Soot the moon

11 piece The Hot Grits deliver up a heaving slice of psychedelic soul with attitude on this track from their debut album It's Too Drunk To Be This Early. In what could be seen as a rallying cry to those alienated by recent elections, lead singer Barnie Duncan repeatedly proclaims "I am my own government motherf**ker" (either that or it's some kind of weird parody of Joe Stalin, it's heard to say). Regardless, it's a powerhouse of a song and never fails to bring the house down in a live performance. 

Make sure you check out the music video featuring The Grits protesting outside parliament and delivering up their political manifesto.

Buy album on Bandcamp

The Ballad of Joe Stalin

Hailing from the slums and ghettos of Auckland, New Zealand (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. Benka’s globetrotting voice sings in a wide variety of languages, with lyrics in Russian, Greek, Serbian, Romani, Arabic, Hebrew, Spanish, English and more. If references are necessary, they sound like Tom Waits, Shane McGowan and Franz Kafka drunk too much vodka and thought they were in 1950′s Yugoslavia.

The Crack of Doom is a Tiger Lillies cover and features on the Benka Boradovsky Bordello Band's second album Polkapocalypse. Look out for Benka's trademark chest-slapping solo towards the end...

This track is also available on the Monkey Records compilation, Gypsy Fever featuring 12 of the best East European influenced bands in New Zealand and Australia. 

The Crack of Doom

Third single from the debut self-titled EP by Auckland based producer Cinema 90 featuring vocals from Mimsy Cable. 

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 style of music, heralding the beginnings of a sound now recognisable 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.

While references may be made to Massive Attack, Tricky and Moby and the EP exhibits an unabashed homage to 90’s trip hop (hence the 90 in the moniker perhaps), this is music for your heart, soul and ears and this release seems sure to mark Cinema 90 as an artist to watch.


World You Are (feat. Mimsy Cable)

Berlin-based alt-pop trio The Major Pins present their debut single Robots.

The Major Pins are German musician and songwriter Katharina Garden on piano and guitar, New York drummer Henry Grant and Paul B Keeves from Birmingham playing electric bass. From their humble beginnings The Major Pins have been wowing an increasing number of music lovers and are seeking to spread their wings.

The music video for Robots was filmed at the legendary GDR (East German) broadcast studios in Berlin.

Robots is the first single to be released from the debut album by The Major Pins out now: http://www.monkeyrecords.com/album/the-major-pins-roundabout/




Robots

Niko Ne Zna are New Zealand’s very own authentic Balkan Gypsy brass extravaganza. With a history that goes back 7 years, this 8 piece band has evolved into a true Gypsy juggernaut stunning audiences everywhere they go with their thrillingly energetic and dynamic performances. Now, finally their long anticipated debut album Renegade Brass Bandits is here. 

After a few lineup changes over the years and the introduction of additional brass the current lineup is undoubtedly the best yet and has been driving audiences wild for the past 2 years. There’s even some more authentic Eastern-European blood in the band with percussionist Vlatko Materic joining bandleader and founding member Frankie Curac. After years of being instrumental, the addition of vocalist Nikkie Rich a couple of years ago helped take it to a new level and here she sings in Serbo-Croatian, Roma Gypsy and Greek. The album consists of seven originals and three traditional songs that will take you across the Balkans with a kiwi flavor. 

Niko Ne Zna have played extensively around New Zealand having undertaken three national tours and performed for the Wellington City Council, The Wellington Fringe Festival, International Jazz Festival, Cuba Street Carnival, the Festival of Lights in New Plymouth, Prana Festival and Taranaki Arts Festival and have been a staple of the Wellington music scene with regular performances all over the city.


Due to the great response we've had to the posting of "Puti Puti Pai" by Ishta, here is another track from their debut self-titled album. 

Ishta's sound evolved over time into an uplifting blend of Eastern and Western influences with the funky bass grooves of Monsieur Escargot, soulful sitar playing by Rob Croft, stirring sax and flute arrangements by Ben Campbell and Trudi Lile, virtuosic tabla playing by Basant Madhur and the soaring, sensual vocals of Josephine Costain.

The two main songwriters, Josephine Costain and Rob Croft both have Maori ancestry and are firmly connected to this land and its people. Their uplifting songs bring a positive message of unity and celebration of life expressed not just in English but also in Maori, Spanish and Arabic. The other members of the band originally come from India, France and Israel and their respective contributions help make the Ishta sound truly international.

REVIEWS

Listening to this multiculti outfit from Auckland qualifies you for frequent flyer points: the line-up has musicians from Dutch, Kiwi, Israeli, Indian and French backgrounds; and the instrumental artillery on display includes sitar, saxophone, didgeridoo, guitar, flute and double bass. All of which could make for an unworkable implosion of world fusion, if it weren't for the keen sensibilities on display.
When the eight-minute second track - Butterfly - takes flight around the midpoint in a maelstrom of flute, sitar and tabla drums (with didgeridoo offering guttural sonic punctuation), it makes for a thrilling and heady brew. The interplay of sax and sitar brings to mind the most gutsy passages on Ali Akbar Khan and John Handy's 1975 album Karuna Supreme.
They are equally impressive in quieter moments (De La Tierra and Drop the Soap which suggest the Indo-jazz group Oregon, Muhashaba featuring the entrancing vocals of Josephine Costain) and the folk-pop of Ramjhula. * * * * (four stars) – The Herald

Ishta really is something else. They are a band shockingly reflective of New Zealand’s ever-changing and increasingly multicultural society. Picture an uplifting blend of eastern and western influences, eclectic world fusion music, styles spanning from down tempo to roots/dub and venturing through lounge. I was instantly entranced by this music. Sitar, double bass, flute, sax, guitar, didge, percussion and vocals wrap around each other and flow over then under like a strange musical waterfall. I could really go into detail on this release, but words are of the essence. Recorded at Monkey Studios in Karekare... Ishta is essential listening for fans of local artists such as Rhian Sheehan, Max Maxwell, Bluey and the whole NZ ambient/world music movement. – NZ Musician

Recorded and produced by Nigel Braddock

De La Tierra

Only One I Need is the fourth single to be released from Chris Hurn's debut album Too Busy Dreamin'.

Chris Hurn is a twenty-two year old folk-pop singer/songwriter from Lower Hutt, New Zealand. After playing in various local bands, including Play it Strange 2007 national competition winners The Lunch Box Boys, a 60’s style indie-pop band, he discovered a love for folk music and decided to go solo in late 2009.

Inspired by the likes of Paul Simon, Bob Dylan, Nick Drake and Leonard Cohen he began to write a collection of songs that would soon become his first album. Although heavily influenced by his folk heroes, he draws upon a wide range of genres and styles of music. As well as having a soft spot for modern pop and rock, Chris has spent a considerable amount of time soaking up 60′s pop groups, notably The Mamas and the Papas, The Beatles and the Kinks.

Coming from a multi-instrumental background, Chris commenced his musical endeavours at a young age with the piano and a cheap plastic recorder. His first album is heavily based around the acoustic guitar but whistles, clicks, claps, harmonica and harmonies also play a big part in the sound. Astonishingly, Chris plays all the instruments on his debut as well as mixing and producing it himself. His lyric-writing reveals a world-wise maturity beyond his years and coupled with his knack for writing highly catchy melodies, he seems sure to secure himself a place amongst a rising new generation of young singer/songwriters.

Too Busy Dreamin’ was recorded in 2010 in his Lower Hutt home studio, and mastered by Dave Cooley (Serge Gainsbourg, Polyphonic Spree) in LA.

When not playing folk music, Chris works as a composer writing orchestral based scores for video games and films.


REVIEW

While owing a clear debt to Paul Simon, the young Dylan, early Donovan and others in the acoustic singer-songwriter category, this young guy from Lower Hutt just north of Wellington, New Zealand brings a pop sensibility to his writing (the openers here Whatcha Got and Only One I Need hook you immediately) and often a deliberately light touch (whistles, handclaps). Maybe that is in part due to his background: He played in a pop-rock band The Lunch Box Boys which won the Play It Strange award in 2007 (which means he must have been about 17 at the time). Since then he discovered folk and that lineage of singer-songwriters and has struck out on his own. What is attractive about Hurn is that rather than indulging in melancholy miserablism which the idiom so often invites from a young and emotionally anxious performer, he has a sharp ear for a melodic hook and that he keeps each song distinctive. He also has an inviting, warm and believable voice which is persuasive when he get reflective (All I Really Want) or urgent (An Honest Man) as much as taking you along for a ride when the musical mood gets more breezy (Love and Silly Little Things with ukulele, whistling and la-la-la backing vocals). The closer is an ambitious, eight minute-plus Thank You and Goodnight which might also be his built-in encore... you will be hearing more of him, that's for sure. - Graham Reid, Elsewhere


Only One I Need

Australian-born Polish singer Nadya Golski spent time as a teenager in Papua New Guinea, living with the Gamuga Roglombo tribesmen. Her first release on Monkey is in a Papua New Guinean language with a balkan feel being remixed by Paris-based DJ Click.

Golski divides her time between Australia and Europe and Nadya and she and her musicians have performed at many festivals worldwide including Montreux Jazz Festival, Edinburgh Fringe, Sziget Festival, WomAdelaide and Woodford Folk Festival.

She has several albums to her name, some of which will be re-released on Monkey in the coming months. 

Woipa Woipa originally featured on her album Mezza Luna but is also included on the recently released compilation Gypsy Fever which celebrates the Eastern European music scene in Australia and New Zealand.


Woipa Woipa (DJ Click remix)

Distant Dreams and Morning Stars is from Inkadies, the latest solo album by dream-pop folk artist John White. As a follow up to Balloon Adventure (2000) and Mogwash (2003), The Inkadies might be described as the third instalment of tales from a delicate otherland where little creatures called Inkadies come to save the day.

The album was recorded in Madison, Wisconsin by friend and fellow singer/songwriter, Tom Hanson. Gathering guest musician’s from Madison’s lush music scene, the album boasts chiming harmonies and dripping Synth accompaniments underneath John’s dreamily relaxed vocals and gently strummed acoustic guitar

John White is also the frontman for seminal Dunedin fuzz-pop band Mëstar and shoegazing, distorted pop band The Blueness.

REVIEW

“The Inkadies” is the soundtrack to that glorious half-asleep period that we get before sleep - full of strange imaginations and warmth. Beautiful stuff, and an oh-so-welcome return from the talented Mr White."
- Cheese on Toast

Listen to album

Distant Dreams and Morning Stars

Paris is a lilting ode to that great city inspired by Bond Street Bridge's visit there in 2010.

Bond Street Bridge is the solo project of Auckland-based multi-instrumentalist and songwriter Sam Prebble. Since the release of first album The Mapamaker’s Art, Prebble has been busy, touring extensively in New Zealand, Australia and Europe and playing shows everywhere from dive bars to art galleries and festival stages. As well as his solo work as Bond Street Bridge, Prebble plays violin, mandolin and guitar for Reb Fountain and the Bandits and the Hannah Curwood Band, and is a long-standing member of Auckland folk-pop group The Broken Heartbreakers. In 2010, he hit the road in Europe, touring first with Tim Guy and then as stand-in violinist for Berlin-based NZ psychedelic post-rock ensemble An Emerald City. Along the way he has played shows alongside North American psychedelic heavyweights Black Mountain and the Black Angels, New York art-pop duo The Books, and Californian alt-folksters The Mountain Goats.

Despite his involvement in this range of other projects, Prebble kept Spring Summer Awesome Winter a resolutely solo affair. He worked on the album in spare moments over a period of two years in between stints of touring and recording projects with other bands, capturing the whole thing with one microphone on an old laptop in the lounge or bedroom of a succession of tumbledown central Auckland villas. Crafting the record from the ground up, Prebble wrote the songs, played all the instruments, and engineered the recordings, involving other people only at the mixing and mastering stages. At that point Jamie Newman (Cinema 90) came on board as mixing engineer, and together they took the tracks to a studio in a barn north of Auckland, where Newman worked magic and made them sparkle.

The solo approach gave Prebble the freedom to experiment with sounds and arrangements, producing a collection of songs that is at once intimate and unique. Using a sonic palette consisting of fingerpicked acoustic guitars, lush strings, chiming mandolins and glockenspiels, warm vocal harmonies and analogue synthesisers, antique organs and pianos, and found-sound beats from staple-guns and key-rings washed out with rich reverbs and tape delays, he created intricate soundscapes to surround his trademark wry observational lyrics. These songs tell stories from the fantastical to the mundane: love and distance, storms at sea and the crying of the gulls, history, memory, loss and wasted youth, getting to bed on time so you won’t be tired in the morning, and the feeling that any minute now somebody’s going to realise you’re bluffing. As the title suggests, most of the songs on the album deal with the passing of time and the changing of seasons in various ways. 

Paris

Shoot the Moon is a personal and intimate song written in a state of digesting lost love and is the second single to be released from The Major Pins debut album Roundabout.

"Composing music can be a wonderful healthy and cleansing process," states The Major Pins' singer and songwriter Katharina Garden.

Put together by songwriter and film editor Jonas Dahl with whom she also performs in a duo this old footage from 1953 was taken from the film "Catwomen of the Moon" and shows a strong and feministic world relating very well to the content of the song. In the end love wins over sanity - almost always like in real life!

Check out the retro sci-fi music video here: http://youtu.be/aTc9wqXLxi4

Soot the moon

Ploymoon'