New Princess Chelsea 'Frack' Music Video!

Princess Chelsea has a new video out for her song 'Frack'.

Director: Simon Ward

VFX: Simon Ward, Kenny Smith, Richard Pilkington and Luke Rowell

Costume: Christina Hroch, Caroline Anderson and Rose Salmon

Hair and Make up: Fiona Sole

Props: Sandy Burton-Davis

Chelsea has hinted at the song having personal biblical themes, channeled through a Battlestar Galactica obsession.

So of course no better director to make the music video than Simon Ward (& Co) - self proclaimed Sci Fi and pop culture nut who has made some incredible videos already for the likes of Golden Axe, Disasteradio, & Fistful of Gems, not to mention Lawrence Arabia's latest clip.

Classic sci-fi like the Alien trilogy (minus Alien III), Planet of The Apes, Battlestar Galactica & Star Wars always seem to bring up important questions about Humanity, God & Science - and often have a strong biblical undercurrent.


(SPOILER ALERT)

The Ruby Suns - Kingfisher Call Me

We're super excited to tell you that on the 28th of January 2013 we will be releasing the Ruby Suns 4th album, Christopher. Ryan McPhun has always been something of a musical wayfarer, collecting sounds and styles from his travels around the globe, so that each album is a sort of musical passport, and Christopher is no exception. This time round Ryan's found inspiration in Scandinavia, where he has been living for much of the last two years. Here's the cover:

To give you a taste of what's to come here's the official video for the first single, "Kingfisher Call Me":



The video was filmed in Sweden and directed by photographer and filmmaker duo Frode & Marcus (Lykke Li, El Perro del Mar). It was shot over two days in sub zero celsius temperatures and involved burying a volkswagon and digging it up again. While finishing up with some shots of a lake a moose family happened by purely by chance to make it extra awesome.

Grab a copy of the single here.

The Eversons - The Christmas Suicide Song

It's the time of year for drunken office party interaction, awkward family encounters and if you're lonely a greater focus on your bland existence. It's a sad fact that more suicides occur now than at any other time of year...still a novel subject matter for a 2 minute pop hit if you ask me.

The Eversons have been tinkering away in the studio the past week coming up with this gem in time for the festive season. Unfortunately not in time for a live performance at Christmas In The Park but hey, maybe next year.

The track is available for free here!

The Lil' Chief Xmas Party 2012

Ever since we started the label we've been throwing these end of the year shindigs and they have provided some magic moments. NZ musicians blowing off steam, throwing rubbish bins, making out, strangling one another, red hot chili pepper only sing alongs over a bonfire of treated wood...this year should be prove equally as memorable.

This year we are going to host it at the Kings Arms. Fancy. This way all the bands will be able to play without fear of noise control shutting us down.

Bands are going to start at 8 so don't turn up at 11 and complain you missed someone fool.

No pre sales, just 5 dollars on the door. 

The Eversons - With A Little Help From Our Friends

Today we are releasing our first tribute album (well, EP). On it various artists showcase the brilliant songwriting of the Eversons fused with their own respective styles. Also it's a free download so make sure you check it out here.

The opening track features Lil' Chief chanteuse Princess Chelsea backed by the Eversons themselves. The result is a very Ronettes inspired rendition of "Kick Him Out"

Also on the EP, excellent local artists Street Chant and Matthew Crawley, Jonathan Bree of the Brunettes makes his first appearance flying solo, and Boa Constrictors a great band from the tough suburbs of Orange County.

Princess Chelsea UK Release

Today is a big day for Lil' Chief in that we are releasing our first internationally distributed title. 

We have teamed up with Cargo to release Princess Chelsea's Lil' Golden Book throughout the UK and Europe.  

In the past Lil' Chief has physically released in New Zealand only and big time kool indie big boi labels like Memphis Industries and Subpop have released our artists in their territories.

Early UK reviews have called the album a 'brilliant debut' and 'one of the most unusual and original albums you are likely to hear this year' while some kool UK celebs and not celebs have been singing her praises via twitter.

We are confident this is a very important step in the Lil' Chief brand reaching a global audience, ahem, overseas.

The Eversons - Harlot

Across rock music history there is a rich tradition of people writing songs about messy breakups. Imagine a world without Blondie's "One Way Or Another", Carly Simon's "You're So Vain" or even Alanis Morrisette's "You Oughta Know"? Sometimes, however, these songs can be a little too personal, and it seems that we've crossed the line with the release of The Eversons' digital b-side "Harlot" this week.

Lil' Chief Records unreservedly apologises to the person that the song has been interpreted as being a personal attack on, and to all others who were offended by the lyrical content of said song. Our initial impression of the song was that it was a love song to a sex worker, however we should have realised it's potential to hurt an individual and now recognise that it is both sexist and misogynistic and that we failed to screen it properly.

We understand that our handling of this affair may be seen as unsatisfactory by many, and for that we apologise too. This is new experience for us - in 10 years of business we have never experienced a strong negative response to a release, and within reason do not believe in censoring our artists. We will now certainly be more mindful of the possible impact that our future releases may have, whether they be A-sides or B-sides.

"Harlot" has been removed from Bandcamp at The Eversons' request, and will not be reissued in any other way in the future. (If it was a physical product, it'd now be as rare as one of those "butcher" cover Beatles albums.)

Songwriter Mark Turner issued an initial apology on Wednesday concerning the lyrical content, and the band and Mark have released a further apology today.

The core response to the song can be found here on the The Eversons Facebook page, while further discussion can be found on the Lil' Chief Facebook page and here. We've learnt a lot from these comments over the last few days, and so would encourage anyone that is interested in learning more to have a read or contribute.

On a side note, we have been dismayed at how nasty and threatening some of the comments have become, including threats of physical violence towards some comment makers. The song has clearly sparked an impassioned debate, but we ask that the small number of people using it as an excuse to air personal grievances and make physical threats, even when made in jest, refrain from doing so as this does nothing to help the cause but rather blurs the message.