RUMOURS

Rip It Up, Issue 237, 1 May 1997, Page 33

RUMOURS

Auckland Cicada launch their debut album, Soup Sonic, at @Luna on May 17, with the Snitches and Caneslide also in attendance ... Bressa Greeting Cake have postponed their May album tour, and have no live shows planned for the nearfuture ... Artspace held their reopening party on April 19 at their new premises at 300 K' Road, and a fortnight of events included the unveiling of the Sharp Moving Image Lounge, and the Relaypresented event The Minutes ... every Thursday in May,: Papa Jacks in Vulcan Lane. hosts The Drum Pit, a night of “wicked live drumming and percussion”, plus guest DJs, and audience participation is encouraged. Call (09)358 4847 for more info ... Dead Flowers have been remixing their next two singles at Revolver Studios with Eddie Rayner... Bizarre Beats has shifted out of Space Your Face, and is now situated at Virus, 161 K’ Road ... ; Chicane have a new drummer, Adrian Bergman (also in Canis), and the former • Christchurch trio are playing at Kings Arms on May 15 .... Saama Productions is a new agency established to promote “the evolving, innovative and cutting edge new talent coming out of this country”. Their ' first showcase gig took place on May 2 at the Loft in Customs Street, and featured

Mesh and Ma-V-Elle. More events are promised soon ... Bevan Sweeney has left the Headless Chickens due to “personal differences”, ' < according to Flying Nun ... New Plymouth skate-punks Kitsch have relocated to Auckland. Band contact is Pat Fife, (09)379 8853 ...Hangar 18 have completed constructing their recording studio in West Auckland, and are working to finish an album ... heats begin in June for the . third annual Hatching Battle of the Bands at @Luna, culminating in the all-ages grand final at the Powerstation on November 15. Over $20,000 worth of prizes are on offer, including studio time and musical equipment. Entry '• forms (closing date May 21) are available from @Luna, Kingsley Smith, or phone organiser Rayna Duncan on (025)736 736. JOHN RUSSELL New Plymouth JO’s Nightclub are hosting a North Island battle of the bands competition, beginning in June. Battle of the Musical Mechanicians is open to all local unreleased bands or i artists. Closing date for entries is June 21 and there is an entry fee of S4O. First prize is $5,000 worth of studio time at Auckland’s York Street. Write to PO Box 8163, New Plymouth, for entry forms ...

Benzine have released a wonderful Geraldine-manufac-tured, ten-inch, five-song piece of plastic, which fea- ■ tures Peter Jefferies guesting on keyboards ... new additions to the Mushroom Ball line-up are Wretched Skinny, Toxic Avengers, Monkey Puzzle, the Nod, and Pushkin. Also appearing is II Miasma (readers of Opprobbrium might recall the name), which is Paul H Lonsdale/Paul Guilford, recently of Texas, now of New Plymouth. For more Ball info, write to PO Box 407, New Plymouth. BRIAN WAFER Wellington It’s business as usual at Radio Active, with the station getting involved with the Shihad show happening May 16 at the Union Hall with .. Salmonella Dub and the Letterbox Lambs ... new local indie Wrong Records are releasing a compilation in June featuring 12 NZ bands, including Sugar Bug, Squirm, Cane Slide and Hawaii Five0. For more info contact PO Box 12430, Wellington ... in studio news, The Wormhole is currently finishing a project for Waterside, recording a single for Cattle and completing aCD from live perfor- ’ mance recorded at the Fringe Festival for Alan Brunton, Jonathan Besser and the Free Word Band. Mediate Music -

has Breakfast of Champions lined up for a demo, and is also recording material for ■ Cierron Haggerty. Marmalade is working on albums for the Songdogs and Trixx. They currently have a three-month special being offered on their A studio at $65 per hour including engineer. Peter Jamison at OMW has just completed the first known recording of a traditional Chinese Guzhene for a CD to be released on the Taiwan market. Also at OMW, Axis Mundi have done three tracks towards an album ... Paul Traiggs has a new band called Poultice, and Andrew Tolley’s new band is called Hustler. Look out for the debut show from these bands at Bodega on June 13 ... Hole in the Wall has instigated a free band night every Thursday (joy to the world, the band gets paid and the public get in free). The bar will be hosting Hot and Flustered— 70s and 80s retro night, featuring DJs Jimmy Future, D Jonah, Rebel Yell, Mr Scott and Tee Pee. Also coming up is the Satina Saturnina vinyl release party ... any Rumours, drop a line to PO Box 27186, Wellington. / . , ALLAN CLARK Nelson

Killtrain, Aramuk Muffin, Rapata, the Poppies and Lavia will all have songs featured on German label

Noiseworks second compilation, Noisy land 2, being pressed in France later this month and distributed throughout Europe. Yellow Bike bands Lung, CUNT and Baldman will also have tracks featured ... plans for the July Zine Festival are progressing well, with a group of welders, kinetic sculptors and electronics fanatics working on a Survival Research Laboratories-style robotics destruction performance • night, which will also feature live and techno music, short films, video and experimental lighting. Bands from out of town interested in being part of the festival should contact Dave at the Arts Centre (03)546 6918 (day) ... the Easter skate-gig managed to generate the usual small-town controversy with noise control confiscating the PA. The bands struggled on in near freezing conditions, all credit to Mindset, Dispatch, Viper Fur Chicks, Killtrain, Cranium, 12 Colors — Wonderful, and Lippid ... another all-ages gig is planned for Richmond Town Hall on June 20 ... any details for this column call (03)846 6918. DAVE WHITE Dunedin New Zealand Music Week on Radio One included a swag of (well, 10) live-to-airs from such luminaries as Suka,

Sugar Bug, the Lonesome Throats, Sandoz Lab Technicians and drum ’n’ bass guru Gastro ... .Yellow Eye Records have four new ; releases out now: Cynthia Should, Mutton-, Syzygy Creative Music Ensemble, Tongue Grooves', T&D Bigger Band, Hillingdon-, and Brouhaha, Livelong. Write to PO Box 6173, North Dunedin, for details ... quasi- . . prog/space/crazy outfit Humania are gearing up for an album release. This follows a few months of hard gigging (like 10 shows in two weeks), including one in the Octagon during the Dunedin Festival, along with Whole Peeled ... David Kilgour is off to tour the States in June with recent visitor Barbara Manning ... Tailgater Studios (late of Wellington) is now operating from a bright yellow building down on the waterfront, run by Paddy of Sugarbug. This should fill the gap left by the demise of /. other studios in the area ... Chug will have their second album Metaton released in the USA on Alias, simultaneously with its local release ... Nelson’s Decay Dance make their way down here midMay, promoting their mini album; then there’s the mighty Shihad later in the month ... for wild gossip and rumour mongering, call the hotline; (03)479 5336 (day).

GAVIN BERTRAM