max. After four years of struggling to make the station financially viable, the pair had finally had enough. They'd failed to find investors, and big advertising spends still weren't flowing. Thorpe says he and. Black knew it was the end of Max, and the station was closed down that night.

Both TVNZ and Max's management were loudly criticised for their parts in the closure. A street party ensued in College Hill, and Max's last evening of broadcast became a celebration and a venting session, ''That broadcast will go down in urban folklore,'' Dwyer, who'd left the station by that time, says."A lot of presenters got very drunk and said a lot of things they shouldn't have said live on air, and probably shot themselves in the foot for any potential media career. Neil Roberts had many horrible things said about him that night. Business is business, but it was very sad for the Auckland music scene."

While it was an ignominious end to a glorious few years broadcasting, all involved had enjoyed a great time and wouldn't change the experience.

''I found the energy, dedication and atmosphere fantastic," Thorpe says. "Peter Urlich said Max did so much for developing music, for giving people the opportunity to get on the air, to develop fans, and get a feel for what would work."

''It's easy to look back on Max with rose tinted glasses,'' Dwyer reflects. "But it was pretty shoddy, very low budget. But what it did was provide a platform for so many future media stars."

Nola, responsible for some of the maddest on-air antics at Max, agrees, saying the unofficial maxim was that you didn't ask for permission, just for forgiveness after the fact. His experiences show just how much of the fabric of Auckland had become over its four years.

''To this day I still get people at the service station saying 'Hi, Luke from Chat Bungalow! I remember you."

Further reading: Media: MISSING MAX By Murray Cammick, RipItUp, p7, #245, January 1998


Thursday, June 19, 2014

Raggamuffin Fest moves to Auckland?

Damian Marley. Pic: wenn.com

NZ Herald reports Raggamuffin Festival promoter Andrew McManus is looking at a shift from the Festival's home in Rotorua to Auckland.

There was some talk of this happening back in January prior to the latest Raggamuffin, with the event director Jackie Sanders urging Rotorua residents to support the event or lose it to Auckland, saying that locals accounted for 20 % of attendees, and she was expecting about 60% of attendees to come from Auckland.

From NZHerald: "McManus, founder of McManus Entertainment, said he lost more than $1 million on the concert this year.

The number of Rotorua locals buying tickets at the gate had dropped from 17 per cent to 0.7 per cent, and about 70 per cent of festival-goers had come from Auckland, he said.

... Raggamuffin has injected millions of dollars into the Rotorua economy since it began in 2008. But a poor turnout this year and a lack of support from locals meant a move north made financial sense, Mr McManus said."

However, there is still one year left to run on the event's contract with Rotorua, and McManus is negotiating to get out of holding the 2015 Raggamuffin in Rotorua.

Rotorua Daily Post, quoting a Rotorua District Council economic impact report, says that the concert attracted 32,000 people in 2008, 22,000 in 2009, 29,000 in 2010, 30,000 in 2011, 20,000 in 2012, and 25,000 in 2013. 

The Daily Post reports that "About 19,000 people attended the festival at the Rotorua International Stadium in 2014, a 30 per cent drop from last year."

The odd thing is, before the 2014 Raggamuffin, the event director was quoted as saying she was hoping for a crowd of 20,000. So, getting 19,000 doesn't seem such a bad outcome. Unless your break even point was well above a crowd of 20,000?

In 2011, a total of 31.4 per cent of festival-goers were from Auckland, 14.3 per cent from the Waikato/Bay of Plenty and 24.1 per cent from Rotorua. A further 14.4 per cent came from Hawke's Bay, Wellington and Manawatu (source)

Andrew McManus has had a chequered history with the event in New Zealand, with his NZ promotions company being forced into liquidation. See links below.

Previous posts: Herbs vs Raggamuffin (March 26 2011), Raggamuffin rumblings (Dec 8 2010), Raggamuffin cancels Aust shows (2012) Ali Campbell owed $ by Raggamuffin (2012)

Wednesday, June 18, 2014

Aaron Tokona - part 6 - The Internet’s ‘Party Party’

Via Facebook, earlier today, I thought Aaron had wrapped this thing up, but he's decided there's more to tell... 

An Experience In Cosmic Narcissism Part 6 - The Internet’s ‘Party Party’

A personal account of working for ‘THE PHENOMENAL’
KIM.DOT.COM.ORG.NET.THE WORLD.THEUNIVERSE.AND.EVERYONE.IN.IT.co.nz

The Following is ‘The email’ i received from Tom Scott that ignited my rage about Mr Dot Com’s ‘Party Party’ he appears to be having with our country. There is not much in it as you can see:

“Young Gifted and Broke <younggiftedandbroke@gmail.com> May 11
Hey Guys. I've been out of the loop with this all, but have just got an email from kimdotcoms people saying they're doing something pretty much exactly the same as what we're trying to do. Really feel like they've directly stolen this idea. Kind of sucks.”

This whole ‘RockEnrol’ thing had actually been in the making for along time. Tom Scott ignited it initially through his Young,Gifted and Broke Facebook page which drew a heel of a lot of interest up and down the country from a lot of very eager and enthusiastic people willing to get involved with the whole idea of positively influencing our younger Aotearoa crew to ‘Vote’. I talked to Tom a lot about this whole thing before he pressed the ‘Go’ button on it to let the hundred’s of people who were keen to try and get this thing off the ground the go ahead to engage. It took many shapes and sizes before it finally found its leader’s and formed its structure and the team that grew out of that went on to engage in its mission.

Tom was pissed and i flew into a Rage! I then started a series of FB rants about my personal experiences that i had working for this ‘dot.com’ fella. My whole concern about this ‘Internet Party’ Joke was that it immediately became obvious to me that these guys could now have a real opportunity to take part in the formation of a government that could have decision making powers to run our country and Why?- because it speaks directly to the potential Young Voter and Why? - because the future young generation of the world will come straight outta Cyber Space. My awareness of this felt clearly acute to me so i proceeded ahead with my personal account of a man that i worked for who to me was a guy who's intrinsic nature was deeply intrenched in what can only be described as ‘Narcissism’.

It feels like people are only really just starting to see a bit of this stuff now! I must say that it was a great sign of relief to me when Laila Harré was announced as its leader because i felt that she’s seems to be someone who couldn’t be pushed about by a narcissistic tyrant. I have no problem with people working towards making our country an even more awesome place than it already is, and some of the ‘Internet Party’ policies i quite like! My only real problem was ever to do with Kim Dot Com it still is, and it always will be. I’d really like to sit and chat with Kimmy again one day! I’d take the ‘Treaty of Waitangi’ along to the meeting and give it to him so he can wipe his ass on it!

Kim Dot Com has No friends in the NZ music industry. He buggered that up when he brought his way onto the Rhythm and Vines stage and bumped our ‘Shapeshifter’ brothers off there rightful headline spot last year which was a fucken disgrace. He then even tried to ‘buy’ my cuz *tiki* into his part of his show by trying to get him to sing one of his songs during his set!

Dot Com - “What’s it gonna take to get you to sing in my set tiki”?

*tiki* - “13 years”.

Fuck yeah bro …………………………..x

Belgium's Popcorn scene


Belgian Popcorn from Laid Back on Vimeo.


Just came across this amazing piece in The Guardian from Feb this year with a cool doco... worth a read...

Belgium's 'Popcorn': the last underground music scene in Europe

excerpt: "Popcorn has a very similar timeline to northern soul: it started as a regional phenomenon in the 60s and peaked commercially in the 70s before going back underground in the 80s. The main difference between the scenes was the tempo of the records, with Popcorn crowds needing records with a drowsy feel; DJs even played 45rpm singles at 33rpm to obtain the requisite atmosphere. "It was driven by beer rather than amphetamines," says Brewster. "But culturally Popcorn and northern soul were very similar."

In the summer, the scene would move en masse to Ostend, Belgium's equivalent to Blackpool. DJ Freddy Cousaert played at the Groove, a late night downstairs bar frequented by US marines, tourists and prostitutes – it was Cousaert who later looked after Marvin Gaye during his 80s sojourn in Ostend.

The music he played at the Groove included ska, Latin jazz and even Broadway songs such as Stranger in Paradise, or Whatever Lola Wants from Damn Yankees – in the hands of Cousaert or other pioneering DJs such as Gibbe Govaert and Jeff Callebaut, this odd menu made sense. Ostend also had a club called the Versailles, which had direct access to the beach, leading sweaty clubbers to run drunk and naked into the North sea.

Ambient Jazz Ensemble new album: Suite Shop




Ambient Jazz Ensemble say their sound is "inspired by a mix of Brian Eno, Gil Evans and Weather Report. From the offset “Eyes Wide Open” takes us on an glorious orchestral, slightly jazzy direction. Think Pat Metheny Group meets David Axelrod with a modern electronic twist.

Neil Cowley (Brand New Heavies, Jamiroquai, Neil Cowley Trio) plays keys on all 10 tracks alongside strings and a brass section featuring Finn Peters who’s played with Bill Frisell, Sam Rivers and DJ Spinna."

Gilles Peterson “Very wicked – will play for sure ! “

Atjazz “This is an incredible collection, I've only listened for a few moments and I'm hooked. This is going to be my soundtrack to the summer....”

Charles Waring Mojo Magazine “reminds me of David Axelrod’s orchestral stuff”

Out now, on CD./digital, on Here And Now Recordings.

Tuesday, June 17, 2014

Vinyl is making a comeback #265

Latest installment in this never-ending good news story for the music industry, that the media love writing... bless em...

From La Crosse, Wisconsin... Vinyl records are making a comeback

Like all good stories on this topic, they start with a random statistic - vinyl sales are up 250% since 2002. Then there's the quote from a record store employee on how vinyl sounds warmer, then a quote from a young person discovering vinyl.

They do go to the length of illustrating the overall size of this revival to the industry, closing with this sentence: "The resurgence of the vinyl has only has a marginal effect on the music industry as a whole. In 2013, vinyl albums accounted for just 2% of total album sales in the US."


I've published this before, but it's worth revisiting... It's surprisingly simple to write a vinyl comeback story, here's how you do it in 4 easy steps...

The vinyl comeback story that writes itself


1. Find a young person to say something 'cool' about vinyl.

2. Quote some statistic on the increase in vinyl sales with absolutely no context for what that means for overall sales for the music industry

3. Find a handy local record shop with a crusty old owner who can talk about the joys of LPs and the tangible experience you don't get with MP3s. Also, get them to describe their clientele and how young they are these days.

4. Highlight that it' s not just vintage vinyl that is undergoing a resurgence, but new vinyl is being released too, from 'modern artists' like Adele and Justin Beiber.

AND YOU'RE DONE. Nice way to cover 'a passing fad', as one acquaintance put it recently.....

RipItUp: Tales of a music magazine

Murray cammick at Ripitup's offices
Murray Cammick at RipItUp's Crummer rd offices, probably early 90s

Former RipItUp editor Murray Cammick has written a great piece at Audioculture on the history of his magazine, from its inception back in 1977, thru the 80s and 90s, and onto its current state of being. It's a fascinating insight into a very important magazine that held a hugely influential spot on sharing and documenting our musical development.

I remember when I was a teen, how I used to get the bus into town at the weekends on Saturday morning (cos the shops weren't open Sundays), to go and wander round town to find a record shop with the latest issue of this awesome free mag. I learned a lot from reading RipItUp.

Excerpt: "... Where did we get our writers? To use a skateboard analogy, if you build a fine ramp, skateboarders will come running to you. In 1977 the music writers came running to RipItUp, holding pieces of paper.

"We started with friends who also had just gained degrees at Auckland University – Peter Thomson, Frank Stark, John Malloy, Bruce Belsham, soon added George Kay and Roy Colbert from Dunedin, Ken Williams and Duncan Campbell from the Radio Inewsroom, and Jeremy Templer became a key writer even though we had sort of stolen his idea. Alastair Dougal, Frank Stark, myself and the less frequent contributor Louise Chunn had all written for the 1976 Craccum arts or music pages, so the core of RipItUp came from Craccum... "

The colour guide for the printers, RIU Sept 1983. Old school design styles

...and the finished product. Photo by Kerry Brown


Monday, June 16, 2014

Peanut Butter Wolf: NZ shows/Stonesthrow doco in July

Peanut Butter Wolf. Photo: Redbull.com

Head honcho at Stonethrow Records., Mister Peanut Butter Wolf  is heading to New Zealand for two eclectic AV/DJ shows this July off the back of the acclaimed Stonesthrow documentary ‘Our Vinyl Weighs a Ton.’

Wolf’s live show is a unique blend of audio and visual elements, creating his own take on the grand narrative of modern music and culture; whether it be Frank Zappa, Mr T or the Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Wolf crafts a seamless mix of genre that crosses a broad spectrum of tastes.

He’s playing Auckland on Saturday July 26 at new venue Neck of the Woods on Karangahape Road and in Wellington on Sunday 27 July at Meow. 

The Wellington show is a DJ/AV set from Wolf, preceeded by a film screening of the Stonesthrow doco. 


Saturday, June 14, 2014

Ring The Alarm playlist, BaseFM, June 14

Bobby Womack - You're welcome, stop on by - Beaten space probe edit
Keni Burke - Rising to the top - AliOOFT edit
Side effect - Goin bananas
Detroit sex machines - Rap it together/funky crawl - JRocc edit
Ann Sexton - You're losing me
Azymuth - Morning - Peanutbutter wolf re-edit
Patato y Totico - Dilo como yo - Antibalas remix
Boozoo Bajou - Hirta
Rhythm and sound feat Sugar Minott - Let Jah love come

Big Matt Watson,  26-09-1964 to 15-06-2007.

Tribute mix to DJ Big Matt, 7 years gone on June 15. RIP, big fella. 
Brentford allstars - Racetrack
Horace Andy - Just say who
Barry Brown - Juks and watch
Henry and the Revolutionaries - Skanking
Courtney Melody - Bad boy
Overproof sound system - Get with it
Joni Rewind - Uptown top ranking
Nextmen feat Dynamite MC - Blood fire
Manasseh - Skenga (discomix)
Ballistic bros - Prophecy reveal
Lone Ranger & Carlton Livingston - Message to you Rudie
The Beat - Too nice to talk to
Le peuple de l' herbe - Reggaematic
Butch Cassidy sound system - Cissy strut
Mckay - Take me over
Love grocer - Salute to Sam
Nightmares on wax - Flip ya lid

Mark de Clive Lowe feat Nia Andrews - Now or never
Bosq - Getting there
La crema de New York - Cisco kid

Playlist of tunes from tribute to Big Matt...

Friday, June 13, 2014

New from Israel Starr



Israel Starr is the son of reggae singer Mighty Asterix, here's a newie from him, on the Real Rock riddim, free DL here...

Thursday, June 12, 2014

Misled Convoy aka Mike Hodgson (of Pitch Black): new album preview



Sneak preview of the new solo album from Misled Convoy aka Mike Hodgson (of Pitch Black), out mid July.

Tuesday, June 10, 2014

Move on up! Mix #1



I've been thinking about putting together this mix for a while. It's a collection of rare Kiwi gems I've acquired from a bunch of different eras, drawing on 60s Maori showbands, 70s funk/soul, 80s electro, and 90s hiphop - all 100% Aotearoa styles.

Appearances by Billy TK, Dallas (Fat Freddys Drop), Betty-Anne Monga (Ardijah), Zane Lowe (Urban Disturbance) and more. Hope you enjoy it! Cover pic is guitar legend Mr Billy TK.

Monday, June 09, 2014

Saturday, June 07, 2014

Ring The Alarm playlist, BaseFM, June 7



Dave Cortez - Happy soul with a hook
Pete Rodriguez - I like it like that
Mongo Santamaria - We got latin soul
Willie Bobo - La descarga del Bobo - MAW remix
El Chicano - I'm a good woman
Joe Bataan - Theme from Shaft
Billy TK and Powerhouse - Move on up
Nash Chase - Gimme a little sign
Elder statesman - Montreux sunrise
Unitone hifi - Up to eleven
Fat Freddys Drop - The raft - Steppers dub
Grace Jones & Compass Point Allstars - Peanut butter (Pull up to the bumper inst)
Raggadon - More love (Judgement fi Babylon riddim)
Pato B - El fuerte (Judgement fi Babylon riddim)
Bitty Maclean - I'm the one who loves you
Marlena Shaw - California soul
Lee Dorsey  -Yes we can can
Sharon Jones and the Dapkings - Stranger to my happiness
Feddi Henchi and the soul setters - Funky to the bone
Tammi Lynn - Mo jo hanna
TSU Tornadoes - Getting the corners
Marva Whitney - What do I have to do...
Cold blood - Kissing my love
Manfredo Fest - Jungle kitten
Donald Byrd - Stepping into tomorrow
Dennis Edwards - Don't look any further - Bobby Buschnach edit
Hall and Oates - I can go for that - Daz's deep dub
Amrals Trinidad cavaliers - It sure is funky

Friday, June 06, 2014

Rhythm & Vines revisit controversy


In early May this year, I spotted the above poster in Rip It Up magazine, and posted it on Twitter. Appropriating Native American headdress is not cool, and this image generated a fair bit of controversy. Many people felt it was wrong, and some other folk felt anyone complaining was being 'too PC'. The story was picked up by TV3 and Stuff.co.nz.

One of the young women in the above photo contacted me via Twitter and tried to explain why she wore it (as a tribute to native Americans - see 'But why can't I wear hipster headdress?'), and asked where she could get a copy of the magazine. She then contacted Rhythm & Vines via Twitter to ask why they were using her image for marketing purposes without asking her permission (the photo was from one of their events). She subsequently deleted her Twitter account.

Rhythm & Vines took 24 hours to get round to responding, and eventually apologised for the ad and withdrew it. "We sincerely apologise for the image used and any offence this may have caused. The use of this image was inappropriate and has been removed," Rhythm and Vines wrote in a tweet.

Since then, the Prime Minister's daughter Stephanie Key got caught up in a similar controversy, over co-opting native headdress for her art photography course in Paris.

More recently, Pharrell Williams issued an apology for wearing native headdress on the cover of Elle UK magazine.

HOWEVER, the June issue of Rip It Up features the same offending ad from Rhythm & Vines. No word yet from them on how they managed to run an ad they supposedly withdrew. Simple mistake or cynical ploy or free publicity to help with presales?

From  Rolling Stone: "The wearing of Native American headdresses has become a recurring issue in music circles over the past several years as the garment has ostensibly grown more ubiquitous, particularly among festival goers. In 2012, No Doubt pulled the video for "Looking Hot" and apologized for the second single from their comeback record, Push and Shove, which had a Wild West theme and was rife with tee-pees, headdresses and smoke signals.

Recently, the garment played a central role in the back-and-forth between the Flaming Lips' Wayne Coyne and ex-drummer, Kliph Scurlock. After the split, Scurlock told Pitchfork he was dropped for criticizing Coyne's friend, musician Christina Fallin (also the daughter of Oklahoma governor Mary Fallin), who posted a photo of herself in a headdress and later taunted protestors during a concert; Coyne in turn came to Fallin's defense and posted a photo to Instagram of his three friends and a dog wearing a headdress.

"I understand now that if I'm a spokesperson for any kind of behavior, I shouldn't have done it, and I regret doing it now," Coyne later said of the photo to Rolling Stone. "I am sorry. I realize now that it goes deeply to the heart of some Native Americans. And I definitely regret it."

This reaction from a Native American is worth reading, to get their perspective on the headdress issue.. 'But why can't I wear hipster headdress?'

UPDATED Tuesday June 10: After getting no response via Twitter from Rhythm and Vines, I tried contacting them via their Facebook page today. They have responded: "We still stand by our apology. The publisher gifted R&V a bonus advertisement but did not clear it with us first. We have asked them to remove the ad from any future publications."

Thursday, June 05, 2014

Nash Chase - Gimme little sign




This is a great local take on a tune made famous by US soul singer Brenton Wood. I only discovered Brenton Wood mid last year, when I was digging at Real Groovy thru their huge 45s shipment, and a mate passed me a 7 by him - Some got it, some don't, a slinky soul stunner. Since then I've picked up Wood's album Oogum Boogum, featuring his big hit of the same name, and Gimme a little sign.


Via Amplifier, who have some of Nash's music digitally available (also on iTunes):

"Born in Taihape, Nash Chase entered the New Zealand pop scene in 1970 with a top ten single What greater Love which peaked on the national chart at number ten. Nash came from a large family of eighteen brothers and sisters and all were musically inclined so it was no surprise when he decided on a career in entertainment.

"In 1971 Nash entered the Studio One TV contest and ended up as winner of the New Faces section, which resulted in a recording contract with EMI. His first single for the label Today I Killed A Man I Didn’t Know became an immediate top twenty hit and was a finalist in the 1971 Loxene Gold Disc Awards. The follow-up releases If You’d Like To Be A Lady, Eye For The main Chance, and Anderson And Wise also became winners with Anderson And Wise reaching the finals of the 1972 Studio One Contest.

"With his commercial appeal Nash was always a favourite with radio and his final single release Maria Isabella also became a finalist in the 1973 RATA Awards. In February 1973 Nash Chase and his wife decided to leave New Zealand for the entertainment circuit in Australia and although EMI there released a selection of singles over the following year he was unable to break into the lucrative Sydney scene." 

EMI reissued his music on a 'best of' CD in 2003. Chase's take on Gimme a little sign featured on the compilation Waiata vol 1: Maori Showbands, Balladeers and Popstars.


Wednesday, June 04, 2014

Panchasila - South American dub styles....



Very cool, dubbed out electronica/cumbia from a South American duo... free download via netlabel Test Tube, who say...

"Panchasila's story so far: two Buenos Aires friends team up for a musical journey taken in between cultural influences from South-American folk to southern Asian traditional music, all wrapped up in dub (of course).

They define themselves as 'proudly third world music' and their name was taken deliberately from the famous indonesian political movement, inspired by the Bandung Conference and its newly developed 'third world conscience'.

Musically it isn't very easy to define Panchasila past its obvious dub-flavored electronica. The music is heavily supported by sampling vinyl and mp3 from old and obscured folk records found all over the place, but also from synths and real instruments played by both musicians. Delay after added delay, the final result is a seductive yet inebriating mantra-like soundtrack."

Tuesday, June 03, 2014

In love with these crimes


Real Groovy Records has a sale on this past weekend, with 10,000 LPs on sale at $10 a pop. I went and had a dig and found a few gems, along with some dross, like the above record, arguably one of the worst records ever released by Flying Nun, a faux country record with no redeeming features. No, I did not buy it.

The gent in the middle is Eric Glandy aka Derek Ward, brother of Barbara Ward, who is Chris Knox's former partner. And on the far right is one Don McGlashan - as someone mentioned to me, bet you won't find this release in his discography! Seeing it reminded me of a magazine article from several years back, so I dug it out...


The Worst of Flying Nun Records: In Love With These Crimes was an indepth nine page article published in the September 2007 issue of Andrew Schmidt's excellent magazine Mysterex, written by one Mr Gene Pool Belmundo. Songs singled out included The Clean - Ginger Ale; Sneaky Feelings - Be my friend; Doublehappys - Needles and plastic; and The Chills - Male monster from the Id, and also included an aside titled 'Interlude: Stupid ideas"  that mentioned the above album from Mr Glandy and pals...

"Small labels often release a 'novelty' item or two, many times the informal, pseudonomous work of well-known musicians. One such project on FN which actually worked was The Weeds' fine Wheatfields single in 1986.  However,sometimes these whimsical ventures backfire.

"As revealed in Heavenly Pop Hits: The Flying Nun Story, the release in 1986 of The Eric Glandy Memorial Big Band's Adrenal Glandy: Songs Of Love, Hate And Revenge had something of the 'spite signing' about it, some tit-for-tat hissy fit between whoever up at head office, which gained a fringe theatrical troupe a much-coveted place on the FN roster..."

In Heavenly Pop Hits Chris Knox reveals how they got Eric Glandy on the label in revenge for Netherworld Dancing Toys and Marching Orders getting on the label... fair enough...

WATCH; Heavenly Pop Hits doco in full over at NZ On Screen


Speaking of Don McGlashan, he jumped up onstage with Street Chant  at Arch Hill Records 15th birthday gig (May 30) to help out on their cover of his old band Blam Blam Blam's song There is no depression in New Zealand. Kick arse version and it still relevant. Happy birthday Arch Hill, keep being awesome.