Elsewhere: Posse pulses from hip-hop to haka

By GRAHAM REID

Upper Hutt Posse: Te Reo Maori Remixes

Label: Jayrem

(Herald rating: * * * * * )

Dean Hapeta, mainman in the Upper Hutt Posse (which also included Emma Paki), recorded the first local rap single E Tu almost 25 years ago.

Hapeta - as Te Kupu/The Word - has since carved a distinctive path: he's done spoken-word performances, made films, and his solo album of two years ago, Ho Te Matakahi Kupu/The Word Which Penetrates, came in English and Maori versions.

On this attention-grabbing album he has revisited 10 Posse tracks, and remixed and reconstructed them with Maori language vocals. So here Stormy Weather, which features vocals by Paki, is Te Rangi Paroro and Against the Flow is Atete Te Rere.

From the opener, Te Hono Whakakoro (Movement in Demand of '95, with samples from the protests at Waitangi in February this year) this bristles with anger and sometimes punishing beats where hip-hop is welded to haka. But it also has tracks of great beauty, notably Ka Huri Matapo/As the Blind See with Paki, which works over an airy dub track.

E Tu, reworked by DLT and Nick Roughan, is a deeper and darker vision than the wire-thin, now adolescent-sounding, original. Ragga Girl (Kotiro Maori E) is similarly readdressed over deep beats, and there is additional scratching on other tracks, massive bass, and guitar and brutal stylus work from Rhys B underpinning Tangata Whenua.

These are sometimes radical revisions of their source material - much more than simply adding a te reo vocal over the original tracks - and are powerful, muscular statements of Maoritanga you would ignore at your peril.

It's a measure of how far Hapeta has travelled, but how consistent his vision has been, that here he sounds more profound, but the "stand proud" sentiment he articulated all those years is still the same.

An essential and, I would venture, an important album.

Apanui: E Tau Nei

Label: Jayrem


(Herald rating: * * * * )

Ngahiwi Apanui hasn't been heard from for far too long. A founder of the political reggae band Aotearoa, and whose solo album Te Hono Ki Te Kainga/The Link with the Homeland of '89 was a seminal amalgam of traditional instruments and contemporary styles, he was a pioneer back then - and on the evidence of the te reo E Tau Nei is still well ahead of the rest.

Crisply produced by Maaka McGregor and Mina Ripia (who are Wai 100% and also play here), and with bassist Rio Hemopo of TrinityRoots in attendance, it brings te reo and reggae together, and mikes up the poi to provide percussion. (Yes, the spirit of Dalvanius lives on). It has a dub consciousness in places, and discreetly embellishes the chants and tunes with trumpet and electric keyboards. This is musically subtle, supple and savvy stuff where electronica and waiata co-exist as equals.

On reflection and replay Te Hono Ki Te Kainga was a slightly uncomfortable, forced marriage of styles (it was at its best in the more traditional tracks) but on E Tau Nei (I arrive) the blend is effortless, mature, thoughtful and in tune with these times.

Check the mesmerising and understated love song Wharikihia, which has a "journey to Addis" reggae lope, spot colour from Rhodes and echoed trumpet, and a general sense of optimism and hope.

These are mostly songs of love, lost love, the desire for it - and love for the people of the land. Mahara is a "common sense" reminder that while iwi identity is important, there is greater strength through the recognition of the links of whakapapa, so when it comes to resolution of Maori issues, there can be success through unity.

Apanui - who sidestepped a career in music for the harder but perhaps more rewarding path of iwi radio - is a voice we need to listen to. Reasonable, rational and full of love and respect. That's gotta be worth anyone's time.

Lotus Beat: Lotus Beat

Label: United One


(Herald rating: * * * )

Guitarist Peter Haeder came here from Germany almost 20 years ago and quickly established himself as an avant-garde player who knew what he was doing. He played both straight-ahead and fairly out-there improvised music, but as a longtime Buddhist had also studied that deep-throat chanting associated with the throat singers of Tuva in the old Soviet republic.

For this bruising and physically demanding collection Haeder, as phaeder, locks the guitar in the cupboard and pulls out the drum machine, racks up the beats and bass, drops that multiple-echoed exotic chant across the top, and generally takes you on a heart-attack workout.

The ethereal vocals from Jyosna LaTrobe and Usha on Heart Core, Obeisance and the terrific, psychedelic Eno-esque spaceflight of Migtsema provide a breather, but mostly this is adrenalin rush music to dance under the strobes to. Here's a promise, if you don't do the clubland thing and bang this on while you are vacuuming at home, you'll have the place done in half, probably quarter, the time. Whew!