Ukuleles orchestrate top placing

From where I am it feels as if summer is fleeing already; however I think this is just a minor glitch, as festival season is by no means over. There’s a nice array of releases, tours and festivals in our newsletter this month; something for everyone!

IMNZ Independent Album Chart February 2009

Rank/Artist/Title/Label/Distributor

1/Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra/A Little Bit Wonderful EP/Rhythmethod
2/The Woolshed Sessions/The Woolshed Sessions/Rhythmethod
3/Tiki /Past, Present, Future/DirtyDub/Rhythmethod
4/Ladi6/Time Is Not Much/Rhythmethod
5/The Black Seeds/Solid Ground/Black Seeds/Rhythmethod
6/Kora/Kora/Kora/Border
7/Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra/The Heartache EP/Rhythmethod
8/Rhombus/Rhombus/Rhythmethod
9/Flight Of The Conchords/Flight Of The Conchords/Rhythmethod
10/Fat Freddy's Drop/Based On A True Story/Rhythmethod
11/Pacific Heights/In A Quiet Storm/TrueTone/Rhythmethod
12/Jess Chambers/And The Firefly Orchestra/Rhythmethod
13/Katchafire/Party Pack/Local Music
14/SJD/Dayglo Spectres/Round Trip Mars
15/Cobra Khan/Helgorithms/1157/Rhythmethod
16/OpShop/Second Hand Planet/Siren/174 East
17/Various /SurfAid: The Music/Loop/Border
18/Little Bushman/The Onus of Sand/Rhythmethod
19/Luke Buda/Vesuvius/Arch Hill/Rhythmethod
20/Shapeshifter/Riddim Wise LP/Truetone/Rhythmethod

(Shows sales from 1 – 31 January 2009. 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.)

February/March News

SXSW gets underway in Austin, Texas on March 18; heading over from the IMNZ crew are David Dallas, The Enright House, Jackie Bristow, the Brunettes and White Swan Black Swan - who are also playing shows in San Fransisco and Nashville. For this year's Air New Zealand Pink Flight on March 6 to the Sydney Mardi Gras, TV presenter Stephen Oates hosted whilst Ladi6 and Buckwheat performed on the popular flight. Starting with a reception for passengers at the departure lounge in Auckland Airport, the 3rd annual Pink Flight was transformed from fabulous to glamorous for 2009.

IMNZ artists P-Money and Nesian Mystik are up against Ladyhawke, Goodnight Nurse and Cut Off Your Hands in line to win the Best Kiwi Artist award at the 2009 MTV Australia Awards which will take place at the Sydney Convention and Exhibition Centre on Friday March 27; New Zealand viewers have the opportunity to vote for their favourite act. And in case you still haven't figured that P-Money is a surefire national celeb and musical brainiac, MTV NZ are premiering a Kiwi take on their US reality show 'I Want to Work For Diddy'. The local knock off is called 'Work for Money' and will show the trials of choosing an intern for the hip hop DJ, producer and co-owner of Dirty Management (the music operation formerly known as Dirty Records). P-Money is looking for an apprentice to assist him in his numerous ventures, but it¹s not as straight ahead as sending through a CV or doing an interview. Contestants will battle it out in a number of challenges, getting eliminated one by one in that time-honoured, long drawn out and often painful reality TV tradition; the show premiered on March 1st.

Congratulations to Move the Crowd and Smashproof featuring Gin, whose single Brother has been sitting happily at #1 on the New Zealand top 40 singles chart for the past three weeks. And good work to the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra who sit atop the current IMNZ chart; they are ambassadors of this year’s Earth Hour, being hosted on the 28th March around the Globe – join them in switching off, and you could win yourself a Prius. You can catch them this weekend at the Rotorua Festival of Arts.

Speaking of chart success, Savage’s second New Zealand album (and debut US release) ‘Savage Island’ debuted in the NZ Top 40 album chart at #9 and gives Mr Demetrius Savelio a second Top 10 album here: a tad under four years back, ‘Moonshine’ opened at #2, having yielded chart-topping singles Swing and the title track. Wild Out (Chooo Hooo), the Savage and Baby Bash hook-up and ‘Savage Island’s’ first track, is firmly wedged in the NZ top ten 10 singles; and in a nice IMNZ label crossover, Scribe’s track Not Many has been licensed for ‘Savage Island’. After a groundbreaking year in the US with Savage based between New York and LA, Universal Republic and Dawn Raid Music have announced that Savage has made history with over 1.5 million in combined digital singles, making Swing the highest selling NZ single in US history. The 1.5 million singles sold comprise over 1 million digital singles (Platinum) and over 500,000 ringtones/mobile content (Gold), and since his initial debut on the US charts Savage has spent over 35 weeks in the US Billboard charts. The Pussycat Dolls asked Dawn Raid label mate Devolo to do a remix of their new single Bottle Pop, which debuted on the New Zealand singles chart at #19 this week. The original version from the Dolls’ latest album features Snoop Dogg and Kardinal Offishall; Devolo replaces them both for the Australasian remix.

Following an appearance at WOMAD this weekend, Fat Freddy’s Drop cross the ditch; they were last in Australia at New Year for the Days Like This! festival in Sydney and the Pyramid Festival on Philip Island (until the stage crew had to physically remove the musicians mid-set as rain and wind battered the stage!) This time from March 19 – 29 they’ll play Melbourne, Adelaide, Sydney, Brisbane and Byron Bay. Off the back of that, Aucklanders will get a chance to catch them live; they’ll be previewing new material from their forthcoming album on April 3 and 4 at the Powerstation before their spot at Sandwiches Summerset on April 18 in Wellington. Opening a new chapter for the band are new recruits Riki Gooch on drums and Rio Hemopo (both ex-Trinity Roots) on backing vocals and bass. Rio Hunuki Hemopo will also play opening support for Freddy's on the Australian tour - joined by guitarist Justin 'Firefly' Clarke, his set will include tunes from his debut 12" vinyl release ‘Wahine Toa’. You may have also spotted this Tui billboard in your travels: "Freddy's album out soon!!! Yeah right."

The APRA Professional Development Awards (PDAs) are now a permanent fixture on the APRA cultural calendar and as a result, APRA now offers eleven PDAs in Australia and New Zealand to promising emerging music writers in the early stages of their careers. APRA New Zealand present three awards, recognising excellence in three compositional genres: Classical, Pop Contemporary and Film & TV; the recipients each receive $12,000 cash to advance their careers through study or travel, plus a Gibson guitar courtesy of Gibson Guitar Corp. Big congratulations to IMNZ artists Jessica Hansell (Pop Contemporary) and Grayson Gilmour (Film & TV), who join Samuel Holloway (Classical) as the 2009 recipients. And congratulations to the following IMNZ artists who received NZ On Air video funding: Boh Runga, David Dallas, Fur Patrol, Kids In Space, Lawrence Arabia, Nesian Mystik, P-Money, PNC, Savage, SJD, Sleepy Kid, Smashproof, Sola Rosa, State Of Mind featuring Tiki, Sweet & Irie, The Black Seeds, The Tutts and Vince Harder. Stay With Me by Pieter T featuring The Truth (Handmade) picked up a Radio Hits grant for having received significant airplay in the 4th quarter 2008.

Michael Mayell of CookieTime fame has recently declared himself dDub's number one fan; and as a sweet treat Michael has created a download page on the CookieTime website so people can download the song Hesitate No (as featured on Outrageous Fortune!). CookieTime are also offering the debut dDub album 'Awake At Dawn' for only $5 when you buy 2 CookieTime products in outlets all around the country; you’ll also go in the draw to win a CookieTime/dDub prize box full of cookies, Bumper Bars and One Square Meals plus a t-shirt and both dDub albums.

Tainted have scored an endorsement from Shure microphones - Roger Wilson from JANDS, NZ's Shure Distributor says "Tainted are just the sort of home grown, talented band that Shure is looking to endorse". This follows their recent endorsement by Jackson Guitars USA. Following the release of the new album ‘Carved and Created’ in October 2008, Tainted have been busy performing, with shows including a huge release show in Christchurch with Parkway Drive (AUS) and an acclaimed performance at Southern Amp08. 2009 is already in top gear with shows featuring Misery Signals (USA) on their NZ Tour in February, a performance at University Orientation in Christchurch and a much sought-after support slot with Iron Maiden in Christchurch. Another brief national tour is planned for March with Frankenbok (AUS) on their “Other Side Of Hell NZ Tour” along with a support show with Krisiun (Brazil) in April. Chuganaut won the opportunity to open for Iron Maiden in Auckland, and they’ve just recorded a new track and plan more recording in the next few weeks to get their second album ‘11:11 Two’ completed.

Antagonist A.D. have a very full schedule this month; they are touring South East Asia with shows in Australia, Malaysia, Indonesia, the Philippines, Thailand and Japan. Cobra Khan are heading north with a show in Whangarei on March 13 leading up to a Auckland show with Rise Against (USA); and stay tuned for their new video, Liquid Separation. The Batucada Sound Machine crew toured Australia in February, dropping in on Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra and doing a spot at the Perth International Arts Festival.

‘Howlaround’ is Auckland band Body Corporate’s debut album, released through the Kingsland Vinyl Appreciation Society in 12” format; and it’s the first vinyl-only album in New Zealand to come complete with unique download codes in each copy so listeners aren’t forced to take their turntables to the spare room, beach, gymnasium, or anywhere else they’re going to want to turn it up to eleven. The final mastering touches were done by Shellac’s Bob Weston and the band’s members have been on the live scene for some time keeping onstage company with bands like HDU, Trans Am, Shocking Pinks and Blam Blam Blam. Body Corporate have previously released a seven inch and made an appearance on the Kingsland Vinyl Appreciation Society’s ‘A Flip And Two Twisters’ - a double LP compilation of NZ guitar greats past and present which saw them share hi-fi needles with the likes of Shihad, Straitjacket Fits and The Mint Chicks.

Border Music is proud to be the new home to long-standing Christchurch-based label Failsafe Records, and the first release under their watch is ‘Mulchzoid’, the solo electronic project of former JPS Experience/Superette and current Kimo kingpin David Mulcahy. Stylistically the album touches on the sounds of New Order, Suicide and Snapper and Cabaret Voltaire, while still sounding exactly like an album you'd expect from someone of David's lineage. Failsafe was started by Rob Mayes in 1984 and has a catalogue of over 60 releases including Dolphin, Chris Matthews and the Robot Monkey Orchestra, Beat Rhythm Fashion, Pop Mechanix and many others, with an emphasis on guitars - from the gentle to the fierce.

The Christchurch Cathedral Choir’s new album ‘On Tour’ was recorded live during their 2008 tour of England; this included the 2 weeks that the choir was appointed Choir in Residence at Westminster Abbey. The music featured here spans 500 years; composers include Schutz, Palestrina, Stanford and Howells. New EP ‘Calling from Waimanu’ sees Pene Kingsford producing the album and playing guitar on all tracks - up until now, Pene has focused on singing and songwriting leaving instrumentation to other musicians. Kingsford is classically trained and has sung in numerous bands; the first was all-woman Auckland group Freudian Slips. Her radio show ‘To This End’ played on National Radio over several weeks under the direction of the late Bruce Dusky, and Pene also spent three months working under the directorship of Ray Columbus for a TVNZ performance workshop with eleven others.

P-Money has once again shown that he knows no boundaries: his new single 'Angels' is both energetic and brooding, with the guest vocals of Ms. Julia Deans adding to the mix and mystery. Out now is State of Mind’s second album ‘Faster Than Light’, they’re celebrating this with a national tour. Also available now is a remix of Vince Harder’s latest hit Strobe Light which features Nesian Mystik; and David Dallas’ new single Indulge Me is out digitally. .

Sola Rosa’s anticipated new album 'Get It Together' is out now and he’s hitting the road taking a full band and special guests along for the ride. The 11-track album is the follow up to 2005's ‘Moves On’ and was recorded over the last three and a half years; it includes vocal cuts from Spikey Tee (Jah Wobble, Bomb The Bass, Mark Rae, Sola Rosa), German globetrotter Bajka and UK MC Serocee. Underpinning these outstanding vocalists are an eclectic batch of local talents including Victoria Kelly, Julien Dyne, Juse, Scratch 22, Haydn Godfrey, John Highsted, James Duncan and Miguel Fuentes, and the first single from the album, Turn Around, features the sultry vocals of Wellington songstress Iva Lamkum who will be joining the band on the road.

In preparation for the release of their 2nd Album ‘The Orchid Door’ in April, Recliner have been busy making some changes - these include a name adjustment to Selon Recliner. This has come about after battling identity wars with a number of Recliners in digital stores around the globe; “selon” is French for “according to” or “the thoughts of”. They’ve also recruited a new guitarist, built a new website, and are releasing new, orchestrated track Swan to get the sounds rolling. You can hear some of the new material at The Wine Cellar on Wednesday March 25.

Delgirl have just released a split limited edition EPCD with Freddy Fuddpucker, where they have covered 2 of each other’s songs. The CD release is Thursday 12 March at St Lees Cafe Dunedin with support from The Paper Planes. Delgirl perform with The Tomato Plants and legendary Dunedin poet Gaylene in a special Fringe Festival Performance at Fortune Theatre Dunedin in a special Matinee show at 3.30pm on Sunday 29 March, and at the Wanaka Festival of Colour on May 3. As part of his upcoming ‘Standing In Silence’ album, Rhian Sheehan had 200 special music boxes made up to give away; each one plays the key melody from Part 3 of ‘Standing In Silence’. These limited edition treasures will be given out with the first 200 purchases of the album sold nationally through Real Groovy and The CD & DVD Stores only.

Phil Judd has a pedigree longer than a gorilla’s right arm. Let’s start with founding Split Enz along with Tim Finn, then as a member of Auckland punk band The Suburban Reptiles, onto Toy Love followed by The Swingers and Schnell Fenster, in between focusing on his solo career and movie soundtracks. Always a talented writer and legendary for his warped sense of humour (as you will see by the cover of ‘Love is a Moron’), Judd shines bright on this new offering and shows the flame is still very much alive. ‘Love is a Moron’ is Phil’s second album in two years.

Arch Hill Recordings has released ‘Marvellous Year’, the second solo album from Don McGlashan and the first full release under the name Don McGlashan and the Seven Sisters – reflecting that it’s more of a “band” effort than ‘Warm Hand’. The Seven Sisters are Chris O’Connor, Maree Thom, John Segovia and Dominic Blaazer; and the album was co-produced by Sean Donnelly (SJD). As if that wasn’t keeping him busy enough, in the last year Don has also composed, supervised and recorded two soundtrack albums; the Toa Fraser-directed Dean Spanley (Recorded by the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra and featuring Peter O’Toole, Sam Neill and others) which is out now on Mana Music; and ‘Show of Hands’ which features performances by the Seven Sisters, Anika Moa and Reb Fountain. Also, without giving too much away, in the next few months Arch Hill will be releasing two new albums; firstly a combined project by David Kilgour and Sam Hunt, and secondly a new album from Grand Prix.

West Coast native Mel Parsons, together with her band The Rhythm Kings (Shaun Elley, Aaron Stewart, Ed Zuccollo) presents ‘Over My Shoulder’, 11 songs of altcountry/pop/folk. Parsons has had plenty of industry heavyweights on her side for the production of the album; the record was made in Wellington under the guidance of David Long (ex-Mutton Bird, producer for Fur Patrol,Dave Dobbyn) and mixed by Mike Gibson. Musicians aiding and abetting include The Sami Sisters, Neil Watson (Anika Moa, Finn Brothers) and Don McGlashan. The Sami Sisters’ middle child Anji – recently voted by Sunday Magazine as one of the ’19 sexiest people in the country’ – opens shows for the South Island leg of the album release tour which includes a show in Mel’s hometown Westport.

We spotted a whole batch of IMNZ titles in John Campbell’s best albums of 2008; amongst his favourites of last year were The Woolshed Sessions ‘The Woolshed Sessions’, David Kilgour ‘The Far Now’, The Bats ‘The Guilty Office’, SJD ‘Dayglo Spectres’ and Steve Abel ‘Flax Happy’. Meanwhile Nightline presenter Samantha Hayes picked Luke Buda’s ‘Vesuvius’ as one of her top releases; Rip It Up editor Karl Puschmann picked Cobra Khan’s ‘Helgorithms’, and Under the Radar’s Daryl Fincham selected Body Corporate ‘Howlaround’ and HDU’s ‘Metamathics’ as some of his faves.

Panther and the Zoo offer up their first EP, ‘Think About It Not Exploding’. Panther’s Zoo has so far been home to members of The Brunettes, Brand New Math, America’s Polka Dot Dot Dot, and Phony Bone among others. It’s led by Graham Panther and yes, that’s his real name. Henrietta Harris’ impressive artwork for the EP matches Panther’s wry humour, and makes this limited initial run of 300 copies stand out all the more in an age of digital downloads. They’re also playing at the first in a new series of concerts called Live At The Creek at Butterfly Creek in South Auckland; they join The Phoenix Foundation on Sunday 29 March who are playing in a Bedouin-style tent.

Two years after the release of their debut album ‘Take Control’, duo State of Mind return with their brand new offering ‘Faster Than Light’, on a limited edition 2-disc set featuring the full-length album on the first disc and a limited selection of bonus material on the other. The bonus disc includes remixes of some of the album tracks by some of State of Mind's favourite fellow producers such as Sigma (UK), Mindscape (Hungary), Dose (NZ) and more, plus other bonus State of Mind tracks. They blew the grass away in last Sunday’s 95bFM Summer Series; make sure you catch one of their blistering live shows on the album release tour.

With his multi-talented band Broadsword in tow, Lawrence Arabia finally returns to New Zealand to tour his new album, ‘Chant Darling’, after having toured throughout the UK and Europe during 2008 with such acts as Feist, Okkervil River, Camera Obscura and New Zealand's Ruby Suns and Liam Finn. The live release shows will see the definite possibility of Reduction Agents’ covers and gratuitous guest appearances from any one of Lawrence’s numerous former collaborators and friends - Lawrence along the way will be joined by The Sneaks (who double as the members of Broadsword and are playing in Christchurch and Dunedin); Cassette, with whom they join up for a double billing in Wellington, and Dictaphone Blues and Teacups who are playing the final extravaganza in Auckland. Speaking of Cassette – who are much-loved for their blend of country / folk / soft / hard / moderate / spiritual mantra rock – the band, have commenced a jaunt across the country with their new album, the beautifully-named ‘The Jingle King’, stopping off in Napier, Wellington, Christchurch, Dunedin and the Catlins. The album, and tour line-up, features founding members Tom Watson and Craig Terris, joined by Andrew Bain (Fur Patrol) and Luke Buda (Phoenix Foundation).

The Septembers’ 2007 debut EP received airplay with the single The Exorcist, which brought them to the attention of UK producer Rico Petrillo, who has worked with the likes of The Verve, Blur, Kasabian and Supergrass. In late 2008 The Septembers and Petrillo packed up their gear and headed to the West Coast for a week of play-it-live recording sessions for their debut album ‘Edge of the World’. With the release of their debut album and a national tour, The Septembers are ready to make 2009 their year.

Our Tour listings are bulging at the seams with great performers for you to check out. Danny McCrum has been picked for some great support slots lately; in duet with Ben Jurisich he supported Jeff Beck in February and the Danny McCrum Band were the support act for Eric Clapton at Vector Arena on March 4th. These are not the first good slots they’ve scored; they’ve also supported Bryan Ferry and Joan Armatrading. They have some more shows scheduled while the summer holds on too; check out the gig listings below if you’d like to see them for yourself. And in other big support news, Hollie Smith is to support Coldplay and Mercury Rev on March 18th and 19th at Auckland’s Vector Arena.

Loop and 42Below are thrilled to announce the new Fly My Pretties show which will tour Christchurch, Dunedin, Auckland and Wellington through May and June 2009. Fly My Pretties is a live multimedia event which stars a pedigree selection of contemporary musicians, led by The Black Seeds’ front man Barnaby Weir. This new Fly My Pretties family will deliver a unique live show with plenty of fresh aural and visual ingredients to keep it surprising and progressive. Tickets are on sale from Thursday March 12.

After another successful European jaunt, The Datsuns are returning to our shores for a string of domestic dates in April, with support from An Emerald City (Leigh, Auckland, Raglan, Hamilton and Dunedin) and The Randoms. Superturtle are doing a rare show on March 27th at Auckland’s Wine Cellar/Whammy Bar; they’ll be joined by Billy Squire and the Rye, The Jeremy Eade Experience (Jeremy’s ex-Garageland), Salonkingsadore and Goon. Fresh from the icy climes of the Swiss Alps and the gloomy glow of the London gig scene, Steve Abel is momentarily back in NZ for a summer tour with his band the Chrysalids, which continues over March.

For a decade, Head Like A Hole stormed across rock ‘n’ roll stages in New Zealand, Australia and Europe and created headlines with their anarchic, musical mayhem that mixed their metal roots with onstage madness. After a nine-year hiatus most of the original lineup are back with a vengeance; with a whirlwind tour wrapping up at the sold out Vodafone Homegrown festival on March 14 in Wellington. Labretta Suede and The Motel 6 opened for The Stray Cats on March 3rd at The Powerstation with great success; and the 6’s next show is at the Kings Arms with The Masters of Metal on March 13th.

Having spent the better part of the past four years on the road, the past year has seen Die! Die! Die! sweeping through the music press, picking up a bevy of accolades including a spot in Q Magazine's Top 50 songs of 2008 for 'Sideways Here We Come' and a four-page feature and "recommended" album review in Artrocker. Latest album ‘Promises Promises’ received a 4/5 album review in the Guardian (with Jude Rogers heralding that "other post-punk apostles should come gather at this altar, and prepare to kick the bucket"), and an 8/10 from NME's Camilla Pia, who reported that their "relentless, unsettling sound is every bit as thrilling as their heavily punctuated name suggests". The boys are about to embark on a South Island tour, playing shows in Nelson, Christchurch and Dunedin this month.

‘Pinata’ is a collaboration between the live music performance of Rhombus and live projection imagery as created by one of New Zealand's leading artists Michel Tuffery. Michel has worked extensively with Rhombus, supplying among other things the artwork for the album ‘Future Reference’. The Pinata performance will take place on Saturday14th March at the fourth annual MAUForum, curated and hosted by Lemi Ponifasio and his MAU Company from February 27 to March 21 at Corbans Estate, Henderson in Waitakere City, Auckland. Produced over 23 days each March, the MAUForum presents inspirational and provocative artists, thinkers, writers, activists, heads of government and communities from across the Pacific region and all around the world.

Singer/songwriter Tim Guy is playing a series of intimate shows around New Zealand to promote the first single 'Coming Up' from his forthcoming third album. Since arriving in New Zealand in 2004, this ex-pat Aussie, now firmly implanted in Auckland, has undertaken several national tours garnering a strong reputation with audiences from Kerikeri to Invercargill. As well as touring New Zealand last year (including performances at WOMAD festival), Guy also performed in Spain and Australia. 2009 will see the release of his third album ‘Big World’ amongst continuing tours of NZ, Australia and Europe; the album was written in a rented villa in the south of Spain and is being recorded in Auckland by producer Jeremy Toy (Opensouls, Hollie Smith).

And whilst summer is slowly creeping to a close, it is by no means the end of Festival season. With two successful years under its belt, The Liquorland New Zealand Beer Festival returns to Auckland and debuts in Wellington in 2009. To entertain you whilst you imbibe one of the 70+ beers on offer, you can catch Autozamm, SJD, The Naked and Famous, Sarah Brown, Wayne Anderson and more in Auckland and the Recloose Live Band, The Tutts, Charlie Ash, SJD, North Shore Pony Club and more in Wellington.

The sold out Vodafone Homegrown has announced the Official After-Party, featuring Recloose, Tyra Hammond and Isaac Aesili (Opensouls/Solaa/Eru Dangerspiel), Olmecha Supreme and DJ Downtown Brown and the Sunshine Soundsystem, featuring MCs KPz and Storm, all at Shed6. An intimate and creative environment awaits the exclusive guests of the After Party - enjoy cocktails bars, lounge areas, theatre of the arts and of course a dance party tailored to the discerning music fan. The 2009 New Zealand International Jazz and Blues Festival is scheduled for April 13 – 19 in Christchurch, and features locals Nairobi Trio, Solaa, Departure Lounge and Jennine Bailey.

Red Square is the AK09 Festival party zone, and it is hosting a dazzling variety of local and international entertainment throughout the Festival. This year, Red Square takes over the Aotea Centre’s bars and balconies, and reinvents the Lower NZI Room as the Festival Club. Red Square performers include Leila Adu, The Benka Boradovsky Bordello Band, The Sami Sisters, Tyra Hammond, SJD, The Hot Grits, Recloose Live Band, L.A. Mitchell, An Emerald City, the New Telepathics, the Mamaku Project, Ladi6, Nick Bollinger interviewing Chris Knox, Iva Lamkum, and the very special Inia te Wiata Tribute Concert which features Rima te Wiata, Whirimako Black, Ruia Aperahama, Timua Brennan, Ash Puriri, Leon Wharekura, Te Manu Huia and MC Dale Husband.

The idyllic West Auckland haven of Titirangi will burst alive this weekend 4th Titirangi Festival of Music. Titirangi is a melting pot of musical and creative talent, which will be showcased throughout the festival; events include café gigs, street music, workshops a huge Music Fair (this Sunday from 10am) and concerts, from brass bands and jazz to rock ’n roll, dub, electronica and even a ukulele concert. Amongst the performers are the Calico Brothers, the Bads, Shona Laing, the Lewis McCallum Orchestra, dDub, Tahuna Breaks, the Recloose Live Band, Dick ‘Magik’ Johnson and Baitercell.

Tours

1157 Tour Dates: MARCH: 13th Whangarei, Zone Bar W/ Cobra Khan, Los Muertos, 31st Auckland, Powerstation (AA) W/ Rise Against (USA), Cobra Khan

Steve Abel & The Chrysalids: MARCH: 12th Harbour Light, Lyttelton, 13th Chicks Hotel, Port Chalmers, 14th Grain Store Gallery, Oamaru, 20th Yot Club, Raglan, 21st Kings Arms, Auckland

An Emerald City: MARCH 21st, AK 09 Festival; APRIL 1st, Music In Parks, Glover Park, Glendowie Album Release show April 18th, Ambassador theatre, Pt Chevalier.

Ashes Of August: MARCH 13th Zeal Global Acoustics – Wellington, 14th The Cross – Wellington, 15th March Aunt Daisy’s Boathouse – Titahi Bay

Brand New Math: MARCH: 14th Grey Lynn Library Hall – Auckland; APRIL 25th Coherent – Auckland; MAY: 2nd Mighty Mighty - Wellington

Cassette ‘Jingle King’ Tour: MARCH: 13th Napier - The Cabana Club with Fur Patrol, 20th Wellington – Happy: Double Album Release with Lawrence Arabia, 26th Christchurch - Als Bar, 27th Dunedin - Careys Bay Historic Hotel, Saturday 28th Catlins - Woodstock Lodge

Central Records: MARCH: 21 Oakley 'OG' Grenell Live @ I-Nation Festival 09, Whitecliffs, Canterbury, 22 Departure Lounge Live at I-Nation Festival 09, Whitecliffs, Canterbury, 22 Bunyip Live @ I-Nation Festival 09, Whitecliffs, Canterbury; APRIL: 18 Departure Lounge Live at Blues and Jazz Festival, Christchurch.

Concord Dawn: MARCH: 14 Homegrown Festival, Wellington; JULY: 25 Phat Club, Nelson

David Dallas [formerly of Frontline] and PNC: APRIL: 25 420 Auckland

Danny McCrum Band: MARCH: 15 Sounds at Sunset Papakura

The Datsuns NZ Tour: APRIL: 9th Leigh Sawmill, 10th Auckland - Montecristo Room, 11th Raglan - Raglan Town Hall, 16th Hamilton – Altitude, 17th Napier - The Cabana, 18th Wellington - San Francisco Bath House, 23rd Christchurch - Al's Bar, 24th Dunedin - Sammy's, 25th Invercargill - Saints & Sinners, 26th Queenstown - Revolver

dDub: MARCH: 20 10Bar Dunedin, 21 Saints and Sinners Invercargill, 27 Titirangi Music Festival Auckland + Tahuna Breaks

Delgirl: MARCH: 29 with The Tomato Plants and Gaylene: Fringe Festival, Fortune Theatre, Dunedin 3.30pm; MAY: 3 Wanaka Festival of Colour

Die! Die! Die!: MARCH: 12th Phat Club Nelson with Disasteradio, 13th The Bedford Christchurch with Disasteradio and Bang Bang Eche, 14th Refuel Dunedin with Disasteradio

Tour Of Dirty ft. P-Money, MC Tiki, Concord Dawn, Bulletproof, PNC, David Dallas: MARCH 13 Auckland AUT Hikuwai Plaza

Fat Freddy's Drop live at the Powerstation Auckland: APRIL: 3 & 4 2009, 18 Sandwiches Summerset Basin Reserve Wellington

Fly My Pretties: MAY: 22 Christchurch Isaac Theatre Royal, 29 Dunedin The Regent; JUNE: 4, 5 and 6 Sky City Theatre, 12 Wellington St James Theatre

Tim Guy ‘Coming Up’ tour: MARCH: 18 Le Café, Picton, 19 Kaikoura Winery, 20 Harbour Light, Lyttleton w/ Flip Grater, 21 Poppies Café, Twizel, 22 Dux De Lux, Queenstown, 23 Cinema Paradiso, Wanaka, 24 Cooks Saddle Café, Fox Glacier, 25 Monsoon Bar, Franz Josef, 26 Franks, Greymouth, 27 Hot Mamas, Motueka, 28 Burgundy Room (Bodega), Wellington w/ Jess Chambers, 29 Aunt Daisys Boathouse, Titahi Bay; APRIL: 1 Cabana Bar, Napier, 2 Plateau, Taupo, 3 Wine Cellar w/ Reb Fountain

Head Like A Hole: MARCH: 13th Mighty Mighty Wellington, 14 Vodafone Homegrown Wellington

Lawrence Arabia and Broadsword 'Chant Darling' Tour: MARCH: 20 Wellington San Francisco Bath House, joint album release party with Cassette, 21 Christchurch Dux De Lux with The Sneaks, 22 Dunedin Refuel with The Sneaks, 27 Auckland Cassette Number Nine with Dictaphone Blues and Teacups.

Motocade: MARCH: 28th Kings Arms, Auckland w/ the Mots, Cougar Cougar Cougar

Minuit: APRIL: 3rd SF Bathhouse, Wellington, 17th 10 Bar, Dunedin, 18th Al's bar, Christchurch

OG: MARCH 21 OG Live Band I-Nation Festival Whitecliffs

Optimus Gryme: MARCH: 14th Evolution – Port Waikato, 20th Fu Bar – Auckland, 27th FU – Auckland, 28th Flow – Hamilton

P-Money: MARCH 12 Uno's, Palmerston North

Panther And The Zoo and the Phoenix Foundation: MARCH 29th Butterfly Creek - Auckland

Mel Parsons &The Rhythm Kings ‘Over My Shoulder’ National Tour: MARCH: Whitianga Eggsentric Café, 14 Auckland The Winecellar, 17 New Plymouth Matinee, 18 Titahi Bay Aunt Daisy’s Boathouse, 20 Nelson Yaza, 21 Christchurch Al’s Bar, 13 Hokitika The Crooked Mile Theatre, 25 Westport Buller Workingmens Club, 27 Queenstown The Dux De Lux, 28 Dunedin Circadian Rhythm, 30 Picton Le Café; APRIL: 2 Wellington Mighty Mighty

Pitch Black: APRIL: 3 Beresford Square Auckland, 4 Double Happy, Christchurch, 18 The Basin, Wellington

Recloose (DJ): MARCH: 14 Sandwiches, Wellington; The Recloose Live Band: MARCH: 28 Titirangi Music Festival, Titirangi

Maisey Rika: MARCH: 14th Adventure Solutions – Whakatane, 20th Khuja Lounge – Auckland, 21st Sawmill Cafe – Leigh

Sora Shima: MAY: 2nd The Lake – Hamilton, and The Transmission Room - Auckland
Hollie Smith to support Coldplay and Mercury Rev March 18th and 19th - Vector Arena – Auckland

Sola Rosa Live Band 'Get It Together' Album Release Tour: MARCH: 20 Bar Mode, Gisborne, 21 San Francisco Bath House, Wellington, 25 Mussel Inn, Onekaka, 26 Phat Club, Nelson, 27 The Civic, Christchurch, 28 Sammys, Dunedin; APRIL: 3 Colosseum, Tauranga, 4 Monte Cristo, Auckland

State Of Mind ‘Faster Than Light’: MARCH: 14 - Homegrown Festival, Wellington, 27th – Auckland, Zen, 28th – Tauranga, Colosseum; APRIL: 3 –Wellington, Sandwiches, 4th – Dunedin, Sammy’s, 7th – Chch, Legends, 11 Phat Moon Party, Nelson

Warwick Blair’s ‘Stars’: MARCH: to 22 March 2009 Auckland Fringe Festival at Galatos,

Yulia: MAY: 23 and 24 “Concert At Karaka" NZ Bloodstock Centre at Karaka, Auckland; AUGUST: 30 Yulia & Kevin Friedrich Dargaville; OCTOBER: 2 The Global March for Peace and Nonviolence, Wellington Railway Station through to the Botanical Gardens, New Zealand

Festivals

Auckland Festival – AK09 Red Square: MARCH: 12 L.A.Mitchell - The Famous Spiegeltent, 13th The Hot Grits - The Festival Club, Lower NZI, Aotea Centre THE EDGE, 19 The Benka Boradovsky Bordello Band, 20 Tyra and the Tornadoes - The Festival Club, Lower NZI, Aotea Centre THE EDGE, 20 SJD - The Famous Spiegeltent, 21st An Emerald City

Music in Parks, Auckland:
Telecom Summer Sounds: MARCH: 15 Ardijah and Hikoikoi, Sturges Park Otahuhu, APRIL: 3 Pitch Black and The Lewis McCallum Orchestra, Beresford Square Auckland CBD.
Drake Jazz at the Rotunda, the Band Rotunda, Auckland Domain: MARCH: 29 Grand Central Band

The New Zealand International Jazz and Blues Festival: APRIL: including 13 Nairobi Trio, Great Hall The Arts Centre, 17 Jennine Bailey 1.10pm, Great Hall, the Arts Centre, 17 Solaa The Old Legends Bar (Bedford Row), 18 Departure Lounge, The Old Legends Bar (Bedford Row), and many more (such as the Blind Boys of Alabama)

The Pinata performance featuring Rhombus with Michel Tuffery: MARCH: 14 Corban Winery Estate in Henderson, Waitakere City.

Rotorua Festival of Arts: MARCH: 13 and 14: Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra, 7.30pm Rotorua Convention Centre

Sandwiches Summerset 2009: APRIL: 18 Basin Reserve, Wellington with Fat Freddy’s Drop (NZ), DJ Nick Warren (UK), The Nextmen (UK), MC P Digsss (NZ), DJ Lynx and MC Kemo (UK), Hollie Smith with full band (NZ), Bass Kleph (Aus), Charlie Ash (NZ), Pitch Black (NZ).

Titirangi Music Festival: MARCH: 15 Festival Opening and Music Fair; 20 Village Night - Music on 4 Stages throughout Titirangi Village with Soultearoa with Nat Rose, Taonga Puoro roots music with Te Aratoi, Gypsy Jazz with Club Manouche and African drumming songs with Tamani Drummers; Hardware Café Jazz Night, Scott Sampson Band - Fiona McEwen - Kawiti - The Calico Brothers - Richard Ingamells - Dianne Swan &The Bads - Phil Toms and the Electric Car, Peta and The Pois, 21 Ukulele Heaven - Artisan Wines Acoustic Café with Kevin Fogarty, Jon Sanders, The Nukes, a combined children's Ukulele orchestra and The Tahini Jam Group, 25th Waitakere Songwriters Showcase - with Shona Laing, The Magnets, Charlotte Johansen at Titirangi Memorial Hall, 26 New Adventures In Jazz - with Lewis McCallum Orchestra, Black Sand Diva at Titirangi Memorial Hall, 27th Lion Rock Roots - with dDub, Tahuna Breaks at Titirangi Memorial Hall, 28 Live With George – with Recloose Live Band, Dick "Magik" Johnson, Toro Toro Dance Company, Baitercell at Titirangi Memorial Hall

Vodafone Homegrown: *SOLD OUT* MARCH 14 2009: with Kora, Opshop, The Black Seeds, Tiki, Tahuna Breaks, Concord Dawn, Head Like A Hole, State of Mind, Fur Patrol, Dick Johnson, The Coshercot Honeys, Tiger Tones, DJ Reno and more.

Vodafone Homegrown official After Party: MARCH: 14 Shed6 Wellington Waterfront: with Recloose, Tyra Hammond and Isaac Aesili, Olmecha Supreme, DJ Downtown Brown and the Sunshine Soundsystem, featuring MCs KPz and Storm.

Wanaka Festival of Colour: APRIL 28 – MAY 3: Wanaka with Ben Eastwood, CORC and COCO, the New Zealand String Quartet, Delgirl, Frank Burkitt, Hell Man (Helen Medlyn and Penny Dodd), Jess Chambers and Justin Firefly, Kransky Sisters, L.A Mitchell, Mamaku Project, NZ Army Dance Band with Fabio and Ana Robles, Serenata a Tre, SJD, Southern Suite (Duets with Michael Houstoun and Diedre Irons), Vebka, Waves of Laughter (DJ Anton Carter aka DJ Choice One/MC Antsman and Michel Tuffery), The Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra

WOMAD: MARCH 13 – 15: New Plymouth: Fat Freddy’s Drop, Brendan Power, Shona Laing, Hinemoana Baker, Moana and the Tribe, Little Bushman, Arte Kanela (Australia / Spain), Bedouin Jerry Can Band (Egypt), Dengue Fever (Cambodia / USA), Dona Rosa (Portugal), Geoffrey Gurrumal (Australia), The Gyuto Monks (Tibet / Australia), Justin Adams & Juldeh Camara Trio (UK), Lo Cor De La Plana (France), Mercedes Sosa (Argentina), Mikidache (Mayotte, near Madagasgar / Paris), The Mobile Sewing Machine (Netherlands), Natacha Atlas (Egypt / UK), Rachel Unthank & The Winterset (UK), Russ Jones –Future World Funk (UK), Sa Dingding (China), Seckou Keita Quartet (Senegal), Seun Kuti & Egypt 80 (Nigeria), Ska Cubano (Cuba / UK), Speed Caravan (Algeria / France), U Shrinivas (India)

ENDS

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