Beats + Pieces Vol. 53
Variety, Fuemana, reading and listening tips.
Selected Works is a weekly (usually) newsletter by the Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Aotearoa (Wellington, New Zealand) based freelance music journalist, broadcaster, copywriter and sometimes DJ Martyn Pepperell, aka Yours Truly. Most weeks, Selected Works consists of a recap of what I’ve been doing lately and some of what I’ve been listening to and reading, paired with film photographs I’ve taken + some bonuses. All of that said, sometimes it takes completely different forms.
WHAT I’VE BEEN DOING:
The Australian Child Actor Who Became a Star in Sri Lanka: In 2021, Australian singer-songwriter Georgie Fisher started noticing comments from Sri Lankan social media users on her Facebook and Instagram pages that sent her spinning down memory lane. Three years later, she booked flights and headed to the Pearl of the Indian Ocean.
In my latest for Variety and Rolling Stone Australia, I dug into her unique story. At the crux, it's a tale about the unexpected ways in which our past can shape our future and the lives of others. [Read here]
Seasons Change: Fuemana & New Urban Polynesian: In 1989, Soul II Soul’s breakout singles ‘Keep on Movin' and ‘Back to Life (However Do You Want Me)’ weren’t just running up the charts in the UK, Europe, and North America; they were also having a significant impact in Australia and New Zealand. At the time, the late great Polynesian Renaissance man Phil Fuemana heard something special in the combination of hard drums and soulful vocals.
To celebrate the release of Fuemana’s New Urban Polynesian reissue, I expanded the liner notes with some additional details over on Test Pressing. [Read here]
WHAT I’VE BEEN READING:
Review: New Urban Polynesian by Fuemana: At the 2022 Taite Prize, the NZ Classic Record award went to a 1994 compilation that collected young hip-hop and R&B artists from South and West Auckland. Produced by Alan Jansson, Proud featured Sisters Underground, Semi MCs, and Otara Millionaires Club. For RNZ, Tony Stamp on New Urban Polynesian. [Read here]
Pharrell Williams and Chad Hugo Locked In Legal Dispute Over ‘Neptunes’ Name Rights: Hugo claims that his longtime friend and partner is trying to monopolize the name of their musical duo, which produced some of the biggest hits of the 2000s. For Billboard, Bill Donahue. [Read here]
Each Sunday, Pitchfork takes an in-depth look at a significant album from the past, and any record not in our archives is eligible. Last week, they revisited a groundbreaking 1970 album, a lovely but tragic record led by a pioneering force in country music. Color Me Country by Linda Martell. [Read here]
Long Live Pantograph Punch, Forever: The Pantograph Punch team reflect on 14 years of continuous publishing as a stalwart arts media journal, and their choice to go on hiatus. [Read here]
‘Translation changes the original meaning’: how 70s psych rockers Happy End ended the ‘Japanese rock controversy’: In 1969, Takashi Matsumoto and Haruomi Hosono opted to defy rock trends by singing in Japanese, not English – paving the way for ‘city pop’ and J-pop. For The Guardian, Patrick St Michel. [Read here]
WHAT I’VE BEEN LISTENING TO:
Here we go. Grammy-nominated New York-based New Zealand composer Leila Adu (piano & organ), Jon Toscano (bass), and David Frazier (drums) join forces with members of the PUBLIQuartet string quartet for a new album, Moonstone & Tar Stands. Right now, you can listen to the spellbinding lead single, ‘Life Matters’. In just a few days, expect more jazz meets soul meets improv meets electronics meets noise pop meets whatever.
I hope you like the sound of a compilation of late seventies/eighties Japanese jazz-funk as much as I do? DJ Notoya does it again with a heady blend of Yasuaki Shimizu, Toshiyuki Honda and Mikio Masuda, together with a few American musicians such as Ronnie Foster and Bobby Lyle. These grooves do not stop giving.
FIN.