The LOOP Music Emailer

Welcome to the first LOOP Music emailer for 2001, a weekly mailout in which we will let you know what's up in the world of music. Look for the LOOP Music emailer in your Inbox every Friday, bringing you the latest in:

LOOP.co.nz CONTENT, running you through the week's additions to the music and audio sections of our ever-evolving website. Check http://www.loop.co.nz for a whole heap of news, reviews, previews, interviews and other music-related content that doesn't make the monthly print edition of LOOP.

NEW ZEALAND MUSIC NEWS, brought to you in partnership with the un-chart-ed documentary, which we are happy to now have available for download each week from LOOP.co.nz We also feature New Zealand radio airplay charts courtesy of leading Aotearoa radio industry magazine Median Strip.

INTERNATIONAL MUSIC NEWS, wrapping up new releases, music industry happenings and cool web content from around the globe.

CURRENT LISTENING in the LOOP office - top tips for CD, vinyl and web-based beats we're currently digging.

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NEW LOOP MAGAZINE OUT THIS WEEK

The April edition of LOOP, our first for 2001, hits the streets this Thursday 22 April, complete with profiles of top New Zealand musicians rotor+, Sheelahroc, Nathan Haines and The Black Seeds, the first article in our How To Make Music series (reviewing the incredible new "studio-in-a-box" software package Reason), and of course, your free...

LOOP CD8: Summer Dubbin'
You couldn't miss the homegrown dub vibrations in Aotearoa this summer, whether you were checking the Outdoor Styles or Roots Foundation tours, losing yourself at The Gathering or Splore, or jointly celebrating Waitangi Day and Bob Marley's birthday at one of the nationwide One Love events. With more and more New Zealand producers adopting the dubwise styles, our island nation's connection to Jamaica seems stronger then ever. The first LOOP CD of 2001 sparks up with a big and booming selection of heavyweight basslines, featuring tracks by Confucius, Salmonella Dub, Lotus, Tehi, Phully, Dubomatic and The Nomad, and ending with a sublime jazzy chaser courtesy of Funkamentl and Nathan Haines. Our CDRom again provides a download of the music software package ProTools Free, and a half-dozen Quicktime movie files including impressionistic films, music videos and summertime fun flicks captured by LOOP cameras around the nation.

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NEW ON LOOP.co.nz

ARTICLES:

Small is beautiful:
un-chart-ed's Miles Buckingham interviews enigmatic New Zealand electronic musician Leyton, the mastermind behind the recent rotor+ album release Aileron. http://www.loop.co.nz/?m=518

Hullabalost it mate:
Jason Harding takes a look behind the scenes of last week's dangerously oversold Wellington gig Hullabaloo. http://www.loop.co.nz/?m=477

Talkin' with the Pooley man:
Jason Harding chats up German house producer Ian Pooley on the eve of his Wellington gig. http://www.loop.co.nz/?m=516

Christ almighty!:
Andy Mitchell interviews musical misfit Luke Vibert, aka Wagon Christ, whose new album Musipal on Ninja Tune is in stores now. http://www.loop.co.nz/?m=422

Red Hot + New:
AIDS awareness group the Red Hot Organisation release their new CD, a tribute to jazz great Duke Ellington, exclusively through Amazon.com http://www.loop.co.nz/?m=470

REVIEWS:

The elder statesman of American music is back: Johnny Cash returns after ill health and all to produce a potential album of the year - American III: Solitary Man. http://www.loop.co.nz/?m=513

Curtis Mayfield Lives!:
The great Mayfield still funks like a mother funker on the re-released 1970 concert recording Curtis/Live!. http://www.loop.co.nz/?m=512

AUDIO:

LOOP CD8 Previews:
The majority of tracks from our new LOOP CD8 are online and available for free download as MP3's. Hear excellent new New Zealand grooves from Confucius, Salmonella Dub, Lotus, Tehi, Phully, Dubomatic, Funkamentl and Nathan Haines. http://www.loop.co.nz/audio/

un-chart-ed #408: Cassette
This week, un-chart-ed chats to Tom and Craig of Cassette, the latest in a long line of New Zealand bands to join the musical brain drain to Australia. The pair, who may well have been drunk at the time, chat about favourite things including the 70's, mellow rock and Led Zep, and make an astonishing confession... un-chart-ed is a weekly New Zealand Music radio documentary made by Base2 with the assistance of NZ on Air. http://www.loop.co.nz/?m=500

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NEW ZEALAND MUSIC NEWS:

* Hot on the heels of his sell-out Orientation tour, Neil Finn has at last confirmed long-running speculation regarding a series of shows featuring an all-star international guest list. Neil will host a five-day season of shows at Auckland's St James Theatre in early April, for which he will be joined by a selection of invited musical friends including Pearl Jam vocalist Eddie Vedder, Radiohead guitarist Ed O'Brien and drummer Phil Selway, guitarist Johnny Marr of The Smiths, Soul Coughing bass player and frequent Beth Orton collaborator Sebastian Steinberg, singer/songwriter Lisa Germano and long-time musical partner, brother Tim. The season is not surprisingly being touted as the concert event of the year, with tickets already selling like hotcakes from Ticketek, and attracting worldwide interest for the Auckland-only event. The concerts come in support of the release of Neil's new album 'One Nil', which hits local shelves next Monday 19 March. Finn is also currently giving fans an opportunity to take part in an online music video competition, inviting submissions of videos made with popular web-authoring software package Flash for his next UK single "Wherever You Are". All entries will be showcased on Neil's website nilfun.com, with the overall winner taking home a package of 'One Nil' goodies. For full competition details and Neil Finn news updates, point your browser towards http://www.nilfun.com (story courtesy of un-chart-ed)

* It's official - Aussies LOVE Shihad! Snobbed at last year's ARIA Australian recording industry music awards (although nominated in three categories), New Zealand's hard rocking export superstars have at least  been hitting the right chords with Australian fans. Results from Australian Rolling Stone magazine's recent annual readers poll see Shihad coming out on top of four categories, with "top three" placings in a further five. The 'Had scooped the coveted Artist Of The Year spot, as well as Best Rock Act, Hardest Working Band and Best Video for their Clockwork Orange-inspired clip for "Pacifier". Shihad were narrowly pipped for Best Band, Best Single and Best Album by popular Aussie act Powderfinger, and by Americans Limp Bizkit for Hardrock Metal Act, and are reportedly disappointed to have not even have been finalists in the Best Dressed or Most Shaggable categories of the poll, won by Madonna and Christina Aguilera respectively. (story courtesy of un-chart-ed)

* Self-styled post rock procrastinator Shayne Carter looks set to finally pull finger and drop his long awaited post-Straitjacket Fits Dimmer album any time now. Mr Carter's announcement of a May release for the long-awaited Dimmer debut was greeted with hoots of approval at Wellington's Indigo Bar last Friday, where the full band version of Dimmer shook off a few cobwebs and gathered a noise control complaint in support of HDU. This week has also seen the unveiling of Dimmer's new website at http://www.dimmer.co.nz, with its bulletin board already christened with its first "about bloody time" post. The site reports that the the Dimmer album is currently being mastered by the legendary Howie Weinberg, and that a single entitled "Seed" will precede the album this month, complete with a video directed by drummer Gary Sullivan. Meanwhile, New Zealand radio industry mag Median Strip reports that Shayne has in fact been hard at work assisting label-mate Bic Runga with her nearly-finished second album, with the pair currently recording at Neil Finn's Roundhead Studio. (story courtesy of un-chart-ed)

* Wellington based IDM (that's "Intelligent Dance Music", for the uninitiated) label Involve Records are heading out into the world, with currently London-based label owner Bevan Smith (a.k.a. Aspen, Signer and one half of Patio) and Chicago-resident mastering whiz Clinton Francis (who records for the label as Isol and All The Pretty Things) joining forces for an assault on the American mainland later this year. The pair have booked May gigs in Chicago, Detroit, New York and Miami, and will look to add further dates to the US tour before it begins. In the meantime, Involve Records will release Aspen's third album 'Music For Passing Cars' and a second album from Jet Jaguar, and the label have just relocated their website to http://www.involverecords.com (story courtesy of un-chart-ed)

NEW ZEALAND RADIO AIRPLAY CHARTS for week to 11 March 2000:

Alternative Radio Top 10 Plays:
(based on airplay on b.net stations and George FM)

1. Lotus (NZ) - Slumber (LOOP)
2. D-Super (NZ) - Song For Linc (Felix)
3. Wookie - Scrappy (S2S)
4. Max Maxwell (NZ) - The Seventh Step (Golden Bay) 5. Walkner.Mostl - Down (G-Stone)
6. betchadupa (NZ) - I Want It (Flying Nun) 7. Pluto (NZ) - She's Jive (Antenna)
8. Gorillaz - 5/4 (Parlophone)
9. Kitset (NZ) - Headlight Gone (self-release) 10. Nathan Haines (NZ) - Honeycomb (huh!)

Top 10 New Zealand Plays:
(based on airplay on all commercial New Zealand radio stations)

1. Fur Patrol - Lydia (Wishbone)
2. Garageland - Gone (Flying Nun)
3. Fur Patrol - Andrew (I'm Sorry) (Wishbone) 4. Zed - Come On Down (Universal)
5. Neil Finn - Rest Of The Day Off (EMI) 6. Zed - Driver's Side (Universal)
7. betchadupa - Awake (Flying Nun)
8. King Kapisi - Screems From Da Old Plantation (FMR) 9. Salmonella Dub - Love Your Ways (Virgin) 10. Tadpole - Number One (Antenna)

RadioScope Airplay Charts courtesy of Median Strip (http://www.medianstrip.com)

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INTERNATIONAL MUSIC NEWS:

* Major online retailer Amazon.com have recently launched their latest music retail initiative - offering free music downloads from CDs the site is selling. For the music fan, this means another large (legal) online resource for free MP3 music, with the site already offering exclusive material from major international acts as well as smaller independent labels. The Free Music Downloads service was launched with exclusive material from the Beastie Boys (remixes of Hey Ladies and Alive), Radiohead (four live tracks from their latest album Kid A), and AIDS awareness group the Red Hot Organisation, who offer preview tracks by Mary J Blige and The Roots from the upcoming Duke Ellington tribute album Red Hot + Indigo, as well as unreleased gems from their ten year back catalogue. Independent labels too are jumping at the chance for exposure to Amazon's 30 million+ customers, with music already available from the catalogues of cool labels including Rawkus, !K7, Ubiquity, Matador and Thrill Jockey. While the majority of downloads will have associated releases on sale from the site, the service is also open to independent bands without a release, who may collect "virtual tips" from appreciative fans. And while pirate download service Napster receives almost daily batterings from US law courts, Andy Jassy, general manager of Amazon.com's Music Store describes the Free Music Download initiative as "the first free music download community that benefits everyone involved: fans, artists and labels". Visit http://www.amazon.com/music-downloads for some choice free music action!

* Hip-hop site SOHH.com (http://www.sohh.com) reports that controversial rapper Eminem is not only to star in a biopic of his own life, but is to be immortalised in a set of detailed action figures as well. US toy maker Art Asylum (http://www.artasylum.net), who have in the past cast miniatures of music figures including Alice Cooper, Ozzy Osbourne, Kiss and Iron Maiden mascot Eddie, will release the Many Faces Of Eminem series of 7" action figures and 12" collectible dolls this July. Eminem will be portrayed in three different identities - Slim Shady, Marshall Mathers and Eminem, with the Slim Shady model coming complete with hockey mask and chainsaw. Meanwhile, producer Brian Glazer has been hard at work developing an Eminem biopic, in which the rapper is set to star as himself. Glazer, whose previous credentials have tended towards more "family-oriented" flicks including The Nutty Professor and Apollo 13, describes the work in progress as a "Purple Rain kind of movie. It's a hip movie, loosely based on Eminem's life growing up in Detroit". We'll just hope it doesn't suck as much as Cool As Ice did.

* Manchester production duo (Mark) Rae & (Steve) Christian have released the follow-up to their highly acclaimed debut album Northern Sulphuric Soul, a star-studded affair called Sleepwalking. The new album features vocal appearances from guests including notable hip-hop acts The Pharcyde (for whom R&C produced their first remix in 1995) and Jigmastas, seventies soul legend Bobby Womack (writer of Across 110th Street, among other hits), singer Cedric Myrton of reggae group The Congos, and regular vocal contributor Siron. The opportunity to work with Bobby Womack came about quite by chance, with Mark Rae mentioning an interest in the singer whilst doing an internet radio show in Los Angeles. Within 45 minutes he was handed a Post-It Note with the telephone number of Womack's manager (who, interestingly, also represents Weird Al Yankovich), and the connection was made. When asked in a recent Radio 1 interview how the pair attracted such legends to work with them, Rae simply answered "All it is is that we ask them. Other people don't. I mean, has anybody else asked to work with Bobby Womack? Probably not".

Rae & Christian's album Sleepwalking is out now on !K7 Records Read the full Radio 1 interview at http://www.bbc.co.uk/radio1/urban/feature_rae_christian.shtml, or visit the !K7 website (http://www.studio-k7.com/artists/096_info.html) for background information and full Real Audio samples of the album.

* Also with a long-awaited new album on the streets is Philidelphia's King Britt, dropping a second album for his "solo concept group" Sylk 130. Whereas the soul revivalist's first Sylk 130 longplayer When The Funk Hits The Fan was a reminiscence of Philly soul's heydey in the 1970's, the new album Re-Members Only revives the 1980s, complete with vocal contributions from Alison Moyet, ABC's Martin Fry, late "wine bar jazz" saxophonist Grover Washington Jr and Kathy Sledge (of Sister Sledge). In an interview with Platform.Net, Britt reveals how he was "dissed" by Erykah Badu after sending her a track to consider for her latest album, which instead became I'll Do It For You, featuring instead the vocals of Scuba partner and Gilles Peterson fave Vikter Duplaix.

King Britt's album Re-Members Only is out now on San Francisco's Six Degrees Records Check out the Platform.Net article at http://www.platform.net/beats/02_01/16kingbritt/kingbritt1.php3/keycode=475/ for the inside word from the man himself, and for audio samples of selected tracks.

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CURRENT LISTENING:

Spinning in the LOOP office this week...

Titonton Duvante's set on BetaLounge
(http://www.betalounge.com/stuff/lounge1-25-01.ram) The uniquely named man from Columbus, Ohio cuts it up in the style of DJ Recloose, applying turntable trickery throughout a mix that jumps effortlessly from West London nu jazz to two-step to the deep Detroit techno stylings of Underground Resistance. Fresh!

Wagon Christ - Musipal and selected Luke Vibert MP3s Check out the new Ninja Tune album while reading our interview with Luke (http://www.loop.co.nz/?m=422), or head to the official Wagon Christ Assembly site (http://www.wagon-christ.com) and help yourself to a bunch of free MP3s including unreleased tracks and the crazzy-assed Cylob/Craig David mash-up Rewind Selecta.

Lotus - Slumber
(http://www.loop.co.nz/?m=338)
The beautiful voice behind The Nomad's Where Are You? and Rhian Sheehan's Garden Children steps out with a debut solo track produced by her brother Ben, and exclusive to LOOP CD8, which has quickly become the most played song on Alternative Radio in New Zealand. Go girl!

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