Stolen Hill
Encyclopedia
Stolen Hill is the second studio album by New Zealand recording artist Anika Moa
, it was released on 1 August 2005 by Warner Music NZ
. The album was certified gold and has sold over 7,500 copies.
; "Stolen Hill is not as over-produced; more sparse, more feeling, more family-like, more Māori, more me...[it] is just me growing up".
The title track of the album relates to the poor treatment of Māori during the New Zealand land wars
.
Grant Smithies of The Sunday Star-Times
gave Stolen Hill four stars, calling it "poignant and original", while Russell Baillie of The New Zealand Herald
gave it only three stars, criticising several songs' "unlikely marriage of style and subject," and called it an album of "oddball character."
Nick Bollinger from New Zealand Listener
said "Stolen Hill finds Moa maturing and discovering her own sound, but it feels like a work in progress. Although full of charm and unmistakable in its locale, the styles Moa toys with sometimes appear borrowed; as if she is trying them on and still making up her mind which ones fit her best."
in August 2005 at number six. In the album's second week it was certified gold, selling over 7,500 albums. The album spent a total of eight weeks in the chart.
Anika Moa
Anika Rose Moa is a New Zealand pop recording artist. In 2001 she signed to Atlantic Records in the United States and released her debut album, Thinking Room, the album reached the top of the New Zealand Singles Chart and was a commercial success.Moa was raised in Christchurch, New Zealand...
, it was released on 1 August 2005 by Warner Music NZ
Warner Music Group
Warner Music Group is the third largest business group and family of record labels in the recording industry, making it one of the big four record companies...
. The album was certified gold and has sold over 7,500 copies.
Background
Anika Moa said that the album contrasts with her debut, Thinking RoomThinking Room
-Personnel:* Richard Bates – art direction and design* Des Bradbery – additional programming * Matt Chamberlain – drums, percussion* Knox Chandler – electric guitar, mandolin, bass...
; "Stolen Hill is not as over-produced; more sparse, more feeling, more family-like, more Māori, more me...[it] is just me growing up".
The title track of the album relates to the poor treatment of Māori during the New Zealand land wars
New Zealand land wars
The New Zealand Wars, sometimes called the Land Wars and also once called the Māori Wars, were a series of armed conflicts that took place in New Zealand between 1845 and 1872...
.
Promotion and reception
In September 2005, Moa announced twenty-two shows in a nation-wide album tour in October that year, two months after the albums's release.Grant Smithies of The Sunday Star-Times
The Sunday Star-Times
The Sunday Star-Times is a New Zealand newspaper published each weekend by the Fairfax group in Auckland. It covers both national and international news, and is a member of the New Zealand Press Association and Newspaper Publishers Association of New Zealand.-History:The Sunday Star-Times was first...
gave Stolen Hill four stars, calling it "poignant and original", while Russell Baillie of The New Zealand Herald
The New Zealand Herald
- External links :* * *...
gave it only three stars, criticising several songs' "unlikely marriage of style and subject," and called it an album of "oddball character."
Nick Bollinger from New Zealand Listener
New Zealand Listener
The New Zealand Listener is a New Zealand magazine. First published in 1939 and edited by Oliver Duff and the Monte Holcroft it originally had a monopoly on the publication of of upcoming television and radio programmes. In the 1980s it lost its monopoly on the publication of upcoming television...
said "Stolen Hill finds Moa maturing and discovering her own sound, but it feels like a work in progress. Although full of charm and unmistakable in its locale, the styles Moa toys with sometimes appear borrowed; as if she is trying them on and still making up her mind which ones fit her best."
Track listing
- "Ka Whakahuia Ano" – 1:51
- "In the Morning" – 4:17
- "Lies in This Land" – 4:32
- "Picture Me in the 70's" – 3:48
- "Stolen Hill" – 4:39
- "Broken Man" – 3:03
- "Loving You" – 5:07
- "Annie Goes to Sleep" – 5:16
- "Wrestled With Your Angels" – 4:36
- "Society" – 3:48
- "Papercuts" – 4:18
- "Kotahitanga" – 1:00
Chart performance
The album debuted on the New Zealand Albums ChartRecording Industry Association of New Zealand
The Recording Industry Association of New Zealand is a non-profit trade association of record producers, distributors and recording artists who sell music in New Zealand...
in August 2005 at number six. In the album's second week it was certified gold, selling over 7,500 albums. The album spent a total of eight weeks in the chart.
Personnel
- Anika MoaAnika MoaAnika Rose Moa is a New Zealand pop recording artist. In 2001 she signed to Atlantic Records in the United States and released her debut album, Thinking Room, the album reached the top of the New Zealand Singles Chart and was a commercial success.Moa was raised in Christchurch, New Zealand...
– acoustic guitarAcoustic guitarAn acoustic guitar is a guitar that uses only an acoustic sound board. The air in this cavity resonates with the vibrational modes of the string and at low frequencies, which depend on the size of the box, the chamber acts like a Helmholtz resonator, increasing or decreasing the volume of the sound...
, harmoniesHarmonyIn music, harmony is the use of simultaneous pitches , or chords. The study of harmony involves chords and their construction and chord progressions and the principles of connection that govern them. Harmony is often said to refer to the "vertical" aspect of music, as distinguished from melodic...
, percussionPercussion instrumentA percussion instrument is any object which produces a sound when hit with an implement or when it is shaken, rubbed, scraped, or otherwise acted upon in a way that sets the object into vibration...
, kōauauKoauauA kōauau is a small flute, ductless and notchless, four to eight inches long, open at both ends and having from three to six fingerholes placed along the pipe....
, productionRecord producerA record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
vocalsSingingSinging is the act of producing musical sounds with the voice, and augments regular speech by the use of both tonality and rhythm. One who sings is called a singer or vocalist. Singers perform music known as songs that can be sung either with or without accompaniment by musical instruments... - Willy Scott – drumDrumThe drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s - Neil Watson – electric guitarElectric guitarAn electric guitar is a guitar that uses the principle of direct electromagnetic induction to convert vibrations of its metal strings into electric audio signals. The signal generated by an electric guitar is too weak to drive a loudspeaker, so it is amplified before sending it to a loudspeaker...
- Stephanie Brown – Rhodes pianoRhodes pianoThe Rhodes piano is an electro-mechanical piano, invented by Harold Rhodes during the fifties and later manufactured in a number of models, first in collaboration with Fender and after 1965 by CBS....
- Aaron Murphy – bassBass (instrument)Bass describes musical instruments that produce tones in the low-pitched range. They belong to different families of instruments and can cover a wide range of musical roles...
- Nick Gaffaney – drumDrumThe drum is a member of the percussion group of musical instruments, which is technically classified as the membranophones. Drums consist of at least one membrane, called a drumhead or drum skin, that is stretched over a shell and struck, either directly with the player's hands, or with a...
s (on "In the Morning")
- Georgina Cooper – celloCelloThe cello is a bowed string instrument with four strings tuned in perfect fifths. It is a member of the violin family of musical instruments, which also includes the violin, viola, and double bass. Old forms of the instrument in the Baroque era are baryton and viol .A person who plays a cello is...
(on "Stolen Hill") - Dion Taylor – slide guitarSlide guitarSlide guitar or bottleneck guitar is a particular method or technique for playing the guitar. The term slide refers to the motion of the slide against the strings, while bottleneck refers to the original material of choice for such slides: the necks of glass bottles...
(on "Loving You") - Anna CoddingtonAnna CoddingtonAnna Coddington is a New Zealand singer-songwriter.. She has released two albums: "The Lake" in 2008 and "Cat & Bird" in Feb 2011. Her previous band 'Duchess', for whom Coddington was songwriter, singer and guitarist, also released a 6 track EP in 2005....
– backing vocalsBacking vocalistA backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists... - Edmund McWilliams, JrEdmund CakeEdmund Cake is the pseudonym of Edmund McWilliams, a one time member of Flying Nun Records band Bressa Creeting Cake and a noted producer and engineer...
– production, backing vocals - Madelein Sami – backing vocals
- Bic RungaBic RungaBriolette Kah Bic Runga MNZM is a New Zealand pop recording artist whose first solo album, Drive, debuted at number one on the New Zealand RIANZ charts. She has since become one of the highest-selling New Zealand artists in recent history...
– backing vocals
- Source: CD liner