KEY POINTS:
The Mamaku Project: Karekare
Herald rating: * * * *
Verdict: Cabaret meets dub reggae jazz from the wild west Auckland coast
Label: The Mamaku Project
NPME: Mareureu
Herald rating: * * * *
Verdict: Impressive fusion of jazz, improv and Cook Island drums
Label: Pacific Echos
Various Artists: Reo
Herald rating: * * *
Verdict:
Great idea but there's no Poi E or E Ipo here
Label: Maorimusic
Hirini Melbourne & Richard Nunns: Te Whaiao/Te Ku Te Whe Remixed
Herald rating: * * * *
Verdict: Classic album using traditional Maori instruments gets remixed
The Mamaku Project has a strange vibe, but boy does it beckon you in. There's moments on debut album Karekare that wouldn't be out of place as the soundtrack to Carnivale, the underrated and obscure late night TV show about a bunch of carnies. But this ain't no carnie album, there's too much poise, panache and European charm for that.
Coming straight out of beautiful Karekare beach on Auckland's West Coast, the Mamaku Project is based around the voice of Tui Mamaki and Parisian-born musician/composer/producer Monsieur Escargot.
Add a wide range of musicians, including turntablist Manuel Bundy, accordion player Hershal Hersher, and some stunning clarinet/sax and trumpet/trombone players in John Ellis and Kingsley Melhuish, and you've got a bold album. It's also accessible.
The accordion is not overused but it's memorable because the sauntering French track, Cirque - Part 1, gets you in the mood for the rest of the album.
On its more loping moments, like opener Goodness Groove and the silky soul dub of Feeling Good (with a gloriously mooted trumpet), it has hints of Fat Freddy's, only they're at the cabaret.
Now, for something trippy. The New Pacific Music Ensemble (npme), brainchild of composer Andrew McMillan and Taiau Nicholas, a woman who is a master in the male-dominated world of log drumming, combines jazz, improvisation and Cook Island drums. It's a combination that works surprisingly well.
Mareureu has an eeriness and tension that recalls jazz greats like Coltrane (on brooding opener Moontide A). Then there's the freaky and unpredictable Pe'e Po, the vibey Pe'e Ao, and the meandering muddle of Dessicated Cones. The brass bursts and beats that verge on drum'n'bass in Akaa-nui recall former local jazz lizards the New Loungehead.
The log drumming - made popular for a time by the drummers at Warriors games - is not a constant throughout the album, but the frantic yet smooth beats are at their best when they creep up and ghost behind the jazz. An unlikely but inspired combination.
The benchmark set by Poi E, the Patea Maori Club's No 1 hit from 1984, is hard to better when it comes to popular songs sung in te reo. In fact, and somewhat sadly, it's never been bettered and probably never will be because it was unique, had a sense of humour, and most importantly, was a catchy pop song.
The songs on Reo, a collection of contemporary Maori songs, won't threaten Poi E either. It's a shame. The 12 artists were selected from a nationwide search in association with the Maori radio station network and Maori Broadcasting Agency Te Mangai Paho.
You want these songs to be good, and some of them are, like the surging hip-hop of Tumamao Harawira (from Kaitaia).
But some tracks, and it's hard to name names, but let's just say they are embarrassingly lightweight and I haven't heard a tinny treble sound like that since my Goldstar ghetto blaster gave up the ghost in the late 80s.
In saying that, the idea of Reo is excellent (no doubt), but the execution is lacking. Just imagine if the power and passion of kapa haka came through in these songs, then we'd have another couple of Poi Es on our hands.
Finally, Te Whaiao: Te Ku Te Whe Remixed is a stunning album that was released last year but fits so well with this interesting bunch of albums that it needs to be heard, if you haven't already.
The original album, Te Ku Te Whe, was a record made in the mid-90s with traditional Maori instruments like the nose flute and koauaua by Hirini Melbourne and Richard Nunns.
This edition is the remixed version by some of New Zealand's best contemporary artists including SJD, Salmonella Dub, Warren Maxwell (Little Bushman), Pitch Black and to the stars, Victoria Kelly.
Don't expect dancefloor anthems and some oonst oonst with your nose flute. The artists are respectful to the original compositions but - in true Maori style - never scared to take on the challenge and make it their own. Take the propulsive dub and bass stabbings of Pitch Black's Te Po or the spiritual meandering of Maxwell's Wai.
This remix album is as haunting, mesmerising and compelling as the original, but the increased movement within the songs and the modern-day twists make it more accessible for most. Then again, you should really have both.