Hard News by Russell Brown

Woohoo!

That blew my mind, you don't often hear about the bass player. I had no idea all that playing was one person, that's the Midas touch, what a phenomenal body of work. How many of these are you going to post Russell?

Glad you enjoyed the read Chris! Thanks to Russell for giving a damn about us bass players ha ha. Can't believe I forgot to list Scribe's "Crusader" album in the list. Doh!

Thanks again Russell.

Against The Flow from UHP was the first NZ music I bought myself

That's a pretty decent claim :)

I loved that album when it first arrived (and still do). Stormy Weather had top ten written all over it - but it wasn't to be sadly.

We're finally coming to understand how important (and simply great) much of the early urban noise was despite the fact it was ignored by the mainstream media. At the time only the street press wanted to know about UHP and, at least in Auckland, even B-net radio was sparse.

Wicked piece, thanks Chip

I hate to excerpt such a small bit from such an excellent interview, but Chip Matthews' comments that:

Sitting in the room as DLT and Che listened to ‘Chains’, I had no idea that this song was gonna blow up so huge.

...really made me smile, because, for this guy, who was barely 13 at the time, the release of "Chains" (yes, I'm a lot younger than many on this forum) was an absolute revelation. I guess it's easier when you're young and you haven't been exposed to much in the way of different music, but it just sounded like something I'd never think of hearing before. These days, it's the rough minimalism and the strange, almost scratchy yet reggae vibe of the beat, the way Che Fu's voice switches between somewhat hesitant rapping to utterly elastic crooning, and the great lyrics, (it's like a funnier, more pointed update of "French Letter"). But at the time, god, I didn't know what I was hearing. I just knew the chorus was damn catchy.

Both Che Fu's 2BSPacific (great title!) and King Kapisi's Savage Thoughts were big deals for me at the time, and I don't think either artist got within a yard of them ever again, either in terms of their intent or sheer freshness.

Anyway, great interview, and nice Metro piece too, btw, Russell,

I loved that album [UHP Against the Flow ] when it first arrived (and still do). Stormy Weather had top ten written all over it...

+1
- it was way ahead of its time (and mass audience), maybe a rerelease is merited?
...Southside Records is another of Murray Cammick's vast contributions to NZ culture over the years, hell, I hear that the Shihad movie doesn't even mention Wildside Records and his early support!

Really, that's f**king outrageous. Not only did Murray essentially give the band a recording career (although Pagan did the first EP) but also supported them financially.

I'm late to this lovely & important social/cultural history, thanks RB (&CM).
if you're interested, Nick Atkinson's Radio NZ National music feature about a day in the life of Chip Matthews was a finalist in the recent NZ Radio Awards. Have a listen if you like!