Turnbull 3: Rise of the Mixtape
We're kicking off New Zealand Music Month early this year! Grab this year's Turnbull Mixtape and come back all through May for more amazing music. – Ed.
Five years and fighting fit
The day of judgement is upon us once again. Library-wide, staff have been eagerly listening to countless tracks representing the 50 or so Creative Commons albums archived by the Library over the last year, and the results are in!
But before we get to the final countdown – it has now been five years since the Alexander Turnbull Library started actively selecting and archiving digital music. With digital music now being the dominant format, outselling physical products for the first time in 2012, it has been a significant period of growth for collecting in this area.
Being the fifth year of archiving music it seems silly not to have…
Top 5 facts and figures from 5 years of collecting digital music!
In five years ATL has added about 3500 digital music items to the National Digital Heritage Archive – and even more if you include the deposits made by the National Library!
Of the said 3500 items archived, 300 have a Creative Commons licence.
We archived the most items – 1000! – in 2012/13, of which 10 percent had a Creative Commons license.
The most releases we have archived from one artist or band is a whopping 21 by FreQ Nasty! Notable mentions also go to Minuit (20). We have also archived around 40 digital albums the New Zealand Symphony Orchestra has been involved with.
The most listened to track from the previous two Turnbull Mixtapes is 'Sick Chutney' by The Bing Turkby Ensemble. It may have benefited slightly from being first in the tracklist, but it is still a clear favourite.
Phew, I hope you’ve all learnt something from the last five years of music collecting. Without further ado here is the Turnbull Mixtape for 2014. Listen, download, share and comment. Did we get it right? Check out the master list of CC albums here (xls, 121kb) and tell us your favourites!
Download Turnbull 3: Rise of the Mixtape (zip, 99MB)
Embedded content: https://soundcloud.com/nlnzmusicselector/press-start
Tracklist
1. Press start / Adi Dick
From INSTRMNTL (2013)
Collection record | Adi Dick on Bandcamp
“'Press start' walks the line between swaggering and staggering into the room, making it a great way to start a mix that goes anywhere and everywhere.”
(Reuben Schrader, Web Editor)
2. No wonder / Future Theft
From They’re like pop punk or whatever (2013)
Collection record | Future Theft on Bandcamp
“My slight bias to punk music led me here but I really like this album and it’s now on my regular playlist. I went with the opening track as I like the dueling vocals and it sets a good tempo for the songs to come.”
(Sholto Duncan, E-Publications Librarian/Music Selector)
3. We got it / Nesta Israel
From Summer Instrumentals: Summer 2012-13 (2013)
Collection record | Nesta Israel on Bandcamp
“Listening to this track is a great way to transport yourself back to those lovely warm, summer evenings. The perfect antidote to the winter blues.”
(Leigh Rosin, Digital Archivist)
4. That ain’t no bacon fat / Zombie Prom Queen
From The Cheetah Brothers (2013)
Collection record | Zombie Prom Queen on Postmoderncore
“I like bacon fat and I'd probably be driven to song if I was somehow cheated out of the real thing. A tale of woe”
(Mark Crookston, Digital Collection Strategy Leader)
5. Garfunkel / The Blue Onesies
From Soft Opening (2013)
Collection record | The Blue Onesies on Bandcamp
“The Blue Onesies embody everything that's great about sunny psychedelic pop - bright organ drones, reverb-charged guitars, weaving vocal melodies and vague references to Art Garfunkel.”
(Nick Daunt, Collection Management/E-Pubs Librarian)
6. Corn Shelly / Seth Frightening
From Urine (A Container) (2013)
Collection record | Seth Frightening on Bandcamp
“With Urine (A Container) Seth Frightening (Sean Kelly) travels into much more experimental territory than on his past recordings, but as always it is his remarkable voice and love of a plaintive melody that steals the show. 'Corn Shelly' is the beautifully wistful closing track to this dense psychedelic gem of an EP.”
(Matt Steindl, Research Librarian Music)
7. You are my mansion / Athuzela Brown
From A Cliff at Dawn (2013)
Collection record | Athuzela Brown on Bandcamp
“Nice, atmospheric folksy music by this twin brother and sister duo. I like the slightly stripped down arrangement of this track and the way it builds towards the end.”
(Sholto Duncan, E-Publications Librarian/Music Selector)
8. See if it’s really them / Seht
Originally from dronemusic (2001)
Collection record | Seht on Bandcamp
“Mmm, do like being in a pool of sound for a few minutes.”
(Reuben Schrader)
9. Nelson’s Blood / Wellington Sea Shanty Society
From Now That’s What I Call Sea Shanties Vol. 1 (2013)
Collection record | Wellington Sea Shanty Society on Bandcamp
“I can't help it, I'm a fan of the Wellington Sea Shanty Society, so how could I say no to Now That's What I Call Sea Shanties Vol. 1? 'Nelson's Blood' is representative of everything good about this band.”
(Jessica Moran, Assistant Digital Archivist)
10. Wintermint / $noregazZzm
From Spirit Hell Beings 21 (2013)
Collection record | $noregazZzm on Bandcamp
“Pure psychedelic electronic spirit-pop (in their words but the description fits well) taken from 2013's concept album Spirit Hell Beings 21 There are some interesting tracks on this album and this up tempo number is my pick.”
(Sholto Duncan)