Spiderbait have been rockin’ venues and studios around the country for 15 years now. One of the great things about the Melbourne based rock outfit, is that you never know what to expect from their next album. Being musically and creatively unpredictable has certainly worked wonders for Spiderbait,
resulting in a great deal of success.

However, their most recent work, "Tonight Alright", delves back into rock basics, executed as if the band was playing live without actually making a live record. This formula is evident in the first single off the new album, an intense cover of Leadbelly's classic, "Black Betty". This single has achieved double platinum sales as well as spending 3 straight weeks atop the ARIA singles chart.

Spiderbait formed in the NSW country town of Finley in 1989, when second cousins, Mark Maher and Damien Whitty, started writing and playing music together. They attended the same high school as the band’s third member, Janet English, and upon her arrival, Spiderbait was born. The trio shifted to Melbourne not long after.

In 1991, Spiderbait released their first single, “Circle K”. In 1992, “Circle K” as well as a few more tunes were released on an EP entitled “P’TangYangKipperBangUh” (no this is not a typo). The tracks from this EP would all appear on their first LP release which hit the shelves in early 1993. This album was named “Shashavaglava”, which is Croatian for “stupid head” or “ idiot head”.

S p iderbai t r e l eased another EP in October 1993, entitled "Run". In 1995, they signed with Polydor records and as a result, released what was to be their first commercially successful album, "The Unfinished Spanish Galleon Of Finley Lake". In 1996, Spiderbait released their 3rd LP, "Ivy And The Big Apples". Two successful singles were taken from this album. "Buy Me A Pony" was the first single, sitting atop Triple J's Hottest 100 chart in 1996. The second single, "Calypso", became Spiderbait's first commercial success, reaching the top 10 of the ARIA singles chart. "Ivy And The Big Apples" went on to win the 1997 ARIA award for Best Alternative Album.

Spiderbait released two more albums before their current wave of success, namely "Grand Slam" (1999) and "The Flight Of Wally Funk" (2001).

"F**ken Awesome" is the daring new single currently climbing the charts around the country. Check it out on RD99.

Justin Stephenson

	Not that the millions who've shelled out for the Black Eyed Peas' Elephunk album don’t already know this, but they've been sitting on one corker of a party tune... Let's Get It Started. Mind you, on the album it was called Let's Get Retarted which does describe the kind of stupid-clever groove that the Peas hit upon from the minute Fergie steps up to the mic and lets rip with that honeyon- sandpaper voice. The track features on CR100 and is easily already the party anthem of the year. It’s currently saturating American TV and radio as part of an advertising campaign for the NBA. The Peas are keeping themselves busy, returning to the studio to record the follow-up to their Elephunk album, rumoured to be out by year’s end and to be titled Monkey Business. BEP member Will.i.Am has also started his own clothing label in the States called I Am.
	Shrek 2 hit the cinemas earlier this month, and once again features a killer soundtrack that looks like it will match the success of the Grammy Award winning, multi-platinum original Shrek soundtrack. Counting Crows frontman Adam Duritz penned a hella catchy little pop tune called Accidentally In Love especially for the movie’s opening “honeymoon” montage. We’ve released two versions of the video - the Shrek version is on JB84 while another video featuring a silly singing stuffed bunny is on CR100.
	Heralded as a ‘hip hop Supremes’, The 411 are a new UK four piece girl group with a unique mix of musical flavours - old and new; urban and pop – and looks to kill. Their first single, the All Saints-esque On My Knees is indicative of their sassy style, mixing spoken verses any 60s girl group would be proud of with a hefty hip hop production. Check it out on CX100 and ED100.
	Rising London-based rapper Jentina, touted as a British Missy Elliott (but more like a street-tough Kylie), has the typical rags-to-riches story on which hip hop tends to thrive. Yet this 19 year old has a more dramatic tale than the 50’s and Eminem’s of the world after being born in a trailer and living through poverty, delinquency and bereavement as her brother was tragically killed in a car accident. Ironically, her debut single Bad Ass Strippa is one of the few tracks on her debut album not drawn from her own rollercoaster of experience. As debuts go, it’s a confident, minimalistic and undoubtedly commercial piece of teen-targeted hip hop that can’t fail to succeed. Play it now from CR100.
	Another notable new track on CR100 is This Way by Dilated Peoples featuring the latest hip hop prodigy Kanye West - longtime producer, short-time rapper. It takes us back to true hip hop without the thug influence. A song definitely worthy of being dedicated to Run DMC’s slain DJ, Jam Master Jay... R.I.P. The track explores some of the more complicated aspects of hip hop which seem to get lost in the now chart-aimed commercial style.
HDMS™ users rejoice as we release another stellar bunch of audio only bonuses this month. We have cracking remixes (Britney, N.E.R.D, Usher, Kelis, Beyonce and Frankee), dancefloors corkers (Freestylers and Agnelli & Nelson) as well as much requested club classics (Basement Jaxx and DMX).

	Author - Ben Preece
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	DJ Tricksta- Alexandra Hills Hotel. DJ Tricksta started DJing 10 years ago at the local skate rink. “Ibr> naturally loved playing music to enthusiastic crowds so decided to get into nightclubs and mobile functions.” These days 27 year old David May is the man spinning the Nightlife at the legendary Alex Hills Nightclub on Brisbane's bayside.

In between gigs at The Alex, David runs his own mobile DJ business and does radio promotions for Elston Records on the Gold Coast. He loves fast cars, hot girls and bodyboarding. His dream car is a Toyota Supra Turbo (sadly he currently drives a Corolla - but it IS a hatch and it DOES go fast!). Fave song of all time “Funk Dat” from Sagat. Current fave is Fatman Scoop's “It Takes Scoop”.

Given the opportunity, David would love to meet George W Bush, “so that I can smack him around the ears for all this war nonsense.”

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Audio Only Music
Nightlife always strives to supply the latest and most popular music to our clients and until recent times we have concentrated on 100% music video. However, in response to changing demands in the marketplace, we have been busy acquiring additional licensing to enable us to release a much larger and more diverse range of international and home- grown music, with or without video clips.

In order to make audio only songs visually appealing to play on the HDMS™, you will now see the CD's cover displayed for the duration of the song. You will also see the song title, artist name and the record label. To identify audio only songs on your HDMS™ program, highlight the song and the words Audio Only will appear in BLUE at the bottom of the monitor.

All songs on our Cafe (CF) and Irish (IR) music updates are audio only. Also, if you subscribe to the Club Release (CR)& Club Release Xtra (CX) pair of music updates, or the Dance Release (DR) updates, you may receive bonus audio tracks.

If you would like to change your music updates or would like to know what else is available turn to this month’s HDMS Updates on pages 3 and 4.

News From NZ

An early ski season is upon us and those in the resort towns will be rubbing their hands together for more than one reason, not the least being to keep warm.

DJ of the month goes to Colin Jones of the Grumpy Mole in Nelson. Colin has always been an "on to it" DJ. Not much gets past Colin in the music game. He has been part of the Grumpy Mole since it opened and it's still kickin' ass, which as we all know, doesn't happen by accident. Cheers Colin, gift vouchers are on the way.

Recently we have been getting some very late calls for tech support. Whilst we're always ready, willing and able to help in any emergency, it is not advisable to let anyone shift or unplug your HDMS™ and then try and put it back together at 3 o'clock in the morning! While we’re on this topic, are your back up systems in place AND do you keep a torch (with good batteries) in the DJ booth? We bet Colin does!

The NZ Team
Nightlife New Zealand
Ph: Whangarei 09 430 3035

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