P Money in trouble?
Just messing. Chart-topping US rapper Akon is reissuing his album Trouble, reports SOHH.com, with a bonus second disc "filled with some of his most recent chart-topping collaborations [Beatnuts, Kardinal Offishall, Baby Bash, and Miri Ben-Ari] and a few unheard gems as well." Of note for locals - P Money gets Keep On Callin in there and Savage makes it with Moonshine. Album drops Nov 22 Stateside. Nice one.

Oh yeah, tickets for the Big Day Out in Sydney has SOLD OUT already. The promoters are holding back 5000 tickets to sell off via the BDO website, 500 going on sales there everey week for the next ten weeks, to beat the scalpers. Tip of the hat to Miles for this. Ran out and bought my ticket this morning. So, don't be a typical Kiwi and leave it til the last minute - you want to miss Iggy and the Stooges due to your own slackness? More fool you.

Design like Barbara Kruger

Via Boing boing... "Here's a fun tongue-in-cheek Graphic Standards Manual to help you design like collage artist/activist Barbara Kruger. From the introduction:

Welcome to the Barbara Kruger Graphic Standards Manual. This guide is intended to service students, artists, designers, and activists that have an interest in juxtaposing text with imagery in the fashion of Barbara Kruger. This has been developed to help you accurately position your own work amongst this famous artist, designer, an/or photographer. As Barbara herself stated, pictures and words have the ability to determine who we are and who we aren't. It is through this combination that we can establish an identity, and by impersonating Barbara's own unique style, you yourself can remain anonymous--in effect being while not being. As Barbara's work evolves using typefaces beyond the Future family and the color red, this guide must evolve as well. Link

Watch B&B on Maori TV tonight, 9.30pm
Why? Cos it's bloody funny. How do I know this? Well, we scored some tickets to go along to the filming of this show yesterday afternoon, and had a ball. It's a comedy/chatshow, with Radar and Hori Ahipene as husband and wife Beven and Beverly Best, who run Best's B&B in Oneoneroa. As Radar says, "This is quite possibly one of the most exciting projects I have worked on. Ever. I always wanted to marry a wahine Māori – I just never thought it would be Hori Ahipene."

On the show they have guests along, and this week Radar managed to get an Oscar-nominated actress to ride around on a fake sheep wearing riding colours, as practise for the Oneoneroa Derby Day, the annual sheep race.


Salmonella dubbed
In last weekend's Sunday Star Times, Andrew Penman of Salmonella Dub hit out at NZ On Air and the NZMIC (I quoted some of it here) admitting that "I sound like a hypocrite, 'cause Salmonella has taken a few NZ On Air video grants, but really, I think these organisations and most major record labels encourage dependence and stop bands from devising alternative ways of working independently."

Brendan Smythe of NZ On Air responded to Penman in the letters section of yesterdays SST, saying that Salmonella Dub had in fact been the third biggest beneficiary of NZ On Air music video grants. He stated that to date they have got $205,000 in total in funding from NZ On Air.

Ring The Alarm playlist, Saturday October 29, BaseFM
3 generations walking -Midnight bustling
Yabby You -Zambia dub
Prince Fatty -School's out
Perfect -Handcart boy
Quantic Soul Orchestra feat Alice Russell - So long (playing in AKL on Nov 25)
Butta - Okwawa se
Prince Charles and the City Beat Band - Don't fake the funk
Sola Rosa feat Paul St Hilaire -Breezes blowing
David Walters - Mesy bon dye (Bigga Bush dub version)
Patti Jo - Make me believe in you (Ashely Beedle and Phil Asher re-edit)
Blackalicious - Your move (live in AKL Dec 17)
Rhythm and Sound feat Cornell Cambell -King in my empire
Twilight Circus meets the Disciples - Foundations rockers (Disciples dub)
Kora - Politician (Paddy Free remix)
Jah Thomas -Gamblin dub
Barrington Levy -Collie weed
Bumps Jackson - Funky in Jamaica part 2
Dick Hyman - Give it up or turn it loose (James Brown done Moog styles)
Idris Mohammed - Superbad
William Bell - I forgot to be your lover
Sean Paul -Send it on
Michael Prophet - Been talking
DJ C and quality diamond - Let it Billie (Jungle mix)
Blufoot vs JStar feat Infinite Livez - Intchaaa!
Jackie Mittoo - One step forward
Amadou and Mariam feat Manu Chao - Senegal fast food
Salmonella Dub - Push on thru (Adrian Sherwood remix)
Tweet vs XTC - Oops! mashup

Thanks to Big Matt for holding it down last week - nice one, fella!

FINALLY!
Someone writes a business story on the success of Fat Freddy's Drop. Thank you Liam Dunn. This is easily the biggest NZ album of the year (forget Bic Runga). Interesting read. What took you so long?


Fat Freddy's Drop let music walk the talk

27.10.05, By Liam Dann

When Peter Baker, general manager of record distribution company Rhythmethod, sat down to talk to his new clients, Fat Freddy's Drop, about marketing plans he was a little taken aback.

The band and manager Nicole Duckworth had a clear vision - no marketing.

"It's not that I wanted to do a big marketing campaign, but there are things that you traditionally do with any new release," Baker said.

The band wanted none of them.

When Fat Freddy's released its debut studio album in May there were no street posters, print ads, music video or single. And, Baker recalls, there wasn't even a definite release date to promote.

But the plan worked - big time.

The album's commercial success is unprecedented. It was the first independently distributed album to go straight to number one in the New Zealand charts. It was a gold record by the end of its first day (10,000 sales) and has since gone double platinum.

This week, Baker is doing the paperwork on an order that will see it top sales of 40,000.

Big mainstream retailers like The Warehouse are among the album's biggest buyers, something that was unimaginable in the band's early days as part of Wellington's underground dance music scene. [NB- The Warehouse account for over 60% of all CD sales]

But the "anti-marketing" philosophy is not about nihilistic rock'n' roll posturing.

Duckworth, who knows plenty about marketing, says it's part of a clearly defined strategy.

"We've always been pro-active about establishing a marketing plan," she said. "That plan was based on a couple of philosophies."

The first was to let the music do the talking, not the advertising.

"We'd come across - and been impressed by - marketing theories like the whole 'word-of-mouth thing'," she said.

"The loyalty that a word-of-mouth recommendation creates from a fan is much more powerful than someone discovering the music or the brand through a print ad."

The idea was to encourage a sense of ownership in fans.

"Then the audience is actually out there working for Freddy's."

That audience - which grew from years on the live circuit - created a huge advance demand for the album.

"With a creative business, you must let things happen organically," Duckworth said.

The loyalty, which saw the core fan base buy the album so quickly, has in turn created an industry buzz making Fat Freddy's one of the hottest acts in the country.

It's ironic given that the original plan was to ignore New Zealand and concentrate on foreign markets.

"The whole New Zealand thing surprised us," Duckworth said. "Seven years ago, we decided to focus on the international underground dance music scene because we didn't want to have to move into commercial music to be successful in New Zealand."

The band felt it was better to carve out a niche and sell themselves in places such as Germany, where that niche was big enough to be commercially viable.

That focus has meant that until this year most of Fat Freddy's work was only available on vinyl - something that only heightened demand for the album.

Duckworth said the vinyl release strategy was deliberate.

"You promote music through the DJs. When someone buys a CD, they'll play it in the car or at home and a close network of people will discover that music. But if you put it on a piece of vinyl and a DJ plays it over the weekend, then thousands of people start hearing it."

The Fat Freddy's sound - soulful lyrics layered over a slick brass section and heavy reggae beats - is part of a local movement dubbed Aotearoa Roots.

But, unlike so many Kiwi exporters, New Zealandness is not something the band has pushed.

"We've been careful not to market or brand the band as New Zealand," Duckworth said. "There is little interest, in the European market particularly, in music being from a specific country.

"There is a lot of pride here in New Zealand that the music is home grown but, overseas, you really have to put music out there first."

Fat Freddy Facts:

* Release music through their own label - The Drop.
* Debut studio album has sold nearly 40,000 copies.
* Picked up four New Zealand music awards this month - including best album and best band.

This week's album charts have FFD at #4, no change from last week.

How freaking awesome are Iggy and the Stooges?
That's a rhetorical question, so don't be a smartarse and answer it. Got my hands on the newly reissued/remastered Stooges albums (The Stooges; Funhouse) yesterday, and man, they rock. From the liner notes for Funhouse... The record's passion, attitude, power, emotion and destruction are incalculable. A milestone so overlooked it's despicable. We live in an age where people like James Taylor are inducted into the Rock'N'Roll Hall of Fame before the Stooges." Jack White, the White Stripes.


FMR plugs into the matrix
from the official press release from Warners on their acquisition of FMR....
"In hiring Michael Parisi and acquiring FMR, Warner Music Australasia plugs into a global A&R matrix that is committed to developing global careers," says Paul-Rene Albertini, Chairman and CEO, Warner Music International.
(tip of the hat to Richard B for this)


Just got the latest email from ESL, Thievery Corporation's label, and noticed this...
"You can also see the video for The Time We Lost Our Way directed by our favorite Kiwi Jolyon Hoff on thieverycorporation.com, eslmusic.com and on iTunes."

Itunes is here... almost
Itunes launched in Oz on Tuesday morning, but if you type in your address as Auckland NZ Tasmania or something, you can buy tunes off the site (have heard this from a few journo mates who are doing just that). Lists over a million songs, but Sony BMG haven't signed up to it yet. Word is a deal with them is imminent.

"Tunes can be downloaded at a cost of $1.69 (Aus) per song and $3.39 (Aus) per music video. A whole album can be purchased for $16.99. That compares to US prices of $US0.99 ($1.30 Aus) for a song and $US9.99 ($13.10Aus) for an album." More news here.

Oh, and all the press releases/news reportage mentions the exciting range of current Australian bands on the site, like Evermore. Looks like we lost another one...

ADDED New Nokia 8800 cellphone with sounds/ringtones by Ryuichi Sakamoto... me want...

It's a conspiracy...
Salmonella Dub's Andrew Penman, from the Sunday Star Times... they're off on a national tour soon...

"We're touring with several other bands under the Dub Conspiracy banner," says Penman. "Basically Dub Conspiracy is an attempt to bypass idiots like the New Zealand Music Industry Commission or New Zealand on Air. I sound like a hypocrite, 'cause Salmonella has taken a few NZ On Air video grants, but really, I think these organisations and most major record labels encourage dependence and stop bands from devising alternative ways of working independently."

Penman believes bands end up competing against each other for audiences, media space, record contracts and funding, instead of building "a community where bands get together to tour, to appear on each other's albums and to share knowledge and resources."


And did you hear that FMR have been sold off to Warner Music Australiasia? More here - check the fantastic spelling errors... someone forgot to spellcheck the press release...


more later.

Food for Fido
This might be of interest if you're out and about this weekend...
"Yes ya'll its Labour weekend, so its time for another Givin' Up Food for Fido
Join us this Sunday, 23rd October, at the Rising Sun for a huge night of Funk and Soul. DJ's Dunc tha Funk, Uncle Barnie, Cesar, Selecta Sam, Daniel Ward, Automatic, the Natural Disasters and Darren Souljah will be providing more Funk to bump your rump! They will be playing 30min sets to keep the party rolling til the breaka breaka dawn.

The flossatron 5000mkII will be back pumping out free cotton candy. Free entry with animal food donation. All proceeds go to the Auckland SPCA. Doors open at 10pm, be in quick if you want some animal biscuits...the iced kind for humans."


And if you're down at NZ Fashion Week today, I'm DJing in the Fashion Week Cafe from 12 midday til 2pm. Funky reggae lunchtime!

ADDED via Coolfer...
"PC World asks, "Are You Still Using CDs?" Coolfer replies, "Yes." Harry McCracken asks, "Why fuss with CDs when you can listen to an MP3 player that holds way, way more than six CDs' worth of music and provides instant access to all of it, not to mention podcasts and other audio?" I'll tell you why: Because a lot of CDs can be purchased for the same price or less than can digital downloads at online music stores. Here's another reason: Because a lot of music I buy isn't available at online music stores. Here's another: Because I like a permanent copy even though I just moved owning a large music collection can really be a pain at times. Here's another: Because CDs sound better. Here's another: Used CDs are a great way to beef up one's music collection. Here's another: In some cases, packaging still matters. Here's another: Labels like to send promo CDs to bloggers. Have fun with your zeros and ones. I'll stick with CDs and rip the songs when I get a chance."

Oh, and Damian Marley is spending a month touring as opening act for U2, before doing his own tour in support of his new album. Um, wha???

Blank generation
Been digging heaps of 70's New York punk lately - watched the killer Ramones doco End of the Century again recently (the DVD has some great extra features; interviews with Debbie Harry and Chris Stein, and the last filmed interview with Joe Strummer), and have just finished reading Please Kill Me, a great book that's an oral history of that scene. Also got a copy of Spurts:The Richard Hell Story CD to review for work. Just bought Punk Attitude yesterday at Real Groovy, so that's next up ( one of their friendly staff pointed out the new Sinead O'Connor album was playing instore, telling me that she recorded it with Sly and Robbie, which is hilarious. Well, made me laugh).

And then there's the latest issue of Mojo magazine, with a great free cover CD of NY 70s punk. Got the Ramones on the cover, but the article on them is less than great - it's full of historical detail, which reads well, til you get half way thru and the writer Ben Edmonds drops a clanger... he claims that two of the Ramones (Deedee, Joey) had died by the time the group was inducted in to the Rock'N'Roll Hall of Fame in 2003. WRONG! Having just seen End of the Century again, the final scenes are of Johnny, Tommy Marky and very much alive Deedee at the R'n'R Hall of Fame ceremony in April 2002 - Deedee passed away in June 2002. How can you take an article like that seriously when someone f*cks up that badly?
Here's some covers instead....

Scans of punk and new wave LP and single covers

Mark Frauenfelder: This site, chock full of scans of punk and new wave record sleeves, was a trip down memory lane for me. I had a lot of these, which have since disappeared thanks to rain damage and permanent borrowing. Link

FFD Chart Watch
After bouncing back to #5 last week (up 13 places) on the back of their NZ Music Awards successes, The lads move up one place to #4. They have been in the charts for 24 weeks now.

Heard of Vinyl Revolution? Discovered this via Chris Bell at NZBC...
"I’m buzzing, on the strength of an email just in from Vinyl Revolution, confirming a CD I ordered on 16 August has shipped. What differentiates a Vinyl Revolution order from those made through other online music stores is that it sources rare vinyl for you and transfers it to CD, digitally remastered, supplies original artwork and inserts, and ships you the vinyl as well as the CD..."

Howard Morrison: Girl, you fat!
Aging entertainer Sir Howard Morrison got in hot water at the weekend after labelling NZ Idol finalist Rosita as too fat to be a pop star. "I'm not being cruel," he said. "She has already lost weight throughout the show and you can see that. She has gone from waddling on to the stage when she first started to being more in control of her performance, but she is still too big."

The last time Howard Morrison was vaguely relevant to pop music in this country was 1962 or thereabouts. Think he'd have the nerve to say that to Aretha Franklin? Or Ella Fitzgerald?