albums albums albums albums albums


'gondwanavista: an outback soundwalk'
by hinemoana baker
2009 arts queensland poet in residence
(2009, arts queensland/queensland writers centre)

In 2009, for three startling months, I was Arts Queensland Poet in Residence. I was based in Brisbane, but the Queensland Writer's Centre (who administered the programme) also sent me to various other places in the state. In August I visited Toowoomba, Chinchilla, Roma and Charleville on the Q150 steam-train. Prior to that, in fact almost as soon as I arrived, I was flown to Blackall and Longreach in Western Queensland to experience that country and take workshops with budding poets. This was my first genuine outback trip and is something I'll never forget.
 
This soundwalk - a collage of field recordings and poetry - is a legacy from that time. Spending time in those extraordinary landscapes brought home to me how true it is that nowhere's too far from the ocean in New Zealand. Being at least a 12 hour drive from any coast was a very strange, quite disturbing feeling for me - at my home in Paekakariki, I walk to the sea wall in under two minutes. The feeling of subterranean panic I felt surrounded by so much land was something I had to keep breathing through, to get to the other side. When the anxiety settled, what replaced it was a feeling of profound calm, tinged with a quite overwhelming grief.
 
buy gondwanavista at hinemoana's online store

New! You can buy 'Gondwanavista' from 'Lush Design Gallery', 18 Raumati Road, Raumati, Kapiti Coast



This new album from well-known singer-songwriters Hinemoana Baker and Christine White features intimate alt.country ballads, hooky pop-songs and laid-back Māori language reggae. There’s even some folktronica flavours courtesy of their Casiotone MT-65, and an entirely new instrument made out of a Black & Decker workbench.

Snap Happy is welcomed as a wonderful venue for two enormously talented vocalist-wordsmith-composers to blend and bend their own and others’ expectations. As the duo Taniwha, these two accomplished soloists bring a new ‘power of two’ to this latest live-in-studio adventure.

Full of heart and at times very moving, the songs on Snap Happy deliver a brave, delicate and delightful romp, full of momentum, through many musical moods.

Fresh from WOMAD Taranaki, Taniwha plan a launch tour in 2009, and will be appearing in an unexpected location near you any moment…so be unafraid.

Be very unafraid...


read more                      buy 'snap happy' from hinemoana's online store               visit 'taniwha' myspace page

New! You can buy 'Snap Happy' from 'Lush Design Gallery', 18 Raumati Road, Raumati, Kapiti Coast

 

'puawai' by hinemoana baker (2004, jayrem records)

 

In 2004, Hinemoana's debut album was shortlisted for the New Zealand Music Awards (Tui Award for Best Folk Album). In 2005, the album's title track, 'puawai', was a finalist in the esteemed APRA Maioha Award, Maori language partner to the prestigious Silver Scroll Songwriting Award.  Tasteful, organic, indigenous symphonies.

To listen to the song 'puawai', and the other tracks from Hinemoana's album, click the 'listen' tab below.

To buy 'puawai' from hinemoana.co.nz (free p&p in NZ) click here.

 

buy 'puawai' from hinemoana's online store          reviews of 'puawai'         reviews of hinemoana's live shows

 

Hinemoana Baker's first full-length album, 'puawai', was launched on October 31, 2004. It features 13 originals and a 'pasifika' cover version of 'Secret Love', the song made famous by Doris Day. The melodies are catchy, rangey and surprising. The arrangements are tasteful and organic, showcasing Hinemoana's extraordinary voice.

 

'Someone once called my music 'kinky indigenous symphonies',' she says. 'I've yet to come up with a better description. On this album a lot of the songs are favourites from live gigs, re-worked with different instrumentation and sometimes new arrangements. It's been great to breathe new energy into them. And to give the newer ones their time in the sun.'

 

Hinemoana produced 'puawai' herself with the help of Robbie Duncan at Wellington's Braeburn Studios. It's her first full-length album and her first with Jayrem Records. It's also the first in which her many 'languages' are explored - from Te Reo Maori to the language of literature. Several of the songs on the album move freely in and out of spoken-word. 

 

Hinemoana's songs range in subject matter from light to dark and most shades in between ('...a bit like my relatives...') They feature local and international contributions from musicians in Aotearoa, California and Melbourne. Drummer Richard Te One (Te Ati Awa), who plays regularly with Wayne Mason, lifts 'Free' and 'Motel' into the country-rock realm, then later lays a moody, spacious foundation for the love-ballad 'Missing You'. Hinemoana's cousin, guitarist Dale Cooper (Taranaki) creates an almost bluegrass road-trip reverie in 'Long Time Coming Home'. Andrew London's ukulele-esque guitar treatment accompanies a surprising and sweet final note to the album - Hinemoana's version of the Doris Day classic 'Secret Love' .

 

'Cellists Francesca Mountfort (from Wellington gypsy ensemble 'Carousel') and Emily Insolio Corwin (California) add romance and grit. Robbie Duncan creates a sweeping electric guitar summer-scape in 'Blue Sky'. Along with the odd cicada, some languid lap-steel from Matthew Leonard and the husky blues-vocals of Tyree Robertson (Clan Donnachaidh, Yugoslav), the album is a rich collaboration.

 

'puawai' was launched alongside another project of Hinemoana's - her first book. 'matuhi | needle' is a collection of Hinemoana's poems featuring the beautiful paintings of Ngai Tahu artist, Jenny Rendall.

buy 'puawai' from hinemoana's online store                  reviews of 'puawai'                  reviews of hinemoana's live shows

New! You can buy 'puawai' from 'Lush Design Gallery', 18 Raumati Road, Raumati, Kapiti Coast

*

Hinemoana was invited to produce and create the sound design for this fantastic new album by poet Teresia Teaiwa.

I Can See Fiji - 'It's poetry, but not as we know it. Teresia's gorgeous voice sits among the sounds of Des Mallon's crazy-genius percussion and found-sound, field recordings from Ohiro Road to Suva. The CD liner notes feature the full text of Teresia's poems before I got my Pro-Tools hands on them, mutilating them beyond recognition.

In a good way.'

buy 'I Can See Fiji' from hinemoana's online store

New! You can buy 'I Can See Fiji' from 'Lush Design Gallery', 18 Raumati Road, Raumati, Kapiti Coast

*

Hinemoana's music also features on these compilations:

     'Tuwhare' - 12 of NZ's top musicians create musical settings for the words of one of our most celebrated poets, Hone Tuwhare. As well as Hinemoana Baker, this album features: Don McGlashan, Charlotte Yates (also the album's producer), Goldenhorse, Mahinarangi Tocker, Wai 100%, Te Kupu, Graham Brazier and more. The live show of 'Tuwhare' was a highlight of the New Zealand International Arts Festival 2006.

Read blog review of Tuwhare the album

  'He Karanga' - the karanga is the customary Maori call to gather on the marae. It is traditionally carried by women - the first voice to sound across the distance between hosts and visitors. This album features a cream of Maori women composers and performers, including: Hinemoana Baker, Whirimako Black, Moana and the Moahunters, Emma Paki. Contact Jayrem Records to purchase a copy of 'He Karanga'.