VOLUME #021

7 FEBRUARY 2012 #021

NEW AMERYKAH PART THREE –

ERYKAH BADU COMES TO SPLORE

SCRATCH 22 AND ALPHABETHEAD

SPEAK WITH THEIR HANDS

WHITE RIOT – THE CLASH PLAY THECHRISTCHURCH TOWN HALL 1982

All Tomorrow’s Parties, Reggae Sunsplash, Coachella, St Jerome’s Laneway Festival, Rippon, Austin City Limits, WOMAD New Zealand, Bumbershoot… VOLUME is all about destination festivals where the location is as much a drawcard as the marquee acts on the bill. And the next New Zealand destination festival out the gate is Splore, which returns to Tapapakanga Regional Park with a lineup we reckon is their best yet.

FROM ITS IMPECCABLY curated stages to its ribbon-wrapped pohutukawas and beachfront bars, Splore’s attention to detail is impeccable – so we’re looking forward to next week to see what they’ll do with the stunning site that has been Splore’s

home since ’06. That’s when Erykah Badu, Hudson Mohawke, DJ Qbert and Reeps One, Soul II Soul, Africa Hitech, Gappy Ranks and co play the oceanside festival.

In this week’s issue we get an audience with analog girl Erykah Badu, Splore guests Scratch 22 and Alphabethead talk synaesthesia and turntable science, plus there’s a map and timetable to orientate you at Tapapakanga. We also hear from Michael Higgins, who forced the promoter’s hand and brought The Clash to Christchurch in 1982 on the back of the Radio U Clash petition he drafted.

We also farewell Hook Ups’ illustrator Hej Ganias who has breathed new life into Aroha Bridge’s fi nest over 10 strips, and welcome Mitch Marks who’ll be taking Kowhai and Monty back to basics.

Haven’t heard from The Rugged Sharks in a while…

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EDITOR: Sam [email protected] EDITOR: Hugh [email protected] OF VOLUME SALES: John [email protected]: Xanthe WilliamsWRITERS: David Carroll, Duncan Greive, Jessica Hansell, Michael Higgins, Joe Nunweek, Danielle Street, Hugh Sundae, Aaron YapILLUSTRATION: Mitch Marks PHOTOGRAPHERS: Milana Radojcic, Georgia SchofieldAN APN PUBLICATION

FROM ITS IMPECCABLYcurated stages to its ribbon-wrapped pohutukawas and beachfront bars, Splore’s attention to detail is impeccable – so we’re looking forward to next week to see what they’ll do with the stunning site that has been Splore’s

home since ’06. That’s when Erykah Badu, Hudson

You’re spinning records at Splore next week. How does it feel to be returning to Tapapakanga?This will be my third Splore at Tapapakanga and it feels really good – what a gorgeous place. I’m overseas a lot and it’s the one festival I always rave to non-Kiwis about.

You’re the marketing lady at Serato. Is Serato’s Control Tone the only piece of vinyl in your sets?I do always carry a few bits of “real vinyl” to DJ sets, although I don’t know if my recent LA purchases of Nine Inch Nails’ Pretty Hate Machine and Slint’s Spiderland would go down too well at Splore.

As a Splore veteran, what’s your favourite memory of the festival?My first year at Tapapakanga, when my friends and I decided to hire a boat and anchor with an amazing view of the acts on the main stage. I was doing interviews for Juice TV, so had to get frequent dinghy rides to shore to shoot. It was pretty funny turning up to interview Pharoahe Monch saturated in sea water.

George FM host, DJ, “washed up music-TV presenter” – what’s next for ya?As long as it involves music, food and maybe cats, then I’ll be happy.

Let us know three tunes you’ll be working into your set…Scuba’s ‘Never’, Helium Robots’ ‘Crepitation’ and Boddika’s ‘Acid Jackson’.

You ain’t got no fuckin’ Yeezy in your Serato?Nah, but I got some Waka Flocka...

Aroha plays Splore 2012 at Tapapakanga Regional Park, Auckland, 17–19 February.

In just over a week Tapapakanga Regional Park will again play host to Splore. We’ve got fi ve Splore CDs featuring a tasting plate of the festival music guests including one of this week’s Talking Heads, Scratch 22, Africa Hitech, Erykah Badu, Lord Echo, Soul II Soul, AHoriBuzz, @Peace and Disasteradio to give away. For a chance to win, email [email protected] with your memory of Splores past.

AMANDA WRIGHT – SPLORE DIRECTORI started Splore in 1998 with a group of friends who were all passionate about outdoor parties and the festival scene. It’s always been about outdoor environments and being together as a community; bringing crews or collectives together to celebrate our culture, our arts and our environment – those are the core beginnings of Splore. I’m passionate about the environment and addressing the impact of a festival like Splore – that has been incorporated into our entire business plan, everything from how we travel down to our site, to the paper we use, to recycling. We’re always looking at ways of incorporating sustainability

into our business and our event. I think that’s Splore’s point of difference – how we look after the incredible environment and the diverse content we have there, including music, performance, art, workshops, the family-friendly environment, all the things that make Splore an open book to a very diverse audience.

AROHA HARAWIRA

SEND ME A POSTCARDLabretta Suede & The Motel 6 return home from New York’s mean streets to play Splore at Tapapakanga Regional Park, Auckland. Their new album Dirty & Dumb is out now.

SEND ME A POSTCARD

I THOUGHT THIS was going to be a good opportunity to take a swipe at one of my great professional frustrations – the hotel suite interview with the visiting star.

You would have seen them before. In fact you may have finished watching an interview on TV3’s Nightline then swapped over to TV1’s Tonight and watched what looked like exactly the same interview. Made worse if it was one of those musos who – while media-friendly and likeable – came up with a line so good he/she (usually he) recants it in every interview to every reporter.

Then I was going to take a swipe at the silly locations reporters use to avoid hotel suite interviews, before contrasting that with my own attempts at finding somewhere interesting, proving that I’m just as bad as those I take such joy at belittling.

But it was while thinking of those locations that I remembered Dylan Taite and that bloody TV3 lift. Of course it wasn’t really an interview location; he just kind of used it to interview his own thoughts. You certainly would never have switched over from the other lot and thought you were watching the same show (although Taite did work for both networks over his career).

One of the great perks of working in the TVNZ News and Current Affairs department (aside from the taxi card), was their brilliantly organised and accessible archive. If I was interviewing anyone whose career was over about fi ve years old the fi rst step would be searching to see what Dylan had done first time around. Senior camera operators who had worked with him would often tell me stories on the way to shoots. Many started

with frustration (“but we don’t shoot that way!”) and ended with respect.

Of course the famous one everyone mentions was Bob Marley up at the White Heron hotel, but that was really just the tip of the iceberg. I remember watching a fresh-faced The Clash down at the old Auckland Railway Station sitting down politely taking Taite’s questions – shot on film!

It was early one morning on the bFM breakfast show when we got news of Dylan’s death. Teresa Patterson was the newsreader and told me how international bands would often request Dylan to do their interviews (she had been label manager of Virgin Records). We shed a few tears, opened up the phone lines and people started calling in with their memories.

It seems kind of fitting that the last time I ever saw Dylan he was holding a bag of records. I was driving along Mayoral Drive when I noticed him standing at the lights on Queen Street holding a Real Groovy bag.

He was looking around as though he had to find the nearest record player and an audience keen to hear something new.

Entries for the Taite Music Prize have now closed. Finalists will be announced on Monday 5 March and the award will be given out on Friday 20 April.

SEE YA, WOULDN’T WANT TO BE YA…I’ve just changed my mind. I’m not going to write about interview locations after all. It turns out the tangent that just popped into my head was better than the idea it’s tangential from.

with frustration (“but we don’t shoot that way!”) and ended with respect.

SEE YA, WOULDN’T WANT TO BE YA…I’ve just changed my mind. I’m not going to write about interview locations after all. It turns out the tangent that just popped into my head was better than the idea it’s tangential from.

Dylan Taite

ALPHABETHEAD: Since you’ve been a solo musician for so long, been a solo musician for so long, do you find it difficult to express do you find it difficult to express your ideas and bring other people into it? ’Cause I find that people into it? ’Cause I find that really difficult.SCRATCH 22: Well, yeah, not being able to actually speak in proper musical terms can be quite hard, but I’ve got a guy I’ve quite hard, but I’ve got a guy I’ve been working with, Eric [Scholes], been working with, Eric [Scholes], who’s really good, in that he can understand my ramblings and translate it into proper musical terminology for other people, so he’s been acting as my interpreter. he’s been acting as my interpreter. I think having someone like that’s I think having someone like that’s quite good.

Yeah, I need someone like that ’cause I’ve been trying to do this ’cause I’ve been trying to do this three-piece with a drummer and three-piece with a drummer and a vocalist, and I’ve found that I try and describe the music in the way I see it. Because I don’t the way I see it. Because I don’t know much about traditional notation, I describe it in terms like ‘aggression’ or ‘mellow’ or colour and hues – ‘this is crimson or byzantium’ or something. They don’t always understand, and it can get really understand, and it can get really frustrating.The colour’s an odd one. Do you use it on an EQ or something, like use it on an EQ or something, like when something’s in the green or when something’s in the green or the red? I notice when I’m playing the red? I notice when I’m playing with Serato that the wave forms are all in different colours, and it’s are all in different colours, and it’s quite interesting when you see a song and the kind of colours that come up with that song. You that come up with that song. You know, a heavy bass song is a very know, a heavy bass song is a very red song or something with a lot

of mids is sometimes a bit more purple with a splash of yellow here and there.

I don’t think it’s related to EQs on the computer; it’s just what I see. It’s that ‘synathetic’ way of experiencing music.Synaesthesia?

Yeah, synaesthesia, that’s the one. Isn’t that being able to taste shapes and hear colours?

Yeah, well I don’t taste shapes, but I certainly view everything in colours and hues, and I’m like, ‘Come on – have some more darkness. Get some maroon in there’, and then they play something totally different, so that’s what I’m working with now.You’re like, ‘Oh, that’s a bit of a turquoise…’

Yeah, totally. So what’s the band? It’s a three-piece with you?

Yeah, I have the two turntables for source material, just grabbing random records and throwing them on to add textures and different colours, and then the sampler for playing bass notes and stabs, and I play them in time with the drums.Is it mostly improvised?

Yeah, everything begins improvised, but then you get to a position after you’ve been

Scratch 22Scratch 22 and AlphabetheadAlphabetheadAlphabetheadAlphabetheadAlphabetheadAlphabetheadAlphabetheadAlphabetheadAlphabetheadAlphabetheadAlphabetheadAlphabetheadAlphabetheadAlphabetheadAlphabetheadAlphabetheadAlphabetheadAlphabetheadAlphabetheadAlphabetheadAlphabetheadAlphabetheadAlphabetheadAlphabetheadAlphabetheadAlphabetheadAlphabethead have continually pushed the limits of the turntable in service of pushed the limits of the turntable in service of the soundscapes they paint, digging deep for new the soundscapes they paint, digging deep for new sounds to brush with. Before their appearance at sounds to brush with. Before their appearance at Splore 2012, the fellow producers talked about Splore 2012, the fellow producers talked about their palettes of sound.their palettes of sound.Photography Milana RadojcicPhotography Milana Radojcic

SCRATCH 22 SCRATCH 22 &

playing and improvising together where you lock in to something, and then often that part becomes, ‘Oh, this sounds good – let’s memorise this part’, and that’s the birth of a piece. I’m going completely the opposite way, doing everything compositionally, like really arranged. That’s how I’ll write the song by myself, and when I’m trying to perform them I’m trying to improvise the arrangement so I’ll take all the little parts that I have and put them together in different ways with little familiar elements. Rather than start with an improv thing, I’m trying to end up at an improv thing, which may not be the best way to do it, but it’s a fun process.

That’s why I was asking if it gets frustrating ’cause now you’ve got these babies, these tunes, that you’ve fallen in love with and have been working on for ages, and you have to give up the compositional flow or the structure. Do you find that easy? Well, I literally only started doing it this week so I’ve only been playing around with that song that I showed you yesterday. Every time I’ve practised it, it’s come out in a completely different way, from a five-minute thing to an hour-long interpretation of that song. That’s the great thing about having turntables as an instrument, is that you can grab little bits of other songs and use them in interesting ways. For the percussive stuff, just putting the needle on the turntable and tapping away at the record or hitting the turntable, and looping

up those things as well, rather than having a traditional drummer or a percussionist.

When you’re working on a tune, after the bassline and the melody and the harmony are the most important things, are you more interested in the ‘feel’ and the tonal qualities? ’Cause that’s what I am striving for – not so much the melody, but the actual sound and the picture it paints in my mind, and that’s the reason I sample because I’m buying in to an era. It’s nostalgia for me, certain sounds – film soundtracks from the ’60s and ’70s. I don’t know why that is – I think it dates back to childhood, you know, watching movies at

my grandparents’ on a Sunday. Yeah, I like it too. I mean, it’s got to have a narrative to it – it can tell a bit of a story. Even without using vocals or words to do it, it can go on a bit of a journey.

“That’s the great thing about having turntables as an instrument, is that you can grab little bits of other songs and use them in interesting ways.”– SCRATCH 22

ALPHABETHEADALPHABETHEAD

Scratch 22 and Alphabethead play Splore 2012 at

Tapapakanga Regional Park, Auckland, 17–19 February, with

Erykah Badu, Hudson Mohawke, DJ Qbert and Reeps One,

Soul II Soul, Africa Hitech, Gappy Ranks, Shortee Blitz, The

Yoots, @Peace, Disasteradio, Earl Gateshead, The Nudge,

AHoriBuzz, The SmokeEaters, Hermitude and more.

Alphabethead is currently producing his third solo album

and an album with experimental noise band, The All Seeing

Hand. Find him online at alphabethead.blog.com.

Scratch 22 is working on a follow-up to Distance from View, his debut album on Round Trip Mars.

Each week Duncan Greive performs some low grade analysis on the week’s New Zealand Singles Chart and reviews a few new release pop singles. To submit or suggest a track for review email [email protected] or tweet @duncangreive.

Since this column started being published on VOLUME’s pages within nzherald.co.nz we’ve started to get awesome Dad rockish comments like this from Russell in Albany: ‘“Most exciting band in music today”, eh? Says a

lot about music today, really.’ And mostly I describe One Direction and The Wanted as “the most exciting band in music today” precisely because it makes people like Russell mental. And (obviously) because those new boy bands rule. But you get my point, right?

Anyway – mostly I fi nd it really hard to see merit in the arguments of better-in-my-day guys. Just a cynical, depressing way to envisage the world, as constantly sliding deeper into a pit of shit. That doesn’t give much hope to the children you fuss over so much. But despite all that I just can’t find anything to love about Flo Rida. Or to hate. Or just anything to grab hold of at all. At least Pitbull used to have great taste in beats (c. 2006) and Guetta has a brutally effective way with melody, while looking hilarious in videos. But Flo Rida just sucks, and as long as he remains at the top of our charts (a month now) I’ll be a bit sad. There are also no new entries of any consequence. That Train song I made a lame joke about a couple of weeks back, and some white version of Bruno Mars named Andy Grammer who is actively making the world worse by his involvement in music.

TYGA – ‘Rack City’The second SOTW for Cash Money and we haven’t touched Drake or Nicki Minaj yet. Anyone who has watched the strange, unnerving documentary The Carter won’t have come away thinking “those guys are A&R geniuses right

there”, but give them credit, they’ve shown an ability to make stars and revive careers that’d be the envy of anyone in the industry.

Which is not to say Tyga’s a future star – he might be, but this alone won’t make it so. ‘Rack City’ is just a classic sleazy strip club anthem, a 2012 take on ‘The Whisper Song’ or ‘Back That Azz Up’. It’s not quite on the level of either of those immortals, but remains much of what’s gratuitously great about this style when well executed. Which is to say the beat is two or three low synth notes rolling, with percussion kept to a minimum – all musical and vocal elements basically honour Mark E Smith’s “Three Rs: repetition, repetition, repetition”.

Plus any rapper able to deliver lines like “got your grandma on my dick” with a mirthless chuckle afterwards will always be alright in my book.

WZRD – ‘Teleport 2 Me, Jamie’A “rock duo”, consisting of Kid Cudi and Dot da Genius, a long-time collaborator of the former, this single rides a large and prominent sample of Desire’s ‘Under Your

Spell’ from the Drive soundtrack. The latter initially felt like the clear bronze medallist from the trio of songs which enraptured people from that magical soundtrack, but over time it seems to have become the sentimental favourite, outpacing both ‘A Real Hero’ and ‘Nightcall’. Which would be justice, really, as Jonny Jewel’s imprint is all over the film and he has recently released the music he composed for its soundtrack, which is excellent. Anyway, WZRD’s emo-rap single leans heavily on Cudi’s very affecting baritone. The lyrics are lovelorn, a little hackneyed but allied to the bones of Jewel’s production it still becomes pretty affecting, and there’s an outside chance that WZRD LP could be pretty huge.

JACK WHITE – ‘Love Interruption’The ex-White Stripes singer’s solo LP is gonna be a hit. For all those who feel adrift from modern music, who can’t get with Guetta and the rest, Jack White

is something solid they can cling to. He’s also a pretty gifted craftsman, and while I don’t go and seek out music like ‘Love Interruption’, I can’t deny its charms. A country-folk lament which rises in intensity throughout its two-and-a-half minute duration, this won’t work at radio, but the masses who bought into Adele in a big way could do a lot worse with their lust for “reality” (whatever that is) than stay strong on Jack.

M.I.A. – ‘Bad Girls’The official version of a song which has existed in a different form for a year, ‘Bad Girls’ feels a little like M.I.A. on autopilot. Which isn’t a bad thing by any

means – she is one of those artists whose periodic leaping reaches can go either way – so the relative conformity of ‘Bad Girls’ is by no means a disappointment. The beat is a typical loping, dusty thing, that quasi-world music feel that has always been part of the attraction, while her chant-sung lyrics follow her usual routine. So while it’s not extraordinary, there’s enough there to hold your interest. The main issue is knowing what she’s capable of at her peak, visionary pop which seems to exist outside of the forces acting upon the area more generally. So it gets docked points for the gap between this and what she’s manifestly capable of producing, while remaining a far better song than 95 per cent of what’s released on any given week.

RIANZ TOP 10 NEW ZEALAND SINGLES CHART1 Flo Rida ft. Sia – ‘Wild Ones’

2 Annah Mac – ‘Girl in Stilettos’

3 David Guetta ft. Sia – ‘Titanium’

4 Kelly Clarkson – ‘What Doesn’t Kill You (Stronger)’

5 Snoop Dogg & Wiz Khalifa – ‘Young, Wild and Free’

6 Labrinth ft. Tinie Tempah – ‘Earthquake’

7 Ed Sheeran – ‘The A Team’

8 The Babysitters Circus – ‘Everything’s Gonna Be Alright’

9 Pitbull ft. Chris Brown – ‘International Love’

10 Coldplay – ‘Paradise’

TYGA – ‘Rack City’The second SOTW for Drakestrange, unnerving documentary come away thinking “those guys are A&R geniuses right

there”, but give them credit, they’ve shown an ability to make stars and

in my book.

WZRD – ‘Teleport 2 Me, Jamie’A “rock duo”, consisting of a long-time collaborator of the former, this single rides a large and prominent sample of

Spell’ from the

there’s an outside chance that WZRD LP could be pretty huge.

JACK WHITE – ‘Love Interruption’The ex-hit. For all those who feel adrift from modern music, who can’t get with

is something solid they can cling to. He’s also a pretty gifted

(whatever that is) than stay strong on Jack.

M.I.A. – ‘Bad Girls’The official version of a song which has existed in a different form for a year, M.I.A.

means – she is one of those artists whose periodic leaping reaches

SINGLE OF THE WEEK

Andy Grammer

WHETHER INTENTIONAL OR inadvertent, the much-anticipated debut from Coasting is an album made for

wanderers, like a soundtrack for packing the metaphorical suitcase and meandering through a washed-out landscape of wildflowers. It’s no surprise, considering the musical minds of former Coolies’ drummer Fiona Campbell and Memphis native Madison Farmer met while the transient two temporarily resided in Brooklyn.

Aptly titled, the album is teeming with songs of drifting and longing, like ‘Pirate Cove’ with its lament over boredom with a local scene. The record is far from gloomy however, and is awash with crashing cymbals and rolling toms courtesy of bad-arse beatmaker Campbell, coupled with

Farmer’s surf/garage-punk guitar lines, and recorded in what sounds like the hardest-walled room in five states. Whatever hole could have been possibly left by lack of bass has been filled with vocal unification from the duo and sweet choruses of “oohs” and “ahhs”.

The girls’ improvisational attitude to songwriting has equated in some bitchin’ tracks for the album, although a few near the end could have been cut to produce an overall punchier result. But as it stands, there are plenty of tracks that get the repeat button.

Review Danielle Street

PROTON BEAST

STU HARWOOD’S TOP FIVE HOME BREWS

WHETHER INTENTIONAL OR inadvertent, the much-anticipated debut from Coasting is an album made for

wanderers, like a soundtrack for

PLUGBack on Time(Ninja Tune)Electronica boffin Luke Vibert assembled these

tracks from his Plug moniker around 15 years ago, but they’re seeing the light of day at a good time. Back on Time documents a knockout-punch of over-revved drill’n’bass mixed with kitchen-sink clutter, found sound and bleeps – it fits right in with the current Dis magazine/James Ferraro vibe of kitchy ’90s MIDI-junk.

BETH JEANS HOUGHTON AND THE HOOVES OF DESTINYYours Truly,

Cellophane Nose(Mute)Fey, precious post-Florence pop-folk from the UK. Songs like ‘Atlas’ feel like 2010’s British indie by committee. Still, Houghton has a strong voice – it remains to be seen whether she ditches some of the windowdressing and crafts something a bit more spare and affecting.

MMDELAIMmdelai(Self-released)EP from this Christchurch producer feels a little

like the work that might slot into a

varied mix – plaintive female vox, mantric piano lines, harsh, fuzzed-out synths – but it’s too much when piled up in a row, like Tori Amos fronting Crystal Castles. Best track to peep: ‘Sicily Sea’.

JONO MCCLEERYThere Is(Ninja Tune)Mumblecore British “coming down from

yr rave, son” jazzy folk music. Quite sobering seeing something new from Ninja Tune like this vs the Plug compilation. The best advertisement against taking drugs may be that 10 years down the road you get into music like McCleery’s and want to release it on your record label.

WILL SAUNDERS AND THE LOWEST FIDELITYCurious Maladies

(Deadboy)An admirable grower that refrains from the ’60s nostalgia excesses the title and art might conjure up: Saunders used to be in The Quick and the Dead, but this is a spare solo project that’s all urgent strumming, fuzz and a voice that sits somewhere between Jeff Mangum and Straitjacket Fits’ Andrew Brough. Check out the woozy ‘Rapture Blues’ and go from there.

PUNCH BROTHERSWho’s Feeling Young Now?(Nonesuch)“Progressive

bluegrass” band is actually pretty striking on first listen – the opener ‘Movement and Location’ is flat-out remarkable, the rapid banjo and mandolin-breakdowns of the trad form repurposed to create something brave. So definitely try to hear that, along with their cover of ‘Kid A’, which is also kinda mind-bending. The rest is total jam-band – cod-reggae strums, John Mayer amble.

LINES OFF THE SPACEBAR#2(Self-released)Music like this – that sounds perfectly

pitched halfway between Killjoy-era Shihad and Fugazi – will always exist in the cultural output of middle New Zealand, like short stories about dysfunctional farm families and paintings with big text all over them. It could be argued that we need it and should foster it. I would have loved this when I was 15. Also, I still love it.

LOKAPassing Place(Ninja Tune)Ninja Tune jazz-ambient signing is about as good as

this sort of stuff gets, actually. Passing Place works when it eschews passé r’n’b torch-songing for an eerie British eccentricism and a churning darkness. Highlights: ‘Sam Star’ mixes pastoral choral psych with moody John Barry-style orchestration, ‘The Beauty in Darkness’ is a glitchy stomper that unfolds into high drama.

OUTSIDERSShallow Graves(Deadboy)Wellington punk band is better and livelier than most

every aging Fat Wreck band they’ve been caught opening for. Shallow Graves fi nds them refi ning their sound with a touch of appealing, warm power-pop – the maudlin cover didn’t have me anticipating the Husker Du/Replacements sound these guys are now wringing out.

DEADThundaaaaah!(We Empty Rooms)Absolutely fucking tar-black noise rock music – think

Australian Jesus Lizard with a slightly less intelligible vocalist, or godheadSilo trapped at the bottom of a well. Very ’90s, but the acceptable, sludgy part of the ’90s where no one wore flannel or tried to impress girls. Doing a nationwide New Zealand tour this month.

Reviews Joe Nunweek

You’re Never Going Back (M’lady’s Records) 1: Pilsner kit – Black Rock. The first

beer I ever brewed. Insipid.2: Tittabawasee Brown Ale – John Palmer. The first beer I actually enjoyed. Pity my friend Tono ended up guzzling most of it. Malty deliciousness.3: Digital IPA Clone – Yeastie Boys. The beer community has a great “open-source” philosophy, meaning I can get my grubby mitts on stunning recipes like this one. Hop-tastic.4: Spellbinder – studio1. A bangin’ attempt at cloning Emerson’s Bookbinder by a dude on the New Zealand homebrewing forum (forum.realbeer.co.nz). Soft stonefruit.5: Tex’s Tipple – Tex Houston. Not only is he an amazing sound engineer, he is also a bloody good homebrewer. Chewy caramel citrus.

Proton Beast’s debut EP 2000 and Blood is out Monday 13 February on Hell Is Now Love. Check facebook/protonbeast

for February tour details.

ERYKAH BADU IS as famous for her deeply spiritual – some would say seriously weird – personal beliefs and her influence on former partners Common and Andre 3000 as she is for her award-winning, multi-platinum selling debut album Baduizm and the impressive run of releases that followed it, but it is her music that makes her a true original.

Her sensual blend of soul, hip hop and r’n’b allied to a sassy, classy attitude and exotic good looks has set her apart from the pack for more than a decade. It began with a debut album which exposed Badu to the kind of attention most folks would’ve struggled to deal with – but Erykah Badu is definitely not most folks.

“I think it would’ve been diffi cult if I hadn’t been aware what business I was getting into, because you get into the music industry, you got to sell units,” Badu says. “But then when something wonderful like gaining a cult following, multi-platinum sales and all that stuff happens, that’s some extra shit!”

She pauses, gathering her thoughts: “But even with the career I’ve been afforded, the large platform I’ve been given, I’ve learned that no matter what your position is, you still have a responsibility to the people around you and closest to you. My focus is on my evolution.”

Part of that evolution has involved collaborating with artists like Common, J Dilla and The Roots, all of whom Badu took both musical and personal pleasure from working with.

“Common came to my place in

Brooklyn one time, and we connected very, very well, became best friends. With The Roots, I had Baduizm, but I didn’t have the song I thought would round the album out. So I got on the train, went to Philly, met with Questlove and stayed at his house for a couple weeks, and came through with the rest of the album.”

She continues: “I got to meet amazing people just doing that: Dilla, Madlib, Bilal, D’Angelo, Sa-Ra, Jill Scott. It just connects like that. I think people who vibrate at the same frequency, vibrate toward each other. They call it – in science – sympathetic vibrations.”

This was the Erykah Badu I was hoping to hear more from and, as it turned out, she didn’t need a lot of encouraging: “I don’t know if it’s because I just turned 40, but my mind is in another totally different place now. I don’t really give a fuck about anything right now – in the best kinda way,” she chuckles. “But since the Earth is taking its polar shifts as it does every 2500 years, it does something weird to the Earth’s core, makes it heat up, and you get these different disasters and things.

“The Mayans said in 2012 there would be a shift, or an ending, or a beginning, or a return of something, and I think it co-relates with what’s going on with the planet. Because we are earthlings, very much connected with the planet, made of the same carbon and hydrogen and oxygen as the planet’s made of, it’s quite natural for us to behave the same way – it’s a recalibration.”

While Badu’s explanation for the turmoil of recent years goes some way to justifying her out-there reputation, it seems there is a growing reaction to perceived injustices globally, from established protest groups to ordinary folks.

“I don’t know a lot of details about what’s going on politically, I just feel that our children’s minds are a lot different to ours, and that’s a result of being born in this age and time,” she explains. “I think our children are in a more unique, concentrated state. We’re evolving as a race and as a planet, and I do hope there’s some sort of rebirth – but not without the labour pains first.”

Considered words from a woman entering her fifth decade, a mother-of-three who has seen more of the world and the people in it than most, and experienced first-hand how harsh the glare of the spotlight can be. Analog Girl in a Digital World maybe, but there can be no doubt Erykah Badu is fully prepared to stand up for what she believes in. We could learn a lot from her.

Erykah Badu plays Splore 2012 at Tapapakanga Regional Park, Auckland, 17–19 February, with Hudson Mohawke, DJ Qbert and Reeps One, Soul II Soul, Africa Hitech, Gappy Ranks, Shortee Blitz, The Yoots, @Peace, Scratch 22, Disasteradio, Alphabethead, Earl Gateshead, The Nudge, AHoriBuzz, The SmokeEaters, Hermitude and more.

After 15 years in the music business, Erykah Badu remains a fiercely independent spirit and genuinely inspiring artist. From the multi-platinum success of her 1997 debut Baduizm to collaborations with J Dilla, Madlib and Flying Lotus – and her three famous “baby Daddies” – she confidently walks her own path. VOLUME spoke with Badu prior to her first visit to New Zealand. Text David Caroll

ANALOG GIRL IN A DIGITAL WORLD

‘Apple Tree’ from Baduizm (1997)Where it all began.

‘Call Tyrone’ from Live (1997) Has a diss track ever been delivered with such sophistication?

The Roots ft. Erykah Badu – ‘You Got Me’ from Things Fall Apart (1999)After the record label baulked at Jill Scott’s involvement, Erykah re-recorded Jill’s part and a classic was born – and Jill and Erykah are still friends too.

Guru ft. Erykah Badu – ‘Plenty’ from Guru’s Jazzmatazz (2000)Listen to this track and try not to fall completely in love. We bet you can’t.

‘Bump It’ from Worldwide Underground (2003) Her languid, lyrical vocals in full effect on a track so laidback, it’s almost sideways.

Erykah Badu ft. Common – ‘Love of My Life (Ode To Hip Hop)’ from Brown Sugar OST (2003)A pairing of the two most conscious artists in hip hop – also romantically involved at the time.

‘Turn Me Away (Get MuNNY)’ from New Amerykah Part Two: Return Of The Ankh (2010)A loose-limbed monster groove sampling the Roy Ayers/Sylvia Striplin classic, ‘You Can’t Turn Me Away’.

One of the most talked-about films at Sundance, the Grand Jury prize-winning Beasts of the Southern Wild, has been picked up for distribution by Fox Searchlight. The Hollywood Reporter called the film, a fairy tale-like story set in an alternate Southern Louisiana, “one of the most striking to debut” at the festival.

James Wan is prepping his next supernatural thriller The Conjuring, which may reunite him with his Insidious star Patrick Wilson. The film is based on a true tale about spirits at a Rhode Island farmhouse.

Joe Carnahan, whose wilderness thriller The Grey is currently getting positive reviews Stateside, has signed on to direct a reboot of the 1974 Charles Bronson revenge drama Death Wish.

REMAKES > ORIGINALThe general consensus is: English remake bad, foreign original better. But not always:

A Fistful of Dollars – Few remakes of classics turn out to be classics themselves. Sergio Leone’s spaghetti western remake of Akira Kurosawa’s samurai masterpiece Yojimbo is a rare exception.

The Talented Mr Ripley – The late Anthony Minghella deepens Patricia Highsmith’s sociopath played with chilling suaveness by Alain Delon in René Clément’s 1960 Purple Noon.

12 Monkeys – Only a director with the reckless imagination of Terry Gilliam could have taken on Chris Marker’s seminal short La Jetee and made it his own.

Clement Cheng’s Gallants (Vendetta Films) was one of last year’s best films that seemingly no one saw. Briefly appearing at the World Cinema Showcase before quietly slipping onto DVD in December, this kung fu comedy from Hong Kong is an affectionate valentine to the Shaw Brothers movies of the ’70s. It features a terrific cast of martial arts veterans such as Chen Kuan-Tai, Bruce Leung and Lo Meng, all having a ball poking fun at themselves. Cheng clearly knows his stuff, but Gallants sticks not ’cause of the fight scenes, but the characters, a lovable bunch you’ll be happy to have spent time with.

Director David FincherStarring Daniel Craig, Rooney Mara, Christopher Plummer

DRAGON TATTOOTHE GIRL WITH THE

IT’S UNFORTUNATE THAT David Fincher’s sturdy treatment of Stieg Larsson’s bestseller The Girl with the Dragon

Tattoo – previously adapted by Niels Arden Oplev in its native Swedish tongue – will suffer from the sometimes unavoidable viewing conundrum that comes with English-language remakes of foreign fi lms. If you’ve seen the original fi lm, there’s very little here that will surprise. Much of the suspense and mystery, the material’s pulpy lifeblood, has gone, leaving the viewer to fi nd other elements that may hold interest, such as tonal nuances and structural tweaks, both things which Fincher’s version has a bit of. But it’s more apparent by the end that this is simply a commercial reality, a straight-ahead makeover for moviegoers who are specifi cally adverse to reading subtitles.

That said, it’s also superior in a number of ways, not least of all Fincher’s masterful pacing and the fl eetness in which he parses hefty investigative info – à la Zodiac, The Social Network – into a cinematically sound experience. No small feat considering both versions still demonstrate how hard it is to streamline the narratively saggy nature of its source.

Emotionally it’s more involving, particularly with regards to Lisbeth, the titular goth-punk fact-checker who’s memorably portrayed by Rooney Mara. Without her spunk and fi ery heart, the fi lm’s not much more than an airport potboiler about a fucked-up family tree of Nazis, grisly unsolved murders and mega-corp media scandals that a terminally dozy Daniel Craig is trying to get his head around.

Review Aaron Yap

HISTORY MADE...HISTORY MADE...HISTORY MADE...

TOWN HALL, CHRISTCHURCHMONDAY 8 FEBRUARY 1982

IN JANUARY 1982 I was station manager of Christchurch’s student station Radio U and a passionate Clash fan (from the first moment I heard ‘Janie Jones’).

Several months earlier Joe Strummer and Mick Jones had told The Christchurch Star they would make sure they played Christchurch

when they toured here. New Zealand had two islands and they would go to both. They knew the South Island missed out on too many concerts. Bless them – they always said the right things.

Tour dates were announced – Auckland and Wellington only. Without the Star interview, it would have been

just another disappointment, but this was betrayal. It demanded action so we started a petition through Radio U. We plugged it on air, Stuart Page ran up a poster, and forms were distributed to the city’s record shops (only UBS survives but its music department is long gone).

Looking back, I’m surprised that the petition only earnestly calls on The Clash and promoter Stewart Macpherson to explain the absence of a Christchurch concert. It doesn’t

Michael Higgins drafted the Radio U Clash petition that brought The Clash to the South Island to play the Christchurch Town Hall on Monday 8 February 1982.

just another disappointment, but this just another disappointment, but this was betrayal. It demanded action so was betrayal. It demanded action so we started a petition through Radio we started a petition through Radio U. We plugged it on air, Stuart Page U. We plugged it on air, Stuart Page

Michael HigginsMichael Higgins drafted the Radio U Clash petitionRadio U Clash petitionthat brought The ClashThe Clash to the South Island to play the Christchurch Town Hall on Monday 8 February 1982.

actually ask the band to play. If Clash fans were surprised at my wording, it didn’t stop them signing. I wish I could tell you how many did.

Meanwhile, Orientation controllers Mary Richardson and Maryrose Wilkinson (later of The Renderers) began agitating to see if they could organise a gig. I have no idea what went on behind the scenes but a Christchurch date was announced. Perhaps it was all that free promotion.

The night itself was odd. TVNZ

was filming That’s Country in the James Hay Theatre, and Clash fans and the TV audience made an incongruous mix in the foyer. And there were the time-warped dickheads who thought gobbing on the band was appropriate. It wasn’t. A Strummer tirade followed, and the plug was nearly pulled.

I would love to report it as the transcendent evening of my dreams but it never quite got there. The band was tired and strained, and the

spitting was a major downer, but it was still The Clash in Christchurch.

The local record company rep had arranged for me to present the petition to the band, and I was introduced to Joe Strummer as the person who started it. “I don’t know why you fucking bothered,” was his reply. Not quite the reception I had hoped for, but I’m sure it was tiredness and disappointment speaking. I’m never comfortable meeting my heroes, and the rest is a blur, but there is a photo of Paul Simonon looking at the petition.

That was where I thought it

had all ended – until a couple of years ago when I was looking at a Strummer documentary. There in the bonus features was the Radio U Clash Petition. The one I was sure had been binned as I left the room (unaware that everything was kept, put in shopping bags and taken back to England for Joe’s archives). It was well worth the fucking bother.

“I was introduced to Joe Strummer as the person who started it. ‘I don’t know why you fucking bothered,’ was his reply.”– MICHAEL HIGGINS

actually ask the band to play. If Clash actually ask the band to play. If Clash fans were surprised at my wording, fans were surprised at my wording, it didn’t stop them signing. I wish I it didn’t stop them signing. I wish I could tell you how many did. could tell you how many did.

was filming That’s Country in the James Hay Theatre, and Clash fans and the TV audience made an incongruous mix in the foyer. And

... AND IN THE MAKING

I REALLY LIKE Silo Park. I’m a fan of urban design that embraces the character of an area’s industry and history rather than knocking it down and building a generic plaza on top of it. The whole “revived British port town” flavour actually reminds me of a big, awesome European music festival – and it feels like, circa Round Three, that’s what Auckland Laneway is becoming. The crowd is almost at capacity, almost everyone is there to see, you know, bands – and as a punter you get put in the unusual position of having too many acts you want to see, rather than too few.

If anything the fest’s biggest challenge was going to be the boxy

electronic sound of indie circa 2011 – the likes of Washed Out, Austra, Cults and Twin Shadow all released debut albums that sound like they’ve been recorded in a bedroom – finicky drum programming and loops and the sort of layers that make for headphone listening. Virtually all of them pull through with aplomb – there’s a mannered quirk to Austra’s visual aesthetic (the blonde flanked by twin brunettes, standing with a dispassionate Christian rock album-cover distance) that could be pretty make-or-break, but their classically-influenced choral sounds come off really well.

Cults have a dreadful start –

single ‘Go Outside’ sounds rough as guts. But their dogged improvement in the course of a half-hour set is really admirable, and by ‘You Know What I Mean’, which sounds fantastic, I feel like I’ve developed a fresh appreciation for a band I was initially leery about. Meanwhile, Twin Shadow are just ridiculously good – George Lewis’ one-man project has been equipped with a band with the chops to give his Prince-meets-Morrissey pastiche the verve it needs – songs like ‘Shooting Holes’ and ‘Slow’ find new bridges and crescendos, developing beyond the studio versions without descending into jams. This is how it’s done – hopefully he becomes

SILO PARK, AUCKLAND MONDAY 30 JANUARYReview Joe Nunweek Photography Milana Radojcic

SILO PARK, AUCKLAND MONDAY 30 JANUARYSILO PARK, AUCKLAND SILO PARK, AUCKLAND

... AND IN THE MAKING

The Transistors

Laura Marling

Girls

The Horrors

the discovery of the day for a few people.

As for the big guns at the end of the night – Feist sounds technically excellent, but it’s not really my bag, so I sneak along to SBTRKT. It’s a set that shows you how lazy and self-serious a lot of other dubstep/electronic artists are live, with both Aaron Jerome and Sampha messing with their own music in a surprisingly kinetic way, dropping Drake’s reworking of ‘Wildfire’ as a crowdpleasing gesture and looking genuinely stoked to discover they have Australasian fans.

I return to the main stages to mistake the The Horrors for M83

having a bad soundcheck, which is naturally a bit disappointing, but only an abject miser could hate the French group’s subsequent performance, all cartoon neon shoegaze writ impossibly large and crystal clear. After this, Gotye can’t help being more a punchliner than

a headliner (the name even sounds a bit like some sort of Dutch version of Candid Camera) – sure, the band set-up and sound is super professional, but this is such rootsy Triple J slow-jam afternoon music and everyone only knows the Kimbra song. Just an odd choice, I guess.

Still, a pretty remarkable day. Feedback for next year would be a bit more work on the scheduling and a lot more shade (I had to go to bed wearing lots of damp cloths, the sort of horrible vision that must surely move a promoter with a soul to take action). Otherwise, man, this is good. The sort of festival I wanted when I was 18, here for real.

“The whole ‘revived British port town’ fl avour actually reminds me of a big, awesome European music festival.”

the discovery of the day for a few people.

As for the big guns at the end of

“The whole ‘revived British

a headliner (the name even sounds a bit like some sort of Dutch version of Candid Camera) – sure, the band

“The whole ‘revived British

a headliner (the name even sounds a bit like some sort of Dutch version a headliner (the name even sounds a bit like some sort of Dutch version

Anna Calvi

SBTRKT Live

CultsPajama Club

Pajama Club

The Horrors

Yuck

NORTHLANDSATURDAY 111814 and NRG Rising – Tikipunga Tavern, Whangarei, 7:30pm, $25SUNDAY 12Makareta Umbers and Daniel Hewson – Food at Wharepuke, Kerikeri, 12pm, Free

AUCKLANDTUESDAY 7Moonfest – Tahaki Reserve, Mt Eden, 7:30pm, FreeAuckland Jazz & Blues Club presents Susan De Jong – Pt Chevalier RSA, Pt Chevalier, 7:30pm, $5WEDNESDAY 8Kikuyu Album Launch – Wine Cellar, Newton, 8pm, $5Roache, Ava L’Amoureux & Shoutin Prechin – Kings Arms, Newton, 8pmChicane Duo – Sugar Bar, Newmarket, 7pm, FreeCreative Jazz Club: Murray McNabb Quartet – 1885 Basement, Auckland CBD, 8pm, $5-$10The Circling Sun Band + DJ Truent – Ponsonby Social Club, Ponsonby, 9pm, FreeTrudy Lile Trio – twentyone, Auckland CBD, 7pm, FreeLive Latin and Brazilian Music – The Mexican Cafe, Auckland CBD, 8:30pm, FreeWednesday R&B Jam Night – Flo Bar & Cafe, Newmarket, 9:30pm, FreeTHURSDAY 9Geoff Ong and Band Vid Single Release – Kings Arms, Newton, 8pm, $10Mark Cunningham – Union Post Brewbar, Ellerslie, 9pm, FreeLatinAotearoa w support from Dan Paine – Ponsonby Social Club, Ponsonby, 9pm, FreePetra Rijnbeek & Paul Voight – The Lumsden, Newmarket, 6:30pm, FreeD’Starlights – Papatoetoe RSA, Papatoetoe, 6:30pm, $2Candie Hank / Toecutter / Baaddd / FnMath / P P Flo – Whammy Bar, Newton, 10pm, $10FRIDAY 10The Earlybirds – Victoria Picture Palace and Theatre, Devonport, 8pm, $25The Murder Chord, Shitripper and Friends – Kings Arms, Newton, 8pmMitch French – Florrie McGreals Irish Pub, Takapuna, 9pm, FreeJamesRAy’s Texas Rock with Geronimo – Dairy Flat Community Hall, Dairy Flat, 8pm, $7.50-$10Voltaire (NYC) – The Basement, Auckland CBD, 8pm, $28-$35Spiral EP Release Party – Juice Bar at The Windsor Castle, Parnell, 9pm, FreeAuckland Vintage Jazz Society – Nixon Park Community Hall, Howick, 7:30pm, $10-$15Live Latin Music – Besos Latinos

Restaurant, Auckland CBD, 7:30pm, FreeLike Festival – The Wine Cellar and Whammy Bar, 8pm, FreeContagious – Cock & Bull, Ellerslie, 9pm, FreeSeether – Logan Campbell Centre, Epsom, 7pm, $59.90The Kavalliers – Henderson RSA, Henderson, 7pm, FreeTiTch Marvel And The Paparazzi Dolls – Route 66 Live Music Bar, 9pm, FreeThe Alibis – Grey Lynn Returned Services Club, Grey Lynn, 8pm, FreeSATURDAY 11Class of 81 – Villa Maria Estate Winery, Mangere, 3pm, $89-$129#Television Launch Night ft. Roger SeventyTwo (Netherlands) – 1885 Britomart, Auckland CBD, 10pm, $10More FM Summer Vineyard Tour 2012 – Turanga Creek Organic Vineyard, Whitford, 5pm, $79Roxette – Vector Arena, Auckland CBD, 7pmAwesomesauce ft. Ryan Enzed (Bazooka / Big Fish) – Be Club, Auckland CBD, 10pm, $5TFMC presents Indigie Femme – Titirangi Beach Hall, Titirangi, 8pm, $8Club House – Trench Bar, Auckland CBD, 10pm, FreeMusic in Parks 2012 – Jazz at the Rotunda – Tamakae Reserve, Waiuku, 5pm, FreeNeil Watson 3 – Buenos Aires Restaurant, Herne Bay, 9:30pm, FreeHabana Noches – Tropical Flavour – QF Tavern, Auckland CBD, 9pm, FreeContagious – Cock & Bull, Ellerslie, 9pm, FreeDictaphone Blues and Bond Street Bridge – Sawmill Cafe, Leigh, 9:30pmMark Armstrong Acoustic – De Fontein, Mission Bay, 8:30pm, FreeJason Mohi – Malt Bar, Grey Lynn, 8pm, FreeFeral Breed, Hot Grease, Circus Meat & SeanFish – The Lucha Lounge, Newmarket, 8pm, $5-$10Parokya Ni Edgar – ASB Showgrounds, Epsom, 7pm, $60The Kavalliers – A Rocking Great Band – Silverdale RSA, Whangaparaoa Peninsula, 7pm, FreeEnd of the Line – Rocket Hill, 11:30am, $29SUNDAY 12Marisco Vineyards Presents Jazz on a Summers Day – The Windsor Castle, Parnell, 12pm, $25-$75Blues in The Boat House – The Hipshooters – Riverhead Tavern, Riverhead, 2pm, FreeBlend – Goode Brothers, Botany Downs, 3pm, FreeJamesRAy’s Acoustic Country Sunday – Bar Africa, North Harbour, 12pm, Free

JamesRAy’s Encore Acoustic Country Sunday – Bar Africa, Highland Park, 5:30pm, FreeMusic in Parks 2012 – The Culture Garden – Nathan Homestead – Manurewa Arts Centre, Manurewa, 4pm, FreeSandpaper Tango – Corelli’s Cafe, Devonport, 6pm, FreeNick Charles – The Bunker, Devonport, 8pm, $15Chaste Embrace Dancing with Live Band – Pt Chevalier RSA, Pt Chevalier, 6pm, $10Chicane Duo – Bill Fish Cafe, St Marys Bay, 1pmCoopers Creek Summer Sunday Jazz – Coopers Creek Vineyard, Huapai, 1pm, FreeJazz In the Vines – Davis Funerals, Henderson, 2pm, $20Music in Parks 2012 – Jazz at the Rotunda – Auckland Domain Band Rotunda, Parnell, 2pm, FreeNZ Blues Brothers Tribute Show – Huapai Tavern, Huapai, 3pm, FreeSunday Jazz, Rock, Reggae Session – Shooters Saloon, Kingsland, 2pm, FreeMONDAY 13Jez Lowe & Kate Bramley – The Bunker, Devonport, 8pm, $20VIVA Jazz Quartet – The Windsor Castle, Parnell, 6pm, Free

HAWKE’S BAY / GISBORNEFRIDAY 10DOCO 2010-2011 – HB Music Compilation Album Fundraiser – The Cabana, Napier, 8pm, $10SATURDAY 11Classic Hits Winery Tour : Gin, Mutton Birds, Avalanche City – Brunton Road Wines, Gisborne, 5pm, $59-$69I Am Giant – Let It Go Summer Tour with Cairo Knife Fight – The Sideline Bar, Napier, 8pm, $32.85SUNDAY 12Classic Hits Winery Tour : Gin, Mutton Birds, Avalanche City: SOLD OUT – Black Barn Vineyard, Havelock North, 5pm, $59-$69HBS Bank Summer in the Parks – Cornwall Park, Hastings, 3pm, FreeMONDAY 13Classic Hits Winery Tour: Gin, Mutton Birds, Avalanche City: SOLD OUT – Black Barn Vineyard, Havelock North, 5pm, $59-$69

WAIKATOWEDNESDAY 8Shenandoah Davis (USA) w/ Der Kranks – Static Bar, Hamilton, 8pmTHURSDAY 9Supermodel & Sleeping Dogs – YOT Club, Raglan, 9pm, $10FRIDAY 10Shotgun Alley – Gravity Bar, Hamilton, 8pm, $15Kiwi Express – Hamilton Workingmen’s Club, Hamilton, 8pm, Free

101 Proof Pantera Tribute – The Goddamn Electric Summer Tour – Axces Bar, Hamilton, 8pm, $10Hot Grease, Somebody’s Sons + Imploder – Static Bar, Hamilton, 9pm

BAY OF PLENTYTHURSDAY 9Nick Charles – Rotorua Arts Village RAVE, Rotorua, 7pm, $25I Am Giant – Let It Go Summer Tour with Cairo Knife Fight – Brewers Bar, Mt Maunganui, 8pm, $32.85LSG Group – The Pheasant Plucker, Rotorua, 9pm, FreeFRIDAY 10Supermodel & Sleeping Dogs – Brewers Bar, Mt Maunganui, 9pm, $10Classic Hits Winery Tour : Gin, Mutton Birds, Avalanche City – Wharepai Domain, Tauranga, 5pm, $59-$69I Am Giant – Let It Go Summer Tour with Cairo Knife Fight – The Shed, Rotorua, 8pm, $32.85SUNDAY 12Katikati Twilight Concerts – Spiral – Katikati Haiku Pathway, Katikati, 6pm, $15MONDAY 13Jimmy & Perry – The Pheasant Plucker, Rotorua, 7pm, Free

TARANAKISATURDAY 11Shotgun Alley – The Basement, New Plymouth, 8pm, $15SUNDAY 12Chicago Disco Summer Tour with DJ Philippa – 55, New Plymouth, 10pm

MANAWATU / WHANGANUITHURSDAY 9Shenandoah Davis (USA) w/ Fuyuko’s Fables +TBA – Space Monster, Whanganui, 8pmFRIDAY 10Knights of the DUB Table ‘Way of the DUB’ Album Tour – The Royal, Palmerston North, 9pm, $10Shufti – The Bent Horseshoe Cafe, Tokomaru, 7:30pm, $15SATURDAY 11The Winsome Lost – Ashhurst Inn, Ashhurst, 9pm, FreeSUNDAY 12Summer Concert Series – Concert in the Oval – Massey University Oval, Palmerston North, 3pm, FreeMONDAY 13Central Band or the RNZAF – Royal Whanganui Opera House, Whanganui, 7pm, $5-$15

WELLINGTON REGIONTUESDAY 7Reggae Night with Long Shen Dao – San Francisco Bath House, 7pm, $10Live Music – The Library, 5pm, Free

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WEDNESDAY 8Alizarin Lizard – The Weekend Went Without You Album Tour – Mighty Mighty, 9pm, $10THURSDAY 9Data Hui – San Francisco Bath House, 8pm, $20Alizarin Lizard – The Weekend Went Without You Album Tour – St Peters Hall, Paekakariki, 9pmSecretive George (Aus) & Scotdracula (Aus) – Mighty Mighty, 9pmCryin’ Shame Band – Hotel Bristol, 8:30pm, FreeVoltaire (NYC) – Bar Medusa, 8pm, $28-$35FRIDAY 10Chicago Disco Summer Tour with DJ Philippa + More – Hooch, 10pmOlmecha Supreme and Myele Manzanza’s Double Album Release – San Francisco Bath House, 8pm, $15Mtown – Petone Working Mens Club, Lower Hutt, 8pm, FreeSATURDAY 11Urbantramper, Vorn, Von Thundersvolt + Cliche Guevara – Mighty Mighty, 9pmKnights of the DUB Table ‘Way of the DUB’ Album Tour – Bar Medusa, 9pm, $10Mel Parsons – Summer Show in the Capital – Happy, 8:30pm, $20In Like Flynn – Molly Malones, 9pmNewtown Top Ranking – Baobab Cafe, 1pm, FreeKirsten Mackenzie And Friends – The Lido Cafe, 8:30pm, FreeRhino Music Day – The Waterfront Bar and Kitchen, Raumati, 6pm, $10SUNDAY 12Kings of Swing with the Wellington Jazz Orchestra – Southward Theatre, Paraparaumu, 2pm, $20-$30The Boptet – The Lido Cafe, 7pm, FreeThe Sunday Jazz Club – Public Bar & Eatery, 7:30pm, FreeMONDAY 13Shenandoah Davis (USA) w/ Fuyuko’s Fables & City Oh Sigh – Freds, 8pm

NELSON / TASMANTUESDAY 7Luminate Festival 2012 – Canaan Downs, Golden BayWEDNESDAY 8More FM Summer Vineyard Tour 2012 – Trafalgar Park, Nelson, 5pm, $79FRIDAY 10Anna Coddington – The Free House, Nelson, 8pm, $20Alien Nation 2012 – 10 Years of Doof – Wairoa Gorge, Waimea, 12pm, 12am, $100SATURDAY 11Wild Marmalade – The Playhouse, Waimea, 6pmAlien Nation 2012 – 10 Years of Doof – Wairoa Gorge, Waimea, 12am, 12am, $100

SUNDAY 12Alien Nation 2012 – 10 Years of Doof – Wairoa Gorge, Waimea, 12am, 12am, $100MONDAY 13Alien Nation 2012 – 10 Years of Doof – Wairoa Gorge, Waimea, 12am, $100

MARLBOROUGHSATURDAY 11Theiving Gypsy B*st*ard – Lennys on Main Irish Pub and Cafe, Marlborough Sounds, 7pm, Free

CANTERBURYTHURSDAY 9The Black Velvet Band – Becks Southern Alehouse, 8pm, FreeSalsa On Thursdays – Salsa Latina Dance Studio, 8:45pm, FreeBulletbelt – Writhe And Ascend NZ Tour – Dux Live, 8pm, FreeFRIDAY 10More FM Summer Vineyard Tour 2012 – Pegasus Town, Pegasus, 5pm, $79Taos with djDmand – Pierside Cafe and Bar, 8:30pm, FreeD n D Showband Weekend – Becks Southern Alehouse, 9pm, FreeSATURDAY 11Paul Ubana Jones and the Stone Cold Chillers – Pierside Cafe and Bar, 8:30pm, $10Old Growth Cola + Mela – darkroom, 9pm, FreeTangoVibe presents Practilonga – Salsa Latina Dance Studio, 8pm, $5-$10Bulletbelt – Writhe And Ascend NZ Tour – Creek Hotel, Timaru, 9pm, $10D n D Showband Weekend – Becks Southern Alehouse, 9pm, Free

OTAGOTHURSDAY 9More FM Summer Vineyard Tour 2012 – Peregrine Wines, Queenstown, 5pm, $79FRIDAY 10Bulletbelt – Writhe And Ascend NZ Tour – 12 Below – XIIB, Dunedin, 8pm, $10SATURDAY 11Gibbston Valley Winery Summer Concert – Gibbston Valley Station, Queenstown, 12pm, $89SUNDAY 12Jason Kerrison – Summer Playground Series – The Winehouse, Gibbston, 3pm, $45Jo Little & Jared Smith – Carey’s Bay Hotel, Dunedin, 4pm

has teamed with Eventfi nder for gig listings. To get your gig considered, go to eventfi nder.co.nz and submit your show for publication. Due to space constraints, we can’t guarantee that every show will be listed.

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THURS1MARCH ROOTSMANUVA

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Anna Calvi slayed it at St Jerome’s Laneway Festival – dark and doomy with the right amount of reverb, she had the sharpest look of the day. Great location and excellent for the city. Well done Mark, Manolo, Ben and Charlotte! Best sound award must go to Opossum who opened the main stage – looking forward to the album in April… The last two weeks have seen the city slammed with excellent shows. As expected Thee Oh Sees were off the chain at Whammy Bar – big-ups to the High Seas folk for bringing them out… The Dresden Dolls played a “ninja” show in the Auckland Public Library on the day of their Auckland show with Amanda Palmer crowdsurfing. If that wasn’t enough they delivered a near three-hour set full of surprises later that night at The Powerstation, with the magnificent Richard O’Brien joining them for two songs from the The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Hard to believe he’s about to turn 70… The Fourmyula breezed through Auckland at the Seafood

Festival – their afternoon pop suited the wharf location perfectly… Rackets played Golden Dawn with The Transistors and Thee Rum Coves, and Rackets’ Jeremy Potts created a “unique” show moment. By all accounts, it was the shit... Video director Levi Beamish filmed The Transistors at Laneway. His car was broken into and everything stolen including all his camera equipment – bad buzz... With a taste for travel and chaos, Melbourne pioneers of Gypsy Death Core, The Barons of Tang, will be visiting these shores very soon. Delaney Davidson just returned from Australia playing shows with them and rates their show – not to mention their culinary skills. Delaney recently impressed

at The Powerstation opening for Kitty, Daisy & Lewis and winning the cosmopolitan crowd over with his waltzing… Sharpie Crows impressed at Lucha Lounge opening for Pairs… And congratulations to Greg Hammerdown, an important fixture on the live scene, who turns the big 5-0.

Nikita the Spooky and A Circus of Men have finished recording and mixing their new EP. More details soon… Local sunshine reggae band Tomorrow People are set to release their new album in March – check tomorrowpeoplereggae.co.nz for more details… Mark McGuire from

acclaimed US hypnagogic pop act Emeralds makes a solo performance at FREDS on Wednesday. Jo Contag of The Golden Awesome will also perform on the night… Gothic Cabaret Steampunk your thing? If so, drop past Bar Medusa on Thursday to witness one-man band Voltaire do his thing – straight outta New York City!... On Friday Afrofuturists Olmecha the Relic and Myele Manzanza have a dual album release party at San Francisco Bath House. This will be the last chance to catch Captain Imon Starr before he heads up the line… And the next night, also at the Bath House, Jacob bring their wall-of-noise back to town for one night only… Homegrown hits the Wellington waterfront next weekend with more New Zealand music than you can handle... As part of the Alphabet Street music for families’ series, psychedelic disco auteurs Orchestra of Spheres will appear at Capital E on Sunday 26 February. 2pm start… Into sophisticated electronic dance music with a touch of irony? Check out South City Sushi Cop – soundcloud.com/south-city-

sushi-cop... New Zealand Red Bull Thre3Style champion DJ Spell has just delivered ‘Risky Business’, a killer modern p-funk banger on his soundcloud page. Have a listen at soundcloud.com/spellspellspell/spell-risky-business... Kitty Daisy & Lewis finally made it to Wellington and knocked them dead at Bodega.

Delaney Davidson back in town and about to record a new double-album… The Transistors to announce international dates and an impending album… Von Voin Strumm and The Easyhearts played to a packed Dux last Saturday. Both bands have new singles out soon followed by EP releases – ‘Shiver Roses’, from the Van Voins and ‘Neon Lights’ from The Easyhearts… The Bats were nominated in The Daily Telegraph’s albums of the year for Free all the Monsters which also received a four-star review in the January Mojo. Minisnap, the vehicle for Bats’ guitarist Kaye Woodward, plays the Dux on 18 February with Dark Matter supporting... House of Mountain getting rave reviews... Runaround Sue played their first gig with their new lineup last Saturday to an enthusiastic audience in Lyttelton’s outdoor performance space on London St…. The Greyhounds – Marlon Williams and Ben Woolley from The Unfaithful Ways, Anita Clark from Devilish Mary and th’ Captain from The Harbour Union are about to lay their bluegrass sounds on the public. This should be something... Jackie Bristow bringing highly rated Australian guitarist Mark Punch on her New Zealand tour. She plays the Naval Point Yacht Club on Tuesday 21 February.

Honeybone off to seek fame and fortune in AUS... ReFuel set to reopen early March… Radio One gearing up for a big year with R1 club nights kicking off soon… Alizarin Lizard’s new album The Weekend Went Without You and Cult Disney’s new EP PIDMOTLNE out soon… The Verlaines have Australian shows rumoured and Dr Graeme Downes is now the head of the Music Department at Otago University.

Got some news for More Volume? Email us at [email protected].

The Barons of Tang

Orchestra of Spheres

CAMP A LOW HUM 201210–12 February – Camp Wainui, Homedale, Wainuiomata

SPLORE 2012Erykah Badu, Hudson Mohawke, DJ Qbert and Reeps One, Soul II Soul, Africa Hitech, Gappy Ranks, Shortee Blitz, The Yoots, @Peace, Scratch 22, Disasteradio, Alphabethead, EarlGateshead, The Nudge, AHoriBuzz, The SmokeEaters, Hermitude and more17–19 February – Tapapakanga Regional Park, Auckland

THE SISTERS OF MERCY Wednesday 22 February – The Powerstation, Auckland

NEW ORDERMonday 27 February – Vector Arena, Auckland

THE BLACK LIPS Tuesday 28 February – The Powerstation, Auckland

DIRTY THREEWednesday 14 March – The Powerstation, Auckland

ST VINCENTSunday 18 March – Kings Arms, AucklandMonday 19 March – San Francisco Bath House, Wellington

JOHN COOPER CLARKEWednesday 21 March – Dunedin Fringe FestivalThursday 22 March – Kings Arms, AucklandFriday 23 March – Bodega, WellingtonSaturday 24 March – Marchfest, Nelson

JOE SATRIANI, STEVE VAI AND STEVE LUKATHER – G3 Sunday 25 March – Logan Campbell Centre, AucklandMonday 26 March – Michael Fowler Centre, Wellington

BORISWednesday 28 March – Bodega, WellingtonThursday 29 March – Kings Arms, Auckland

ELBOWWednesday 28 March – The Powerstation, Auckland

WOODEN SHJIPSSunday 1 April – Kings Arms, AucklandMonday 2 April – Bodega, Wellington

MAYER HAWTHORNE AND THE COUNTYWednesday 22 February – San Francisco Bath House, WellingtonThursday 23 February – The Powerstation, Auckland

HENRY ROLLINSWednesday 11 April – Clarence St Theatre, HamiltonThursday 12 April – Dux Live, ChristchurchFriday 13 April – The Opera House, WellingtonSaturday 14 April – SkyCity Theatre, Auckland

URGE OVERKILLTuesday 6 March – The Powerstation

RYAN ADAMSTuesday 6 March – The Regent Theatre, DunedinThursday 8 March – The Civic Theatre, Auckland

ROKY ERICKSONWednesday 7 March – The Powerstation, Auckland

ARIEL PINK’S HAUNTED GRAFITTI Tuesday 13 March – Kings Arms, AucklandWednesday 14 March – Bodega, Wellington

JUSTIN TOWNES EARLEThursday 19 April – Dux Live, ChristchurchFriday 20 April – Bar Bodega, WellingtonSatuday 21 April – Kings Arms, AucklandSunday 22 April – Sawmill Café, Leigh

PETER HOOK & THE LIGHT PLAYING CLOSER – A JOY CLOSER – A JOY CLOSERDIVISION CELEBRATIONWednesday 18/Thursday 19 April – Bodega, WellingtonFriday 20 April – Studio, Auckland

STEVE EARLE Wednesday 11 April – Kings Arms, Auckland Thursday 12 April – Bodega, Wellington

NICK LOWE Saturday 13 March – The Powerstation, Auckland

THE ALBUM

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SINCE THEIR LAST visit to these shores Kitty, Daisy & Lewis have shifted away from the Honolulu rockabilly edge and moved to a jump-blues place where baby-faced brother Lewis really starts to shine. The gap-toothed young man has emerged as a subtle ringleader to this family act, orchestrating a hopping set that had a wistfully nostalgic

crowd wiggling in their fishnets. The Durham siblings, plus Mom

and Pops, put on the kind of show that wouldn’t seem out of place in a dusky back alley bar where everything is in black and white – the type of grimy juke joint you wanna keep a bit secret. Except in reality it’s The Powerstation and the talented trio has sold the place out. Again.

The youngsters take to their instruments like demons, slapping and beating the sound out of them. Initially the arrangement consists of longhaired Kitty bashing at the keyboard upfront, while older sister Daisy, dressed in a devilish sailor suit, takes to the drums in a side-saddled fashion. Meanwhile, Lewis is crooning ‘Don’t Make a Fool Out of Me’ from downstage.

The next 90 minutes is mostly a blur. Somewhere in the middle their trumpet player Eddie ‘Tan Tan’ Thornton, an old kaleidoscope of a man, bursts in to blast out a few ska-esque numbers with the family.

The siblings move organically between old and new songs, and shift fl uidly between different instruments. The only thing relatively stationary on the stage is the rhythm section, held by black double-bass slapping Ma Durham (Ingrid Weiss, formerly of The Raincoats) and their guitar-welding father Graeme. Their three tight-knit progeny not only switch between the more conventional band instruments of drum, guitar and

keyboard, they introduce new sounds into the mix constantly, including banjo, accordion and harmonica. All executed without even a whiff of a setlist.

The energy falls a little flat when Daisy sings the black sheep of a song, ‘Messing with My Life’, the second single from their latest album Smoking in Heaven. But following the “last song” fake-out from Lewis, they resuscitate the vibe for another few tracks, treating the audience to the highlight of Kitty’s

howling harmonica solo on ‘Say You’ll Be Mine’. Eventually they more-or-less resume their original configuration with Daisy wildly hammering away on the skins to close the set on ‘Mean Son of a Gun’, which is accompanied by rapturous applause.

Despite pulling out a few chestnuts, their boundless talent has gained the Londoners an impressive strike rate of three sold-out shows in Auckland, their backwards evolution in music drawing a medley of a crowd, dressed to the nines and ready to dance. Here’s hoping it continues.

“A hopping set that had a wistfully nostalgic crowd wiggling in their fi shnets.”

KITTY, DAISY & LEWISTHE POWERSTATION, AUCKLAND TUESDAY 31 JANUARYReview Danielle StreetPhotography Georgia Schofi eld

95bFM ANDMUCH MORE MUSIC PRESENT

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