Seun Kuti x Sampa the Great - Zamrock remix coming

 Out Feb 14 2025 on 7" vinyl/digital, this is a very groovy rework off the latest album from Seun Kuti. 

"Zambian singer, rapper and songwriter Sampa The Great unleashes a "Zamrock remix" of the song ‘Emi Aluta’ taken from Seun Kuti & Egypt 80’s latest album ‘Heavier Yet (Lays The Crownless Head)’. The original song on the album already sees a featuring of Sampa The Great with Afrobeat virtuoso Seun Kuti, who described Sampa as “one of best and most innovative lyricists of our time". 

With this new spicy “Zamrock remix” the track gets a urban R&b/afro-funk twist, courtesy of new African Queen Sampa. Seun Kuti & Sampa The Great "Emi Aluta Zamrock rmx" will be released on limited edition clear 7” vinyl on February 14 via independent Milan label Record Kicks. 

The 7” vinyl is limited to 700 copies worldwide and has a 45 edit of the original Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 “Emi Aluta feat Sampa The Great” on the B side."

My 2024 list of cool new vinyl

I've been digging back through the records I picked up in 2024, and discovered almost all the new vinyl I got was local. Here's the list, plus Bandcamp links to take a listen and buy:

Mokotron - Waerea

Easily the most adventurous local release I heard this year, joyous, rebellious, and highly danceable. Maori bass.

Fat Freddy's Drop - Slo mo

Roto - Trevor Reekie, Tom Ludvigson

Dr Tree - Dr Tree (reissue) This was double vinyl LP, which now costs over $100, in some cases. Wild.

Dam Native - KDRU (reissue) Much respect to Tim Moon of Tangata, and Gareth at Sony for making this finally happen.

Pitch Black - Echoes Of The Night (The Adrian Sherwood Remixes)

Peter Nelson & Renaissance - Peter Nelson & Renaissance

Sonic (1971-1972) compilation 

Both of these two albums came from Frenzy Music, the NZ reissue/compilation label run by Grant Gillanders who does amazing work, digging out master tapes, uncovering unreleased recordings and pulling it all together. The Peter Nelson one is a previously unreleased recording of a TV special done in Hong Kong. 

Christoph El Truento - Dubs from the neighbourhood

Fuemana - New Urban Polynesian (reissue) 

I was very happy to see this Aotearoa r'n'b/street soul classic get a reissue thru Melbourne label Gazebo. Originally released in 1994 on Deepgrooves (the label I wrote a book about, published last year), it's great to see more of the label's amazing output resurfacing. 

plus a few non local comps, Beehive Breaks, and Eccentric Northern Soul (both on Numero Group) and Guerilla Girls - She punks and beyond 1975 - 2016 (Ace). And a ton of second hand 45s. 

Pro-Teens x MFDOOM album coming

Melbourne's The Pro Teens have dropped a handful of singles off this album, and its out mid January. Preorder vinyl/digital on Bandcamp.

"Helmed by Hudson Whitlock, prolific drummer and percussionist of Karate Boogaloo and Surprise Chef, Melbourne’s The Pro-Teens is a collective of instrumentalists making weirdo instrumental soul records. Drawing from the community of musicians from bands in the College Of Knowledge orbit, The Pro-Teens’ incorporate the comic book stylings of DOOM and Kool Keith, the dark flavors of Gravediggaz and Wu-Tang Clan, and the cinematic composition of Galt MacDermot, culminating in an unorthodox patchwork of cinematic soul, boom-bap funk breaks and left-field instrumental textures.

‘MF TEEN: Your Concurrence In The Above Is Assumed’ recognises the legacy of rap’s Illest Villain, traversing MF DOOM’s discography and personas, flipping selections from Madvillain, MM.. FOOD, Viktor Vaughan, Danger Doom and more, taking care to ensure recognisable tunes such as Doomsday and Curls are represented alongside more obscure cuts such as The Gas Face, the Third Bass song that featured the first recorded verse from MF DOOM in his original moniker of Zev Love X of the ill-fated 90s NYC rap group KMD.

“The diversity of tones, moods, feels and arrangements was an intentional act to mirror the diversity within DOOM's own diverse musical vocabulary. We wanted to fluctuate between putting our own spin on DOOM's classic tunes as well as staying true to the original source.” - Bandleader Hudson Whitlock aka Libby Clique-Baité.

MF TEEN: Your Concurrence In The Above Is Assumed comes after 2021’s Snooch Dodd & The Pro-Teens - I Flip My Life Every Time I Fly, which gained BBC6 Music’s Album Of The Day honors after its co-release by College Of Knowledge and UK tastemaker label Mr Bongo.

‘Charsnuka’ was originally produced under the Metal Fingers moniker and used as the beat for the song ‘?’ from DOOM’s now classic debut album Operation: Doomsday. The Pro-Teens embrace the boom bap hip hop feel from the original tune, replacing the organ melody with distorted glockenspiel and beefing up the backbeat with old-school handclaps, overall maintaining the energy from MF DOOM’s beat and imbuing it with the soul of a live band. The track ends with triumphant applause from the band.

New Dam Native single out now

At the launch event in September at Flying Out for Dam Native's classic debut album KDRU re-release, main man Danny Haimona said the reissue had inspired him to finally share his new tunes with the world, and promised it was on the way and here it is. 

Next single in January, followed by a new album. 'Language of the heart'. 

MOKOTRON's debut LP has landed!

MOKOTRON's debut vinyl album has arrived, and it's awesome. The vinyl version has two bonus tracks, a couple of his tunes that were very popular on student radio - Tawhito, and Hīreretia Rā.

From The Spinoff: Mokotron reckons there’s no box to label this genre. Honestly, who’s gonna be brave to try and put the sounds of his latest album, Waerea, into one category? “The point was to put a flag in the ground for Māori Bass music as the logical next step in the evolution of dance music in this country and the ongoing cultural renaissance of our people,” he says. 

“To be honest it’s already happening: We have Netana, Lakeboon, Akcept, Caru, Lady Shaka, Samara Alofa, Huia, Te Manu, Ngāio Matariki, Kommi, Ahirā / Kōroto, Diaz Grimm, Wear Pounamu, Riki Pirihi and hopefully others stacking up an arsenal of anti-colonial subsonic artillery. I want Māori Bass to exist in my lifetime.”

From Flying Out: "MOKOTRON is a Tāmaki-based Māori producer from Ngāti Hine, who spreads seismic waves of low frequency Indigenous electronic music. Exploring ancient futurism through music, MOKOTRON imagines a reality without colonisation, where the ancestors transition from the ancient world into the modern, creating futures of hope juxtaposed with the hard realities of urban disconnection.

Following a string of sold-out short-run vinyl releases (Mind Control Krew, Tatau O Te Pō and Embrace The Bass) and award winning digital albums (2022’s TAWHITO and 2024’s THE UNITED TRIBES OF BASS) MOKOTRON returns with his new record WAEREA, delivering nine tracks of pure Dark Māori Bass.

The foundation of WAEREA is Te Reo Māori, traditional forms of song and chant, and the voices of puoro, colliding with breakbeats, bars and basslines to reflect the worldscapes of urban Māori."

Deepgrooves book chats and tings

I've been doing some radio interviews which have been fun, talking about my Deepgrooves book and playing music from the label. 

RNZ Music101's Charlotte Ryan had me in for a chat, and were played Sitting By The Phone (Unitone Hifi feat Teremoana), Hiphop Holiday (3 The Hard Way), and 'Sound Advice' (Breaks Co-op). 

95BFM Swapmeet show with Jubt got me up to spin some Deepgrooves tunes for an hour and talk, enjoyed it. Also did a fun interview with Josh on Radio Active's show The Vault. 

Martyn Pepperell wrote about my book in his weekly newsletter Beats N Pieces: 

"In the early ‘90s, a new energy was swirling through inner-city Auckland as a generation of New Zealand musicians, DJs, and vocalists embraced the then-nascent sounds of hip-hop, dub, ragga, house, trip-hop and street soul. Three decades so on, one of the best historical expressions of this era can be found in the discography of an independent Auckland record label that saw the future clearly and did the absolute best it could to speed up its arrival, Deepgrooves Records.

Over the last decade, the Auckland-based writer, broadcaster, DJ, archivist, and musician Peter McLennan (Dub Asylum, Hallelujah Picassos) has spent countless hours uploading music and videos from the Deepgrooves era onto his YouTube channel while conducting interviews and research towards his written opus, Deepgrooves: A Record Label Deep in the Pacific of Bass, and the People Who Gave It a Voice.

A soft format coffee table title with over 300 pages and a literal treasure trove of photography and album art, Deepgrooves: A Record Label Deep in the Pacific of Bass, and the People Who Gave It a Voice, documents the rise of one of New Zealand’s truly idiosyncratic record labels and also tells the stories of many of the key players and musicians involved, and just as importantly, expanding out into what they did next. Viewed together, it becomes clear that Deepgrooves was a crucial launchpad for a generation or two - a once-in-a-lifetime type thing.

Inside, readers learn about groups and solo artists like Fuemana, Sulata, Grace, Urban Disturbance, Freebass, Breaks Co-op, New Loungehead and Ermehn while learning about how record labels liked this operated during the era, the clashes between expectations, and the beautiful friendships and collaborations that came out of the friction, fire and fun of it all."

My book is available from Flying Out Pitt st, Real Groovy Victoria st, Flying Nun K Rd Auckland, and Flying Nun Cuba st Wellington. Or buy online from Flying Out, they ship around NZ, and overseas. 

DJ Aroha drops new haka-inspired tune

NZ-born, Melbourne-based DJ Aroha produced this incredible new track, inspired by Hana Rawhiti's haka in Parliament. It kicks. Free download.

'Inspired by Hana-Rāwhiti Maipi-Clarke and her protest at New Zealand Parliament in response to the Treaty Principles Bill (Nov 14th, 2024).'

New Picassos tune alert!

Hallelujah Picassos release new single with a uptempo dancehall feel

"Here is this year's second release by the Picassos, Bring The Joy, out 8 Nov 2024. An uplifting melody evoking hints of Jamaican Dancehall, and a sprinkle of dub dust thrown in, thus the HPs stay adjacent and true, while Roland and the fellow HPs chant back and forth, in parts, throughout.

We’re slowly heading towards another album in the future, with each release. The Dutch word JammerPot is used, meaning ‘complainer; in English, and is a play on words.

Hallelujah Picassos are part of the amazing lineup of bands playing ‘ToneFest’, returning for the second year at Whammy on Nov 16th, 2024."

Ermehn - "STAY STRONG" featuring Sulata, Aqualei, Kas tha Feelstyle & E man

"A new track, ‘STAY STRONG’, features an unreleased 2008 vocal hook idea by Ermehn, which has been interwoven with a vocal sample from fellow mid 90’s Deepgrooves label mate Sulata, and expanded upon with new vocals from family and friends of Ermehn including Sulata herself, his daughter Aqualei, Hip Hop pioneer Kas Tha Feelstyle, and rapper youth worker E.man, and will soon be available on online platforms soon—a tribute to Herman’s music and his community."

This new song samples 'Mancini' by Sulata off her 1997 album Kia Koe, on Deepgrooves. She sings on the tune, too, it's a beautiful tribute to Ermehn. 

My book about Deepgrooves is coming!

I've been working on this book off and on for 12 years, and it's finally done! I'm excited and relieved. Out November 18 2024, details on it below. Book launch at Flying Out, 80 Pitt St, Friday Nov 22nd 4pm-6pm, author Q&A with Matthew Crawley.

You can order it from Flying Out, and from Flying Nun.

DEEPGROOVES: A record label deep in the Pacific of bass, and the people who gave it a voice.

Deepgrooves was a 1990s Auckland-based record label that released the first ever local hip-hop single to reach number one on the NZ charts with 3 The Hard Way’s ‘Hip-hop Holiday’, back when there were local radio stations with slogans like 'No rap, no crap'. At that time, some people in the media and the music industry genuinely believed rap/hip-hop was a fad and it would die out. Especially if they ignored it.

The label created forgotten classic records from Fuemana, Sulata, Grace, Urban Disturbance, Freebass, Breaks Co-op, New Loungehead and Ermehn, plus countless individual moments of funky greatness on the reggae and hip-hop vibe.

It was hugely influential and broke down barriers for those who followed like Fat Freddy’s Drop, Che Fu, Nesian Mystik, Shapeshifter, Ladi6, and many more local dance acts. It proved we could make great dance music right here in Aotearoa New Zealand.

This oral history looks into the many stories of Deepgrooves and the musicians, DJs and producers behind it, how they got started and where they ventured. It’s the tale of the inner city community in Auckland that gave rise to this scene.

Deepgrooves opened the door for a collective of talented young men and women who were largely shut out of the local music industry, and brought to life some incredible music.

“From the outside, watching Deepgrooves grow, and watching what they were doing was really hugely influential on what I was listening to. I connected to the fact that they were releasing music by young Maori and Polynesian acts – that was progressive for its time. The music also felt truly competitive on the global stage” – Kirk Harding.

“It’s easily one of the most important local indie labels of the post-punk era and one that paved the way for so much New Zealand music” – Simon Grigg.


Published by Dunbar Noon Publishing, 18 November 2024.​ Cover illustration and inside illustrations by John Pain, book design by Peter McLennan. 322 pages.

Contents:

Foreword by Simon Grigg
Introduction
1 Let’s take it from the top. And make some deep grooves
2 DLT: Bass, how low can you go?
3 Daniel Barnes: Talking rhythm and business
4 Mike Hodgson: The Projector Mix
5 Jules Issa, Mighty Asterix: The Twelve Tribes kids
6 Tierney and Lattimer depart, Sinclair and Submariner arrive
7 It’s FreeBASS! Not Freebase
8 Compilation stations in 93/94, plus a riot
9 Unitone Hifi vs Nemesis Dub Systems inna mashup stylee
10 Colony: Rest in pieces
11 Urban Disturbance: Figure these kids
12 Manuel Bundy: On the real
13 Andy Morton: Submariner on the beats
14 3 The Hard Way: Hip-hop holidaze
15 The brothers Grace
16 Lost Records 93-94: We have guitars
17 Jordan Reyne: Long way to climb
18 Fuemana: On the Phlypcyde
19 Simon Holloway: In the studio
20 Rip it up and start again: DIY takes over with Kaiun Digital
21 Sulata: Kia koe/for you
22 New Loungehead: Talking all that jazz
23 Breaks Co-op: Up on the roof
24 Lole: Feel like making an album?
25 Ermehn: Walls of steel
26 John Oz: From Slacker to Freaker
27 Justyn Pilbrow: Press Pause
28 The end: Sofa so good, so long
Appendix 1: Discography, music awards
Appendix 2: Pages from the 1997 Deepgrooves website
Acknowledgements, photo credits
End notes / Bibliography / Index