The Black Seeds - Keep On Pushing

LOOP RECORDINGS AOT(EAR)OA

Long-time live favourites in their home town of Wellington and in dancehalls around the country, capital city skankers The Black Seeds are pleased to present their much anticipated debut album, Keep On Pushing. A simmering selection of original roots rock reggae, Keep On Pushing serves up a winter warmer of good vibes guaranteed to get the country smiling. With influences drawn from the rich history of Jamaican music, and a uniquely Antipodean outlook, The Black Seeds continue a time-honoured tradition of home grown Aotearoa roots music of the highest grade, following in the footsteps of trailblazing forefathers Herbs and current favourites Salmonella Dub.

Formed in 1998, The Black Seeds soon stood out as Welly's ultimate good time party band, setting local joints jumping with their irie grooves and smooth skanking moves. A regular fixture on Wellington's live music scene, the band have headlined the city's annual One Love Waitangi Day celebrations (honouring reggae superstar Bob Marley), hit the beaches for summer style outdoor excursions, and warmed dancefloors up and down the country's East Coast, transforming crowds into sweaty throngs as they dance their sorrows away. Sporadic releases have likewise found favour with roots fans nation wide - the Workshop dub remix of "Keep On Pushing" (included on the album) topped several b.net stations' listener-voted charts and reached the number 2 slot of the country's Alternative Radio Chart in the first half of 2000 after appearing on LOOP Magazine's cover CD. More recently, an album-previewing dub deconstruction of "Dance Dance" was picked by many as the highlight of Kog Transmissions' second Dub Combinations compilation, and cemented The Black Seeds' position as one of Aotearoa's leading live reggae outfits (aside from an appearance by chart-toppers Salmonella Dub, the collection's other tracks were all produced by studio-based projects, and lacked the Seeds' full band flavour).

Recorded by resident Black Seeds sound engineer "Dr" Lee Prebble at Wellington's Marmalade Studios, Keep On Pushing collects live favourites and deep dubs from the group's well worn-in repertoire. Rich instrumentation and a full sound (fleshed out by a multitude of added musicians) ride a positive vibe throughout, bringing out the best of The Black Seeds' sing-along hits and adding texture to dubwise version excursions. Opening on a good groove, "Dance Dance" sets the tone with uplifting horns, bubbly organs and a booming bassline, and vocalist Barnaby Weir inviting listeners to join the band in "dance, dance, dancing the night away". That rough and tough Workshop dub of the album's title track begins ominously, but again carries a positive message - "You've got to keep on pushing". "Sit There" picks up the pace with an uptempo ska shuffle, and "Black Sunrise" dips back into a darker mood, soon lifted by the light and lovely rocksteady rhythms of "You Wait". Wellington musician Mike Fabulous transforms "In Your Eyes" with the album's second dubwise remix, setting vocal snippets and a sweet little glockenspiel solo reverberating across a sea of percussion. "What We Need" weighs in with a wholesome heavyweight beat and another pick-me-up message of self-affirmation. Past Radio Active 89FM favourite "Little Atoms" is reworked and revitalised, before "Hey Son" ventures into new rhythmic territory - an intro of heavily processed flutes gives way to a minimally arranged digital dancehall shuffle, which mid-song slips seemlessly into a full band boogie of the funkiest variety. Closing things out is "Coming Back Home" - one last live favourite laid on tape for continual home enjoyment.

Chock full of solid grooves and positive vibrations, The Black Seeds' Keep On Pushing will keep booties moving right through the winter months, warming hearts and soothing souls with its uplifting vibes. And from there it's onwards and upwards into another summer - setting crowds skanking with their wholesome home grown goodness.

RELEASE DATE: 29 June 2001
Catalogue Number: LP002
Available through Border Distribution

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Catch The Black Seeds live across the country on their Album Release
Tour:
(Further North and South Island dates to follow)

FRIDAY JUNE 29: Album Release Party, Indigo Bar, Wellington (with DJ
Duke Willis and MC Mighty Asterix)

THURSDAY JULY 12: Hamilton (venue TBC)
FRIDAY JULY 13: Live performance on Space - TV2, 10:30pm
SATURDAY JULY 14: Kings Arms, Auckland

THURSDAY 26 JULY: Shadows, Auckland University
FRIDAY 27 JULY: Auckland University Quad (lunchtime performance) AND
Hamilton (venue TBC)
SATURDAY 28 JULY: Brewers, Mount Maunganui

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