LADI6
A year on from the release of her long-awaited and deeply personal 2008 debut album Time Is Not Much, and Ladi6 (Karoline Tamati) is on top of her game. Aided and abetted by her musical partner Parks, the 27-year-old has established herself as one of New Zealand’s pre-eminent musicians. The top-ranking soul sister has taken her Pacific style to foreign shores, performing in Australia, Europe and the United Kingdom. In recent years her sultry voice has graced tunes by Kiwi acts Shapeshifter, Fat Freddy’s Drop, Pacific Heights, 4 Corners, Scribe, Opensouls, Solaa and 50HZ.  Over the last 12 months, the praise of the fans and the critics has been lavished on Ladi6 and Parks, who she acknowledges as crucial to the formation of her exceptional sound and who took a leading role in production and writing of Time Is Not Much. The album took three years to record, involved some of Aotearoa’s premier players, among them Riki Gooch (Trinity Roots), Julien Dyne and Chip Matthews (Opensouls) and Joe Lindsay (Fat Freddy’s Drop), and had the final touches applied by Fat Freddy’s Drop’s main man Mu and Parks at The Drop’s Lyall Bay HQ. It spawned two videos – the reggae-fused opening single Walk Right Up, and the super-smooth Dark Brown.But the culmination of this music public adoration came at the tail-end of 2009, when the industry accolades started rolling in as well. At the 2009 Pacific Music Awards, Ladi6 gained a nomination for APRA’s Best Pacific Song Award, Niu FM Best Pacific Urban Artist and Pacific Blue Best Pacific Female Artist - which she won. The icing on the cake - Ladi6 claimed the Best Urban/Hip Hop Album title at October’s New Zealand Music Awards, the one award she and Parks “wanted the most”. Ladi6 is not slowing down, and not resting on her laurels. Work has begun on the eagerly awaited second album, with Parks again handling production.

FREEZER ROOM
Drawing on a wealth of experience in electronic, rock, hip-hop, jazz and classical music, freezerRoom have put the finishing touches to their debut release. Formerly the engine room of popular and innovative Irish band, The Shades, production department (producer Graham White and DJ Colm K) and rhythm section (bassist Rory Dempsey and drummer Jean Michel Cavallo) are again working together to create something different. Featuring Elaine Dowling on vocals, the recording of their debut EP has taken place in New York, London and Antibes in the south of France and was released in November 2009 on the Go Deep label. Label bosses Fish Go Deep immediately recognised the potential of the music and offered to release the freezerRoom EP and remix the lead single Weapon Of Choice. To top the whole package off, renowned producer, Atjazz, also came on board and has delivered with a pair of superb dancefloor remixes.