May is upon us, and that means for New Zealanders it is New Zealand music month (Thanks @kiwideb for the reminder!). This is a time for New Zealanders to enjoy the brilliant and talented musicians we have and share them with the world. Although it is coming up to winter in New Zealand, in Spain where I am now living it is coming up to summer, and that means dub, roots and reggae music in the sun.

Katchafire

Katchafire will always have a place in my heart, as they are from Hamilton where I went to university - so I saw them live a few times! They started of as a Bob Marley tribute band - so you can imagine their music has a huge reggae element to it. They still manage to have the distinct New Zealand dub sound, with the mix of simple dub guitar, groovy bass lines and a solid horns section. They have released 4 albums and a ‘Best of’ album. My favorite album is definitely their debut album from 2003 ‘Revival'. However I thought I would share the great summer tune Irie, from their 2010 album ‘On the road again’:

Katchafire have done some touring through Europe in the past so if you are in Europe and get a chance then I would highly recommend seeing them live!

The Black Seeds

The Black Seeds are another band which are a staple on my summer playlist. The Black Seeds also have their roots in reggae music, but touch on many other genres such as funk, dub, funk and blues. Another amazing live band with 8 members, including a full brass section. One of their most popular songs is ‘So True’ - and the video highlights some of the summer traditions in New Zealand - beaches, bbqs and spending time with friends and family:

The Black Seeds have been active since 2001, and have released 5 studio albums albums. The Black Seeds are another band who have done some travel and gigs throughout Europe and North and South America. Here is another one of their tunes ‘Cool me Down’:

Rhombus

Rhombus is a musical group from the capital of New Zealand Wellington, mixing a wide variety of musical styles such as reggae, dub, electronic, drum n bass and roots. Although Rhombus have released a recording since 2008, they still perform live shows from time to time. Their first album ‘Bass Player’, released in 2002 was successful in the New Zealand music charts. Here is the single Clav Dub (the video clip is a parody of the New Zealand film Goodbye Pork Pie):

Fat Freddys drop

Fat Freddys Drop have been one of New Zealand's most successful bands over the last few years. The seven piece band skillfully mix a variety of musical styles including jazz, dub, reggae, techno, funk and blues. The debit album ‘Based on a True Story’ has been the most popular and successful so far - it was rated album of the year at the New Zealand music awards, and spawned the highly successful single ‘Wandering Eye’:

If you are in Europe over summer Fat Freddys drop are doing some extensive tours playing a lot of festivals and are a band I would highly recommend watching if you get the chance. Here is another great song Blackbird from the album Blackbird:

Hope you enjoyed my selection of New Zealand dub music, and I will be sharing more New Zealand music from different genres throughout May.