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The music of New Zealand provides variety in style and ethnicity.
Traditional Music
Maori
Main article: Maori music
Maori music consists of waiata, (literally songs), as well as haka, ("war" dances). As the Maori have an oral history, it was only when Sir Apirana Ngata wrote down and recorded waiata and traditional poetry early in the twentieth century that any of this music was preserved or became widely known. The overall traditional musical performance is now known as kapahaka, which often involves actions performed with sticks that are thumped or the poi - a small ball on the end of a string - that are twirled in the hands and slapped to provide rythmic accompaniment. While the guitar has become an almost universal instrument to accompany kapahaka performances today, traditional instruments, which are primarily woodwind, can give hauntingly eerie sounds. Some modern artists have revived the use of these traditional instruments and are writing and performing original insrumental maori music that has a unique sound.
The Maori have also developed a popular music scene, and incorporated reggae, rock and roll and other influences, most popularly including Te Vaka, who have Maori, white and other Polynesian members. Reggae bands like The Herbs and Dread Beat & Blood are also popular, while the 1990s saw the rise of hip hop groups like Moana & the Moahunters and the Upper Hutt Posse, primarily based out of South Auckland.
Modern Music
As New Zealand is the largest nation in Polynesia, its music has been influenced by the indigenous Maori and immigrants from the Pacific. While the majority musical culture originates from New Zealand's British colonial history, with a high component of music from major European and American sources, local artists have mixed these styles with local influences to create music that is uniquely New Zealand in style.
Rock
Main article: kiwirock
The New Zealand rock scene began in the 1960s, when the British Invasion brought psychedelic rock and other sounds to the entire world. A number of garage bands opened up, with a high-energy performing style. Though few became famous, they started a number of local scenes. Many have been collected by John Baker for his Wild Things collections.
A more mainstream hard rock sound had developed in New Zealand by the 1970s, exemplified by bands like Space Farm, Living Force, Jessie Harper, and Human Instinct with Billy T.K.. The same time saw the development of the New Zealand punk rock scene, led by Chris Knox's The Enemy; The Enemy never recorded, though a reformation of much of the same band did record as Toy Love. Many of the same people formed the basis for later groups like The Bats and Tall Dwarfs.
By this time, the Flying Nun record label had risen to prominence in New Zealand's rock scene. The Clean was perhaps the first major band to emerge from the Flying Nun scene, which was centred on the South Island city of Dunedin. Other prominent bands to emerge via Flying Nun include The Chills, The Verlaines, and Straitjacket Fits.
New Zealand's size meant than many of the country's more prominent mainstream bands found their largest audiences in Australia. Of these, perhaps the most successful has been Split Enz, founded by Tim Finn and Phil Judd in the early 1970s. The addition of Tim's younger brother Neil after Judd's departure led to a more accessible style and several big hits. After the demise of Split Enz, Neil Finn went on to found the highly successful Crowded House. Other prominent mainstream rock acts from New Zealand have included Th'Dudes, Dragon, Shona Laing, Dave Dobbyn, and - more recently - The Muttonbirds.
Since the late 1980s, several small independent labels have been established in New Zealand, notably Bruce Russell's Xpressway label, which wasmeant to aid the struggling alternative rock scene in New Zealand. By this time, Flying Nun had moved more mainstream, and many music fans felt there was no true alternative scene anymore. Xpressway's roster of artists created an international buzz for New Zealand rock, especially performers like Dadamah, Alastair Galbraith, The Terminals, Peter Jefferies and The Dead C. Among the most active of cities in modern New Zealand rock and punk are Christchurch, Palmerston North, Wellington and Auckland.
Hip hop
Main article: New Zealand hip hop
The story of New Zealand hip hop began in 1979, with the release of Warriors, about breakdancing in New York City. Breakdancing is one of the four elements of hip hop; it was followed by the release of Sugarhill Gang's "Rapper's Delight". The song had been a surprise American hit in 1979, and was released in New Zealand a year later, where it stayed on the charts for some time. Breakdancing and graffiti art had become common in urban areas, like Wellington, by 1983.
Hip hop's messages of persecution and racism resonated with many Maori musicians. Most of the first hip hop performers from the country, such as Dalvanius Prime, whose "Poi E" was a major hit, were Maori. "Poi E" had no rapping and was not pure hip hop. The first album of entirely hip hop was Upper Hutt Posse's E Tu EP, from 1988. E Tu was partially in Maori and partially in English, and its lyrics were politically-charged.
References
- Linkels, Ad. "The Real Music of Paradise". 2000. In Broughton, Simon and Ellingham, Mark with McConnachie, James and Duane, Orla (Ed.), World Music, Vol. 2: Latin & North America, Caribbean, India, Asia and Pacific, pp 218-229. Rough Guides Ltd, Penguin Books. ISBN 1-85828-636-0
See also
External Links
- NZMusic.com
- NoiZyland: massive database of NZ music reviews, interviews, and links
- http://www.sergent.com.au/nzmusic.html
- Mel's Photos - Photo's of New Zealand Bands
- Profiled and subcategorised sites, including some artist homepages