International and Industry Action

Fat Freddy's Drop are elevating their status in Australia, having sold out two headline shows in November and scoring a top spot at all four hugely popular Good Vibrations festivals this February. The Freddys have the privilege of taking the stage after Erykah Badu and then handing over to Damien Jr. Gong Marley & Nas who will be performing their collaborative Distant Relatives album. The annual Good Vibrations Festival first began in 2004 and is considered one of the highlights of the Australian summer calendar. In 2011, the line-up yet also includes Cee-Lo Green, Sasha, Kelis, Ludacris, Janelle Monae, Koolism and many more. The Freddys are going to be in heaven! www.fatfreddysdrop.co.nz

Street Heavy is a magazine and DVD series documenting and promoting the New Zealand/Aotearoa Hip Hop scene to the world; and the latest issue offers a free download of the Kapabal remix of 2wins "Flying High" featuring Nicole Wray.

Flip Grater is one of the four finalists nominated for New Zealand's Best Folk Album of 2010; the winner will be announced on Sunday 30 January 2011 at the Auckland Folk Festival. The other nominees are Bob McNeill, Wires and Wood and Forbidden Joe.

New release fanfare

It's surprising that Jayson Norris' album Freedom Twenty Eight is his first offering to New Zealand listeners considering the London-based Kiwi has successfully released two albums overseas and regularly sells out shows internationally. Now a man in demand, the fruits of his labour are paying off and his sound, which sees him combine earthy vocals with a blend of soul, roots and rock, has secured him residencies at a range of respected venues and led to Jayson sharing the stage with big names such as Andrea Bocelli, Paul McCartney and Mark Knopfler. http://www.jaysonnorris.com/

Dick Dynamite and the Doppelgangers is a three piece psychobilly act from Hamilton, New Zealand. The band is famous for explosive live performances and has a well-established fan base in New Zealand after countless shows around the country since forming in 2006. Psychopaths From Outer Space has been a labour of love for the members of the band who recorded and produced it themselves at the WINTEC recording studios in Hamilton. Their sound is influenced by B movies and psychobilly acts such as The Meteors, Batmobile, and 1950's rockabilly such as Elvis, Eddie Cochran and Johnny Cash. http://www.facebook.com/dickdynamiteandthedoppelgangers




On the live front

On Saturday 19 February 2011, the inaugural Sacred Hill Summer Festival will see Shapeshifter, Kora, The Black Seeds, Ladi6 and more descend on Sacred Hill Winery's Rifleman's Vineyard, a stunning site which looks over the white cliffs of the Tutaekuri River in Hawkes Bay. This will be an annual event, curated and headlined by the boys in Shapeshifter themselves. As only the third ever Shapeshifter performance in the Hawkes Bay, it's a special one for Shapeshifter member, PDigsss, a Flaxmere-born native son. www.sacredhillfestival.co.nz

Optimus Gryme has been steadily building his status over the past couple of years and with the release of his compilation Aotearoa Dubstep Allstars, he embarks on an album release tour. Well received in the press, radio, and in the clubs you can catch the man DJing across Aotearoa in February and March.  He'll have artists from the album at certain shows as well, with Billy Fluid, Truth, MC Tiki and Crushington making appearances on various dates.

This summer, the Mamaku Project have announced a tour, encompassing shows in both the North and South Islands. Based on Auckland's rugged West Coast in the gorgeous but storm-swept Karekare, the band weaves smooth jazz with a French lilt, Pacifica dub and scents of the Middle East into a fresh and colourful style. French-Kiwi co-founders Tui Mamaki on vocals and Monsieur Escargot on bass/keys/guitar/production, gather around them a selection of local talent to perform, record and forge the vessel - a musical project linking peoples, landscapes and languages.

New Zealand psych-pop pioneers The Puddle, a revolving line-up of musicians assembled around the unstable core of George D. Henderson, have been around in one form or another since 1984. Three albums and a 7" single on Flying Nun Records between 1986 and 1993 attracted critical appreciation and notoriety in equal measures for "pop as shambling and sweet as you could possibly imagine". In 1993, The Puddle toughened up and recorded the definitive brainy outsider rock album, Songs For Emily Valentine, but, apart from a 1995 single on a French label, the SFEV recordings were not released until 2005, via  Powertool Records. No Love - No Hate, recorded and released in 2007, adds a further unexpected twist in the long, strange and frequently derailed odyssey of this unique NZ musical institution. A further album, The Shakespeare Monkey, was released on Fishrider Records early 2009. Now The Puddle are going to accompany the release of their 2010 album Playboys in the Bush with a good and thorough tour of the North Island, which should be of particular interest to any fans of home-grown psych-pop.

ARK presents a series of concerts for conservation in unique locations around New Zealand: they mix their passions for great music and great causes to serve up some very special summer experiences. On Saturday 12 February, Motutapu Island in Auckland's Hauraki Gulf will host ARK's biggest show this summer. The stellar line-up will include Minuit, Kirsten Morrell, the Wellington International Ukulele Orchestra, Anika Moa, Nathan Haines and the Dream Band, the Earlybirds, Lisa Crawley, and many more. ARK concerts support local conservation projects: for example, at Urupukpuka, they've supported Project Kiwi Care, and are a major contributor to Bay of Islands conservation initiatives including Project Island Song, a major ecological restoration programme. They plant trees and release rare and endangered birds back onto the islands, helping restore the Bay of Islands to its former natural glory. http://www.arkpresents.co.nz/

Karen Hunter, Fear is the Enemy and Terra are touring around the Mainland for the next two months with gigs this week on Saturday 15th in Marahau, then next week in Nelson ( Friday 21st  at Yaza) and Motueka (Thursday 20th at Riverside Cafe and Sunday 23rd at Riverside Peace Festival). After that they'll be up at Luminate festival and the Mussel Inn before heading over to the West Coast. www.karenhunter.com