December Independent Music News...

December Independent Music News...

Big congratulations to Fat Freddy’s Drop who won the highly coveted Gilles Peterson Worldwide Album of the Year award 2005; they played at the ceremony too.

Congratulations also to the IMNZ artists selected to play at the 20th anniversary of South By Southwest in March 2006: The Bats, The Brunettes, Die! Die! Die! and Ryan McPhun and The Ruby Suns. Meanwhile back at home, music festival season is nearly here again, and to kick it off we’re keen to check out these IMNZ acts at the Big Day Out: Fat Freddy's Drop, Shapeshifter, Savage and Deceptikonz, P-Money, Frontline, The Bleeders, Baitercell and Schumacher featuring Bex Riley, The Brunettes, The Bats, Kitsch, The Sneaks, Gramsci, Die! Die! Die!, Cobra Khan and Autozamm.

Speaking of Die! Die! Die!, their album is out January 22 in Australia, and they have just returned from playing the sold out Australian festival Homebake. And the latest tour dates for the Brunettes’ return to Australasia have been confirmed. Many of the shows are in Australia, in support of the release of their albums over there through Reverberation Records.

Boxcar Guitar Ben Maitland has moved to California, so the Auckland operation has been wound up. The remainder of the band are all involved in many other good musical projects (Don McGlashan, Demi Whores and more). Luke Buda and Mëstar have both signed with Arch Hill.

DawnRaid is the first New Zealand label to achieve 10 consecutive Top 10 hits, and to celebrate they are releasing a commemorative collectors’ edition double vinyl of these hits plus an instrumental record to boot. Savage has just completed an Australian tour, and DawnRaid’s back catalogue is now available in Australia.

Cold By Winter will be embarking on a 24-date tour of Europe over January and February which will see them playing shows in Germany, Belgium, Austria, Holland, the Czech Republic, France and the United Kingdom.

Chris Chetland and John Chong Nee have launched a new label, Handmade Records, which will primarily focus on RnB and RnB-flavoured Hip Hop and is based out of Kog studios. The first release is the Chong Nee single Scenarios which is out now; the single also features tracks from newly signed artists Jigsaw and Lemuel. The new Sonny Kaikoura-directed video Nobody like Me from Flowz is now on a screen near you, and Flowz is also working hard on his album which features artists such as Dallas of Fat Freddy's and Chong Nee.

Te Vaka recently made a return trip to Hawaii for a show at the Waikiki Shell, and then they played on the island of Bora Bora in French Polynesia on the 10th of December.

Rubicon’s new album, ‘The Way It Was Meant To Be’, has just been released.

King Music are distributing a Maori Language album by Te Reotakiwa Dunn, out via Woodcut Productions. The album is produced by NZ Music Awards Engineer and Producer of the year, Angus McNaughton. Reotakiwa (Reo) has previously won awards for songwriting, the Sony Composers Award, and Mai Time Best Up And Coming Original Artist. He was the National Concerto Taonga Puoro competition winner in July 2004.

Soulful vocalist Betty-Anne and iconic band the Ardijah Players are heading off on their first national ‘made for theatre’ tour of New Zealand, under the moniker of the Timeless Tour.

Minuit are about to return with their second studio album 'The Guards Themselves', which will be released at the end of February. The album is the follow-up to their successful debut album 'The 88' which has now sold in excess of 7,000 copies.

Urban Pacifika has 2 albums in store this Christmas, ‘Gifted & Maori 2’ and ‘Urban Gospel Vol. 1’. Urban gospel features Cydel, Sara-Jane, Fou Nature and James Holland (winner of the 2005 Australian gospel awards). Urban Pacifika are behind a new series on Triangle TV starting on the 17th January; it’s a documentary on Niue Island life today, feature the video shot while the team were there. Urban Pacifika are teaming up with DawnRaid for a UPR Tribute album due for release around June 06.

New and Forthcoming Releases

Fly My Pretties ‘The Return Of...’, Gloria Mban ‘The Sound Of Women’, GND ‘Ground On Up’, Grand Prix ‘The Way Of The Racer’, James Duncan ‘Mirror Minor’, Katchafire ‘Double Pack’, Logan Foote ‘Tsunami Chill’, Module ‘Remarkable Engines’, Montano ‘Montano’, Pitch Black ‘Halfway: Between Ape and Angel’, Rubicon ‘The Way It Was Meant To Be’, SJD ‘Southern Lights: Pic n’ Mix’, Te Reotakiwa Dunn ‘Te Reotakiwa Dunn’, The Inkling ‘Deluge’, Tomachi ‘The Hotel Vermont Sessions’, Various ‘Conscious Roots 2’, Various ‘Gifted and Maori 2’, Various ‘Urban Gospel Vol. 1’, Vibrasics ‘Veni Vidi’

Tour Dates

Ardijah: February 2006: 15 Manukau, 16 Tauranga, 17 Rotorua, 19 Napier, 20 New Plymouth, 21 Palmerston North, 23 Blenheim, 24 Christchurch, 25 Timaru, 27 Dunedin, 28 Invercargill, March: 2 Nelson, 5 Wanganui, 6 Gisborne, 7 Hamilton, 8 Taupo, 10 Whangarei, 11 Auckland

Gahu: Every Friday at Auckland’s London Bar

Big Day Out: Auckland – January 20

IMNZ Independent Album Chart

December 2005

Rank Artist Title Label/Distributor
1 Fat Freddy’s Drop Based On A True Story Rhythmethod
2 Fly My Pretties The Return of... Border
3 Various Dub Conspiracy Rhythmethod
4 Various Select 007: We Are Here Border
5 Pitch Black Halfway:Between Ape and Angel Rhythmethod
6 Fly My Pretties Live At Bats Border
7 Module Remarkable Engines LOOP
8 Frontline Borrowed Time Dirty
9 SJD Southern Lights Pic N Mix Round Trip Mars
10 Kora EP Volume Border
11 Fat Freddy’s Drop Live at the Matterhorn Rhythmethod
12 Hollie Smith The Hollie Smith EP Rhythmethod
13 TrinityRoots Home, Land and Sea Border
14 International Observer All Played Out Round Trip Mars
15 Various Supa Fresh II: Beatz Hot Off The Grill King Music
16 The Bats At The National Grid Rhythmethod
17 Recloose Hiatus on the Horizon Border
18 Sticky Filth Stainless Rhythmethod
19 Shapeshifter Riddim Wise LP Rhythmethod
20 Bachelorette The End Of Things EP Arch Hill Amplifier

Shows sales from 1 – 30 November 2005.

Compiled from outbound sales registered at selected music retailers by Media Sauce Ltd. for IMNZ.

Eligibility requires IMNZ membership or by registration fee.

For further information on IMNZ releases, labels or membership contact IMNZ Operations Manager Renee Jones.

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