Tory Kingi wins Silver Scrolls

 

Congratulations to Troy Kingi on taking out the APRA Silver Scroll songwriting award for 2021. Check out this cool cover by Deva Mahal...

Irene Chan's Frothy Flavours (2000)

By Jennifer Scott
NZ Musician, Vol 8. No. 6 December 1999 /January 2000


It's one thing to create a masterpiece of electronic perfection but quite another to have it heard. New Zealand electronic artists however have a better chance than most now that Auckland-based Irene Chan, who runs Flavour Distribution, is about to start to start her own record label, Froth.

Irene has run Flavour for four and a half years and built up a strong national and international network of electronica contacts which she will put to use as she launches into her one woman crusade to have the music heard.

She is helped by a $5000 Creative New Zealand grant to set up Froth which she says will be targeting international markets as well as the local.

"What I want to do is about three or four 12 inches and that way I can export overseas as well and get DJs playing it and then do a compilation CD but the plan is to have three local artists and one international artist on each 12" so it gets better exposure overseas."

Irene's international connections were first formed when she worked in record retail.

"I'd been importing for various stores for so many years so I had a lot of contacts overseas. I just used some of those contacts and basically picked up the labels that I wanted to do."

These include Artefact, Digidub, Dot, G Stone, Kung Fu Fighting, Language, Leaf Label, M Records, Round Trip, Mars, Compost and Different Drummer among others.

While at first Flavour was a distribution agent for only overseas labels from countries as varied as Germany, England, Belgium, France and the States, a couple of years ago Irene was approached by local artists and has since distributed a number of local acts including SJD and Dooblong Tongdra who recently released remastered versions of their albums, '3' and 'Anything Anywhere For No Reason At All' respectively. Both albums have received numerous positive reviews with SJD's James Lost a bFM favourite.

Both SJD and Dooblong Tongdra released their albums independently, selling CD-Rs through specialist shops. By turning distribution over to Flavour, they are now easier to find and if not yet crossed over, have definitely improved their profiles.

"I think it's hard for them. If they can't get a record deal then they have to look at the other option which is pressing them up themselves and promoting it themselves so it is a good avenue for me to be able to distribute it for them."

As for promotion, Irene says she tries to help artists as much as possible although is limited by finances - and of course the fact she is only one person! Other local acts distributed by Flavour include 50Hz, Phase 5 and Cuba & Gizmo.

Flavour and Froth are both solo operations run from her home with a lot of support from husband, Auckland DJ Stinky Jim. She is fast discovering that there is more to running a record label than meets the eye.

"There's so much! You've got to get all the tracks, get them all mastered up, get all the artwork done then there's the contracts. It's just ongoing. There's so much I didn't think about at all. Then there's all the press you've got to do: It's easy to do it here, but overseas it's harder."

While she has thrown herself in head first it is not hard to imagine that she will swim.

"I guess I'm quite lucky because I've got a few contacts overseas now of people who are into what I'm doing."

Irene is softly spoken and reluctant to be in the limelight (as well as extremely camera shy!) but talking to her you can tell that she is someone who will get on with the job. She has an honest passion for the music combined with a determination and sharp sense of humour and I get the feeling that when it comes to business, she is no nonsense but would garner a lot of respect and admiration among her numerous contacts.

The first Froth 12" will feature local acts Phase 5, Pains People, Mood Unit and German DJ Nonplace Urban Field (German DJ Burnt Friedman) and is due for release this summer. Irene says vinyl is essential for breaking the markets she is targeting, with her 12 inches being pressed in Melbourne.

"I just think it's hard if the artists is unknown overseas to break into that market which is what I want to try and do with Froth. I just love music. It's just a shame if it's not getting out there."

As far as distribution is concerned, Irene still sees record stores as the main way of disseminating the music and says stores are becoming more willing to diversify their stock, which is a bonus for her.

"Most of the chain stores are now looking at getting more interesting music in because the whole parallel importing thing has really affected them."

While she has a website she has not actively used this as a distribution tool, preferring to support the retail outlets.

Summer is set to be a busy time for Irene as she sets about releasing the first Froth 12", continues distributing the Flavour artists and in her new role as a label owner, seeking new acts.

"With the 12 inches I want to get as much exposure as possible for local artists so I'm looking at as many as I can take on."

And the criteria for Froth artists?

"I just know what I like."

Mali-I feat Natty Wylah - 'This place' single

'This Place' ft. Natty Wylah is the second single from UK dub producer Mali-I’s debut album ‘In Session’ coming out in Spring 2022 on None More Records.

Mali-I is Mali Baden-Powell (Z Lovecraft / Rhythm Section / Monzanto Sound), 3rd Generation Windrush, named after Bob, spelt like the country. ‘This Place’ pulls in the influence of St Germain and Ron Trent into the world of The Disciples.

Mali-I says about the track “I recorded it on my iPhone 4 back in the sweltering heat of July 2018, which at the time was the second warmest July on record. I had just downloaded this app, and thought I could use a smartphone to make beats... and literally cooked this dub groove with house elements on my AirPods. 

A few years down the line and I pinged some beats to Natty who I knew I wanted to get on the album as 1) he is a great MC and 2) despite his hip hop nature, he had a killer selection of rocksteady, reggae and dub and knew that he would overstand, as it were, my attempt to give the conscious reggae vibe some new style. I didn’t want to compromise the somewhat unintentional aesthetic of late 70s, early 80s roots rock reggae. That stuff managed to combine very simple songwriting, great musical performances and what was then cutting edge FX and dubbing; like the pitch shifter, and digital reverb.”

Natty says “It was a pleasure to put this together, instantly as soon as I heard the riddim it gave me the feeling – ‘This Place’ was quickly cocooned and really butterflied in the studio session with Mali mashing out the decked out desk sends and square wave wizardry. The track, really, I vision it on a big boy system so that’s where it belongs in my head but equally it can be contemplated more intimately. It speaks of a longing, finding home... even when it seems distant, regardless of the land under foot... It’s about the path to finding home within yourself.”

Out now on digital platforms.

Hallelujah, it’s a glorious new single from the Picassos

Alt/indie cult band Hallelujah Picassos are pleased to present their latest addition to their enigmatic oeuvre. It's a composition titled ‘Glorious Hallelujah (a Hymn for a Secular Congregation)’.

This single marks the recording debut for newest member Drew McCormack (The Nuggiez), who has been part of our live show for the past couple of years.

With Hallelujah in their band name and having done a song with the last half of their HPs name (BSPC) aka' Picasso Core', 'Glorious Hallelujah' becomes it's natural companion track, adding further Spiritual Mysticism to HPs mythic chronicles and narrative milieu, showing their aesthetic depth.

Thus we have Roland the Arcane Esoteric Priest, and Harmonic Druids Peter, Darren and Drew enticing the listener to join in and sing along with this work.

This is the first song since their album ‘Voices of Exuberant Hellhounds’ (1:12 Records) from 2019 and the start of the next phase for the band, with more releases scheduled for this year.

Released on Friday March 4th 2022, for Bandcamp Friday.

Find it at https://hallelujahpicassos.bandcamp.com

Neill Duncan interview (1999)

The Musical Lives of Neill Duncan. By Dominic Blaazer
NZ Musician, Vol. 8, No. 3 June/July 1999

 
Good evening, and welcome to another edition of 'In The Spotlight'. To call tonight's guest 'a busy chap' would be veering towards understatement. He's usually involved in a hundred different musical projects at any given time, is an active collector of nauticalia and Kiwiana and doesn't get to see his girlfriend or his little grey kitten, Pod, nearly enough. Ladies and gentlemen, please welcome Mr Neill Duncan." (Cue applause.)
 
Putting other projects aside, Neill found the time in May to release 'Quiver', his first solo album, out on Braille Records. Neill's name will be familiar to many musicians nationwide, but if you moved within the Wellington music scene of the early '90s you'll probably know him through his prodigious saxophone talents in Six Volts, but further back in the '80s, he was in the Spines (with Mutton Bird Ross Burge) and was a founder-member of improvisational free-noisers, the Primitive Art Group.
 
"That was an anarchic jazz outfit. Basically, five young men screaming on their instruments for two hours without a break. It was extreme - so much so that there were a couple of gigs where people had epileptic fits, believe it or not!"

Neill is a compulsive accompanist but for his own project he called in many favours owed to him. All the king's sidemen are there on 'Quiver', including former Mutton Bird David Long, Nigel Gavin (two songs in two takes!), and Janet Roddick and Dave Donaldson, both from Six Volts. Donaldson also played most of the bass on the album and shares the production credits with Steve Roach and Ben Harris. The project was financed by Neill, with an $8,000 grant from Creative New Zealand.
 
"It took 18 months to record in a lot of studios' downtime, but that's not to belittle it because it's been my main focus. A lot of people in this country have to pull favours to make an album, and then repay those favours, and that's what I'm doing."
 
While Neill is totally immersed in improvised jazz, he also lives and breathes four-on-the-floor rock'n'roll with equal ease.
 
"I confuse people sometimes because I love all sorts of music, but I decided to come into this world and make a living out of things I love doing - and one of those is playing jazz on my saxophone, so I play in a little group called The Stompers. They're three old boys who've played a lot of New Orleans music and have spent a lot of time over there playing it. The improvisations I do with them remind me of what I used to do with the Primitive Art Group. It was absolute bliss playing in a band of five people, not sure what sound you're making as it's all so glued together. That's collective improvisation, which is exactly what the New Orleans sound is. It's like flying."
 
Neill's other regular gig is with The Jews Brothers who play a blend of traditional Eastern European klezmer music with some modern liberties taken. The baby of Grey Lynn bohemians Linn Lorkin and Hershal ("no other names, just Hoishal"), the virtuoso line-up also includes tea chest bassist Harman Hielkema and guitarist/mandolinist Nigel Gavin. So atmospheric is the result that I have witnessed the band turn a Taupo sports hall into a Parisian pavement cafe - not an easy task.
 
Avant-garde saxophonists Sun Ra and John Zorn both inspire Neill. Zorn not only pushes the envelope in jazz, but has also recorded a series of albums on Jewish music.
 
"There's a big tie-in with what I do in The Jews Brothers. You wouldn't normally get a saxophone player who plays like me in a band like that. But it's working and the band loves it, as does the majority of the community who come to see us. There are purists, who I always have problems with: jazz purists, klezmer purists, any purists are confused by what I do. The jazz nazis have always been on my back but I can't see the point of doing something if you're not enjoying it, or if you're not trying to find a new sound that hasn't been done yet."
 
Although Neill moved to Auckland five years ago, he still sees himself as a relative newcomer.
 
"It takes a while to break in up here but I'm becoming known now as the person that does 'odd' things, like if somebody wants a saxophone player who's slightly left-of-field and has been brought up on Ornette Coleman rather than Kenny G, they'll ring Neill Duncan. I have a little recording studio where I record soundtracks for little films and TV docos, which is another part of how I earn my living. I'm not purposely going out to make strange music, it's just that's where I've ended up. It just seems like music to me."
 
Neill's television work ranges from musically directing documentaries ('Ten Guitars' and 'Through The Eyes Of Love — The New Zealand Love Song') to scoring music for a programme about peoples' fascination with blood.
 
"I really love putting music to imagery. When you do TV jobs, it's incredible how a piece of music will change an image, especially if you juxtapose, for instance, a sweet little piece of music with something really violent on the screen. It gives it such a different meaning and if you get an open-minded director, you can put a whole lot of things there that they're not expecting. It's a great, exciting jigsaw puzzle and I love doing it."
 
Neill is also one of this country's most in-demand theatre musicians. He has toured nationally with the stage version of Peter Jackson's 'Braindead', played a Wellington season of 'Cabaret', done a season of 'Tele Bimbo' with comedienne (and partner) Cal Wilson and also accompanied many of actor/director Michael Hurst's productions.
 
While mainly a saxophonist, Neill also played the clarinet, guitar and keyboards on 'Quiver', but he actually began his musical career on drums, stepping into the breach after a friend broke a snare skin. The drummer ran home for a replacement, leaving the then 18-year-old Neill to jump on the kit.
 
For Neill, and countless others before him, making a solo album should at the most basic level represent who you are as a person, an artist and a performer. But with such a wide palette of musical colours and history to choose from, how best to make a cohesive album?
 
First and foremost 'Quiver' is a collection of well-written pop songs. Many of the songs are constructed with webs of sound layers and this gives it an industrial/metallic sound in parts. Neill has an ingrained love for grungy old instruments, tape echos and recording gear, but he has also embraced modern equipment. The basic recordings were done at both Eamon O'Kane's Ambush Studio in Auckland, at Neill's home studio and in Ben Harris' laundry. (Ben and Neill played together in 10-piece dub ensemble Repeater.) Some inevitable Pro Tools assembly/collation and other finishing touches were done over a fortnight at Plan 9 Studio in Wellington.
 
"I love what technology is doing to music. I'm really getting into sampling and I like mutation a lot. I do tend to like those industrial hard-edged sounds. It ('Quiver') was recorded digitally on the Akai DR8 hard disk recorder which, I think, is the warmest digital recorder around and the most state-of-the-art. The instruments were very analogue but to record them digitally, I think I've used the best of both worlds."
 
And the best recordings in the world are never fully realised unless they are mastered properly. For 'Quiver', Neill used his connection with Australian mastering guru Don Bartley at Studio 301.
 
Now the record's finished, Neill is already feeling inspired about his next one. Meanwhile, I urge you to experience 'Quiver' for yourself. While it's angularity may initially throw you, the standard of the songs will quickly overtake that, leaving the production totally in context. Go on, be a devil.
 
Neill's Studio Toys
 
Akai DR8 hard disk recorder and Akai S2000 sampler
NHT monitors
Spirit Folio 12-ch desk
Ancient Ibanez rack mount FX
Antique foot-pedal
Harmonium
Italian wind organ/Hotcake combination
Roland Juno 106 synthesiser
Gretsch Tennessean guitar, Hofner flamenco guitar
Roland TR-808 drum machine
Quite a few old drum kits and two boxes of percussion "toys"
Watkins Copycat tape echo
Selmer saxophones and
Clarinet

 

Neill Duncan passed away on 28 December 2021.

More: Neill Duncan: an appreciation, at Witchdoctor

Surprise Chef x Minoru Muraoka

Great little 45 from across the ditch. Melbourne funk crew Surprise Chef versioning a tune reissued a few years back by their UK label BBE... out now

"Minoru Muraoka’s ‘Bamboo’ LP has long been a fixture in our record bags, mostly for the killer shakuhachi funk cut The Positive and The Negative. The record is possibly our favourite from Mr Bongo’s extensive catalogue of reissues, and certainly the most influential to Surprise Chef; The Positive and the Negative’s cinematic atmosphere paired with the wonky drum feels and dramatic performance makes it a near-perfect amalgamation of what we try to capture on Surprise Chef records.

We’ve borrowed an element or two from the tune over the last few albums (such as the percussion on ‘The Limp’), so it felt right to go head first into reinterpreting the entire track for ourselves. We recorded the tune in Karate Boogaloo’s attic studio with our man Henry Jenkins at the controls and Hudson Whitlock on percussion. 

We spent an entire day trying to get the take; we felt such a deep responsibility to capture the intensity of the original, we must have done 20 or 30 takes before we were finally happy. We stuck a fork in it late into the night, satisfied that we’d had our best crack at paying homage to a masterpiece by the great Minoru Muraoka.” - Surprise Chef.