And a reminder of how sophisticated and seasoned these players are.įour of the group's original members – Nigel Gavin, Kim Halliday, Bodie Hermans and Russell Hughes – are still here, advancing this distinctive project into its fourth decade. As always, Gitbox subverts expectations but also deliver their beautifully realised, sometimes algebraic, melodies with a lively vigour or an elegant stateliness.įrom the pristine opening chimes of the ethereal Sanctuary where the glistening notes hang in still air and the urgently repeated figure which opens Absent Friend through the sub-tropical balm of the charming Dhoggs (My Dog Doesn’t Respect Me) to the concert chamber concentration and aural dynamics of the title track and beyond, the first disc of studio recordings is a constant revelation. And it has recorded artists as unique as the percussion group From Scratch and now, again, Gitbox.Ĭurveball – an appropriate title for a Gitbox and Rattle album – is the group's third for the label following Pesky Digits and Touch Wood in '94. Under the assured stewardship of helmsman Steve Garden, Rattle has since taken listeners on journeys through classical, jazz, sonic experimentalism, improvised music, the evocative sounds of taonga puoro. Thirty years ago, the Rattle label launched itself with the album Pesky Digits by the Auckland guitar ensemble, Gitbox Rebellion. But sometimes we can feel it as circular. Time, as we live through it, seems linear. Recorded by Sam Tozer at Lot 23, Auckland Recorded by Olly Harmer at The Lab Studio, Auckland Produced by Nigel Gavin, Kim Halliday and Steve Garden Russell Hughes, Joanne Melbourne, Tomislav Skulic, Rob Mita, Sonia Wilson, Bodie Hermans, Peter Kirkbride, Sam Loveridge, Kim Halliday and Nigel Gavin Gitbox is comprised of ten acoustic guitarists who usually perform left to right in this order: The group’s music is as unique and vibrant as ever, just as Rattle’s enthusiasm for artists who follow their own compass is not only undiminished but even more determined as we move into our fourth decade. As curveballs go, we couldn’t have asked for a nicer one. Courbois left the band in early 2004.This year, 2021, is Rattle’s 30th anniversary as an advocate for New Zealand art-music, and it gives us enormous pleasure to mark the occasion with a new album from Gitbox, the band that kicked things off for the label three decades ago with their much-loved and widely acclaimed Pesky Digits, Rattle’s very first release back in 1991. Recorded by Allan Muller of the band Metal Molly, the album showed the band at the brink of a breakthrough. Steering By the Stars on Munich Records followed (preceded by The Low Road EP). In 2001, bassist and backup vocalist Camille Courbois joined the group. The disc also featured guest appearances by Carol van Dyk and Herman Bunskoeke of Bettie Serveert, among others. The follow-up, Soulsharks, was released by Brinkman in 1998, and marked the debut of drummer Peter Palermo. The band toured Europe and the United States to support the disc. Back in Holland, van Niele recruited Verdwaald and Wilf Plum to record the band's first full-length release, Our Lady of the Highway, which debuted in 1995 on Brinkman Records. The debut included bluesy covers of the Meat Puppets' "Lake of Fire" and the Urinals' "Hologram," as well as the startling title track. The sessions were later released on the Last Night I Dreamed of Gary, Indiana EP. Roeland van Niele formed indie pop/rock group Gitbox in 1994 when the Holland native recorded the band's earliest recordings along with Maarten Verdwaald, ex-Big Trouble House member Phil Harder, and Herman Antonisse.
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