SONGS OF THE MAORI

Te Ao Hou, 1972, Page 61

SONGS OF THE MAORI Te Wai Pounamu Maori Girls' College Kiwi Stereo/Mono SLC-86 12 in. LP 3 ⅓ r.p.m. Records of Maori all-girl groups have always been popular, and over the years a number of well known Maori colleges have been featured, including St Joseph's Maori Girls' College at Greenmeadows, Hukarere College at Napier, and Queen Victoria School from Auckland. Now another

equally renowned college goes on record with this offering from Te Wai Pounamu Maori Girls' College at Christchurch. Te Wai Pounamu is the only boarding school for Maori girls in the South Island but its attendance is by no means confined to South Islanders. Girls from all over New Zealand attend Te Wai Pounamu because of its standard of teaching of Maori language and culture. The majority of the girls attending the college participate in concert party and other Maori cultural activities. The result of their labours is heard on this recording. It is a good one. There is of considerable interest. One must avoid some fine singing and the items featured are carping criticism I know, but after listening to the record I could not but help grieve a little for the fact that it could so easily have been even better and I am inclined to put more than half the blame on Kiwi. To begin with the soloists seem too far away from the microphone while the guitar is often obtrusive. This is something which is easily corrected by microphone placement. The choral items have not been conducted and there are a number of distressingly ragged starts, particularly to ‘Koutou Katoa Ra’ and to ‘Po Atarau’. The group is at fault here. One cannot afford to leave matters to chance. In making a record, every mistake is enshrined forever. When watching a group on stage there are so many distractions that imperfections usually go unnoticed. There is no ‘instant replay’ to confirm a barely heard error. With a record the ear can concentrate, undistracted by messages from the eye. Every time the record is played, a mistake comes back to haunt. I often feel that Maori groups before they go on record need a good producer to whip them finally into shape, to listen critically to a record as it is made, and to insist on a 100 percent performance before the item is passed fit to go on disc. Hence my strictures on Kiwi above. I am sure that every pop group that records has a producer. Amateur groups recording need the same service even more. Furthermore, what else but the lack of a producer could explain the short track on Side Two which according to the label should be ‘Au E Ihu’ but which is, in fact, half the verse of ‘Koutou Katoa Ra’ which is recorded in full three tracks further on. This is inexcusable. The record features quite a wide selection of items and a good mixture of the old and new. My favourite on Side One is an interesting powhiri performed with care and precision. I also enjoyed one of the good ‘old’ action songs which is seldom recorded—‘Ko Wai Enei’. The cover is well designed and, as always with Kiwi, the notes are good.