Aotearoa soul infectious

“There’s a place far from Jamaica where old-school reggae still rules: New Zealand,” writes Cary Darling for the Fort Worth Star-Telegram. “Such traditionalists as Katchafire and the Black Seeds, as well as more electro acts such as Salmonella Dub and Shapeshifter, have kept the flag flying. But it’s Fat Freddy’s Drop which, after topping the charts at home, is making waves in the US. The band just finished dates on the West Coast, and its latest album, the boomingly infectious Dr Boondigga and the Big BW, was just released here. While the new disc has a more varied sound than its 2006 predecessor, Based on a True Story, reggae remains the Drop’s musical pulse. ‘[New Zealand] very much has an island culture like Jamaica. The pace of life and culture have a lot of parallels,’ says DJ Chris Faiumu, also known as DJ Fitchie and Mu, by phone from Wellington, the group’s hometown. ‘When Bob Marley came here in the late ’70s, the Maori people drew parallels with their own struggles.'”