17 May 2012

A jewel of a sound

22/02/2012 9:53:00 a.m.

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An Emerald City sought adventure in Berlin. Photo: Mark Purdom

An Emerald City sought adventure in Berlin. Photo: Mark Purdom

AN EMERALD CITY aren’t quite like anything heard before. The six-piece, based in Berlin, have made a name for themselves with music that’s experimental and psychedelic - a mix of Krautrock and world music, with a distinctly Eastern feel.
The band formed in Auckland in 2005. Reuben Bonner, band member from those early days, explains the genre clichés that so often litter music reviews,
“World music is from an exotic place. The Krautrock movement started in Germany in the 60s and 70s. It’s got a monotonous and repetitive beat with the potential for instruments to go on crazy tangents over the top. It’s very appealing to us,” he explains, “And we always liked psychedelic music; it has an imperfection about it that’s out there.”
Unusual instruments contribute to the band’s sound. The sitar comes and goes, says Bonner. There’s a Persian long-necked lute. A violin. A Darbuka – an Indian hand drum. Mix those with bass, guitar, drums, synths and electronic noises and you’ll soon get a feel for An Emerald City.
“[Band member] Ede can pick up anything and make it sound interesting. He’s good at writing pieces on bizarre instruments,” says Bonner, “Rob learnt sitar and the hand drum in India. Felix on violin is classically trained. It’s all mashed together.”
The band has released a self-titled EP and two albums, Circa Scaria and The Fourth. After they moved to Germany in 2009 the dirgy eastern guitar and violin vibe changed, with different elements of electronic and prog and kraut rock starting to appear. Each band member was influenced by a different aspect of the Berlin lifestyle, says Bonner.
“We decided we wanted to go on an adventure. Germany affected how we made music,” he says, “In Berlin there are visual and aural delights everywhere you walk. There’s a whole bunch of nationalities, all walks of life, one big party that doesn’t really stop. You can go out at any hour and find something that stimulates you.”
An Emerald City’s live show is “part subtlety, part full power noise,” says Bonner.
“There have been more and more one-off moments on stage. It’s nice that our audience will experience music that will never be played again by us.”
An Emerald City, Festival Club March 1 / St Peter’s, Paekakariki, 9pm, March 2.
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Cover Story

Best of Wellington 2011

Briefs

  • A question of nutrition

    Controversial Washington-based nutritionist Sally Fallon-Morell is to speak in Wellington on March 29.
    Fallon-Morell is the co-founder of the American food lobby group the Weston A. Price Foundation and the author of Nourishing Traditions. She advocates for the consumption of nutritionally dense foods such as lacto-fermented vegetables, stocks and broths, and whole raw dairy products.
    Fallon-Morell will speak at St Patrick’s College Hall on March 29.

  • Relay for cancer

    Organisers say Sunday’s Relay for Life is full to capacity with hundreds of Wellingtonians registered for the event.
    A total of 88 teams, made up of 10 to 500 members, plan to take part with a further 25 teams on the waiting list.
    The 24 hour relay, the Cancer Society’s biggest fundraising event of the year, takes place at Frank Kitts Park from 4pm on March 31.

  • Osteoarthritis awareness

    Arthritis New Zealand has launched a nationwide campaign raise awareness about osteoarthritis. 
    Arthritis is New Zealand’s leading cause of disability, affecting 305,000 adults, and osteoarthritis is its most common form.
    The campaign features television commercials and an interactive website.


  • Wild walk

    Take part in the Big Walk at Zealandia on March 31.
    Walkers can choose a two, five or 10 kilometre walk catering to all fitness levels.
    Money raised will go to the Foundation for Youth Development.

  • School pool

    The opening of the new Khandallah School pool this week means hundreds of children will be able to continue their swimming lessons.
    The pool was the first to receive a grant from Wellington City Council’s Schools Pools Partnership Fund, a fund set up in 2010 to help schools improve their pool facilities.
    Grants from the fund have also been made for pools at Wellington East Girls’ College, Barhampore School and Tawa School.

  • Easter bikers

    Motorcyclists are invited to get on their bikes and collect Easter eggs for families support from the Wellington City Mission.
    The charity run on April 1 is organised by motorcycle lobby group BONZ.
    Eggs can be donated at Red Baron Motorcylces in Alicetown. The registration fee for bikers is $10, plus the cost of Easter eggs.

  • Crafty

    Made on Marion opens on the site of the former Golding Handicrafts site in Marion St, from April 1.  They will continue to supply craft materials.

  • Ze upgrade

    Taranaki Street fuel users will notice that the Z Energy’s former Shell Service Station is closed.  Z are doing a “total revamp”.
    The job will take four weeks.

  • Newlands Moves

    Developer Ayal Aharoni has agreed to build only 90 instead of 220 houses on his six and a half hectares above Ngauranga Gorge in Newlands.  Only low density occupation will be allowed on the remaining 8.4 hectares.


  • Baring Head

    There's a new  draft plan out for what should happen at Baring Head.  It outlines how the Greater Wellington Regional council would like to manage the newest addition to its regional parks network. Grazing animals will go, motorised vehicles will be prohibited, predators will be controlled, and the lighthouse will be preserved. Submissions are invited.


  • It’s a wonder

    A new childcare centre in Newtown says it is dedicated to helping kids grow up healthy in mind, body and spirit. Little Wonders Childcare on Rintoul Street is an independent early childhood education and learning centre, the sixth centre to be opened by its Auckland-based owner. It caters to 100 children aged between three months and five years old and has been open for a little more than seven weeks.

  • Festival treats

    CHILDREN have not been forgotten by organisers of the New Zealand International Arts Festival.
    For a perfect first theatrical experience White tells the story of friends Cotton and Winkle who live in a world where there is no colour and everything is startlingly white. That is until a brightly coloured egg tumbles out of the sky and changes their world for ever.
    White plays at Capital E from March 7-11.
    The tale of Peter and the World also promises to be a magical night for all ages. Sergei Prokofiev’s classic children’s tale is told through film and live music from the NZ Symphony Orchestra at the Michael Fowler Centre on March 9.
    March 11 is Young Writers and Readers Day and readings from children’s writers and illustrators Lynley Dodd and Gavin Bishop.

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