29 August 2013

New Zealand




New Zealand. Where the hell is Old Zealand?



Anyone who follows this blog regularly knows that I’m a big fan of the Dead C. A great band from Dunedin, New Zealand that I have posted before & will surely post again. I thought I’d post up something different here today. A couple other Kiwi acts that I also enjoy.

Dadamah was a short-lived group, started in Christchurch, New Zealand in 1990 & calling it quits in 1993. Members were Roy Montgomery – vocals & guitar, Janine Stagg – organ, synthesizer & backing vocals, Kim Pieters – vocals & bass, & Peter Stapleton – drums.



While Dadamah is often seen as another step along the way in the artistic path of Roy Montgomery, he'd be the first to disagree. He has stated: "I look back upon the Dadamah album as an exercise in weaving tunes into cacophony. The other members of the band had the energy & enthusiasm for experimentation, I had the ‘hooks’, to put it crudely…I had that at the back of my mind in trying to write tunes to go with the words & ideas of the other members."

Unlike the consistently aggro noise fests of the Dead C, Dadamah also draw on a generally more spare but no less compelling approach, positively shimmering with beautifully earthy lo-fi Velvets/ Pere Ubu sound. Roy Montgomery's droning guitars offset by Janine Stagg's gurgling synth woosh, stabbing organ-wheez, & possessed femme voice over, Kim Pieter's cavernous man-voice vocals weaving through the mix, with Peter Stapleton’s drums punching through into your waking nightmare, because this is not a dream.


Dadamah - This is not a Dream, Majora VPAG LP 5750, 1992.
decryption code in comments

Side One –

Limbo Swing
Papa Doc
Too Hot To Dry

Side Two –

Prove
Brian's Children
High Tension House

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Gydja is the name of the musical projects of Abby Helasdottir from Wellington, New Zealand. The project began with the aim of creating sounds that could be used for magickal & shamanic purposes. Her approach has since broadened, now creating music of both a mundane & a magickal nature. Works designed specifically for magickal use sit alongside explorations of sound for sound’s sake although some exploration of sound contain magickal themes, even if there is no practical magickal application intended.

This is an aesthetic exploration of dark & mysterious environments by a couple of talented, sensible, & unique visionaries who through their musical expression inspire us.

Ma-Mo Rbad Gtong was released by Chmafu Nocords in 2005. New Zealander Gydja here collaborates with Maru (Marufura Fufunjiru, an Austrian musician & founder of the Chmafu Nocords label) to create this amazing dark ambient sound. This is an aesthetic exploration of dark & mysterious environments by a couple of talented, sensible, & unique visionaries who through their musical expression inspire us.

It explores the four orders of Wrathful Goddesses encountered by the soul in the Bardo Thödol, or Tibetan Book of the Dead. The tracks bear the names of each of these orders: the eight Kerimas, the eight Htamenmas, the four female Door-keepers, & the twenty-eight Herukas. This mysterious release is constructed with multiple layers of analog sounds structured into minimalist soundscapes, where the vibe & the drones flows through an intangible space, penetrating in our skin, reaching our bloodstream, & sending an electrical current through our nerve synapses. The ritualistic sounds are used repetitively to infuse a contemplative stage of mind where momentarily we can abandon our physical body.


 Gydja & Maru – Ma-Mo Rbad Gtong, Chmafu Nocords, 2005. 
decryption code in comments

Tracklist –

Kerimas
Htamenmas
Doorkeepers
Herukas  

Enjoy,





8 comments:

  1. sorry but i dunno how to find your earlier Dead C postings. thanks so much for these. yes, I'm a fellow Kiwi fan. Poland is precisely on the opposite side of the globe, btw.

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    1. Feb 16, 2013 post is called How about Some New Electric Music? The easiest way is to just put the band name & request at Google: example..."Dead C on Nothin Sez Somethin" & Google will point the way.
      I have four others if you are interested. Just leave your e-mail address in a comment & I'll send you links to them. I won't post your email address.

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    2. Dadamah - This is Not a Dream
      c0CtAVnnD6D2rdauo4j4UqwntztCDq6SSvTdGACPTH4

      Gydja & Maru - Ma-Mo Rbad Gtong
      kIjet6gKkbI926_RMtWlWy8bCByNkimp6fK6lpznFZE

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  2. I spent some time in New Zealand and my flatmates turned me onto some stuff. Some songs from Jakob, nice instrumental guitar driven soundscapes from Napier https://soundcloud.com/jakobtheband/

    Concord Dawn offers various flavors of electronica, including a fun cover of Slayer's "Raining Blood" https://soundcloud.com/concord-dawn (the cover can be found on youtube)

    Like you I'm not that into hip-hop but Scribe (Samoan) had a huge hit, performance at Big Day Out for some Islander hip-hop example http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5lVdaWBjiLM

    But if you're gonna talk kiwis and islanders then as my Maori friend put it, Maori's love reggae.. so here's Katchafire, the Maori reggae band https://soundcloud.com/katchafire

    The one flatmate was hardcore into hardcore and the best thing I took away from the new band introductions was Kill Me Quickly but I'm having a hard time finding their stuff online http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vbzOj9kw568

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  3. old zealand is part of the Netherlands......and the Netherlands are in Europe, which is beyond the United Kingdom, way across the atlantic ocean, that is east of new york (which was called new-amsterdam btw and amsterdam is the capitol of the Netherlands......the Netherlands are in Europe..... etc

    many greetings, and just came to know and love your blog

    Richard

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    1. Welcome, Richard. I was being less than serious when I asked about Old Zealand. I think I was vaguely aware that Zealand was a name referencing the Netherlands. But why are they the nether lands? (Just joking again). If you visit this here blog enough, you'll probably figure out that I'm kinda GOOFY. It's true.

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    2. Thank you, I have looked at a lot of the above. slowly going back in time, following the worldtrip in reverse, and yes I have seen a bit of irony in your work, therefor I tried to use some myself, hope you noticed the circular event in my first comment.
      something else, I was strolling through some country-items where the islam ( and islam = hammer) is involved, well it happened as I read along. and I did not read along very far. I just concentrated on the main story and the main music.. and I enjoy that part enormously. So, now I have to go through, what I call the main body of the world music, that is Africa. Ihave a massive amount of dowloads of music from this huge continet. and ytou already did me a great favour with a so called special gift (13 7''s) beautiful.

      again Thank You Very Much greetings Richartd

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    3. I much enjoyed the subtle humor of your first comment here & tried to reply in kind. So happy that you are finding much to your liking.

      Leaving the comments open to nearly everyone & trying not to censor much (there are certain things that I will never publish in the comments, that's why I moderate them first, not wanting to stifle the freedom of opinion but drawing the line at certain incendiary or tasteless topics) sometimes brings controversy to the mix, which can be good or bad. The music & information is what I truly control, beyond that, take your chances.

      Thanks again for taking the time to let me know what's on your mind. It means the world (nyuck nyuck) to me.

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