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Wednesday, November 27, 2019

Seven new acts announced forWOMAD New Zealand 2020

Today, WOMAD New Zealand is very excited to add seven new performers to a lineup already brimming with top tier talent.

Flor de Toloache (Mexico/USA), Ifriqiyya Electrique (Maghreb/Europe), KermesZ à l'Est (Belgium),
Laura Marling (UK), Marina Satti & Fońes (Greece/Sudan), The Black Quartet (Aotearoa/NZ), Troy Kingi (Aotearoa/NZ).


The first all-women Mariachi group Flor de Toloache will be joined by Maghrebi/European outfit Ifriqiyya Electrique who infuse industrial post-punk and techno with the traditional Banga music of the Tunisian desert. KermesZ à l'Est, eight long-haired metallers without guitars from Belgium will perform alongside the Brit award-winning, folk singer-songwriter Laura Marling and Marina Satti a Greek-Sudanese emerging star who represents hope. Local artists, award-winning Troy Kingi will be performing the deep roots/reggae music from his latest album Holy Colony Burning Acres and The Black Quartet ensemble will bring their contemporary touch to classical music to round off the 2020 festivals incredible lineup.

WOMAD New Zealand is famous for bringing together artists from all over the globe for a vibrant showcase of the world's many forms of music, arts, and dance. The 2020 festival is no exception and will feature close to 100 hours of music, dance and voices across eight stages. Over three days Ngāmotu's stunning Brooklands Park and the TSB Bowl of Brooklands will once again be transformed into a village of colour, energy and inclusion. 

WOMAD New Zealand 2020 features 28 cutting edge performers and world-class musicians from every corner of the planet, delivering fresh new takes on traditional music. And come March 2020, multi-award-winning, solo artists, duos, trios and 12-piece brass bands from around the globe will come together to perform at WOMAD New Zealand. Finnish Beatboxing, Maloyan Dance and Black Samba will join hands with Reggae, Rap, Folk, Funk, Jazz, Soul, Classical and Afrobeat to celebrate the world's differences. Pioneering young artists alongside inspirational icons are set to promote acceptance, joy, love, hope and change via the universal language of mankind, music. 
 
WOMAD New Zealand is very proud to present, for the 16th year anniversary of the festival (in alphabetical order)
 
Albi & The Wolves (Aotearoa/NZ), Blind Boys of Alabama (USA), Catrin Finch & Seckou Keita (Wales/Senegal), Destyn Maloya (Réunion), Ezra Collective (UK), Flor de Toloache (Mexico/USA), Hiatus Kaiyote (Australia), Hot Potato Band (Australia), Ifriqiyya Electrique (Maghreb/Europe), KermesZ à l'Est (Belgium), Kim So Ra (South Korea), King Ayisoba (Ghana), L.A.B. (Aotearoa/NZ), Laura Marling (UK), Liniker e os Caramelows (Brazil), L Subramaniam (India), Marina Sattir & Fońes (Greece/Sudan), Ziggy Marley (Jamaica), Minyo Crusaders (Japan), Orquesta Akokán (Cuba), Reb Fountain (Aotearoa/NZ), RURA (Scotland), Salif Keita (Mali), Soaked Oats (Aotearoa/NZ), The Black Quartet (Aotearoa/NZ), Trio Da Kali (Mali), Troy Kingi (Aotearoa/NZ) Tuuletar (Finland).

The ever-expanding World Of Words stage, now held on the sun-drenched lawn of the Kunming Garden will be hosting poets, musical legends, authors, entertainers, comedians and educators to leave you both thinking and laughing. 
 
The WOMAD New Zealand World Of Words 2020 stage (in alphabetical order)

Dave Fane (Aotearoa/NZ), Joanne Drayton (Aotearoa/NZ), Ken Arkind (USA), Mike Chunn (Aotearoa/NZ), Miriam Lancewood (Aotearoa/NZ), Penny Ashton (Aotearoa/NZ), Selina Tusitala Marsh (Aotearoa/NZ), Shayne Carter (Aotearoa/NZ), Te Radar (Aotearoa/NZ).

WOMAD New Zealand is also elated to announce two new additions to the festival for 2020. 

STEAM Lab
Being hosted on a brand new stage in the tranquil setting of the Pinetum is WOMAD New Zealand's first-ever STEAM Lab. Come and hear speakers from Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics fields talk about incredible breakthroughs and their journey of innovation. 

BOOK CLUB 
Introducing WOMAD New Zealand's inaugural Book Club. The book chosen for the 2020 festival is We Can Make A Life by Chessie Henry. Book Club aims to bring people together to express their perspectives and explore the themes within the book while getting insights from Chessie herself.

WOMAD New Zealand remains a place to bring artists together from all over the globe to break down barriers, educate, inform and inspire. Come and lose yourself in the sights, sounds, and tastes that blend together to make up the vibrant WOMAD experience! 

Monday, November 25, 2019

CubaDupa Returns to the Streets with a Beautiful Disruption 

Wellington’s favourite neighbourhood comes alive with colour, art, music, parades, dance, food, and thousands of creative people the weekend of 
28-29 March 2020 WELLINGTON, NZ


All of New Zealand is invited to celebrate the country’s most vibrant and creative street festival, CubaDupa, disrupting the heart of Wellington on 28 and 29 March 2020. The multi-arts programme returns to the streets in a big and beautiful way—with a dozen stages, over 100 food stalls, special creative zones, 100,000 friends and neighbours, and one beautiful disruption after the other.   

“Our iconoclastic Te Aro neighbourhood will be filled with sights and sounds, parades and drum beats, street installations and public art”, says Festival Director Gerry Paul, who has programmed the most ambitious CubaDupa ever. “And at the heart of it all, ready to transcend the ordinary, are over 1500 artists and performers from the region and around the world”.     

Music is the very core of CubaDupa, and there will be no shortage of aural disruption in 2020. The festival will present a diverse free live music programme showcasing almost every genre. VNZMA winner Troy Kingi brings his irresistible galactic funk, alongside rising Hip Hop star JessB. Contemporary Canadian folk group The East Pointers join the party with their high-energy take on the Celtic tradition.

Making the trip from across the ditch are Bullhorn, an epic 10-piece brass ensemble fronted by the extraordinary rapper Roman MC. Local groove masters Dr Reknaw and emerging New Zealand rockers H4lf Cast add their grooves to the weekend celebration.     Musicians, sound experiences, and immersive electronic wizardry become a cornerstone of the 2020 CubaDupa with the festival’s most ambitious project ever, Cubasonic.

The mass musical interruption—conceived by New Zealand’s leading composer John Psathas—involves nearly 500 musicians lining the street, twelve conductors above the crowd, a custom-made overhead sound system, and a locally-invented Tesla coil synthesiser known as Chime Red.  

Defying words, Cubasonic will be presented once each day—uniting the entire festival site with a ten-minute musical happening unlike anything ever attempted in New Zealand. The project is a true partnership of creative community, generously supported by Creative New Zealand and involving Orchestra Wellington, New Zealand Symphony Orchestra, Royal New Zealand Air Force Band, The Nudge, Boat and a mass of Batucada drummers.     

“CubaDupa is one of Wellington’s primary lightning rods, generating and releasing a massive, positive energy charge into the city every year,” says Psathas. “Festivals offer unique opportunities for ambitious ideas. At their best they give us experiences we never forget, experiences that exceed our expectations both in the witnessing of art and in the moments of massed connection that sneak up and take us by surprise. Cubasonic, played throughout the heart of Cuba Street, will be vast, epic, and monumental.”   

The 2020 musical acts will be presented across twelve stages, including the brand new Radio Active Upper Cuba SoundSphere, Wellington Airport Swan Lane, the Garage Project Wild Workshop stage, and a Glover Park zone designed in partnership with Massey University’s College of Creative Arts.  

“Festival audiences can experience an abundance of music, dance, street theatre and art activations taking place throughout our Te Aro precinct” says Paul.  “After finding your groove with JessB or Bullhorn, join The Ping Pong Party People in a wildly creative table tennis championship, visit Shabby Salon for a drop-dead gorgeous makeover, then jump into the Weddings-and-Funerals installation.”

Another new element making its debut at the 2020 CubaDupa is the Mammoth Circus Tent in the Wilson Carpark on Ghuznee St. The bold and colourful venue will host energetic performances and workshops for all ages by day, and transform into a saucy cabaret show by night.  

“It's part of our desire to grow the festival in new ways, add interesting platforms, and showcase even more artistry and performers from all around the world” says Paul. “Families will experience circus shows by fabulous acts like COLOSSAL Productions, 3 Speed Crunch Box or Seven Deadly Stunts during the day, and then the older crowd can enjoy comedy and more provocative cabaret after dark”.

A theme running through much of the 2020 CubaDupa programme is Intergalactic Madness—alien visitors, strange messages, and wondrous disruptions from other worlds. Big Nazo will invade from Rhode Island, with generous support from the Embassy of the United States of America, for their debut visit to New Zealand.

The outlandish collective of visual artists, puppet performers and costumed musicians will bring their alien creatures to the streets and stages of CubaDupa. Closer to home, Alien Junk Monsters add their psychedelic recycled trash costumes—and a few new otherworldly offspring. And for the first time ever CubaDupa will play host to BodyPalooza, a new national body paint competition featuring over 30 artists and models painted as alien visitors.  

“There’s an eclectic and eye-opening experience for everyone at CubaDupa, because it’s a fearless celebration of who we are as a diverse and creative city, and what we have in this iconic neighbourhood”, says Eric Holowacz, CEO of Creative Capital Arts Trust. “Whether you are into new bands, raucous parades, or the search for extraterrestrial life, CubaDupa has it. I love it, because the weekend is always a highlight of the summertime, and an immersion in culture, creativity, and community.”

For culinary disruptions that satisfy any appetite, the Moore Wilson’s Street Feast returns to CubaDupa, with over 100 food stalls and a diverse range of local vendors and culinary experiences.  

“CubaDupa is going to be the highlight of our upcoming tour in New Zealand”, says Koady Chaisson, of Canadian contemporary indie folk music trio The East Pointers.

“We love playing in New Zealand, as there are a lot of similarities to our home in Prince Edward Island, but we don’t have anything like CubaDupa. We’ve heard such amazing things about this festival – this is going to take things in NZ to the next level. We can’t wait to get to Wellington and help light it up”

The 2020 festival will take place on 28 and 29 March throughout the Cuba Street Precinct in the Te Aro neighbourhood of Wellington. To learn more about artists, programming, and opportunities at the 2020 CubaDupa, visit www.cubadupa.co.nz.   

CubaDupa is presented by the non-profit Creative Capital Arts Trust, and receives essential support from WellingtonNZ, Wellington Regional Amenities Fund, Wellington City Council, Wellington Airport, Cato Brand Partners, and generous sponsors such as ANZ, Kāpura/Wellington Hospitality Group, Creative New Zealand, ZM, The Wellington Company, Massey University College of Creative Arts, LightHouse Cinemas, Wellington Community Trust, Havana Coffee Works, Rogue & Vagabond, Fortune Favours, Garage Project, Orchestra Wellington, NZSO, Royal New Zealand Air Force Band, Victoria University, Embassy of the United States of America, Australian High Commission, Embassy of Ireland | New Zealand, Wellington Night Market, Wilson Parking and KPMG.


Friday, November 15, 2019

CELEBRATING THE BEST OF KIWI MUSIC AT THE 54TH VODAFONE NEW ZEALAND MUSIC AWARDS | NGĀ TOHU PUORO O AOTEAROA

Photo: Soundcloud

“The calibre of talent just keeps getting better each year with more and more of our talented Kiwi musicians making an impact both in Aotearoa and abroad. We’re consistently impressed by the creativity, skill and expertise of our musicians and New Zealand should be incredibly proud. 

The Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards give us a chance to acknowledge this as well as encourage aspiring and emerging artists to continue forging their music journey.” 

Recorded Music NZ CEO Damian Vaughan


Pop sensation BENEE made her mark on the New Zealand music history tonight, taking home four Tui at the 54th Vodafone New Zealand Music Awards at Spark Arena in Auckland.

The nineteen-year-old was awarded Best Solo Artist | Te Kaipuoro Takitahi Toa and Vodafone Single of the Year | Te Waiata Tōtahi o te Tau on the back of her certified platinum debut single ‘Soaked’.



She also claimed the The Edge Best Pop Artist | Te Kaipuoro Arotini Toa and Smirnoff Breakthrough Artist of the Year | Te Kaituhura Puoro Toa o te Tau for her latest album 'FIRE ON MARZZ'.

Hip hop meets jazz in Avantdale Bowling Club’s self-titled debut album by Tom Scott which received two Tui including the coveted THREE Album of the Year | Te Pukaemi o te Tau and Best Hip Hop Artist | Te Kaipuoro Hipihope Toa. The album, which hit #1 in the Official New Zealand Music Charts, was conceptualised by artist Tom Scott along with talented musicians who brought each song to life. He also performed ‘Home’ with the Avondale Intermediate School Choir, an homage the school he attended in his youth.



Also picking up two Tui was indie pop band The Beths for Best Group | Te Roopu Toa and Best Alternative Artist | Te Kaipuoro Manohi Toa, following the success of their debut album 'Future Me Hates Me' in 2018. The four-piece band has been taking New Zealand and the world by storm, with sell-out shows across New Zealand, Europe and the UK.



For the second year in a row veterans Six60 picked up Highest Selling Artist| Te Toa Hoko Teitei, NZ On Air Radio Airplay Record of the Year | Te Rikoata Marakerake o te Tau, and the Vodafone People’s Choice | Te Kōwhiri o te Nuinga awards, further cementing their place as a Kiwi favourite.

As a result of the success of the third instalment of Troy Kingi’s ambitious plan to release 10 albums in 10 years, Troy Kingi, alongside his band The Upperclass, deservedly received Te Māngai Pāho Best Māori Artist | Te Kaipuoro Māori Toa and Best Roots Artist | Te Kaipuoro Taketake Toa for the album 'Holy Colony Burning Acres'.



Legacy award | Tohu Whakareretanga and NZ Music Hall of Fame | The Whare Taonga Puoro o Aotearoa inductees Th’ Dudes reformed to play their own tribute performance, a medley of their classic Kiwi songs – including 'Bliss', 'Be Mine Tonight' and 'Walking in Light'. They were joined by special guests Rikki Morris, the brother of the late Ian Morris, as well as Ian’s daughters Julia and Maude of LEXXA, capping off an amazing night of celebrating Aotearoa’s booming music scene.



After their four-year hiatus, Auckland rockers Villainy released their highly anticipated third album 'Raised in the Dark', winning them Best Rock Artist | Te Kaipuoro Rakapioi Toa, while Bailey Wiley, who is soon to embark on a nationwide tour, won KFC Best Soul/RnB Artist | Te Kaipuoro Awe Toa following the release of her self-titled EP.

Also taking home awards tonight was internationally renowned TALI who received ROVA Best Electronic Artist | Te Kaipuoro Tāhiko Toa for her latest album Love & Migration, Harbourside Worship who received Best Worship Artist | Te Kaipuoro Kairangi Toa for their new EP Collide and Simon O’Neill who won Best Classical Artist | Te Kaipuoro Inamata Toa for his album Distant Beloved.

Big winners at last year awards, Drax Project received the Recorded Music NZ International Achievement | Tohu Tutuki o te Ao for the success of their single ‘Woke Up Late’, which went double platinum by the Australian Recording Industry Association and has more than 70 million streams on Spotify to date.

Thursday, November 14, 2019

Brett McKenzie, Laurie Anderson and Neko Case will be at the Festival!


Late last week, at two special events held in the banquet hall at Parliament in Wellington, Creative Director Marnie Karmelita presented the programme for New Zealand Festival Of The Arts 2020. The programme has an extra special angle to it this time with three guest curators putting together mini programmes.

Director and Choreographer Lemi Ponifasio has put together a range of music and dance shows such as Chosen and Beloved, a vast and spectacular reworking of Goreki’s Symphony No.3 Symphony of Sorrowful Songs and Jerusalem written by Ponifasio and inspired by the great Middle Eastern Adonis (Ali Ahmad Said Esber). The second guest curator will be well known to music fans and art fans alike.

Laurie Anderson made her mark in the mid-80’s with avant garde pop such as Language Is A Virus and the boundary smashing O Superman. She’s worked with Kronos Quartet, Philip Glass and Lou Reed. One of her works at the festival, Here Comes The Ocean, is a concert that interprets Reed’s music and Anderson’s words using an ensemble of musicians.

Reed will also be ‘present’ in the exhibition Drones, which features his guitars hooked up to a sonically awesome feedback loop. Anderson has a personal connection to Aotearoa, as her niece was tragically killed in a traffic accident. Her returning will be marked by a special improvisation and incantatory work called The Calling, dedicated to Thea Anderson. Even more exciting is a new free free flying VR experience, which takes participants on a lunar expedition. To The Moon will definitely by one to smash the walls of conventional art down. Finally, another performance is her Concert For Dogs. A free event where our canine friends are all invited along (followed by a film she’s made about her own beloved mutt, Lolabelle).

The third curator is also well known. Brett McKenzie doesn’t really need an introduction. Comedian, Actor, composer and all round nice Wellingtonian he adds a bit of grounding to the festival. He’s worked with artists Kemi Neko and & Co to produce a series of miniature huts to discover around the Kapiti Coast. These are an expansion of an earlier project that made tiny tramping huts based on real DOC buildings and hid them around the city for eager explorers to discover. McKenzie himself has scored a bit of a coup composing the music for the National Theatre’s (UK) upcoming work The Brief and Frightening Reign of Phil by George Sanders. This is a work in progress and festival goers will be able to get in on the prototype of the work even before UK audiences see it. Also in McKenzie’s programme is Netherlands based comedy virtuoso Släpstick, who were a major hit at the recent Edinburgh Festival. And there are also a pile of late night gigs where musicians get to try out new material.

The programme includes Estère, Nadia Reid, Jazz musicians John McLaughlin and L.Shankar, Aldous Harding, Weyes Blood and Purple Pilgrims. Poet and musician Kate Tempest will make her mark, too.

Finally, the most exciting news we leave until last. The New Pornographers will be here – including Neko Case – performing their new album In the Morse Code of Brake Lights. There’s plenty more, of course, from opera to dance to programmes for the deaf to schools programme and public art exhibitions.

Check it all out at : https://www.festival.nz/

Tuesday, November 05, 2019

NZ Music T-Shirt Day



NZ Music T-Shirt Day is a massive nationwide celebration on Friday 8 November of kiwi music and the power music has to make a positive difference in our lives.

It celebrates our kiwi music legends and our amazing emerging talent.   MusicHelps is a unique charity that uses the power of music to help and heal New Zealanders in need.

Their work spans music therapy in hospices and hospitals, projects that use music to address the problems faced by at-risk and vulnerable people, as well as initiatives that help & support disabled people, right from the far north to the deep south of Aotearoa. MusicHelps also provides emergency assistance to kiwi music people around the country experiencing illness, distress and hardship.

Whether you are an artist, music worker or music lover, we invite you to make a donation, and then post and share your best NZ band t-shirt pics, using the hashtags #nzmusictshirtday, @musichelpsnz.

Just hit the donate button, or check out more at https://www.nzmusictshirtday.org.nz/

They’ve also developed a kiwi music general knowledge quiz, our “Waxing Lyrical” guess the song lyric game, as well as a music video artist and track guessing game to challenge your friends, family or colleagues at morning tea, during lunch, or even over Friday night drinks on the 8th.

You’ll be able to access these once you have created your team page.   Don't have a NZ artist t-shirt? Then don’t worry.  JB Hi-Fi, Bravado and seven of our greatest music artists are here to help you. Th’ Dudes, Herbs, Lorde, Six60, Shihad, Split Enz and True Bliss have all generously donated brilliant designs for a set of exclusive, limited edition NZ Music T-Shirt Day shirts which are available in all JB HiFi Stores right now.   

 More information can be found here: https://www.nzmusictshirtday.org.nz/  

Monday, November 04, 2019

Definitive Punk Record AK79 Turns 40!!!

December 2019 marks the 40 year anniversary of an important record in NZ history, AK79.
Within the grooves of this historical landmark compilation lies a connection to our musical whakapapa as New Zealanders and music lovers. A defining record, having captured a raw snapshot of the punk subculture in Auckland during the late 70s, the much-loved compilation is a living, breathing statement of what came before today.

Toy Love
 Raw, unfiltered, shambolic madness. The vision to capture the scene began with Bryan Staff (Head of Ripper Records) who saw reason to capture the music coming out of the local punk venues of the time.

Originally released by Ripper Records in December 1979, bands that featured on the original pressing included The Swingers, The Scavengers, The Primmers, Proud Scum, Toy Love and The Terrorways. The abrasive and empowered response to the overindulgent progressive rock and glam rock music of the 70s, speaking out and saying something for the working class youth of today, in one of the most important times in New Zealand ‘rock’ history.

Ok, so not our usual Lounge record.  But the start of something. 

Proud Scum
Back in the day I thrashed this one on student radio Station Radio Active.  And before that I listened on my walkman radio to the station playing those great songs.  You could only get the station when you were in town (it's coverage was only citywide around Wellington back then).  So, I'd usually listen to it walking around the city, to and from the Railway Station on my way to holiday jobs, dates at the movies and the School bus to Miramar.

When I finally got to Uni I found my way to Active's record bins and secured my copy of this gem.  We were allowed to take home records (borrowed) to listen to them and select the best songs.  I loved the Scavengers' Mysterex, Proud Scum's Suicide and of course, Toy Love's Squeeze

The Swingers
The original master was discarded in 1982, which only created a demand for this enigmatic record. Responding to the call, an expanded version of AK79 arose, released only on CD by Simon Grigg and Roger Shepherd as a joint release by Propeller Records and Flying Nun Records in 1993. This time there were some late additions, including tracks from The Suburban Reptiles, The Spelling Mistakes, The Features and The Marching Girls, along with additional tracks from the first pressing. This particular reissue was remastered and mixed by Grigg, and came bundled with additional liner notes by Grigg, Staff and The Terrorways’ own Kerry Buchanan.
Forty years on from its initial release, the spirit of the record still packs a punch and the feeling captured in these recordings are as relevant as ever.

TRACKLIST:

The Scavengers - Mysterex
The Terrorways - Never Been To Borstal
Proud Scum - I Am A Rabbit
The Scavengers - True Love
Proud Scum - Suicide
 The Terrorways - She’s A Mod
The Swingers - Certain Sound
The Primmers - Funny Stories
Toy Love - Squeeze
The Swingers - Baby
 The Primmers - You’re Gonna Get Done
Toy Love - Toy Love Song
Suburban Reptiles - Megaton
Suburban Reptiles - Coup D'etat
The Scavengers - Routine
Proud Scum - Suicide 2
The Terrorways - Short Haired Rock And Roll
Toy Love - Frogs
Suburban Reptiles - Saturday Night Stay At Home
Features - City Scenes
The Spelling Mistakes - Feel So Good
Marching Girls - First In Line
 The Spelling Mistakes - Hate Me Hate Me
Features - Victim
Marching Girls - True Love

The Anniversary version will cost a pretty penny but well worth it https://flyingout.co.nz/collections/pre-orders/products/ak79-40th-anniversary-edition?utm_source=Great+Sounds+Great&utm_campaign=de829d98ca-WEEKLY_NEWSLETTER_11812_17_2015_COPY_01&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_d72844f78b-de829d98ca-141675065&mc_cid=de829d98ca&mc_eid=eda989f7e5