Awards roll on for Che-Fu and Salmonella Dub

By RUSSELL BAILLIE

The b.net awards - set up by campus radio stations as the hip alternative to the New Zealand music industry's annual "Tui" ceremony - tonight came up with a similar result to the mainstream event earlier in the year.

At Takapuna's Bruce Mason Centre, Christchurch band Salmonella Dub took away three awards - best album (Inside the Dub Plates), best live act, and best song. In May, the band won three Tuis for top group, international achievement and best engineering.

And Auckland singer-rapper Che-Fu's name, which dominated the Tuis, was attached to two b.net awards - best video (for Fade Away) and best remix (of Misty Frequencies by Manuel Bundy).

His regular DJ, P-Money, also won the b.net's best hip-hop release for his debut album Big Things.

Among the other categories not won by Salmonella Dub, reggae and dub and drum'n'bass-styled outfits featured strongly.

That included Wellington's Rhombus winning most promising new act, fellow windy city reggae outfit the Black Seeds winning best downbeat release and Christchurch's Shapeshifter winning best electronic release.

Guitar groups did get a look in with the Flying Nun label getting a belated 21st birthday present with three awards - for the compilation album Under the Influence, betchadupa's debut album The Alphabetchadupa being voted best pop/rock release, and the D4 winning international achievement which was the only category decided by specialist judges and not public vote.

The best unreleased song award also went to Wellington indie guitar band The Phoenix Foundation for The Drinker, a title which became an apt theme to tonight's festivities which featured performances by the night's big winners Salmonella Dub, Subware, The Dubious Brothers and Mestar.