Independent NZ Music May News And Chart

IMNZ Independent Album Chart - May 2005

Rank Artist Title Label Distributor
1 Savage Moonshine Dawnraid Universal
2 Shapeshifter Riddim Wise LP TrueTone Rhythmethod
3 Baitercell & Schumacher The Wall of Bass Technique Kog Transmissions Sony BMG
4 TrinityRoots Home, Land and Sea TrinityRoots Border
5 Kora EP Volume Kora Border
6 Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Die! Capitalrecordings Sony BMG
7 Katchafire Slow-Burning Mai Music Shock
8 Various LOOP Select 006: Kono LOOP Border
9 Fly My Pretties Live At Bats LOOP Border
10 Heavy Jones Trio Nobody Town Heavy Jones Global Routes
11 Katchafire Revival Mai Music Shock
12 Various Green Room 004: Hope LOOP Border
13 TrinityRoots True TrinityRoots Border
14 Lucid 3 All Moments Leading... Lupin Global Routes
15 8 Foot Sativa Breed the Pain Intergalactic Global Routes
16 The Bleeders Bleeding Heart EP 1157 Shock
17 Various Green Room 003: Earth LOOP Border
18 Various LOOP Select 005 LOOP Border
19 P-Money Magic City Dirty Records FMR
20 Tommy 4000 Years LOOP Border
Shows sales from 1 – 30 April 2005.

May News...

As I write we’re in the thick of New Zealand Music Month, and we’re also welcoming some new members; so a special NZ Music Month kia ora goes out to She’ll Be Right, Disruptiv Music, Lupin, LHP and Urban Pacifika Productions.

In international news, O.G. (Oakley Grenell) is heading over to the UK for at least a year, where he'll be teaching music by day and producing by night. Before he goes he’s working on an upcoming solo album and a 'beats and MCs' album featuring MCs and vocalists from New Zealand, the UK and Europe, including Tuff Enchant from the Misfits of Science.

O.G.'s label Central Records are aiming to release their back catalogue in the UK and Europe, and release vinyl pressings from O.G.'s 'Uncharted' E.P. and the new Eskimo Squad album 'City That Frosts'.

Urban Pacifika are joining forces with Ragsta records Australia to create the venture Urban Pacifika Records Australia, moving towards fulfilling the late Phil Fuemana’s dream of branching out internationally.

Scribe’s album ‘The Crusader’ has reached Platinum sales in Australia (70,000 albums), making Scribe the biggest selling NZ artist in Australia since Split Enz and Crowded House. Scribe’s single with P-Money, Stop The Music is also in the Australian Top Ten, tying in with the start of an Australian tour.

Filmmaker Bridget Sutherland won the Gold award for the best music video at the Worldfest awards for David Kilgour’s song Living in Space. Bridget is currently working on a documentary on the making of David’s album ‘Frozen Orange’, featuring US band Lambchop.

Wai (Jayrem) have performed at the Beijing Arts Festival in China in May and perform at a variety of Festivals in Canada from 22 May to 15 June.

The Fanatics’ mini-album will be released in Australia via Inertia in June, with the band planning a series of live dates over there around that time. Still to come from Capital will be The Moodswingers debut 12" EP, the debut album from Rikki Gooch's new solo project Eru and Flash Harry’s second album.

Congratulations to the IMNZ members who will receive Phase 4 funding from NZ on Air for their album projects: Misfits of Science (Hoof Records) and Autozamm (Global Routes Music). Congratulations also to Savage whose Moonshine single has spent the last 7 weeks at number 1 in the Singles chart.

New releases include Albino’s 'Submerged Part 1' which should be out on 833 late this month, with Albino’s second album ‘Street Illegal' due in August. Forthcoming albums from King Music include Mt Vaea Band's ‘Mama’, which features Julie Ta'ale of Pacific Soul and the All Stars, Sam Cowley from NZ Idol and Kas Futialo, aka Tha Feelstyle. Production is by Pene Matautia, producer of the hugely successful All Stars album ‘Pele Ae’.

The Downlow are MC Loki and Slopemist, and their album ‘The Downlow Mixtape’ is the first release on the Disruptiv Music label. 6-piece rock/soul band Payola's debut album ‘Gone To Ground’ (featuring a video for the single So Unless it's Over) is out now on Jayrem. 1157 release This Night Creeps’ debut album on May 30.

Ahmen Mahal - Murk 108, alias Imon Star – releases his debut solo LP ‘The Murkwon LP’ through Sugarlicks Records this month. Ahmen is also known as: the lead singer of Rhombus; the current NZ MPC battle champion; Olmecha the Relic; and the MC for Manuel Bundy and Mark de Clive Lowe’s Nuvonesia. Also sweetening the world of Sugarlicks, the Sugarlicks Pacific Soul revolution is now firmly on wax with the release of the ‘2017 Pacific Ultrasound’ double 12"s.

New IMNZ members She’ll Be Right are busy right now. They are putting out Jeremy Taylor’s (ex-Throw, Cinematic) new solo album ‘Black Balloons’, Dark Tower's new LP ‘The Dark World’ (the first 100 albums sold will receive a free copy of a new Dark Tower instrumental album The Pacific Scandal), and the new Billy Wilson single The Plunger.

TOURS

The Axe Attack Tour: Subtract, Chuganaut and World War Four: Thursday 26 May Pakuranga, Friday 27 May Newton, Saturday 28 May Henderson

Gahu in Manawatu: Sanson Friday June 3rd, Manawatu International Jazz Festival June 4th & 5th

The Accelerants: June: 10 Christchurch, 11 Dunedin, 18 Wellington, 25 Auckland

D Dub: June 17th: Auckland, 22nd Ohakune, 23rd National Park, 24th Wellington, 25 Nelson, 26th Motueka, 30th Lyttleton, July: 1st Christchurch, 2nd Dunedin, 3rd, 4th and 5th Queenstown.

This Night Creeps: June: 3rd Auckland, Real Groovy Records, 4th Hamilton, 10th Auckland, 17th Hamilton, 18th Wellington, 19th June Palmerston North, Mango Music

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