Hello there! How’s it going? I hope you’re well? I’ve been lacking a bit of energy of late. Sometimes things just seem harder. Ever get that? It can feel a bit like wading through treacle sometimes. It’s a shame, as there is so much great stuff going on at the moment. I listen to what friends are up to on messaging apps and social media and get the feeling I am missing out.
Luckily there are ways to still feel connected, and that’s what the radio section of this newsletter(?) / post(?) (Holly calls me a boomer when I describe this as a blog) is all about. I’ve tried to be kind to myself with this FOMO by remembering to focus my energy in the right places and not to make fun things feel like too much of a chore. I have said previously here that you always feel better if you go to the gig, but at the same time if you really aren’t feeling it, that’s ok too.
Radio
First of all, I want to give a big shout out to the Daytimers crew. What they are doing to promote South Asian sounds, stories & voices is wonderful. They held a festival at the Horniman Museum in Forest Hill that celebrated South Asian food, music and artistry. While I was sad to miss it, I am happy that South London radio station and Daytimers affiliates Sister Midnight FM recorded a show from the festival. Station head honcho Soph and Ri Mistry play some excellent music and talk about unearthed Bollywood disco and vegan butter chicken.
Something else I missed out on but was happy to listen back was a talk organised by No Bounds Radio on the history of pirate radio. Angie Dee and DJ Camilla talk about their experiences as women DJs on pirates back in the 80’s. It highlights the dedication required to run a pirate radio station back the day and the dangers associated with it (including the fear of getting your records taken by the Department of Trade and Industry). They also discussed the additional struggles of being a woman in a male dominated space.
Music
Jezebell is producing some of the best spacey, acid Italo out there at the moment. Their first release on Ransom Note, Weekend Machines EP, is an electronic riot. South Korean cosmic queen Shobostar takes it deeper with a remix of the title track.
A reissue of Minimalphunk tracks from the early 00’s has been trickling out on Bandcamp over the last couple of years. Mostly recently, halfmoon is a downtempo piece of psychedelic house that sounds as fresh today as it did at the turn of the millennium. Thanks DJMart for putting me onto it.
Life
While I was lamenting that I was not able to go to as many things as I would have liked to, I have still been to some pretty awesome things recently. Yes, I’m that asshole. Eyes bigger than my belly and all that. So here’s a couple of things I’ve been to that were fab.
Slow Dance records held a small residency at my local church recently, in collaboration with Live at St Giles. Held across 6th, 20th and 27th June, each night featured candlelit and intimate performances, mixes and collectives. Holly and I want to see Sarah Meth debut her latest mixtape Midnight Snacks Vol. 2 with a video collage (directed by Lula Rousson) and live performance of ethereal electronic folk pop. Support by Cameron Picton was also excellent.
On a hot summer evening a bunch of music lovers decided to leave the refreshing pub adjacent pavements of Soho and descend into a sweaty basement. The draw? A music legend. Arthur Baker was talking and those who had been inspired by his work gathered to listen. Arthur took us through his life, from Boston to New York, London to Miami. The list of superstars he worked with were impressive and the music he made was groundbreaking. While he was at Sounds of the Universe to promote an excellent early breaks compilation he had recently released with Soul Jazz records, he spoke most proudly of the work he did with Steve Van Zandt (of E Street Band and Soprano’s fame) on the anti-apartheid record Sun City.