''Sambanova'' is the debut album by Australian

dance music Dance music is music composed specifically to facilitate or accompany dancing. It can be either a whole musical piece or part of a larger musical arrangement. In terms of performance, the major categories are live dance music and recorded danc ...

duo,

Pnau Pnau ( ) is an Australian dance music trio originating from Sydney. The trio, a duo before 2016, consists of the musicians Nick Littlemore (vocals, production), Peter Mayes (guitar, production) and Sam Littlemore (production), with the latter jo ...

, it was released in July 1999 on the independent Peking Duck

label A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed dir ...

. However, the album was pulled from record stores due to uncleared samples,

Warner Music Australasia Warner Music Group's labels include the following. Flagship labels *Atlantic Records * Elektra Records *Parlophone Records *Warner Records Atlantic Records Group * 1st & 15th Entertainment * All Money In * Artist Partners Group * Asylum Rec ...

re-released it in August 2001 with a different track listing, and it peaked in the Top 40 on the ARIA Albums Chart. The album won an

ARIA Music Awards The Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (commonly known informally as ARIA Music Awards, ARIA Awards, or simply the ARIAs) is an annual series of awards nights celebrating the Australian music industry, put on by the Austr ...

for Best Dance Release at the

ARIA Music Awards of 2000 The 14th Australian Recording Industry Association Music Awards (generally known as the ARIA Music Awards or simply The ARIAS) was held on 24 October 2000 at the Sydney Entertainment Centre. Presenters distributed 28 awards with the big win ...

Background

Pnau released their debut album ''Sambanova'' in July 1999 under the small independent Peking Duck

. It was recorded in a bedroom studio and Pnau declared they only expected to sell "a few thousand copies". It was re-released in June 2000 by

however the album was pulled from record stores for uncleared samples and re-released in an altered format by

in August 2001. In a 2003 interview with ''

The Age ''The Age'' is a daily newspaper in Melbourne, Australia, that has been published since 1854. Owned and published by Nine Entertainment, ''The Age'' primarily serves Victoria (Australia), Victoria, but copies also sell in Tasmania, the Austral ...

'' newspaper's Andrew Drever, Mayes recalled that they had no understanding of sample clearances due to their naivety in the music business. Pnau toured nationally for the

Big Day Out The Big Day Out (BDO) was an annual music festival that was held in five Australian cities: Sydney, Melbourne, Gold Coast, Adelaide, and Perth, as well as Auckland, New Zealand. The festival was held during summer, typically in January of eac ...

in 2001, 2004, 2008 and 2011.

Track listing

Three full length versions of ''Sambanova'' have been released to the public, one through the label Peking Duck and two through

. Peking Duck version * ''Sambanova'' (1999, CD format, released by Peking Duck, DUCKCD001) 2000 version * ''Sambanova'' (2000, CD format, had video on it, rereleased by Warner Music Australasia, 8573831942) 2001 version * ''Sambanova'' (July 2001, CD format, has 3 bonus tracks, released by Warner Music Australasia, 8573883392)

Personnel

Pnau members *

Nick Littlemore Nicholas George Littlemore (born 6 May 1978) is an Australian musician, record producer, singer and songwriter. As a musician, he is the frontman of the electronic duo Pnau, an ex-member of the art-rock band Teenager (band), Teenager and one pa ...

– vocals, drums,

percussion A percussion instrument is a musical instrument that is sounded by being struck or scraped by a beater including attached or enclosed beaters or rattles struck, scraped or rubbed by hand or struck against another similar instrument. Exc ...

synthesiser A synthesizer (also spelled synthesiser) is an electronic musical instrument that generates audio signals. Synthesizers typically create sounds by generating waveforms through methods including subtractive synthesis, additive synthesis and f ...

, keyboards, trombone,

melodica The melodica is a handheld free-reed instrument similar to a pump organ or harmonica. It features a musical keyboard on top, and is played by blowing air through a mouthpiece that fits into a hole in the side of the instrument. The keyboard usual ...

clavi Clavus may refer to: * Claudius Clavus (born 1388), 15th-century Danish cartographer * ''Clavus'' (gastropod), a genus of snails in the family Drilliidae * The Roman ''clavus'', a reddish-purple stripe on garments that distinguished members of th ...

Peter Mayes Peter Mayes (born 5 October) is an Australian musician and producer. He is widely known for being a leading member of dance act Pnau. He is a longtime collaborator with Nick Littlemore and has produced and mixed many of his projects, most notab ...

– guitars, vocals, bass guitar, synthesiser, keyboards, melodica,

keytar The keytar is a lightweight synthesizer that is supported by a strap around the neck and shoulders, similar to the way a guitar is supported by a strap. Keytars allow players a greater range of movement onstage, compared to conventional keyboard ...

Additional musicians *Paul Johannessen –

electric piano An electric piano is a musical instrument which produces sounds when a performer presses the keys of a piano-style musical keyboard. Pressing keys causes mechanical hammers to strike metal strings, metal reeds or wire tines, leading to vibrations ...

(Fender Rhodes) *Gawain McGrath – guitar

Charts

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Sambanova 1999 debut albums ARIA Award-winning albums Pnau albums