Emulsifier on AudioCulture

The blog may have been neglected recently but that doesn't mean I haven't been busy with other projects. Here's one of them, a profile I wrote for NZ music history site AudioCulture, looking back at the life and times of early Nineties Wellington funk/rock/party merchants Emulsifier ... another one of those lost-between-the-cracks stories I felt compelled to expand upon.

Special thanks to Adam Bennett (aka King Ad B) and John Martin (Juan V) for sharing their time and some laughs. Click the link below.

AudioCulture on Emulsifier

Detox Static

A word and a brand new name-your-price download from Belgian electro giants Front 242 and Alfa Matrix ...

In the summer of 2015, when announcing the upcoming release of the much awaited remastered version of their “No Comment” album due to arrive in spring 2016, FRONT 242 not only offered the unreleased RADICALG remix of “Take One” for free to their fans (alfamatrix.bandcamp.com/album/lovely-day-remastered-take-one-radicalg-mix), but also opened a remix competition for the same classic song as well.

Overwhelmed by the success of the competition and the several hundreds of remixes that got sent to Alfa Matrix, it took us much more time than initially expected to get all of these competition entries played to the various jury members and eventually reach a final top 3 of the most favorite remixes.

Today to thank you all for your much appreciated patience, we are proud to release with FRONT 242 the free “Detox Static” EP exclusively available only through Bandcamp. It features a remastered version of “Take One”, plus the remix work by the 6 (and not only 3!) first winners of the remix competition.  Congratulations to AD:KEY, EISFABRIK, KANT KINO, TEFONIK, RESTRICTION 9 and DIGITAL 440 for being part of the “Detox Static” sonic adventure. And a big thank you to all of you who took part in the competition. 

Enjoy this EP until we soon announce the upcoming remastered versions of several iconic FRONT 242 albums showcasing the band’s innovative sound in its best audio quality possible today. You will be able to hear these albums on vinyl and cd with the improvements or differences permitted by today's audio technology.

And 2016 being a very special year for both FRONT 242 and Alfa Matrix, you can definitely expect the unexpected! There is so much more to come... Stay connected!

A Theatre of Life

I’ve been a little bit lost for words this week. David Bowie meant so much to so many of us, every time I attempted to express my thoughts, words just felt inadequate. Even writing this now, several days on from news of his death (from liver cancer), it all feels a little bit surreal. But of course, like so many before him, his death has rather brought him back to life in a pop culture sense. Social media, and indeed, mainstream media, is awash with tributes; his life is being discussed, his music is being played and shared, his films are being watched, and so many brilliant photos and images of the man have emerged or resurfaced. On my own social media newsfeed, one of the best tributes I read came from a longtime friend of everythingsgonegreen, London-based Glaswegian Paul Colvin, a political activist and poet, and a man who clearly has a passion for all things David Bowie … thank you Paul for allowing me to share your words:

This is about a man whose music and style meant so much to me and so many others who witnessed Ziggy Stardust, who loved his music then and still do now. I wouldn't even have considered paying a tribute to a genius like David Bowie but I woke this morning, sat bolt upright in bed and wrote this at 4.45am. I hope I have done him a little bit of justice.

For Bowie fans. 12 January 2016.

A Theatre of Life

Who do we thank for the wonderful times?

 And which one do you thank for the rock’n’roll crimes?

 Where the sailors and lawmen link hands with the sadmen

 And the smiling asylum laughed at all the madmen

 You sang of a whore who fell to the floor

 And with an explosion of colour you crashed through our doors

 You were so many people in so many times

 With so many words sung aloud in your mimes

 The spaceman who posed in ridiculous garb

 Whose sharpness pierced hearts with a lyrical barb

 A lad who was mad yet the sanest of all

 You lived life to the full in a choreographed ball

 Your width of a circle was a world that was flat

 Where you danced with the strangers in your satin and tat

 And the pavement was heaven where creatures once roamed

 Where the ashes of genies were swept up by gnomes

 But a duke came to warn us, so thin and so white

 That a spaceship of spiders from Mars was in sight

 They watched China danced slowly in your colourful eyes

 And at a free festival, children, were all in disguise

 And the heroes you swam with were all suffragettes

 As you pulled on your fingers for a long cigarette

 We were all pretty things you would not cast aside

 Your festival’s memories was one magical ride

 Where diamond dogs glittered in your stations of life

 You came as a hero to erase all our strife

 Lay low now dear Lazarus, you’re in heaven and free

 We all came as strangers but as friends we can leave

 His name was always Buddy, a crack’d actor now gone

 But we still have his music so let’s dance until dawn

 And every mountain that passes a free flying cloud

 Will hear through the rainbows, his music so loud

 With a bizarre gift of beauty he reached to mankind

 And on the world’s greatest stage he played to our minds

 But our world was full of plastic grooves that circled in our heads

 And the thought of what went on in there filled them all with dread

 It was one vivid circus full of actors and clowns

 It’s a pity their master’s no longer around

 We will always remember a star that was born

 The starman was Ziggy, a genius forlorn

 

Paul Colvin is very passionate about his Scottish roots and is very active in the ongoing campaign for Scottish independence, or his homeland’s freedom from the shackles of Westminster tyranny, as he would doubtlessly put it. Paul has had two books of poetry published on that subject (and wider political and social commentary), ‘Poems For An Independent Scotland’ (click here), and ‘Are You Yes Yet?’ (which has just been published).

HNRMMXV

The end of another year inevitably means the release of another sumptuous compilation album from the LA-based Hit+Run label.

The 2015 edition features prime cuts from blog favourites like Kutmah, Zackey Force Funk, and a new discovery (for everythingsgonegreen) in the form of the Contact Field Orchestra, plus many others.

Check it …

The Festive Dozen 2015: She's So Rad - Confetti

When Tango, She's So Rad's second album, finally arrived mid 2015, much of it was instantly familiar. The album felt a little bit like a compilation release, and included several tunes that benefitted from lots of prior exposure at various points across the past couple of years; not the least of which were highlights like ‘Levels’, ‘Cool It’, and this one, ‘Confetti’, which dates as far back as 2012, if not actually earlier.

In truth, ‘Confetti’ sounds as though it could have been released as long ago as 1985 … which naturally enough, meant it quickly became something of an instant classic in the excessively dry-iced chrome-tinted world of everythingsgonegreen. If there was a more retro Eighties-centric opening 30 seconds to any other tune released in 2015, then we didn’t hear it.

‘Confetti’ also appeals as the ideal final instalment of our Festive Dozen countdown for 2015, albeit arriving a few days late. There’s a few more annual bits and bobs to cover off before the blog can fully consign 2015 firmly to the dustbin of history, but in the meantime, have a happy new year. Gone fishing, back soon (ish) …

(The Festive Dozen is a fairly randomly selected year-end collection of clips featuring the tunes which featured most prominently on the (generally pop-loving) iPod playlists of everythingsgonegreen at various stages throughout 2015) ...

Front 242, Alfa Matrix, and Take Five

Earlier this year, back in July, I blogged about Belgian electro-technocrats Front 242, the Alfa Matrix label, and an appetite-whetting remix competition.

The plan – according to the blurb at the time – was that the winning remix of Front 242’s (track) ‘Take One’ would get a release at the end of August (2015), and be made available as a download on the Alfa Matrix bandcamp page.

Or so I thought … cue electronic tumbleweed floating across the vast cyber plain that separates various arteries of the worldwide information super-highway.

I checked back regularly, re-checked, and triple checked, even, but still nothing appeared.

Until last week, when yet another one of those super impressive ‘Matrix Downloaded’ name-your-price compilation releases appeared on said bandcamp page, and what’s that I spy with my rather beady eye? … included on there is a remix of ‘Take One’ by a producer called Kant Kino. Which I can only presume was the winning remix.

Regardless of that, and more to the point, this is the 5th edition of the Matrix Downloaded series, and once again it’s a very extensive package featuring all of the label’s key artists (61 tracks in total). If you’re unfamiliar with the label – and I’d suggest that the sonic wizardry of Front 242 is a fairly accurate guide – then what have you got to lose by downloading and sampling?

If you’re really keen – or a convert – you can also grab the four previous compilation releases as name-your-price downloads. Don’t be shy …

The Festive Dozen 2015: Of Monsters And Men - I Of The Storm

Back in 2012, Icelandic band Of Monsters And Men released a debut album called My Head Is An Animal, which went on to make the widely coveted (ahem) everythingsgonegreen “albums of the year” list. It was a great little album; bold and bouncy, and packed full of references to the fantastical and the mythical. It was a "happy place", a genuine escape into another world (maritime and nautical themes abound), and I became very familiar with it very quickly.

Fast forward to 2015, and Of Monsters And Men returned with a follow-up, a second album called Beneath The Skin, which, whilst being every bit as compelling as the debut, was a much darker, far more introspective offering. Again though, I loved it, and the band immediately re-established itself as a permanent fixture on my Pod throughout the year.

Beneath The Skin lacks the one really big single (or big hit) that My Head Is An Animal benefitted from (‘Little Talks’) in terms of wider exposure, but I think overall, over the duration, it’s a slightly superior piece of work – some of the songwriting is quite wonderful and the band sacrificed nothing by way of pop hooks in order to achieve a more contemplative, earthier hue. Not so much a happy place but still a destination well worth visiting if you don't mind the occasional lump-in-yer-throat moment.

One of the album’s highlights is ‘I of the Storm’ … check out the clip below:

(The Festive Dozen is a fairly randomly selected year-end collection of clips featuring the tunes which featured most prominently on the (generally pop-loving) iPod playlists of everythingsgonegreen at various stages throughout 2015) ...

 

Fresh Cuts for NZ Musician December 2015/January 2016

The December/January issue of NZ Musician hit the streets this week, and as per usual I managed to sneak a couple of album reviews past the quality control radar of the magazine’s editorial staff …

B2KDA: Rising

Officially, Rising is album number four from the collective previously known as Batucada Sound Machine, or BSM. But it’s also a first for the group while wearing a shiny new B2KDA badge. Such is the fluid nature of this ever-evolving 10-piece-plus ensemble, it’s quite remarkable how many of these tunes stay faithful to the modus operandi and work of all previous BSM line-ups. And that’s a good thing – a proven formula that works. If B2KDA does manage to set out its own stall under the new guise, then pure unadulterated funk remains very much at its heart – see tunes like the single, Can’t Give You (What You’re Asking For), and The Greatest Step. There’s also a crossover into bass and brass-heavy dub territories, with king-size slabs of electro (I’m A Physicist), ska (Same Old Thing), and world music flavours (Por La Noche). Such is the diversity on offer, Rising appeals as being almost completely borderless in its widescreen vision, a hybrid of international sounds blending together in the name of a funky dance party. Which is hardly surprising given that the album was recorded and pieced together at five or six different locations across the globe, places as far flung and diverse as Berlin, Singapore, Dunedin, and umm, Blockhouse Bay. The finishing touches were added in the studio of Sola Rosa’s Andrew Spraggon, with the end result being a light and breezy album crammed full of fresh summery vibes.

http://www.nzmusician.co.nz/index.php/ps_pagename/album/pi_albumid/2612

Host Club: Gymkhana EP

If the tunes found on this debut EP are anything to go by, then Host Club look set for a big future. Coming to us straight out of Western Springs High School, as recent regional Rockquest finalists and yet veterans of Auckland’s vibrant all-ages scene, Host Club’s most immediate and obvious point of difference is the very distinctive baritone of lead vocalist Finn Dalbeth. It’s a voice that defies his teenage years, underpinned by the type of energetic and quirky indie rock more readily associated with a much older generation. As such, this music should appeal not only to the band’s own demographic, but also to those of us raised on the eccentricities and foibles of ’80s pop. Gymkhana was recorded and mixed by Karl Apao of Soundkard Productions. While each of the four tracks here offer up something slightly different, it’s the brooding tension and heavy vibe found on Miscellania, the closer and single, that showcases the Auckland four-piece at its very best. Whisper it, lest we place a hex, but these guys might deserve some watching.

http://www.nzmusician.co.nz/index.php/ps_pagename/album/pi_albumid/2621

The Festive Dozen 2015: Princess Chelsea - Too Many People

In an ideal world, it would be a case of ... ‘move over Lorde, Princess Chelsea is here to claim the throne as the new Global Queen of Kiwi Pop’.

But, as we know, it’s far from an ideal world, and Princess Chelsea (aka Chelsea Nikkel) remains, for the most part – in a global context, at least – a relatively unknown prospect.

Which is surely only a temporary state of affairs, with the Auckland-based artist’s 2015 album, The Great Cybernetic Depression, growing in stature with each passing week. It certainly deserves its place on the many local year-end "best of" lists it currently features on, being an almost perfect blend of irony-tinged social comment and dreamy space-pop. More of the latter than the former.

One of my own favourite *pop* tunes of 2015 was ‘Too Many People’, a great piece of iPod fodder/commuter fluff … check it out, I really like this clip, it's a bit sad and melancholic, yet at the same time our understated star looks as though she could be performing alone in her bedroom, singing in front of the mirror (hey, we’ve all done it. And what on earth is that cat doing @ 2.20?) ...

(By the way, everythingsgonegreen has no real issue with Lorde’s status as the flagbearer for Kiwi Pop ™ on the international stage. We're just prone to being a little facetious at times. Okay, a lot facetious. And anyway, we all know Kiwi Pop ™ isn’t really a proper “thing”. Beyond these shores. Yet.)

(The Festive Dozen is a fairly randomly selected year-end collection of clips featuring the tunes which featured most prominently on the (generally pop-loving) iPod playlists of everythingsgonegreen at various stages throughout 2015) ...
 

Whakataurangi Ake

Here’s something brand new from Disjecta Membra, who I’ve blogged about previously (albeit briefly). This is a quite lovely collaboration with another local artist, Rob Thorne, and it feels like something of a major departure from what we’d usually expect from Disjecta Membra. But clearly it’s very personal, and the real beauty here lies in its intimacy.

The thinking behind the release – a free download, no less – is explained further in the following press release:

Wellington’s Disjecta Membra together with acclaimed taonga pūoro artist Rob Thorne have today released a new rendition of ‘Whakataurangi Ake’; an old waiata from Rereahu-Maniapoto, composed by the noted kaumatua, Charles Tauhou ‘Pumi’ Taituha (1930-1993).

‘Whakataurangi Ake’ has been recorded and released with thanks and acknowledgement to Jaqui Taituha, mokopuna of Pumi Taituha. In recognition of Pumi’s whānau, hapū and iwi, an interview with Disjecta Membra on Maniapoto FM’s ‘Pātere’ programme was scheduled to coincide with today’s release. Sadly, due to recent bereavements within the Maniapoto FM whānau, however, the interview has now been postponed to next Wednesday, 23 December.

Normally, Disjecta Membra might be better known for dark, atmospheric, ‘gothic’ music. But in more than twenty years’ evolution the band have ventured beyond the confines of the genre, often drawing from a rich New Zealand cultural heritage in the process of carving out their own unique and distinctive identity.

Similarly, before entering the world of taonga pūoro (traditional Māori instruments), Rob Thorne (Ngāti Tumutumu)’s musical roots lay in the experimental noise and swampy alternative rock scene of late eighties/early nineties Palmerston North. That background in ‘fringe’ music, coupled with Thorne’s emphasis on bringing ancient and modern together, is what led the group to seek out his collaboration on the track.

Disjecta Membra’s treatment of ‘Whakataurangi Ake’ was initially devised as a form of welcome to international performers whom they were playing live support to, inspired by the song’s frequent use on marae throughout the country as a waiata tautoko at pōwhiri.

For bandmates Michel Rowland (Ngāi Tai/Ngāti Tai) and Matthew Tāmati Scott (Waitaha), the piece took on further layers of meaning due to Michel’s grandfather and Matthew’s father having both passed away ahead of their first live performance of the waiata in 2014.

‘Whakataurangi Ake’ is available for free download from disjectamembra.bandcamp.com, accompanied by a pdf booklet containing original artwork and graphic design by bassist and in-house designer, Isobel ‘Izzy’ Te Aho-White (Ngāi Tahu). The track was also recorded and produced by Izzy’s brother-in-law, Bryan Tabuteau for Molière Recording.

The band’s previous release, ‘Madeleine! Madelaine! (Molière Mix)’, appeared on the popular international Bat Conservation Trust fundraiser compilation, ‘For The Bats Volume III’ in October. ‘Madeleine! Madelaine!’ has received extensive airplay from radio stations and specialist broadcasters in the UK, Europe, North and South America, Australia and even in the Kingdom of Bahrain. Ironically, the band still struggle to achieve regular airplay at home.

Rob Thorne’s album, Whāia Te Māramatanga, was released on New Zealand instrumental music label Rattle in 2014, to widespread critical praise. He has since toured New Zealand exhaustively, more than once, and in January/February 2016 will be in Berlin, performing and recording a commissioned piece for the CMT Festival for Adventurous Music & Art.

Thorne and Disjecta Membra meanwhile look forward to several collaborative projects together in the near future.