Minuit

Minuit emerged in 1998 as a breakbeat electronica outfit based in Nelson, New Zealand. The trio consists of singer Ruth Minuit, née Ruth Carr, alongside multi-instrumentalist producers Paul Dodge and Ryan Beehre. Their first recording, the self-issued four-track maxi-single Luck, appeared in 2000. Working with the Auckland electronica imprint Tardus Music, the group delivered its debut album The 88 in 2003; the set climbed to number 21 on the domestic albums chart. A seven-track follow-up EP titled The Guns surfaced the next year, mixing fresh tracks with remixes and concert captures. The Guards Themselves, issued in 2006, lifted the band to number 12 nationally and featured the single “Fiji,” while extensive live work helped build an overseas audience. To serve European listeners, Minuit launched the U.K. label Dollhouse Records and compiled its early output on the 2008 collection I Went to This Party and There Were 88 Guards with Guns, which added the standalone tracks “Except You” from 2007 and “A Room Full of Cute” from 2008. Their third studio album, Find Me Before I Die a Lonely Death Dot.com, arrived in 2009 and delivered the group’s first Top Ten placement.