NZ Music in Oz - December News

NZ Music in Oz - December News
http://nzmusic.org.nz

December 2004 - NZ Music In Australia

Time for an end of year wrap-up of what's been going on in Oz recently. In the New Year we will be putting together some facts and figures for the whole of 2004, in the meantime, here are the most recent bits & pieces:

The 2004 Vodafone NZ Music Awards, held in September, are to be broadcast on music television station Channel V on January 2nd. This will mark the first time the event has been screened internationally, with this year's awards featuring performances from several artists making inroads into the Aussie market.

One of the awards' stars, Scribe, recently celebrated his debut album 'The Crusader' going gold in Australia, selling over 35,000 copies. 'The Crusader' is currently sitting at number 9 on the national Urban Album chart, while current single 'Dreaming' is number 6 on the Urban Singles chart. Taking a look at the regular Top 50 chart, 'Dreaming' is sitting at number 27 after debuting at number 24 two weeks ago, and looks set to camp out in night play at radio the same way the last two singles did - currently 2nd on the chart for nights, 45th overall. Scribe's set at Homebake was touted as one of the highlights of the day, receiving rave reviews for the performance in front of some 7000 punters.

Speaking of Homebake, The D4 played to a crowd of 3000 at the festival, as well as a couple of well-received shows in Melbourne at the start of the month.

Their new single 'Sake Bomb' was the most-added track on alternative radio the week it was sent out to programmers, 4th on alt chart overall, and 19th most added at all Aussie radio. What this means is that plenty of stations are picking up the song and video channels are doing the same, with the clip getting heaps of airplay.

And finally on the Homebake front, Die! Die! Die! are generating label buzz following their appearance and additional touring that has taken place this year.

Evermore's 'It's Too Late' is the biggest NZ success story in Australia for the year - the only NZ song to crack the Top 100 radio chart for the year at a very respectable number 54. The first single from their debut album 'Dreams', 'It's Too Late' has had a great shelf life, still receiving loads of radio airplay, sitting at 38 on the singles chart, and being used as the bed for 'The O.C.' promos on TV, of all things. The band have two other songs airing at present, 'Know It's True' is on music TV nationwide, while Evermore's new single 'For One Day' spent two weeks at number one on the Triple J Net 50, and has a video screening too. Evermore won the punter number game, too, playing to approximately 120,000 people at the Newtown Festival.

Loop Select 005 was released in October to outstanding reviews. Simply retitled 'Good Shit Happens' for the Australian market, the DVD/CD compilation has received airplay on a number of radio stations. In Melbourne the visual content featured as part of 'Fantastic Voyage', a NZ short film festival, held at Chapel St's Revolver in October and featured guest performers The Upbeats, Jet Jaguar and Dreadford and Sam from Shapeshifter.

The Upbeats' subsequent Sydney show set fire to message boards and drew a solid crowd. The gig also featured Kiwi drum & bass MC Antic, in his first show back since returning from a year in Bristol where he performed with Tali and the Full Cycle crew.

Sad news from a little earlier this year: October also saw the tragic passing of Kieren Smyth aka MC Kray; one of Sydney's major drum & bass protagonists, who was born in the UK but grew up in Auckland. Kieren recorded vocals and performed many times with Salmonella Dub, was a key member of local live dub d&b band The Baggsmen and had an uncompromising dedication to keeping the local scene real. Kieren is sadly missed.

Pitch Black released their 3rd album 'Ape to Angel' nationally via Inertia. The video for 'Lost in Translation' is being featured weekly on national music show Rage.

P-Money's '3,2,1 Remix' has gone to radio, the accompanying video being picked up by music television channels Rage and Club [V]. His Magic City album is due to be released in January.

The Fast Crew have been picked up by Warner Music for Australia (and Asian territories). Their debut single 'I Got' will reach radio in the first week back next year, and will be available at retail around February.

Shihad's new single 'Alive' has just hit Triple J, and the band have shows lined up for February.

Greg Johnson has just signed a deal with ABC Records (distributed by Universal) in Australia that will see 'Beautiful Storm' released as the first single in March, with his album slated for May.

Goldenhorse's first Australian shows went well, culminating in a packed Melbourne gig at the Espy. The band plan to go back again early next year.

Brooke Fraser played a series of shows through Melbourne, Adelaide, Brisbane, and Newcastle in early December.

goodshirt's 'Cement' can by heard on Planetrock radio, the video being picked up by Channel 10 Video Hits amongst others.

Mareko featuring Dawn Raid Allstars' 'Hook Up' video is screening on Rage, while his 'Stop Drop 'N' Roll' video has been added to Video Hits Uncut.

Salmonella Dub's 'Longtime' video is airing on Rage.

One Million Dollars have been confirmed for gigs in Australia in February to support the release of their album 'Energy State'.

Demand for Te Vaka is also hotting up in Australia for 2005. - They have received invitations to the Gold Coast in January, and Brisbane, Byron Bay and Sydney in March.

And finally, if you liked 'Montego Bay', longtime ex-pat and more recently ex-INXS singer Jon Stevens has a new album 'Ain't No Life For the Faint Hearted'. The first single is 'I See You Around'.

For more information on any of these artists, please contact their NZ labels:

Scribe, P Money Dirty Records/FMR

The D4 Flying Nun/FMR

Die! Die! Die! unsigned (www.diediedie.net)

Evermore Warner Music

The Upbeats Loop

Jet Jaguar various (www.nonwrestler.com)

Shapeshifter Truetone/Rhythmethod

Salmonella Dub Virgin

Pitch Black Kog

Fast Crew Akrite/Universal

Shihad Warners

Greg Johnson EMI Music

Goldenhorse Siren/EMI Music

Brooke Fraser Sony

goodshirt Concrete/EMI Music

Mareko Dawn Raid

One Million Dollars Sugarlicks

Te Vaka King Music

Jon Stevens Circle Music

ENDS

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