DECEMBER/JANUARY - ‘14/’15 NIGHTCRAWLER, ALI CAMPBELL, ORLANDO BLOOM, CYPRESS HILL, MILKY CHANCE, EMPIRE, JUNGLE, DICTAPHONE BLUES, AC/DC, THE YEAR IN REVIEW
S ’ G O D R E D N U THE RDOG. E D N U
W IN NZ O H S O I D FAST RA K A E R B O TENED T TH MOST LIS E 13 H T G N I C U INTROD
MATT HEATH, LAURA MCGOLDRICK & JEREMY WELLS WEEKDAYS 6AM - 9AM
Auckland 99.0FM, Blenheim 94.5FM, Christchurch 106.5FM & Sumner 89.3FM, Dunedin 106.2FM, Gisborne 105.3FM, Hamilton 96.2FM, Invercargill 93.2FM, Napier 99.9FM, Nelson 90.4FM, New Plymouth 90.8FM, Palmerston North 105.8FM, Rotorua 94.3FM, Taupo 92.8FM, Tauranga 91.0FM, Wellington 93.3FM, Whangarei & Far North 93.2FM
*TNS New Zealand Commercial National Survey 1/2014 Station Share, All 10+ (Mon-Fri 6am-9am)
CREDITS Creators Murray Cammick Alistair Dougal Publisher Grant Hislop Editorial Manager Tyler Hislop - tyler@harkentertainment.com Designer Greta Gotlieb - greta@harkentertainment.com Sub-Editor Louise Adams Sales Grant Hislop - grant@harkentertainment.com Distribution Jamie Hislop - jamie@harkentertainment.com Accounts accounts@harkentertainment.com Cover Art Li Chen - exocomics.com Contributors Andrew Johnstone, Tim Gruar, James Manning, Sarah Thomson, Nick Collings, Laura Weaser, Gary Steel.
Rip It Up Magazine is published by Hark Entertainment Ltd Postal PO Box 6032 Wellesley Street, Auckland 1141, New Zealand Website ripitup.co.nz Printers Webstar | Blue Star Group Limited | Shit Hot Printers Rip It Up is subject to copyright in its entirety. The contents may not be reproduced in any form, either in whole or in part, without written permission of the publisher. All rights reserved in material accepted for publication, unless initially specified otherwise. All letters and other material forwarded to the magazine will be assumed intended for publication unless clearly labeled “NOT FOR PUBLICATION�. Opinions express in the magazine are not necessarily those of Hark Entertainment Limited. No responsibility is accepted for unsolicited material. ISSN 0114-0876
CONTENTS
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48.
11. 40.
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6. What Goes On/On The RipItUp Stereo 8. AC/DC, 10. So What…/Tweet Talk, 11. Dan Gilroy: Nightcrawler, 12. Who’s Next? 14. This Month In Clubland, 16. Artist Q&A/Style File, 18. Jungle, 20. Dictaphone Blues, 22-29. Gift Guide, 30. Film Reviews, 32. Album Reviews, 36. Ali Campbell, 37. Cypress Hill, 38. Rhythm & Vines: Four Must-see Acts, 40. Milky Chance, 42. EMPIRE, 44. The Year In Review, 48. Orlando Bloom, 49. #WINNING
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WHAT GOES ON
WALKING WITH DINOSAURS RUSSELL PETERS
ANTHONIE TONNON Canapé King Records, in association with Southbound distribution, will release Anthonie Tonnon’s new album, Successor, in New Zealand on the Friday 06 March. The album features nine songs, coming in at just under 42 minutes. Prose, rather than poetic writing, influences the lyrics - most of which are written as second person narratives.
Dinosaurs will once again roam New Zealand soil when the production, Walking With Dinosaurs - The Arena Spectacular, based on the BBC Television Series, returns in 2015. Vector Arena in association with NZEEC has announced that rumours of their extinction are unfounded and the Dinosaurs will be back in New Zealand for a handful of shows at Vector Arena, March 05-08, 2015. Tickets to the general public will go on sale 9am Wednesday 10 December through Ticketmaster.
After setting attendance records around the world and completing one of the biggest comedy tours ever with his Notorious World Tour in 2013, comedian Russell Peters returns to New Zealand with his new Almost Famous World Tour 2015. The Russell Peters Almost Famous World Tour features all new material, plus Peters’ lightening fast improv with the audience. SEE HIM LIVE: RUSSELL PETERS MON 16 MAR VECTOR ARENA, AUCKLAND
NAS ILLMATIC The first Nas Illmatic show happening in Auckland on Saturday 17 January completely sold out within two days, and now the Wellington show on Sunday 18 January has sold out. But disappointed fans need not worry, Nas has announced a second date for Nas’ Illmatic 20th Anniversary tour in Auckland on Friday 16 January at the Powerstation, with support from DJ Sir Vere.
ON THE RIP IT UP STEREO
TAYLOR SWIFT – ‘CLEAN’ (2014)
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RÖYKSOPP & ROBYN – ‘DO IT AGAIN’ (2014)
MARK LANEGAN BAND – PHANTOM RADIO (2014)
METRONOMY - LOVE LETTERS (2014)
BECK – MODERN GUILT (2008)
THE CLASH – LONDON CALLING (1979)
CULTS – ‘YOU KNOW WHAT I MEAN’ (2011)
LITTLE DRAGON - NABUMA RUBBERBAND (2014)
IGGY AZALEA – RECLASSIFIED (2014)
TWIN SHADOW – CONFESS (2012)
GARY STEEL
AC/DC rock has never deviated from the raw grooves, or their hedonistic party-hard ethos, the template of which was already well in place on their first recordings way back in 1975. That’s 40 years of the same single-origin grind, and somehow, despite their share of tragedy and recent band departures, their high voltage show is still on the road.
PLEASE INDULGE ME while I tell you a story. As the editor of a glossy magazine all about expensive hi-fi gear, a few years back I attended a demonstration of Wilson Audio loudspeakers held at the swanky wharf-side Hilton Hotel. The speaker brand is held in high esteem by audio snobs worldwide, but few can afford the asking price of this Salt Lake City sound emitter: we’re talking $250,000plus for a couple of domestic stereo speakers, to which you’re expected to add equally expensive amplification, source components and cables. Oh, and if you can, build a special room for them. Typically at these events, attendees are invited to bring their audiophile recordings of putrid bourgeois jazz or hi-res acoustic meanderings to show off the splendiferous qualities of the gear. On this occasion, after a smattering of polite, boring selections, some genius sneaked AC/DC’s ‘Thunderstruck’ onto the system at mind-melting volume. You could feel the collective shock in the room. It went down like a cup of cold sick. God it sounded great! That’s the thing about Australia’s best-ever mainstream rock band: wherever they go, they kill pretension. Like those other great
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“character” bands Kiss, Motorhead and The Ramones, AC/DC could easily have come fully formed from the pages of a comic book, but boy, would they make unusual superheroes! On the face of it, their schoolboy shtick is the epitome of ridiculous, but it’s what gives them a unique visual flair and a sense of fun that gets punters through the door. What they find when they’ve entered the temple of AC/DC is a genuine working class hard rock that’s a long way removed from the rock god posturing of a typical metal band: it’s an authentic munter expression of the ethos Jimmy Barnes once pushed so hard but could never quite carry off. Of course, I use the term “munter” affectionately. There’s a little bit of the munter in all of us, especially hard-partying Kiwis whose origins, like those of AC/DC, are mostly small-town and at odds with the falsity of aspirational sophistication. Hey, spend a few hours with a haughty Ponsonby denizen on a Friday night, and you’ll see the munter emerge in the course of a night’s partying evolution! The great thing about AC/DC is that they’ve never betrayed their roots, and like Motorhead, the only real “progress” they’ve made since their early days is a bigger light show and playing to larger arenas. Their bluesy hard
It hasn’t all been plain sailing. Quickly gaining notoriety in Australia in the mid-‘70s through the hard graft of brothers Angus and Malcolm Young, they hit England during the punk era, where (again like Motorhead) their seemingly unfashionable hard rock struck a chord with the pogoing masses, who loved the raw, back-to-basics sound and the sheer energy of their music. But in the wake of their big breakthrough, Highway To Hell (1979), singer Bon Scott choked on his own vomit after a night of heavy drinking, leaving this world on February 19, 1980. Brian Johnson, who had wailed for English band Geordie, was Scott’s replacement, and his first album with the group, Back In Black, became AC/DC’s all-time biggest-selling long player, and their calling card. His second album with the group, For Those About To Rock (1981) was also a hit, but most of the rest of the 1980s would prove a wasteland for AC/DC, with drummer Phil Rudd’s departure and a mixed bag of producers following the surefire recipe of Mutt Lange. The 1990s however, saw a massive revival in the group’s fortunes, with big hits like ‘Thunderstruck’, one of the most highly-rated concert albums ever made (simply called Live) and the return of Rudd into the fold in ’94. Their rehabilitation was complete in the eyes of critics when producer’s producer Rick Rubin took the controls for
Ballbreaker (1995). Rubin would go on to call them the greatest rock and roll band in the world. In the 21st century, new releases have been in short supply, with Black Ice (2008) taking eight years to piece together, and Rock Or Bust (2014) looking increasingly like it might be their swansong, with the troubled Tauranga resident Phil Rudd again ousted and longstanding guitarist Malcolm Young having left due to the onset of dementia. Still, the group got recordbreaking numbers to their 2010 Black Ice tour, and their Rock Or Bust world tour is planned for 2015, so it may pay to expect the unexpected. Odd Facts Australians affectionately know the group as “Acca Dacca”. Former guitarist Malcolm Young once played in the Velvet Underground. No, it wasn’t the Lou Reed Velvet Underground, but a 1960s Aussie group. Both the Young brothers and their late vocalist Bon Scott were born and partially raised in Scotland before moving to Australia. Slade vocalist Noddy Holder was considered as a replacement for Bon Scott. Happily, the group chose Brian Johnson. Drug-using drummer Phil Rudd was fired in 1983 after a physical altercation with Malcolm Young. His work is featured on the rather perfunctory new album, Rock Or Bust, but after his recent – still unresolved – criminal charges, Rudd is again out of the band. In 2009 AC/DC was announced as the top Australian earner – making a cool $105 million, and displacing The Wiggles. NEW ALBUM: ROCK OR BUST OUT NOW
SO WHAT... and though the ‘Angels’ singer isn’t a part of new record III, the remaining members of the group insist he will be back for their 25th anniversary, as will Jason Orange, who announced his departure earlier this year.
Kasabian think they “deserve” their success. The ‘Eez-Eh’ rockers have had a triumphant year which saw them headline the famous Glastonbury festival and play a homecoming gig in Leicester to 50,000 fans and think they are worthy of their achievements because they work so hard. Frontman Tom Meighan said: “Glastonbury was unbelievable, because we deserved that. We’re proud pioneers.”
Take That will return as a five-piece in 2017. The boy band reunited with former member Robbie Williams on their 2010 album Progress
Chris Hemsworth finds it “exhausting” carrying extra weight when he plays Thor. The 31-yearold star - who was recently named PEOPLE magazine’s Sexiest Man Alive - admits he usually goes on a diet after playing the ‘Avengers Assemble’ character because none of his clothes fit. He said: “When I’m not doing that character, I want to get lean again as quickly as possible, because carrying that weight is exhausting. And none of my clothes fit.”
T WEET TALK “WHERE IS THE STAR WARS TRAILER. I HAVE BEEN SAT IN FRONT OF THE INTERNET FOR 6 WEEKS. I NEED A WEE.” @technicallyron
“There will come a time when people on Twitter choose to be offended by consonants, oxygen, cutlery, smiles, pottery, trees and the luge.” @nickmotown
“The reason you feel tired after eating turkey is because Bill Cosby is a rapist.” @robdelaney
“#Frozen was released a year ago today. Time to LET. IT. GO.” @Lord_Voldemort7
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Kanye West is reportedly planning to quit music for fashion. West wants to “step away” from the recording studio so he can concentrate on his desire to establish a clothing line. A source said: “After his next [collaboration] with Sir Paul McCartney comes out, he’s going to step away from music and concentrate on clothing. And if he does turn his back on his music career, it is hoped the 37-year-old rapper can finally fulfill his commitments to Adidas.
NIGHTC R AWLER We wanted to create as realistic a portrayal as possible of this niche market and the LA media world and let people decide for themselves who the villain is and what the issues are.”
WIN
at certain points and drifts into a world that’s amoral, but I never wanted to portray them or the news media or even Lou’s character in that way. “I never wanted to put a moral label on it and say, ‘This is wrong.’ I think once a filmmaker applies immorality to something it stops the viewers from being able to make a decision for themselves.
DAN GILROY WHEN DAN GILROY first heard about the murky, nocturnal world of freelance news reporters – the TV version of paparazzi who are armed with video cameras and nicknamed “nightcrawlers” – who race to the scene of murders, car crashes and fires to film footage for news programmes, he knew instinctively that it was fertile ground for a film. “It was part of an idea. For me, ideas come piecemeal; they don’t come fully formed, and I didn’t know what to do with it until I thought of the character to plug into it, which was Lou,” he says. “Once that character plugged into the world, it was like two parts of an atom that fit together, and suddenly it just made total sense to me and I knew what I wanted to do with the world and the character.” The result is Nightcrawler and the central, unforgettable character is Lou, an ambitious young man who wants to succeed and live the American dream – even if it means filming other people’s nightmares. Played brilliantly by Jake Gyllenhaal, at the start of the story Lou is struggling to survive in a harsh contemporary world where getting a job – any job – has become harder. “Young people have an increasingly difficult time finding meaningful careers. It’s internships that don’t pan out, it’s no health insurance, and I’m very aware of that.
“Lou’s a desperate young man, and there are many desperate people out there who are being forced, I think, to make decisions and take jobs that they normally wouldn’t.”
“My morality might be very different from yours. We wanted to create as realistic a portrayal as possible of this niche market and the LA media world and let people decide for themselves who the villain is and what the issues are.”
When Lou chances across a freeway accident and sees a veteran nightcrawler filming the police attempts to rescue the trapped and injured driver, he’s intrigued and fascinated. He asks the cameraman about how much he makes from selling the footage and immediately decides that he’s found his calling.
Working with Gyllenhaal was an “intense” and deeply rewarding collaboration, he says. The actor lost 30lbs to play the role because he wanted Lou to have a gaunt, hungry look as befitting a drifter who is desperate to succeed.
Before filming, Gilroy, Gyllenhaal and director of photography Robert Elswit, spent time with real nightcrawlers on the streets of LA after dark. It provided invaluable insight into the world they were about to portray.
“Jake respected the script and not one word got changed. He approached it like a play, so I was happy to work with him because he respected the work, and I wanted to respect his ability to come in and breathe life into it in a way that I was not capable of. As an example, the weight loss – that was Jake’s idea.”
“It was bloodcurdling,” he says. “The first call we went to was a horrific car crash in which three girls had been ejected from a car after hitting a wall head on. I don’t think I’ll ever get that image out of my head. “The gentleman who filmed it got out of the car, shot the footage, edited the footage and sold it to a number of television stations. “Now, the gentleman who does this very much see themselves as providing a service, and they are providing a service. The stories they’re filming become the lead stories on local news, so if there’s a demand to watch this, who am I to judge them? Or to say what they’re doing is wrong? “Obviously Lou’s character crosses the line
He wrote the part of Nina Romina, the TV news boss who encourages Lou to bring her more and more exclusive, edgy footage, with his wife, Rene Russo, in mind. “I never wanted people to just look at Nina and go, ‘Here’s a woman who is desperate and forces things to work out for her own profit.’ This is a woman at a point in her life when health insurance and being able to pay her rent is supremely important. I knew Rene could bring out the other side.” Nightcrawler marks Gilroy’s debut as a director. His previous credits as a writer include Freejack, The Fall, and The Bourne Legacy. IN CINEMAS NOW
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JAMES MANNING
WHO’S NEXT?
EASTERN BLOC SOUNDCLOUD.COM/EASTERNBLOCNZ
MY HALO MYHALO.BANDCAMP.COM
When and why did My Halo start making music? We’ve been friends for years and making music together for a while now, but we never really released anything aside from playing homemade demos to friends. We started making music as My Halo about six months ago and the EP is our first release. Story behind the band name? We went through a few; My Halo was the only one that really stuck. We are both fairly private in the way we write songs and My Halo is a kind of insular, inward-looking name, which reflects the two of us and the music pretty well. Can you tell us about the background of your debut selftitled EP? We recorded all the songs apart from the last track ‘Opal’ by ourselves in Penrose (Simon’s work). We have a space there with a bunch of musical gear and some recording equipment and in the evenings we’d go there and work on songs. The approach with the EP was to work out how best to have the songs complement each other. There’s a fair bit of variation sonically across the tracks and we wanted to accentuate that but still have our own “sound” thread everything together.
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I understand Jonathan Pearce mixed and mastered the record – how did this influence the sound of the initial bedroom recordings? Jon’s awesome, he really helped tighten everything up, deepen the basses and all that sort of stuff. He liked us, our songs and understood how we worked and what we were about but most importantly he bravely (and patiently) sorted through the ridiculously messy files we’d recorded and managed to balance things out and tie everything together! Key influences? Simon: Probably Bradford Cox, Neil Finn, Christopher Owens, Nick Cave. Michael: All of the above. Anything moody and melodic will usually get me. Favourite tune to play live and why? S: For me it’s probably ‘Garageband Sweetie’, because it’s an easy one to sink into. M: Ditto. I could never get sick of hearing it either so that helps. Future plans? We might be making a video for a track on the EP and we have a bunch of new material already which we will probably record early next year. We’ll also be playing a few more shows too.
Wellington DJ’s Marek and Beat Mob (Artur) make Eastern Bloc – how’d you guys get together for this project? ARTUR: We were often billed together supporting artists like Baauer, Lil B and playing at various events around Wellington. Although Marek had a hip hop and rap background whilst I focused mostly on house production we really gelled over our Eastern Europeaness and bass music. In a matter of weeks we had a monthly club night at Bettys and started making tunes. The Vic Mensa ‘Down On My Luck’ remix is a highlight – what were your intentions for this and were they fulfilled? A: For us it was to take the original – essentially a Chicago house track with a rap – and recreate it into a faster, raw, clubbier Jersey version. Everything came together well, Mixmag reviewed it with 8/10 and Vic Mensa hit us up with praise on twitter so we were pretty happy with the result. No amount of plays ever beats getting props from the original artist. Can you explain Jersey club music for the unfamiliar? MAREK: Jersey club is basically an evolution of Baltimore club from the mid2000s. A lot faster, with heavy kicks, 808s and urban vocal stabs and chops. It was a great
middle-ground musically for us, and although it’s definitely a big influence, we cover all realms of bass music and tempos in our production and DJ sets live. How are songwriting/ beatmaking duties shared between the two of you? M: We always throw ideas for remixes and original ideas at each other all the time. As far as the production side, we definitely have our roles. Artur has been producing for a minute now and has been playing piano since he was seven. He lays down the drums, chops and chords, where as my skill set comes from song structure and arrangement that comes after 20 years of DJing. What key ingredients does a tune need to make it into an Eastern Bloc mix? A: Our latest mix for Vice’s Thump is essentially a collection of music that represents our current musical tastes and influences. It’s hard to pinpoint why certain tunes jump out at us but I think they have to have a certain point of difference from the others, a je ne sais quoi. Thoughts/observations on NZ bedroom beatmakers? A: It’s cool to see so many people picking up production and breaking into the international scene. Dudes like Taste Nasa, Samuel Truth, High Hoops, Kamandi and Gasp are ones to catch up on if you’ve slept through.
TRIP PONY TRIPPONY.BANDCAMP.COM
ROIDZ ROIDZ.BANDCAMP.COM/RELEASES
When and why did Roidz start making music? I started writing and recording music under “Roidz” around February this year. My girlfriend had broken up with me and I was like – I have never been in a better position to make a bratty teen-pop album. Story behind the band name? Oh nothing too interesting, just liked the idea of being in a band called Roidz. Any comments on the music’s abrasive aesthetic? Essentially the songs are pop songs, but filtered through the lo-fi element it adds a degree of rawness it would probably lack otherwise. Can you explain the background to debut release Break-Up Songs Vol.1? It was recorded in my bedroom over about a month. It probably would have taken a week or so if I didn’t keep fucking around. It was all done on Magix Music Maker which is pretty much the Windows equivalent of Garageband, but shit. ‘Schoolboy Crush’ is a hightlight... That’s the soft love song on the EP, every album needs one.
Any advice for break-ups? Watch the X-Files (Dana Scully will fill the hole in your heart), hug your friends, drink by yourself and listen to the Offspring as much as possible. General songwriting process? Most of the songs are written in typical emotional teen fashion – late-night acoustic guitar music recorded on my phone. When I actually record is when most of the other elements come into play. How do you present the Roidz live show? Straight after the release of Break-Up Songs, Roidz became a full band. We got my lil brother Lachlan playing bass, my wonderful friend Tim shredding gat, and badboy Cam Houston on drums. It was mean to flesh out the sound through a full line-up. We are all angsty so the live show is a rollercoaster of anguish and aggression. Future plans? My best friend Harvey Mills is shooting a full live show at this dingy local dive “Aces Sports Bar”. This summer I’m gonna record another album titled S-E-L-F-E-S-T-E-E-M which will hopefully be a lot better than the last one. Other than that it’s pretty much find some honies to run after, play shows and drink Pepe Lopez.
When and why did you start making music as Trip Pony? Trip Pony began in 2012, I was in San Francisco and wanted to make fun dancey music – I started singing in the closet to club/dance beats and tinny synths in Garageband. It was lol. How has your experience with The Sami Sisters influenced you? I have a real appreciation for the work that goes on behind the music, like studios, live shows, promotion etc. Can you explain the background of your debut EP release, Gem? Gem was recorded in the Spare Room at The Lab Studios over two weeks. Inspired by my dry spell. Produced by Jeremy Toy and mastered overnight by Dave Cooley at Elysian Masters in Los Angeles. How were songwriting duties shared between yourself and Jeremy Toy (She’s So Rad)? I make the big-boned skeleton demos and then we hit the studio and Jere fleshes them out and makes them total athletic babes and then we both dress them in the hottest outfit. Yeah, that’s the process. Gem is a smoking volleyball team. EP closer ‘Daze’ featuring Vancouver rapper JayKin is a highlight – how did you this
collaboration happen? Jeremy’s high school bud Kutcorners had worked with JayKin in Canada, Jere suggested we get JayKin for a verse and after I heard Sneakers and Video Games I was like, yes please, can we please. Did your intentions for the sound of the final cut change/develop during the recording stages? Not really, I had a rough idea but I prefer to see what Jere adds to it – he has the meanest plug-ins and toys and the best brain for music. I was hesitant to add my psycho ballad ‘Are You With Her’ cos it killed the vibe but I’m glad it’s there, each song is an expression, blah, blah, deep stuff etc. General songwriting process? I draw from experiences, some good, most not… if I didn’t sing out my problems I would be the worst person to be around. Key influences? The absurd and out of this world amazes me. Christo and JeanClaude’s surrounded islands project inspired Gem’s cover art. MUSIC! ‘90s pop R&B, Aaliyah, Missy Elliot, Destinys child and TLC. Future plans? I will be dubbing a whole bunch of pink cassette tapes for Gem’s physical release, that’s going to be super fun and super nostalgic and then after that, more live shows, more co-labs, more music, mo money, mo problems.
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NICK COLLINGS
THIS MONTH IN CLUBL AND FOR EXTENDED INTERVIEWS CHECK OUT RIPITUP.CO.NZ/CLUBLAND
TOP 5 TUNES OF 2014 AZBO
IWAN
JUPITER PROJECT
Re-Animator and Lenny D Ice - ‘Return to E’ (Horsepower Productions Remix) Dat Oven - ‘Icy Lake’ (L-Vis 1990 Remix) Jacques Greene - ‘No Excuse’ TACHES - ‘Turn Of Phrase’ Tenor Fly - ‘Rudebwoy Talk’ (Toddla T and Mele Remix)
Audien - ‘Elysium’ (Gladiator Remix) Hugh Hardy - ‘Tearing Me Apart’ Skrillex - ‘Fire Away’ Knife Party - ‘EDM Trend Machine’ Jauz - ‘Feel The Volume’
RL Grime & What So Not ‘Tell Me’ Pharrell - ‘Frontin’ (Disclosure Remix) Jetski Safari, Jupiter Project and Helen Corry - ‘With You’ (Chores Remix) Disclosure - ‘January’ (Kaytranada Edition) The Weeknd - ‘Often’ (Kygo Remix)
Oliver - ‘Light Years Away’ 16 Bit Lolitas - ‘Premium Emo’ Fehrplay - ‘Pyara’ The Knocks - ‘Move Me’ Ilan Bluestone - ‘Spheres’
Meridian Dan – ‘German Whip’ (feat. Big H & JME) Commodo – ‘Shift’ (feat. JME) Moony – ‘How Deep’ Julio Bashmore – ‘Simple Love’ (feat. J’Danna) D Double E – ‘Wolly’
CHORES
JAYCEN AMOUR
Sailor & I – ‘Turn Around’ (Âme Remix) Audion - ‘Dem Howl’ (Joris Voorn Remix) Just Kiddin - ‘Thinking About It’ (Club Mix) SOHN - ‘Lights’ Fire The Mob - ‘Ordinary Things’
Knife Party – ‘Boss Mode’ Dillon Francis ft TJR – ‘What’s That Spell?’ Milo & Otis – ‘Festmunch 2: The Haunting’ Torro Torro – ‘CA$HVILLE’ Steve Aoki, Diplo & Deorro ft Steve Bays – ‘Freak’
DEAN CAMPBELL
JONO FEKTIOUS
Diplo and GTA - ‘Boy Oh Boy’ (TWRK Edit) Motor City Drum Ensemble ‘Raw Cuts #3’ Tujamo and Plastic Funk ft Sneakbo - ‘Dr Who’ Jack U ft Kiesza - ‘Take U There’ Storm Queen - ‘Look Right Through’ (MK Remix)
Baauer - ‘One Touch’ feat. AlunaGeorge & Rae Sremmurd Diplo - ‘Biggie Bounce’ (Losco Remix) What So Not - ‘Touched’ (Slumberjack Edit) Mr. Carmack - ‘SuperThug x Birth Control’ (TWRK Edit) Ape Drums & 2DEEP - ‘Move that Butt’
ADELAIDE CARLTON
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RIPITUP.CO.NZ
KRISTINA RUSH Patrick Topping - ‘Forget’ (Original Mix) Mark Knight - ‘The Return Of Wolfy’ (Original Mix) Deorro - ‘Five Hours’ (Original Mix) Zeds Dead - ‘Lost You’ (feat.D’Angelo Lacy) Carl Hanaghan - ‘Illuminate Me’ (Long & Harris Remix)
Costello - ‘Pegasus’ Paul Strive & Harvard Bass ‘Phrase’ (Original Mix) Kydus And DJ Dep - ‘Free Spirit’ (Original Mix)
STACK & PIECE RL Grime x What So Not - ‘Tell Me’ Alison Wonderland - ‘I Want U’ Slumberjack - ‘Felon’ Slum Village - ‘Fall In Love’ (Moody Good Remix) Golden Features - ‘Tell Me’ (Bixel Boys Remix)
THE NOMAD Bro Safari & UFO! - ‘Burn The Block’ (Gent & Jawns Remix) RL Grime - ‘Core’ Friction & Skream - ‘Kingpin’ (Rockwell Remix) Loadstar - ‘Warrior’ Mutated Forms - ‘Wastegash’
MONKEY BOOTS
T1R
Sound Stream - ‘Live Goes On’ Begin - ‘Bassballs’ Karen Pollard - ‘Reach Out To Me’ (Remixes) Kerri Chandler - ‘It’s You’ (feat Dee Dee Brave & Freddy Turner) Monkey Boots - ‘Impossible Need’ (Original)
Aryay - ‘The Lawnmower’ Slumberjack - ‘Felon’ Mr. Carmack - ‘Kick It Up’ JSTJR - ‘Party’ Hydraulix x Oski - ‘Let’s Play’
NICK COLLINGS Leon Vynehall - ‘It’s Just’ (House of Dupree) Technimatic featuring Lucy Kitchen - ‘Looking For Diversion’
ZANE:TEE FKJ – ‘Open The Door’ Temu – ‘Boogaloo Blues’ Simion – ‘Lost’ (Club Mix) Cosmic Quest - ‘Water Winds’ (Female Remix) Brutal Disco - ‘This Kinda Lovin’ (Hotbox Boogie Dub)
THIS YEAR IN CLUBL AND A REVIEW OF 2014 JANUARY
APRIL
AUGUST
17-year-old Dutch DJ/Producer Martin Garrix makes it to number 10 in the NZ pop charts with the track ‘Animals’ which was first released in June 2013. The 56th Annual Grammy Awards are held in Los Angeles. Zedd ft Foxes ‘Clarity’ wins Best Dance Recording while Daft Punk win Record Of The Year, Best Pop/ Group Performance, Best Album Of The Year and Best Dance/Electronica Album.
What began as a bootleg of Kayne Wests hit ‘Bound 2’ became a UK and NZ #1 for Sigma. The illegal remake was re-sung by One True Voice boy band member Daniel Pierce and named ‘Nobody To Love’.
After months in the studio Basement Jaxx return to the itunes store with their seventh full player Junto spawning the hits ‘Back 2 the Wild’, ‘What a Difference Your Love Makes’, ‘Unicorn’, ‘Never Say Never’ and ‘Galactical’. Forbes releases its annual Highest Paid DJs List. The top five are 1. Calvin Harris ($66 million), 2. David Guetta ($30 million), 3. (TIE) Avicii ($28 million); Tiesto ($28 million) and 5. Steve Aoki ($23 million). Porter Robinson grows tired of the current commercial EDM scene. He decides to channel his feelings of nostalgia and particularly his interest in Japanese culture such as video games, anime and vocaloids into his debut album Worlds.
FEBRUARY French Producer DJ Snake teamed up with hype man Lil Jon for one of the year’s biggest sellers. Utilising a trap beat, ‘Turn Down For What’ has sold in excess of three million copies worldwide. Off the back of remix/edits for Ariana Grande, Lana Del Rey and 2 Chainz featuring Drake, Norwegian musician, producer and DJ/turntablist Cashmere Cat drops the Weddings Bells EP.
MARCH New York based EDM producers The Chainsmokers score a viral hit in NZ with their inspiring tales of a vapid person on their novelty track ‘#selfie’. It sells a million copies and lands them a deal with Republic Records. Skrillex, the Corey Feldman of dubstep puts out Recess an album with more drops than the New Zealand cricket team. It reaches #6 in the NZ Top 40.
MAY When Norway and Sweden collide we got one of the best collaborations of the year. Röyksopp featuring Robyn on the Do It Again EP. Chromeo, the electro-funk duo out of Canada rolled out their fourth album White Women with the single ‘Jealous (I Ain’t With It)’.
JUNE Richie Hawtin, one of the legends of the American and Candadian techno scenes, spent five days in the studio to bash out the seven-track experimental wonderland that is Ex under his Plastikman guise. Tiesto turned out one of the biggest pop dance albums of the year with A Town Called Paradise suitable named after his love for Las Vegas. Ten Walls’ ‘Walking With Elephants’ becomes the most shazamed track in Ibiza.
JULY Elly Jackson as La Roux took a very new wave approach to the second album Trouble In Paradise. Production partner Ben Langmaid left in 2012 and Ian Sherwin came in to evolve the La Roux sound.
SEPTEMBER Richard D James aka Aphex Twin releases his first album in 13 years. Syro features sub-genres of electronic music including techno, glitch, jungle and ambient. The album also features edited vocal tracks provided by James and his family. British electronic pop trio London Grammar release their debut album If You Wait. It becomes one of the Top 10 selling albums in the UK for 2014.
OCTOBER After surpassing Michael Jacksons record for the most top ten hits off one album (10 in total), Calvin Harris created history
to become the first artist to place three songs simultaneously on Billboard’s Dance/Electronic Songs chart. Flying Lotus releases his fifth studio album You’re Dead featuring collabs with names such as Kendrick Lamar, Snoop Dogg, Thundercat and Captain Murphy. Dutch EDM powerhouse Hardwell is named the number one DJ in the world according to DJ Magazine’s annual poll of over 400,000 voters. The Chemical Brothers come out of hiding to provide a beat for the latest Hunger Games soundtrack. ‘This Is Not A Game’ features Miguel and Lorde.
NOVEMBER The New Zealand Music Awards are held at Vector Arena, Auckland. Opuio wins the Best Electronica Album Tui for Meraki. Tiga releases the crossover track of the summer, ‘Bugatti’. Ruth Carr, Ryan Beehre and Paul Dodge aka Minuit embark on their Final Fling tour saying goodbye to fans. Knife Party release their debut studio album Abandon Ship. True to their Pendulum background it’s 12 tracks of pure face-melting.
DECEMBER The Prodigy have been on social media announcing the finishing touches are being made on a brand new album to be released in 2015.
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STYLE FILE
ARTIST Q&A
SEPTUM RING
BARNIE DUNCAN CALYPSO NIGHTS Who’s in the dead supergroup for your dream hologram show? All of original Ramones, Fela Kuti and Freddy Mercury.
CLAIRE HAMMON DESIGNER / DIRECTOR AT MEADOWLARK JEWELLERY What’s the ethos of your store/ clothing line? Our brand is first and foremost about design. Every curve, every line exists for a reason. We are about doing what we love with freedom. Everything we make, we make to the highest quality and always with honesty. Which historical figure had some wicked style? Mata Hari! What muso/celebrity has style up the wazoo? Emmanuelle Alt. She always looks effortless and relaxed and she is never over-styled.
What’s the must-have look this season? Septum rings. If you are brave enough. Colours/patterns big this season? Well for us it’s about metals and stones and we would say red and gold with black diamonds. What are the essentials for a man’s wardrobe? Great shoes, great jeans and a relaxed attitude of not really giving a fuck about clothes.
What’s an upcoming film you’re jazzed about? Tusk or Birdman. Where can your stalkers find you during the weekend? Probably whacking tennis balls badly down the bottom of Western Park. What happens when you mix Coca Cola with Pepsi? East Side sugar squares off against West Side sugar and everyone gets diabetes. Your fantasy spirit animal is… A Staffordshire Bull Terrier.
What are the essentials for a lady’s wardrobe? Great shoes, a great bag and loads of Meadowlark jewellery.
Your signature “I’m an amazing cook” dish is… I make fucking incredible omelettes.
Everyone should own at least one good… Diamond ring.
The best TV show around at the moment is… South Park.
Hyphenate three words to describe your style: Black-Black-Black.
The best place for a date night is… Coco’s Cantina or... a stroll along the river in Seville sucking on beers and watching bats hunt mosquitoes.
You’d get arrested if the police knew that you… Every winter solstice I partake in the Dance of the Magic Wang on the roof of the Aotea Centre. People say you look like… Charles Dickens. Five celebs on your f**klist? Betty Boop, Lady Miss Kier, Grace Jones c1984, Oberyn Martell and Christina Martinez. Kittens or puppies? Puppies. What generic current affair has your blood boiled? Our Wise Leader’s insistence that New Zealand was settled peacefully. Plug whatever it is that’s coming up for you. Venezuelan DJ and maraca maestro Juan Vesuvius performing Calypso Nights in Aotea Square as part of Summer in the Square – evening of the 20th of December! Free! Outdoors! Followed by a good old vinyl record disco party dance fiesta! SEE HIM PERFORM: BARNIE DUNCAN
Society’s biggest fashion faux-pas? There are many but who really cares. There are no rules and in the end people should just wear what makes them feel good.
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SUMMER IN THE SQUARE: CALYPSO NIGHTS SAT 20 DEC AOTEA SQUARE, AUCKLAND
ANDREW JOHNSTONE
JUNGLE cracked the Billboard Hot 100 in the US.
WIN
“All this recognition feeds the band’s energy,” says Jay but he is at pains to clarify that they would soldier on regardless. He has the same attitude toward the glowing reviews for the band’s recordings and live performances. “We try not to read reviews, good or bad, because they might derail our focus.”
JUNGLE ARE ONE of the hottest up and comers on the British music scene and are on their way to NZ to play Laneway 2015. I interviewed Josh Lloyd-Watson, one of the founders of the band, as he sat on the back seat of their tour bus on its way from England to France via the Channel Tunnel. He was famously obtuse, a proclivity well-documented by other music writers, and offered me little information from which to construct an article. Regardless, he seemed nice enough and I have some sympathy for artists enduring the endless rounds of interviews that accompany tours and album releases, so I soldiered on doing the best I could with the little he seemed prepared to give.
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they even refused to identify themselves beyond the monikers of J and T. Part insolent and part sceptical, they remain incredibly vague and absurd in response to all questions: “Why would you like to know how old we are?” - J “We’re very slim, toned, 6ft 4in and a little bit like Jude Law in Alfie’. - T - Harriet Gisborne, The Guardian
Jungle is a seven-piece “family” band built around Josh LloydWatson and Tom McFarland, two young men of an undisclosed age who hide behind the large pop-screens which obscure their faces while onstage and dodge publicity photos while off-stage.
The rationale is that it is not about them as personalities, it’s all about the music, a strategy that seems to have worked well up to now but the notoriously fickle British music press, who only a few months back were in raptures over this “outfit shrouded in mystery”, is hitting back with sarcasm and disdain. Fortunately for Jungle, a rapidly growing fanbase cares not a whit for these games.
Mystery is a big part of the Jungle persona, a tool they have used successfully to feed the British music media machine over the course of their one year in existence. Until recently
This year they were shortlisted for the prestigious Mercury Music prize and the BBC’s Sound of 2014. Their self-titled debut album peaked at number seven on the UK Charts and
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Tom and Jay have been friends since they were nine years old. They met over the back fence and built their friendship through a mutual love for Pokémon cards. They have been inseparable ever since and their closeness is reflected in their tight vocal harmonies, a hallmark of the Jungle sound. When I asked Jay about his musical influences he replied,
and twitchy beat. Part of the Jungle package is the videos directed by up and comer Oliver Hadlee Pearch which do not feature the band and add to the mystic that surrounds the operation. Featuring dancers performing tightly-choreographed routines, the videos have attracted huge numbers of viewers on YouTube especially Platoon which features six-year-old breakdancing prodigy B-Girl Terra who steps out a storm with advanced moves that belie her tender age. Jay reluctantly describes the band’s sound as “celebratory music with undertones of the social paranoia which is a hallmark of our times. Our music contains a loving vibe but within is a darkness that encourages the listener to think and question.”
“We are not the best musicians in the world but we play like our lives depend on it.” “all good music,” and went on to say, “that people will hear what they will in our music and we encourage that.”
He goes on to say, “We are not the best musicians in the world but we play like our lives depend on it.”
Jungle’s sound could be described as psychedelic disco funk with some London style urban hip hop thrown into the mix. Beyond the contemporary styles, I am hearing George Clinton, The Commodores, Marvin Gaye, Isaac Hayes and even some Hot Chocolate. The song ‘Busy Earnin’ in particular has a real Saturday Night Fever buzz about it, a kind of 2014 equivalent of the Bee Gees ‘Stayin’ Alive’.
Jungle are excited about their first NZ visit and Jay advises the audience to expect energy, melody, rhythm and emotion.
Besides the extraordinarily precise vocal harmonies, the Jungle sound is infused with trippy synth, brass and funky bass lines sitting on top of a tight
My 15 minutes were up and not before time. It was a frustrating interview and I had myself not long stepped off a three-hour bus journey that had left my head spinning. Fortunately ‘Busy Earnin’ is that kind of song that lifts spirits and earworms in the most pleasant of ways. It sang me to sleep. SEE THEM LIVE: JUNGLE ST. JEROME’S LANEWAY FESTIVAL 2015 MON 16 JAN SILO PARK, AUCKLAND
TIM GRUAR
DICTAPHONE BLUES people, they talk to their mates and ignore their girlfriends, because they are shy or they are perhaps just rude or arrogant or secretly like her but can’t show their feelings. I like to use situations or anecdotes to build my songs. This one came from a story I heard from a friend. I’m not like that – much. They all give me platforms to use as extensions of my imagination. I’m a sort of (geeky observer) that makes what he sees into music.”
WIN
IT WAS HIGHLY appropriate that I chose to record my interview with Edward Castelow on my wee Olympus digital recorder (better known as a dictaphone). He laughed, of course, when I told him. Naff though the joke is, it’s kind of appropriate. Castelow’s latest product Mufti Day is definitely a DIY creation.
a more analogue approach than previous outings. Utilising 1/4” tape machines, vintage desks and ribbon microphones before being effected, screwed and mixed using the modern technologies we know and love with the exception of some female vox and the “brassy bits”, which he couldn’t quite do himself.
Dictaphone Blues, the original band started a couple of years ago as a sort of amalgam of various waifs and strays from other projects, including upcoming Street Chant and members of the from the setting the Ruby Suns.
“I wanted a more singular vision for these songs, if for no other reason than to just change it up a bit. I’d done the first album by myself with a couple of friends here and there, and then with Beneath The Crystal Palace it was a joint effort with Rob and Myles. I wanted to nurture something from inside myself this time, to see what it sounded like and to prove to myself that I could do it.”
Their last proper effort was Beneath The Crystal Palace was recorded in The Mt Eden Gentlemen’s Club, a converted studio which was formerly a swinging 1920s dance hall. Core members Rob Collins (bass and synths) and Myles Allpress (drums, guitar and vocals) and keyboardist Matthias Jordan also included injections from a bunch of friends including Princess Chelsea, Jonathan Brunette, (Lawrence Arabia), Ryan McPhun (Ruby Suns), Jacob Moore (The Checks), Lee Devenish and The Unfaithful Ways). It was a big production with many players. This time around Castelow’s got a bit selfish and decided to make the whole damn thing by himself – with a little bit of help from the cast above. He’d been recording with various other projects and chose to unwind each night in front of the telly. Only he kept the sound low, so that created a “window” of silence to fill. That became the place where the songs filled in, he told me. The whole thing was made in Castelow’s little home studio, employing
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Mufti Day was tipped to the world early December through the uniquely labelled Banished From The Universe records. The title song is, Castelow suggests, “a taster, the intermission, a palate-cleanser, an instrumental between the upbeat power pop and cheesy noggin numbers of the first two numbers on side one of the album” (Yes folks, this is put together as a good old-fashioned two-side LP, and there will be red vinyl editions for you to cherish). It’s also a good title because Mufti Day at school was always a break from the accepted norms, the uniformity of life – and it was a risk. “What to wear? Do my friends dress the same? Will they judge me. Will I stand out?” Mufti Day is Castelow’s break-out album – sort of. My favourite song title is ‘The Great Girlfriend Ignorer’. “We all know those
No doubt there are experimental moments, different from what … Crystal Palace was all about. I can remember the indie power presence when I saw them a couple of years ago at Mighty Mighty, Wellington. The bar’s gone, the band remains. Or does it? Rob and Myles plus Mathias will join Castelow on the road. Being Castelow’s baby he’s keen to bring the live sound to life as his project, enhance by the trademarks of the band I saw back in 2012. Name check the #1 alternative airplay radio single ‘Her Heart Breaks Like A Wave’ on the bFM network and you’ll get big ups from the DJ’s because they know just how cool the music still is. The song virtually glistens with indie guitar chime before careening headlong into a full choral glory and back again and landing upright on its paws. The accompanying video is a giggle a minute. Filmed at the fictional “Shredisloe Cup”, the annual internationally acclaimed Bodysurfing Championship held in Byron Bay, Australia, it’s a cheese-fest to the max. Ed appears as a Kiwi competitor – from Taihape no less. No one takes this seriously! Another tune of note is the single ‘365’ (featuring Street Chant’s) Emily Edrosa. “I’d been trying to get Emily’s band to do something so when the moment final arose I grabbed it.” Recent press suggested that this album had a “widescreen production Phil Spector might admire, hooks big enough to land swordfish, half-familiar melodies, and cannoning drums behind stacked-up jangle guitars and sweeping synth-strings”, It’s easy to see how that conclusion was arrived at – this is an album that will deliver. With a recruitment of past and present band members, including new recruit Barney Chunn (Bass) Castelow will take his power passion to the road, all set for enjoyment. Tune in this summer, I say.” NEW ALBUM: MUFTI DAY OUT NOW
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TWENTYONE PRESENTS
31 DECEMBER 2014 SEE IN THE NEW YEAR WITH A SOLID NIGHT OF TOP ENTERTAINMENT
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FILM REVIEWS
LAURA WEASER 90-miles-a-minute, and sure, there are probably some plot holes. The key with Interstellar, like most of Nolan’s films, is to sit back and enjoy the ride – preferably in 70mm IMAX for maximum effect. Like earlier space films in the same vein, the galaxy provides a backdrop for a study of human behaviour when pushed to its limits. The startling reality of a planet no longer able to sustain us is not so implausible, and to see the measures people will go to in desperation are not too far from the truth. Riding the wave of success that is a “McConaissance” – Matthew delivers a fine Southern-style performance of a father torn between saving his family and staying on Earth to see them live. While no tears were shed, you’d have to have a heart of stone not to feel something as Cooper comes to the gripping realisation he’s not going to be there to see his little girl grow up – the price he must pay to keep her alive. Nolan worked hard to keep the script under wraps, and for good reason, so without giving too much away, if you enjoyed his previous work, make this a must-see on your list before the end of the year.
DIRECTED BY CHRISTOPHER NOLAN STARRING MATTHEW MCCONAUGHEY, ANNE HATHAWAY, JESSICA CHASTAIN
*****
INTERSTELLAR
He gave us an amnesiac-murderer, sinister magicians, made us question “Is it all a dream?” and rebooted the Batman franchise to great success – now, director Christopher Nolan is tackling space. After the much-hyped disappointment of Gravity late last year, intergalactic space travel failed to capture my interest. But Nolan’s mind-bending presentation of the theory of relativity and time-travelling
wormholes, although it left me somewhat dizzy, ultimately had me enthralled. Set in the not-too-distant future, humans face extinction as crops fail to grow year after year. As a last-ditch attempt, a former astronautturned-farmer Cooper (Matthew McConaughey) is sent into a wormhole with a small team of scientists to find a new home for humanity. Yes, there’s a lot of terminology and theories being thrown at you across the screen, at
DIRECTED BY FRANCIS LAWRENCE STARRING JENNIFER LAWRENCE, JOSH HUTCHERSON, LIAM HEMSWORTH
*****
THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART 1
The final book of the series, and the conclusion of young adult films, this is by far the darkest, most disturbing of the three. There are no Hunger Games, no glitzy Capitol, and everything is a bleak mess. More adult than young, this slow burner presents the horrors of war, with eerie parallels to Isis and other terror groups, that’ll hopefully shock tween audiences more than the fact Gale and Katniss only kiss once in a two-hour feature (spoiler alert). Following her escape from the Quarter Quell, Katniss (J-Law) is taken to District 13, where a new underground military base is established to carry out a rebellion, led by the teen crusader. But the one thing on her mind
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DIRECTED BY MICHAEL HOFFMAN
is Peeta (Josh Hutcherson), who is stuck in the Capitol and held against his will. The focus for her rescuers though is uniting the districts and fighting back against the Capitol. Much has been said about splitting popular third books into two parts – a cruel moneymaking ploy, no doubt. That said, I’ll happily shell out $20 for round two if Jennifer Lawrence keeps delivering hair-raising performances like this. Shellshocked, a war survivor, she’s a shadow of her former self and presents an all-too-real portrayal of what it’s like to have come out the other side, with many friends have been lost on the front line. The final book, in my opinion, was something of a mess. But the movie has done a fine job of visualising Suzanne Collins’ words.
STARRING JAMES MARSDEN, MICHELLE MONAGHAN, LUKE BRACEY
*****
THE BEST OF ME
Kissing in the rain? Check. Totally implausible relationships? Yep. And not to mention a whole lot of drama. Nicholas Sparks ticks all the boxes for what’s yet another Notebook revisited, though lacking heart and chemistry between its leads. In a vomit-inducing plot of “true love conquers all”, former high school sweethearts Amanda (Michelle Monaghan) and Dawson (James Marsden) are reunited by the news of a mutual friend’s death. Though their lives have taken different turns over the last 20-odd years, the passion they once shared is clearly still there as they ask themselves, “Can we forgive the past?”
Dawson, from a rough back-country part of the neighbourhood, and Amanda, the rich, pretty one with Daddy’s cash (sound familiar?), find their worlds collide in unexpected ways, but when that begins to involve drug dealers, domestic abuse and murder, Sparks fails to reconcile the serious drama with the light-hearted rom-com, and it becomes rather jarring. While Marsden took on the role of jilted husband in The Notebook, here he gets revenge as the “other man” to seemingly happily married Michelle’s character. And while it had us rooting for Noah and Allie, the lack of chemistry between our leads leaves the romance falling flat.
THE EVERGREEN TOUR 2015 WITH SPECIAL GUESTS
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ALBUM REVIEWS ***** COOLY G WAIT ‘TIL NIGHT HYPERDUB
If you can sit through this without getting a bit hot and horny, perhaps you need some hormone enrichment. Cooly G’s second album uses sleek, shiny and perfectly pneumatic electronic backgrounds to complement her tales of wanton lust, and it works a treat. Unlike the candy floss caricatures of say, Miley Cyrus, Merrisa Campbell mounts (so to speak) a genuine interrogation of her sexuality on Wait ‘Til Night, one that empowers rather than merely
** VARIOUS ARTISTS THE ART OF MCCARTNEY
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*** * ORIGINAL SOUNDTRACK THE HUNGER GAMES: MOCKINGJAY PART 1
GARY STEEL
***** BROOKE FRASER BRUTAL ROMANTIC VAGRANT/SONY
A serious re-investigation of the McCartney oeuvre is long overdue. Sadly, this isn’t it. The Art Of McCartney (available in lavish boxed configuration, but reviewed here in the form of a 2-CD set) is billed as “the songs of Paul McCartney sung by the world’s greatest artists.” I’ll leave it up to RipItUp readers to decide whether the likes of Sammy Hagar, Harry Connick Jnr, Heart and Billy Joel fit that description, but suffice to say that producer Ralph Sall has pulled together a woefully conservative bunch to do karaoke over his carbon copy arrangements. The key to McCartney was partly found in songs like ‘Jet’, ‘Band On The Run’ and especially ‘Let ‘Em In’, walking the line between idiocy and genius. One of the few highlights is Dr John’s rendition of the latter track. Mostly, however, it’s just dull. Refuse to accept substitutions for the original versions.
BURGER
REPUBLIC
Austin, Texas-based John Wesley Coleman III is a self-styled “trash poet”; a tousled Billy Childish in a second-hand leather jacket. The Love That You Own channels his quietly proficient slackerism and lack of pretence well. Produced by Louie Lino (Nada Surf, The New Pornographers), its approach to Americana-tinged garagerock takes routes frequented by Tom Petty & Bruce Springsteen, exploring backroads on the way. There’s no greasy fingerprints on Coleman’s touchstones; they’re handled with care. Opening cut ‘Wish The Night Could Be Longer’ is fleshed out with sweetly produced, drifting slide guitar lines; the titular track opens up with a horn section that could have been sampled from a Madness record and ‘Money In My Pocket’ lolls along with a Meters strut, shuffling drums and the twang of jabbed at triads. Solid.
It’s a cliché to even mention it, but isn’t it amazing that within 18 months of career blast-off, Lorde is executive-producing the soundtrack to one of the hottest movie franchises on the planet? And she’s been resolute in brandishing her favoured aesthetic, choosing no less than 11 tracks with wispy, ethereal, girly vocals and stark electronic backgrounds that had me longing for stylistic deviations. Although Grace Jones’ ‘Original Beast’ is neither wispy nor ethereal, and its spunk made me aware of how anorexic some of the other songs are. The Chemical Brothers track is a rare blast of electronic maximalism. While Tove Lo, Ariana Grand and Tinashe undoubtedly have something going for them, the highlight is Lorde herself, with ‘Yellow Flicker Beat’ and her cover of ‘Ladder Song’, with its odd but captivating vocals and old-fashioned organ and (horrors!) no beats!
Remember Big Day Out? Pledging allegiance to Channel Z / and to yon guitar for which it stands / one audience under shred / un-pop-able / with alt-rock and wallet-chain for all? Well, these days at least, homogeneity of focus doesn’t sell. The genre-sticklers died and today’s Laneway Festival books Jessie Ware alongside Run the Jewels and Japandroids. Modern pop has hall privileges to greater acceptance and freedom of form than in an age, and subsequent major records reflect as much (Beyoncé, Pure Heroine). On Brutal Romantic, Fraser and Bat For Lashes producer David Kosten drop sparse, dark synths and Kanye-scary gospel choral arrangements into some occasionally Swift-worthy pop writing. Within Fraser’s body of work the change is a welcome one, if not a little uneasy. Occasionally misfiring, yet still stoking desire to (at the very least) watch this space.
GARY STEEL
FITZWILLIAM DARCY
GARY STEEL
SARAH THOMSON
COLUMBIA
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titillates (sorry). This is a woman who knows what she wants and what she likes, and is happy to explore her erogenous zones on songs like ‘The 3 Of Us’, ‘Fuck With You’ and uh… ‘So Deep’. Okay, so it’s impossible to hear without thinking of Prince, but apart from the overt sexuality, this is not indebted to the Paisley Park ethos. I’ve got to get a cold shower after listening to this.
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ALBUM REVIEWS *** *
TV ON THE RADIO SEEDS HARVEST
TV on the Radio’s Dave Sitek has been producing erudite electronic rock for over twelve years, whether for his own group or fellow Brooklynite peers (Yeah Yeah Yeahs, Liars et al). While the kind of fertile spaces he helped foster have long since produced their best yield, TVotR are still more than capable of grafting their curious musical experimentation and tales of social anxiety to produce powerfully paced, catchy pop. Besides, on Seeds (which stands
*** MARK LANEGAN BAND PHANTOM RADIO
*
BERNIE GRIFFEN***** & THE THIN MEN SALVATION
***** HURRAY FOR THE RIFF RAFF SMALL TOWN HEROES
as TVotR’s fifth album to date and first since bassist Gerard Smith’s death from lung cancer in 2011), if proceedings do falter, there’s always Tunde Adebimpe’s voice. Capable of lacing anything from the Modern Guilt-era Beck guitar lines to the wub-heavy Tron OST present on Seeds with richer shade and tone, Adebimpe is a pretty singular force available to flesh out any of the thinnersounding experiments in tertiary Casiotone. SARAH THOMSON
QUEEN FOREVER
*** *
VIRGIN
HEAVENLY
FLAMING PEARL
Adding synthetic squelches to rasping rock dirge has long been the domain of Phantom Radio producer and QotSA collaborator Alain Johannes. Since 2012’s Blues Funeral, Johannes has pushed Lanegan to include nods to the more electronic of his influences within his otherwise pared back gravel and gruel. At worst, on this effort, this manifests as tinny interruption: a confusion of styles that renders Lanegan’s Man-in-Black into a silly, drunken Desert Sessions jam. At middling, the melding does nowt worth noting to either detract or improve Lanegan’s stock trade in whiskey requiem (but then his vocal timbre alone can often save the more dreck-y offerings). At best, it’s an opening of his standard form that recalls Joy Division’s Closer (a Lanegan Band favourite), or Reznor on a paced, reflective bent.
Bernie Griffin’s voice is an unlovely thing, but boy does it hit the mark. Even when it’s uncertain of pitch, you can forgive it, because there’s something primal, even desperate, coming through the ether on his second long-player. Between that 2012 disc and this, Griffen has dumped his Grifters and gotten a new band, The Thin Men, and while the sound on Everything So Far was dusty alt-country, now it’s more eclectic and consistent. Some songs roll along with the dramatic fury of Neil Young at his most raggedly electric, while others sound like they’re conducted on a lonely country porch. It’s not all about misery, torture and death (it’s called Salvation, after all), but the best songs do draw on Griffen’s experience of a life lived hard and imbued with tragedy. The bonus is that even though the music form is traditional Americana, the lyric content is specific to NZ.
ATO
It’s difficult escaping established forms, an opportunity that comes more readily to outsiders. Led by vocalist and banjo player Alynda Lee Segarra, a queer woman of Puerto Rican descent and drummer/violinist Yosi Pearlstein who identifies as transgender, folk-blues collective Hurray For The Riff Raff have a radical position in the white, heterosexual canon of American alt-country. There’s no arguing that the record is accomplished. Well-arranged, well-produced and well-played. Segarra and Pearlstein are joined by keyboard player Casey McAllister, Sam Doores on guitar and Dan Cutler on bass. In staking out their ownership of a previously denied space, Small Town Heroes leans on foolproof genre tropes. Ultimately it’s a collection of tried and true alt-country, charming in its own right, but it leaves you wondering if they could have pushed harder.
Queen is a band critics love to hate, and it’s easy to see why. Their lurid extravagance makes them an easy target. Unfortunately, the misguided decision by surviving band members to perpetuate the group through Freddie-beyond-thegrave live shows and albums like Forever compounds the problem. The album – a double compilation with three (sort of) unheard songs featuring Freddie – is a dazzling display of the group at its peak, capturing them at their virtuosic best and teeming with catchy choruses. Queen could have been merely a passing fad, but their mix of ludicrous English pomp, pop smarts and fun turned them into rock royalty. Forever, however, seems redundant. The three “new” songs are just an enticement to purchase the same stuff again. ‘Let Me Into Your Heart Again’, might get fans a bit moist, but the Michael Jackson duet turns out to be limp lettuce.
GARY STEEL
SAM WIECK
GARY STEEL
SARAH THOMSON
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ANDREW JOHNSTONE
ALI CAMPBELL “We were there in 1981. There was a demonstration going through the town, it was about the Springboks and the All Blacks and all of that. We booked into our hotel and then joined the march outside, so yeah, we have had friends in NZ for a very long time.”
WIN
“Maori love reggae and there’s a South Sea Island movement. If you go to Hawaii, Tahiti, New Caledonia, Samoa, they’ve all got their own styles of reggae. Reggae is island music, remember, and England’s an island and that’s why the English love it as well.” When the conversation turns to marijuana, Ali recalls UB40s first appearance at Raggamuffin in 2008. “It ‘destroys’ the reggae concerts and one of the lovely things about playing Rotorua was as soon we went on stage the place altered, it was a was a big huge cloud of smoke.” “I smoke 24/7 and of course I support the legalization of marijuana, it’s all about educating people. Kids should know what they’re getting involved with, and maybe kids shouldn’t smoke weed. Your brain is still growing until the age of 25 and you can damage yourself with heavy skunk. It’s a recreational drug and people should be able to smoke it if they want, just not children.”
UB40
difficulties,” explains Campbell.
IN THE WORLD of reggae, UB40 are second only to Bob Marley with record sales of some 70 million units. Former front-man Ali Campbell is on his way to NZ for his fourth appearance at Raggamuffin.
“I sat back and watched my older brother Duncan destroying my songs and I had to bite my lip, but when they decided to do a country and western album and Astro came back to me, I decided they were destroying the legacy of my band, and Astro agreed and so did Mickey and we went ‘sod it’, let’s just call ourselves UB40 again.”
These days the band is a house divided. Campbell and keyboardist Mickey Virtue left in 2008. The rest of the band continued on recruiting Ali’s older brother Duncan to take over singing duties. Last year they released a new album, Getting Over the Storm which peaked at number 29 on the UK charts. Recently declared bankrupt, the band has been forced to sell its back catalogue and lucrative publishing and royalty rights. Concerned at the state of affairs surrounding the band, Ali decided firm action was necessary. “I started UB40 in the first place, let’s get that one out of the way – it was my band and I didn’t leave to pursue a solo career, I was forced to leave because of management
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It wasn’t going to be that simple, however. “We are calling ourselves ‘Ali Campbell the Legendary Voice of UB40 reunited with Astro and Mickey’ which is a bit of a mouthful for everybody because the Dark Side, (as he calls the other line-up), has slapped a writ on us so we are currently in legal wrangles that won’t last that much longer and we’ll call ourselves UB40 again... or not.” The band has a long association with NZ, with 20 charting albums and 28 charting singles, their debut album peaking at number four in the NZ charts in 1980.
The new album is called Silhouette and if the title track is any indication, it’s classic UB40. “I love it and I think the fans are going to love it especially given that the last offering from the ‘Dark Side’ was a country and western album and was a complete disaster,” says Campbell. “There’s a sigh of relief now that me and Astro have come together and you can see the audiences are so much happier.” The split in the band has resulted in an acrimonious division within the Campbell family, and so for the time being at least, there are two UB40s out and about in the world, both forging different paths. One is experimenting with country and western, exploring a form popular with early reggae artists, while the sound of the other remains rooted in the streets of the city it grew up from. LISTEN TO THE FULL INTERVIEW: SOUNDCLOUD.COM/RIP-IT-UP-RADIO
SEE HIM LIVE: ALI CAMPBELL WITH UB40 RAGGAMUFFIN 2014 SAT 13 DEC THE TRUST ARENA, AUCKLAND
ANDREW JOHNSTONE
CYPRESS HILL “...to be here 25 years later is an overwhelming thought at times, but one that we are very proud of.”
WIN
on site. The last event in 2012 attracted 20,000 people and the only arrests made were for drunk and disorderly. Sen believes that widespread legalization is around the corner. “There are still some close-minded people who need to be changed and enlightened. Marijuana is the future, not only to smoke and feel good, but as a medicine and useful plant for fighting climate change. In the end we will be proven right, change will come.” Sen is an avid pot user who enjoys being part of what he sees as a global fraternity of smokers. The “herb” helps him to “focus in” and concentrate and he loves nothing more than shutting himself away in his home studio, lighting up and matching words with beats. Pot also helps him endure “gruesome workouts at the gym”.
SEN DOG PIONEERING HIP HOP Band Cypress Hill are no strangers to NZ and in December return for their fifth visit, this time to play the Raggamuffin Festival on Saturday 13 December. Cypress Hill exploded onto the scene with their self-titled debut album in 1991, but it was 1993’s Black Sunday that put them into the stratosphere. Taking down the number one spot on the US charts, the album yielded a series of hit singles including two of the bands most iconic tracks, ‘Insane in the Brain’ and ‘When the Shit Goes Down’. 1995’s Temples of Boom, 1998’s Cypress Hill 4 and 2000’s Skull and Bones cemented their place among the world’s top ranked hip hop acts. (“Insane in the brain” was a popular phrase among LA gangs at the time and was lifted by the band and worked into a track which they considered inferior to their other work. When the record company informed them that they were going to use it as the lead single for the Black Sunday album, the guys were skeptical and then later surprised by the success of a song which has never lost steam. The official video has had over 21 million views on YouTube). The group have been together now for 28 years and have sold some 20 million albums worldwide. Sen Dog: “We never envisioned this kind of success when we started; we thought we would be an underground group
that might last for five-six years, so to be here 25 years later is an overwhelming thought at times, but one that we are very proud of.” Sen was eight years old when his family arrived in LA from Cuba and among his first memories is the music he heard on the radio. Kiss, Cream, Black Sabbath, Elvis, Credence Clearwater Revival, Hendrix and Van Halen. Later he was influenced by the funk styles of Rick James, George Clinton’s Parliament and blues magician Robert Johnson, but when hip-hop came along he knew he had found his medium. Early the early period Cypress Hill sound was “pure” hip hop, but in more recent times they have been incorporating more and more aspects of the rock and roll that they all grew up listening to. Sen: “I love rock and roll and I cannot imagine my life without Jimi Hendrix in it.” Both Sen and fellow Cypress Hill member B-Real have side projects that mix hip hop/rap and rock. Sen’s group is SX-10, a garage-band style outfit and B-Real’s is a rap/ metal hybrid group called KUSH. The bands are long term advocates for marijuana legalization and host the semiannual Cypress Hill Smokeout Festival in San Bernardino, Southern California. Featuring a variety of big-name acts, ticket-holders are encouraged to bring along their medical marijuana cards and buy from the dispensaries
Speaking with Sen on the line from LA, I was I struck by his humility and courtesy. He is grateful for his success and it is something he never taken for granted. With the exception of DJ Muggs, (of Italian/Norwegian heritage), Cypress Hill is a Latino affair and their popularity has made them role models to many Latino youth, an aspect of fame Sen did not expect but one which he has embraced. “These kids look up to you and you have to be that distinguished and approachable gentleman each and every time someone approaches you for an autograph.” The guys will be out and about during their NZ stay and Sen wants his local fans to know that they are completely approachable if you want to strike up a conversation and/or share a joint, though he will try not to get arrested as he was the last time he was in the country. Sen acknowledges the band’s enduring popularity here and says “that we feel like royalty every time we visit.” Listen to the full interview on Rip It Up Radio: SOUNDCLOUD.COM/RIP-IT-UP-RADIO
SEE THEM LIVE: CYPRESS HILL RAGGAMUFFIN 2014 SAT 13 DEC THE TRUST ARENA, AUCKLAND
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RHY THM & VINES: FOUR MUST-SEE ACTS RHYTHM AND VINES is to the Millennials what Sweetwaters was to the emerging Gen-Xers. Technology caught up in that time and gone are the days of a dusty field and a PA system. It’s a much more immersive experience going from teepees and tents to selfies and stalls, all the while recording your journey digitally through “My Festival Story” which allows you to connect, collect and share via your Spotify account and your official festival wristband to inflict those FOMO moments on your network. Ultimately though it all comes back to the music and this year there is more diversity than ever before, so we help take part of the guesswork out of your pilgrimage as we present to you four must-see R&V acts. MON 29 DEC – WED 31 DEC WAIOHIKA ESTATE VINEYARD, GISBORNE
DANNY BROWN On first glance you could easily mistake Detroit MC Danny Brown for a homeless person begging for spare change. His missing teeth and feral persona all add to the hood-done-good attitude that saw him get signed to Fool’s Gold, the label that brought Kid Cudi, Run The Jewels, Kid Sister and Duck Sauce to the world. His story is simple. His father was a house DJ and exposed Danny at a young age to the melting pot of musical styles that influenced him throughout his early mixtape days to his full length players The Hybrid, XXX and Old. It was the streets that gave him the topics to rap about as a drug dealer, serving eight months in jail then forming the hip hop trio Rese’vor Dogs which ultimately lead to his solo career. His publicised on-stage antics include receiving oral pleasure whilst performing so if blunted out, drankin’, party jams is your thing check out Danny Brown, the reincarnation of the Wu Tang Clan’s Ol’ Dirty Bastard.
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BASTILLE ‘80s synth pop envisioned for the ‘00s is the noteable sound of London’s Bastille. Originally a solo project for singer/songwriter Dan Smith but became a full-fledged band in 2010 with the addition of Chris Wood, William Farquarson, and Kyle Simmons. They are very much a product of social media, penning a record deal after several songs had millions of plays online. To date they have sold over eight million records and their debut album Bad Blood was the biggest selling digital album of 2013. In only a few short years they have become masters of the live arena tackling Coachella, T in the Park, Glastonbury and accompanied Muse on their 2nd Law Tour in 2013. Best suited for those who like jumping up and down and singing along whilst waving an oversized flag of your country.
JUST BLAZE
NETSKY LIVE
The producers role in modern music has been that of the anonymous knob-twiddler who does most of the hard work and receives very little of the credit, but in the mid 2000s the spotlight changed with the likes of The Neptunes and Timbaland coming from behind the boards to release their own original material and the performance artists became the “featuring” on the album cover. Just Blaze can lay claim to the sound design of master artists such as Eminem, Jay Z, Mariah Carey, Nelly, Kanye West, Busta Rhymes and more. Although his roots are firmly set in hip hop Just Blaze has been collaborating with Trap artists such as Baauer and is known to feature electronic components to his DJ sets. Get behind the man that is behind your favourite booty-shakers.
Belgian-born Boris Daenen aka Netsky is a Kiwi favourite. So much so he is seen more often in Aotearoa than the Mint Trumpet. With great reason, he’s a crowd favourite. His popularity in part can be traced back to 2009 and his signing to illustrious drum and bass label Hospital. The London-based imprint has nurtured the careers of many and Netsky took his opportunity with open arms releasing the self titled album Netsky in 2010 and gained commercial success with 2 in 2010 reaching #13 in our local album charts. Having headlined RnV on more then two occasions he is back to grace the Vines with his full live band consisting of keyboard virtuoso BABL, Michael Schack on drums and Script MC on the mic. Expect a full on concert vibe of all your Netsky favourites with a few non-genre specific surprises.
TIM GRUAR
MILK Y CHANCE “A computer, an interface and two microphones – that’s all you need.” I was thinking it was a good name. Good if we ever got big. It would look good on a billboard or a poster,” he laughs. So it’s all YouTube’s fault. “Yes.” Highly appropriate. Philipp looks at the band’s success as something in the here and now – he’s not planning long term. Or at least he’s not saying. But the band’s sophisticated beats show true musicianship, an undercurrent quietly stated – and brushed off with a brief comment: “I’m glad you like it.”
DJ PHILIPP DAUSCH “I’M IN LA the moment, relaxing,” musician and DJ Philipp Dausch tells me. This is a bit of a break on a US tour that will include out-of-the-way places like Austin, Texas. Not exactly the first place you’d think of when you hear that a German pop band is going to tour. If you’re thinking stark electro beats, blips and bops, sharp accountant’s suits, beats, bobs and robots, or worse Eurovision song contest rejects, then think again. Duo Milky Chance blend electronics with reggae, folk and rock. Their debut release Sadnecessary is a wondrous vehicle of modern pop, clean and optimistic, young but wise. Their single ‘Stolen Dance’, which is currently sitting on about 90 million YouTube views took this backroom tinkers from obscurity to the world stage. Keen to find out more I gave the band a call and caught them on a bit of R&R time between gigs in the Land of The Free. Philipp Dausch and fellow band-mate Clemens Rehnein (vocal, guitars) first met in a high school jazz ensemble The Flown Tones. “We met in school in advanced music class, we were playing jazz. I played guitar, Clemens did bass. We were friends on the first day, then we met a couple more and then we were five, playing a lot of jazz, old tunes, pretty bluesy. More instrumental than now. Then we
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tried out new styles – reggae, pop with a jazz flavour and then EM, trying things out. After school some of the guys went abroad so the band quit. Clemens had written these songs, so we thought we should continue.” One thing lead to another, and with a cache of samples they built a fledgling studio to record their experiments – all this before actually having really performed anything on a live stage in front of an audience! “We did a couple of shows but that was it. Normally you tour and build up but we had the songs so we just got them out on the internet, on YouTube and it went from there!” The whole thing was something of a happy accident, claims Dausch. “There was never a plan to make it a band. Clemens just wrote songs for himself. And then, it was like we made the songs to record them, having never performed them. Then people started liking them so we had a dilemma – we should play them live? How do we do that?” Asked about the name Milky Chance, Philipp is nonplussed. “Well there’s no connection to this band we’ve created. It’s just that when we had to upload songs on YouTube and, well, we needed a name to use, to load them. Clemens had this name he made up a while ago, so he chose that. Everything was pretty much unplanned, it was all by chance, you know.
The album was put together with the most rudimentary equipment. “A computer, an interface and two microphones – that’s all you need.” The “studio” set-up was in a quiet house, where Clemens grew up, and over two weeks the boys put together enough material for an album. Without really trying it all came together seamlessly. The first track ‘Stolen Dance’ was made in a hurry. Releasing it themselves on their own Lichtdicht Records was a bonus. “It’s great to have that control. Plus we didn’t have to stand in front of executives or anything.” The song features Philipp playing a guitar in a white room with random vintage film footage and movie scenes projected over him. It sums up their simple loop based laid back grooves perfectly. The song grabbed about 30 million hits in the first few weeks of release. It had huge airplay and support from big name websites and blogs, too. When asked about what gave the song its appeal, Philipp says, “There’s no real story. It’s a feeling really. It’s really about a certain moment I wanted to hold, not let go. A sentiment you experience when you really like someone and don’t want to let that go. Like a dream you can replay in your head.” In a way the duo are poets with a beatbox. “Yes, Clemens writes all the music. He is indeed a poet.” Phillipp refers to Clemens about the inspiration for their next single, ‘Down By the River’, which this time features friends walking to a river banks rendezvous in summer. It’s all perfectly friendly, but an unmentioned event gives it a twist. What that it Philipp won’t mention? “You’ll have to ask Clemens, though he won’t tell you!” SEE THEM LIVE: MILKY CHANCE FRI 09 JAN THE POWERSTATION, AUCKLAND
Casino Classics + Undertheradar Present New Years Eve at Bodega:
Secret Intl. Guest DJ Set – UK
Shocking Pinks
2015
DJ Set – Flying Nun / Stars & Letters / DFA
Ghost Wave DJ Set – Arch Hill / Flying Nun
DJ Serpico
Live – Playing Joy Division
2014
Permanence
/
DJ Set – Minuit
31st Dec. Bodega Support From: Brave New Void Splintered in Her Head Tomato Willis MC Hillsy
DJ Behaviour DJ Bnv DJ Toplip & Dj Mine DJ Mac
Tickets From: Undertheradar.co.nz
$20 + Booking Fee $30 Door Sales
TIM GRUAR
SPIEGELWORLD PRESENTS EMPIRE He basically hung out on a Manhattan street corner from the early 1940s to the 1970s playing a wild array of jazz, pop and psych tunes. He was one of those bizarre people that looked like a hobo but behaved, at times, like a rock star.” EMPIRE also features a Kiwi connection, too. Contortionist Lucia Carbine (or Miss A in a Bubble) hails from Canterbury and joins the show in its second iteration. As she manipulates her small, lithe body inside a suspended sphere, she takes great delight in singling out the most amazed and delighted from the audience.
ANDY BIANCO POSSIBLY THE BEST quote for Spiegelworld’s new show EMPIRE, which will visit Christchurch and Wellington in November and Auckland in January was from punter Karen B. She wrote on the show’s Facebook page “EMPIRE is a health risk worth taking twice. Just saw the show again, this time with my mum. We both almost hyperventilated from gasping and laughed ourselves silly at various times.” Direct from a smash-hit season at Times Square, EMPIRE is a jaw-dropping, electric and intimate event that mixes music, comedy, circus, vaudeville, burlesque and human acrobatics into a loose narrative about greed and money. The show is held in a traditional Spiegeltent stage, so close that performers can literally see the whites of the eyes of their audience – and have been known to even reach out and touch, hug or even lick them! It’s commonly raved about as the sexiest, most daring artists from across the globe. On the eve of their Australasian departure, Tim Gruar had a chat to Andy Bianco, who plays the character Moondog in the show. “I’m a professionally trained guitarist, based out of NY. For most shows the musicians are in the
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background but in this one I get to be in the foreground at times, as part of the show, not just the backing.” The show, Bianco tells me, is a blend of traditional acrobatics and circus tricks merged with music. But unlike their contemporaries – such as Cirque de Soleil – this show also includes elements of burlesque stripping, mixed with magic and dance. “EMPIRE is based on a well-known Broadway impresario, who lost his money and fortune in the credit crunch of 2008 and he’s trying to rebuild his legacy, his empire. And all these obscure NY characters are coming out of the woodwork to help him, on the proviso he help them. The show has morphed away from the original script a bit but the characters are still there. The character I play is based off Louis Thomas Hardy, ‘the Viking of 6th Avenue’, better known as ‘Moondog’. He was a notorious New York musician from the psychedelic era. He basically hung out on a Manhattan street corner from the early 1940s to the 1970s playing a wild array of jazz, pop and psych tunes. He recorded more than 30 albums and was a huge influence on the local underground music scene. Most recently some have resurfaced and been released on vinyl.
Spiegelworld itself is a mix of biergarten and exotic performance, originating from the Belgian vaudeville era. Festival-goers will be partially familiar with a similar tent that does the rounds during our summer events. This particular heritage travelling venue, made of antique wood, bevelled mirrors and stained glass, might be 700 seats but it’s still the most intimate stage in town. The company began in the Big Apple in 2006, the brainchild of an Australian creative team who were keen to mix up freak and sideshow antics with comedy and seductive teases to get as close to the audience as they could possibly get. And for three years, Spiegelworld was a summer institution under the shadow of the Brooklyn Bridge on Pier 17 in downtown New York City, as well as touring to Miami South Beach and Melbourne. Sold-out shows including Absinthe, La Vie, Desir, and Gazillionaire’s Late Nite Lounge established Spiegelworld as a place where the performances are extraordinary, anything can happen, and the show is just the start of the party. EMPIRE has just completed outstanding seasons across Asia and will now head down under to thrill local audiences. If ever you were inspired to run away to the circus then EMPIRE will be your chance! SEE THEM PERFORM: SPIEGELWORLD PRESENTS: EMPIRE TUE 06 JAN - SUN 25 JAN WYNYARD QUARTER, AUCKLAND
FEBRUARY 14
TH
AUCKLAND ZOO TICKETS FROM TICKETMASTER ON SALE NOW
A YEAR IN REVIEW HERE’S WHAT THE RIP IT UP/GROOVE GUIDE TEAM HAVE TO SAY ABOUT THE YEAR THAT WAS 2014.
Five best films of the year? CC: Gone Girl, The Raid 2, Under The Skin, The Grand Budapest Hotel and Boyhood. Five best albums of the year? TH: Tami Neilson – Dynamite!, Ryan Adams – Ryan Adams, Jungle – Jungle, Angus & Julia Stone – Angus & Julia Stone and Jenny Lewis – The Voyager. GS: Aldous Harding – Aldous Harding, Holiwater Band – Maya, Phil Judd – Play It Strange, Led Zeppelin – III (Reissue) and Tiny Ruins – Brightly Painted One.
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NC: Interstellar, The Grand Budapest Hotel, Gone Girl, Her and Enemy.
NC & CC: Fargo
TH: Interstellar, What We Do In The Shadows, Only Lovers Left Alive, Enemy and Boyhood.
TG & RK: Broad City!
ST: Charlie’s Country, Boyhood, Housebound, Welcome to New York and Sacro GRA.
Biggest surprise of the year? AR & JM: Robin Williams’ death.
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Gig of the year? AR: There’s a few… Grouplove’s set at BDO, Arctic Monkeys and Gary Numan. JM: Laneway Festival.
Books/comics of the year? JE: Ain’t That Funkin Kinda Hard on You? by George Clinton, Michael Jordan: The Life by Roland Lazenby and Play On: Now, Then and Fleetwood Mac by Mick Fleetwood.
NC: Young Fathers – Dead, Pharrell Williams – G I R L, Weezer – Everything Will Be Alright In The End, Run The Jewels – RTJ2 and Various – Hits For Kids Volume 6
JM: Blink’s The Problem with Music in New Zealand... was a good read.
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GG: Brooklyn Nine Nine
GG: Election Fail.
JM: Parquet Courts – Sunbathing Animal, Run The Jewels – Run The Jewels 2, Freddie Gibbs and Madlib – Pinata , The War on Drugs – Lost in the Dream and Grayson Gilmour – Infinite Life!
ST: Ty Segall – Manipulator, Fela Kuti – Box Set III, Beyoncé – Beyoncé, Courtney Barnett – Kick (orig. by INXS) and Habibi – Habibi.
Standout TV show of the year? JM & TH: True Detective.
NC: The BBC putting together their visually stunning rendition of ‘God Only Knows’.
JH & NC: Eminem at Western Springs. LA: Nick Cave
ST: The McConaissance …what.
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Breakaway local musician/ band of the year? AJ: Chelsea Jade. Her new EP Beacons is just that much better than anything else in a similar vein.
Meme of the year? CC: Doge. But let’s be frank, Doge is the really the only acceptable meme.
LA: Carsick by John Waters, Colorless Tsukuru Tazaki and His Years of Pilgrimage by Haruki Murakami and The Goldfinch by Donna Tartt.
GG: Ryan Gosling won’t eat his cereal.
JE & GS: Tiny Ruins.
JM: Umm, that angry as cat that hates everything.
RK: Well, apart from Lorde I’d definitely high five Broods and Sol3 Mio.
TG: The Dharma Punks by Ant Sang.
ST: Screencaps of ‘90s television all over your everywhere.
TG: Broods and Sheep, Dog & Wolf.
A YEAR IN REVIEW CONTRIBUTORS:
Amanda Ratcliffe (AR) Andrew Johnstone (AJ) Connor Crawford (CC) Gary Steel (GS) Greta Gotlieb (GG)
Jake Ebdale (JE) James Manning (JM) Jamie Hislop (JH) Louise Adams (LA) Nick Collings (NC)
Ren Kirk (RK) Sarah Thomson (ST) Tim Gruar (TG) Tyler Hislop (TH)
What’s on your summer playlist? AR: Jagwar Ma, Milky Chance and The Beach Boys. AJ: My wife introduced me to Hauswerk on Christchurch Station RDU 98.5. The podcasts have become essential listening at our place.
2014 has been... AJ: Interesting to say the least. After four years of appalling dreadful luck it was a step up to say the least.
Hunk of the year? TH: Taylor Hanson.
GS: Frank Zappa, because I’m writing a book on Frank Zappa.
JM: Sneaky as with twists and turns, action packed!
GG: Kirin J Callinan.
TG: Some Tami Neilson, a bit of vintage ska and dancehall from a dedication to Randy’s Record Shop in Hawaii, the soundtrack to This is Britain and the soundtrack to the film Good Vibrations.
RK: Elucidative.
Breakaway international musician/band of the year? GG: FKA Twigs. NC: Meghan Trainor. She just has that fresh pine smell that will stick around for a while. ST: Blank Realm.
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LA: James Franco and Seth Rogen making out in the Bound 3 video (I know it was released in 2013 but I’ve been watching it all year).
Best find of the year? TH: Taylor Swift and Califonication.
NC: Jimmy Fallon. He upped the late night talk show game majorly in 2014.
JE: Original LP of Daft Punk’s Discovery for $10/Talk Talk’s Laughing Stock 1991 pressing.
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TH: Sam Smith
RK: This amazing photographer at the Takapuna markets. His work was beautiful and his stories… such generosity of spirit. ST: Wang Wang Spring Pancake – Dominion Rd, Auckland.
Hunkette of the year? CC: Rosamund Pike. JH: Margot Robbie. RK: The babin’ laydees I live with. TG: Tami Neilson
What’s up for New Year’s Eve? GS: At home with bubba. JE: Northern Bass for Ghostface Killah! NC: A game of Cards Against Humanity and yelling at people for being too loud. TH: You’ll find me in Auckland sitting on a deck drinking wine in the sun.
ST: General tumult salved via too many episodes of the X-Files. 2015 will be… CC: An abrupt and unwelcoming hello to unemployment, bills and what my parents have always called, “the real world”. How do I adult? JE: The year of D’Angelo! JH: The year I win lotto. NC: The year Marty McFly arrives. HEAD TO RIPITUP.CO.NZ TO READ THE YEAR IN REVIEW IN FULL.
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THE HOBBIT: THE BATTLE OF THE FIVE ARMIES What he witnesses in the trilogy of The Hobbit – the relationship between the Elves, the Dwarves and the Men, the actions of his own father, and even the dynamic between Tauriel and Legolas – will all shape his character. contingent, as it were, as an Elf. Evangeline had to wrangle this character down and figure out what it was. She made that happen with Pete and Fran, and they really ran with her spirit.
ORLANDO BLOOM MARKING THE END of an era, The Hobbit: The Battle of the Five Armies is the epic conclusion to Peter Jackson’s trilogy of film adapting the enduring popular masterpiece The Hobbit, by J.R.R Tolkien. Orlando Bloom, who plays Legolas in the films, talks of his experiences during the production of the final installment, of Peter Jackson himself and his love of New Zealand. Q: How did you feel about coming to the end of this journey? ORLANDO BLOOM: In a way, I experienced the end with The Lord of the Rings trilogy. I didn’t expect The Hobbit films to happen. But this certainly is the end of it. I’m a bit older, a bit wiser, and very grateful. In many ways, Legolas is the character that’s been most influential and career-defining for me. I’m sad to see it go, in many ways. Q: How would you describe Legolas’s closest relationships in this film? OB: Well, all of the relationships kind of pay off in this last movie. It explains who Legolas is. What he witnesses in the trilogy of The Hobbit – the relationship between the Elves, the Dwarves and the Men, the actions of his own father, and even the dynamic between Tauriel and Legolas – will all shape his character.
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Q: Has the filmmaking community in New Zealand changed? OB: It’s gotten bigger! Pete [director Peter Jackson] has always been cutting-edge in the way he makes films. And that’s still the case. Some of the biggest movies of the last ten years have come out of WETA Digital. They still have that cutting-edge feel to them. Q: Do you miss New Zealand? OB: Yeah, it’s a wonderful place. It gives me a warm, homey feeling. It’s nice to know it’s always there. Q: You’re one of the most consistent characters in all the films, having been in five. Does that give you a sense of pride? OB: It was wonderful to come back. I’d joked about it with Peter a long time ago, before he started it. It was incredible when he called and said, “We’d love to sit down and talk about bringing Legolas into The Hobbit.” Pete is an authority on these worlds. He’s more immersed than anyone. So when he said, “We see a window to have a great father-son conflict and dynamic and we’ll also introduce another character – it will all play into your character, who then goes on to be the lone Elf in the Fellowship” – it made sense and felt authentic. Q: What was it like to work with Evangeline Lilly? OB: She’s fantastic. I think she embraced her role with the vigor and passion it needed. It can’t have been easy, to be representing the female
Q: You’re producing now, right? OB: Yeah, I came on to executive produce a documentary film, The Greasy Hand Preachers. I’m a motorbike enthusiast, have been since I was a child. Two of the guys in the documentary – guys I work with building bikes, which is one of my hobbies – said to me, “Would you be interested in helping us?” I saw a cut of the movie and said, “Of course.” I really liked it and felt it would be fun. Q: Has Peter Jackson changed? OB: He’s very much himself. One of the things that I admire about him is that he’s remarkably unchanged. Bit like New Zealand. They don’t get really blown by the weather. They just continue, which was really reassuring to return to. And Pete, he’s maintained a real sense of himself. I just get on with him so well. I have fun being on set with him. Q: Do you remember the last day of shooting? OB: I do. I was shooting a scene I can’t tell you about, and Pete whacked on the music from The Lord of the Rings films – it was crazy, my last take. It was heart-in-your-mouth stuff. Q: How dedicated are the fans to this world, do you think? OB: I think the fans look at everything. They don’t just watch the film. They watch the extended version and then they watch the behind-the-scenes. They’re really dedicated. Pete is kind of a fan in his own right. That’s why he’s made a film for the fans as a fan. IN CINEMAS: THU 11 DEC
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