Sisters, Spires and Spartacus
Hello! How’s it going? I am doing pretty good. April is not only the birthday of this Substack (My last post was a 1st anniversary special) but also my birthday. I had a great weekend, hanging out with Holly and other people I love dearly. It obviously included music. First thing I did was visit Kevin at Jelly Records and bought a couple of records and some new slipmats. I was then at Church of Sound in Clapton on Friday for a Roy Ayers Tribute (which I write about below) and at Altar_Native in Walworth for Balearic London (which I wrote about in October). I’ve just realised that both of these events took place in churches. That’s interesting… anyway, let’s not dwell on it. On with the stuff.
Radio
Sister Midnight FM launched their new studio last weekend and are now broadcasting live radio from South East London every Sunday, Monday and Tuesday. They also have a Discord you can join, if you want to chat to those on air. It was a great first weekend and I wanted to shout out three shows I especially enjoyed:
Return of the Jazz on Sunday featured spoken word and Jazz, mostly from London. My first radio show on Aaja used to feature a lot of similar music and it was lovely to hear a show like this. Host Chantelle said she’s going to feature guest spoken word artists on future shows and I look forward to tuning in to see how this wonderful bit of radio progresses. Listen here
André Larnyoh has a great Friday show on LWSTD FM so I was excited to see him bringing his wonderful energy, and some of his grandmother's record collection, to Sister Midnight FM on Monday’s also. This show was the perfect antidote to the Monday blues. Listen here
Soph is one of the founders of Sister Midnight, a community owned music venue that’s in the process of opening in Lewisham. It’s wonderful that she will also be doing a live monthly Tuesday show on SMFM. She admitted she was winging it on this occasion (which is fair enough, given the work setting up the new studio), and it was wonderful nethertheless. A nourishing selection of tracks and some interesting chat about Sister Midnight and mulching. Listen here
Music
I met E.M.M.A at the Tate Modern, where she was DJing as part of record label Local Action’s takeover. She was playing a Beach House track that I hadn’t heard for ages and it sounded great. E.M.M.A’s music also sounds great. It shares that dreamy quality that I love about Beach House's music. I downloaded the EP “Change My Mind” and played the title track on my LWSTD FM show. It has a gothic vibe to it that I like a lot. All four tracks are great. Perfect for losing yourself, in that place between awake and asleep. Buy it here
Daudi is great. Great person. Great songwriter. Great singer. Great guitarist. He’s released a couple of covers, tracks that mean a great deal to him, and they are absolutely beautiful; Terry Callier’s “Love Theme From Spartacus” and The Cinematic Orchestra’s “All That You Give”. Daudi knows how to do a lot with a little. Rather than shouting for attention, Daudi uses his delicate voice and intricate guitar playing to command it. In these tough times it’s important to remember how powerful it is to be gentle. Buy it here
Life
Church of Sound assembled the Red, Black and Green Ensemble for a special tribute to Roy Ayers, who sadly passed away a month previous. The band was led by Orphy Robinson and featured Kokoroko’s Sheila Maurice-Grey, alongside a bunch of other amazing musicians, and they delighted us with an expansive retrospective.
The band walked on to an acapella version of “Hey Uh-What You Say Come On” and then belted through over 2 hours of Ayers’ classics. Highlights include “Running Away” which morphed into an Afrobeat rhythm, a nod to Ayers’ work with Fela Kuti on “Music Of Many Colours”. There were powerful versions of "Turned on to You” by Eighties Ladies and “You Can't Turn Me Away” by Sylvia Striplin. “Everybody Loves the Sunshine” provided a cathartic encore, especially after a week of unseasonably glorious weather in London.
Church of Sound is such a special event and I am always so happy after attending. The Roy Ayers tribute was a wonderful night and I want to give a special shout out to QuinC for saving me a spot at the front and doing an amazing job on sound. Love you mate.