Since their inception in late 2005, Auckland band An Emerald City have strived for musical experimentation and liberation. Organic instrumentation and sounds of the east meet psychedelia with guitars and violin are at the centre of this original and unique 6 piece. From their debut self-titled ep.


Buy 

An Emerald City - Qing Song

Onelung conjures up mind-bending electronic goodness to delight your aural cavities. This mysteriously named track is from his fourth album 'Binary Pop Songs' available from monkeyrecords.com. 

Onelung - Banana Jelly Tower

Hailing from the slums and ghettos of Auckland (the Prague of the South), The Benka Boradovsky Bordello band is a highly theatrical musical group specialising in music of Eastern European, Gypsy and Jewish flavour, along with some Western European influences. With music ranging from old to new, originals to standards, vocal to instrumental; they are remarkable in their ability to get everyone up and dancing, regardless of age, musical taste, or level of drunkenness. 

The Benka Boradovsky Bordello Band - The Dance of Death

The second single from 12 piece New Zealand psychedelic soul orchestra The Hot Grits is a momentous tumbling late night blinder. The music video for this track was controversially banned by state broadcaster TVNZ - the first video to be banned in NZ since 1988. Watch it here: http://www.monkeyrecords.com/monkey/2008/07/07/the-hot-grits-headlights.
Headlights is from The Hot Grits' debut album 'It's Too Drunk to be this Early'.

The Hot Grits - Headlights

Cinema 90’s story begins in 1999, with Auckland based producer Jamie Newman creating electronic dance music on a basic tracker program on his home computer.  After having dj’d electronic dance music of every genre (house, techno, electro, breaks, trance, dnb, hip hop and downbeat) since 1996, his initial direction in writing music was very much four-to-the-floor focused.  In 2001, under the moniker dj me, he released an ep of tech-house and breaks entitled ‘Shake Your Shit’. 

In 2003, after music equipment began to seriously dominate his apartment, Jamie set up a studio in central Auckland, under the fledgling community radio station Fleet FM.  With the constant thoroughfare of artists, musicians and creative types, Jamie fast began incorporating live recording into the mix.  With this change in process came a different sounding music, heralding the beginnings of a sound now recognizable as Cinema 90.  Fusing elements of hip hop, electro, soul, electronica, house, downbeat and folk, Cinema 90’s focus is on quality music without the limitations of an umbrella genre.

Six years and three studios later, Cinema 90 is on the cusp of releasing their debut EP through Auckland based record label Monkey Records.  Cinema 90 are currently working on their debut album, and cooking up ways to present their multi-layered music to dance-floors across the globe!


Cinema 90 - Sunny Day Juice

In late January 2010, Niko Ne Zna unleashed their debut self titled ep which consists of delicious arrangements of five traditional and original Gypsy tunes. Now sold out on CD, it is only available digitally.

Comprising trumpet, saxophone, accordion, trombone, sousaphone, drums and percussion, Niko Ne Zna are a truly authentic ensemble. They can roam while playing, and enchant the audience into dancing, singing, clapping and stomping all night long. The band consists of some of Wellington’s finest instrumentalists who come from a wide array of musical backgrounds that unite together to produce a cocktail that will make your ears rise to attention and your feet move in a frenzy. Their music is high energy with dark undertones and sexy gypsy style. Niko Ne Zna are a world class act with exotic tunes, fantastic grooves and exciting solos.

The band have played extensively around New Zealand with performances at The Wellington Fringe Festival, International Jazz Festival, Cuba Street Carnival, Wellington Summer City Festival, Prana Festival and Taranaki Arts Festival to name but a few and have been a staple of the Wellington music scene with regular performances all over the city.

Press Quotes

“It’s easy to forget where you are when you listen to these hypnotic melodies. It’s like being dropped amongst the hot and spicy lands of a country far away - to a place where you can free yourself with these infectious and wild beats that take their influence from the gypsy-soaked Balkan States.” wellingtonlivemusic.com

“Niko Ne Zna serve up authentic and twisted gypsy goodness on this eponymous EP. Complete with sax, sousaphone, trumpet, trombone, accordion, percussion and drums, this is a band that came to party. Balkan time signatures, funky brass bass lines, exotic melodies, it's all good.” NZ Musician

“The group's jaunty carnival-style sound translates surprisingly well to disc, with trombone, sousaphone, sax and accordion all vying for attention as the songs spiral riotously outward from a core riff before being reined back in again.” Otago Daily Times

“Driving rhythms… an intoxicating effect” Taranaki Daily News

“Gypsy good times…” Rit It Up Magazine

“ … this is straight to the dancefloor” Elsewhere
credits



Niko Ne Zna - Kustino Cupeck

Monkey Records is pleased to announce the release of a summery little gem from Auckland artist Bond Street Bridge.  The new song ‘Birds’ is the first single from Bond Street Bridge’s forthcoming sophomore album, due for release late 2010 following on from the critically acclaimed The Mapmaker’s Art released in 2008.

In this catchy wee number, Bond Street Bridge, aka Sam Prebble, reflects on the mating habits of New Zealand’s paradise shelduck, Tadorna variegata.  These striking brown-and-white ducks  generally mate for life, and pairs are a common sight in open country in New Zealand.

Prebble says ‘I spend a lot of time driving around the country for shows and whatnot, and anthropomorphising the wildlife is a good way to pass the time.  I have to concede that the birds in this song are probably not really in love, but based on the way they tend to sort of sit next to each other and not really say much, they sure look like they are.’

Buy album on Bandcamp

Bond Street Bridge - Birds

Monkey Records is proud to present Whatcha Got, the first single from a major new songwriting talent - Chris Hurn. In this infectious debut, Chris reminds us that despite all our day-to-day problems and worries, it’s important to appreciate the little things in life and that quite often “you just don’t know whatcha got”. From his debut album Too Busy Dreamin'.

LYRICS

it's too easy to tumble on yourself
comforting to hang on to old books on the shelf
with easy destinations, without weary knees
everybody knows what it looks like
but how does it feel

(instr.)

you give me wrongs
get you rights,
tell me everythin' you need
but you just dont know 
whatcha got

well you're busy flippin' papers thinkin' over what you're makin'
thinkin' over what you're not
it's your disease of the soul 
chippin' your mind of control
well these bones are for breakin'
livin' underneath your clothes
you got it all, you got a lot,
more than most people ever come to know

you give me wrongs
get you rights,
tell me everythin' you need
but you just dont know 
whatcha got

(bridge)

you give me wrongs
get you rights,
tell me everythin' you need 
but you jus don't know
whatcha got

Before the needle hits the sun
when you're countin' every step til the day is done
take your time, take it slow, drink your wine
well use your hands, use your eyes, hold someone

you give me wrongs
get you rights,
tell me everythin' you need x 3
but you just don't know
whatcha got

oh you just don't know whatcha got
mm you just don't know whatcha got
oh you just don't know whatcha got


Chris Hurn - Whatcha Got

I met Charity Children when they were busking at Mauerpark late summer 2011. I offered to record an EP for them which then turned into an album. I brought in about a dozen other musicians including horn players, string players, percussionists and a childrens choir to fill out their sound. The recording was done in their apartment in Kreuzberg over a period of three months and then it was mixed in the Masterlab Studios with Andreas Balaskas coming on as co-producer. Elizabeth, the first single, was finally released mid-February 2013. The trombone and sousaphone are courtesy of some guys from Beat n' Blow and the trumpet is by my mate and longtime collaborator Kingsley Melhuish from New Zealand who just happened to be in town when we were recording. 

Charity Children - Elizabeth

Nigel Braddock (producer)

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