Beats + Pieces Vol. 68

A general update from me to you.

My most recent marble maze. Built with foamboard and mirrored cardboard.

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.

AN EXERCISE IN DEEP FEEDBACK:

As most of you following along have probably noticed, I’ve been spending a bit of my spare time building marble mazes by hand lately. Initially, this whole tangent began at the request of a small relative who wanted one to play with - and I sure wasn’t going to say no. A couple of weeks ago, I posted a photographic collage of a bunch of the mazes I’ve built on Twitter.

Later on that day or night, The London-based DJ, producer, broadcaster, writer and thinker Elijah - who I think of as one of the guys who helped reinvigorate the UK grime scene in the late 2000s by setting up the Butterz blog, record label, radio show and club nights with Skilliam - quote tweeted my maze collage with a maze he’d drawn in his signature “yellow squares” style. If you’re not familiar with the yellow squares philosophy, you might find it interesting to have a look at his IG page.

I was stoked that Elijah did this because, having made and designed a bunch of mazes now, I’ve got a pretty good sense of the difficulty level. It might look a bit wonky in parts, but I can see he spent some time working through the problems. And because I’m a fan of adding to the dialogue, I decided to build a real-life model of his maze, but instead of working within my existing construction framework, I decided to freestyle it together in homage to how I imagine he drew his.

After I finished building it, I threw it up on Instagram and tagged Elijah, who kindly reshared it and described the process as an example of deep feedback. So, of course, I had to do the same via my newsletter. Sometimes, you’ve got to close the app and make the ting.

CHATUYE, AHMUTI

Here’s something I worked on a couple of years ago. I’m very happy it finally coming out. Frederiksberg Records is pleased to contribute to the ongoing revival and promotion of Garifuna culture by presenting the first official digital reissue of Ahmuti by Chatuye, a Garifuna collective formed in the LA area in 1982. The release date is Friday, November 22nd 2024. You can tap in via the Frederiksberg Records Bandcamp page here.

"Their debut album, Ahmuti (1987), gives the listener a window into over four hundred years of history stretching from West Africa to Saint Vincent, Honduras, Nicaragua, Guatemala, Belize, and the United States. Over a soaring set of songs, they share the spirit and strength of their story through a transcendent blend of traditional hand drums, syncopated turtle shell percussion, and group call-and-response vocals, all expressed in a Punta music style.

It’s a testament to the Garifuna peoples’ character and the richness of their culture that despite hundreds of years of discrimination, oppression, and extermination, they are still here beating their drums, singing their songs, and sharing their life-affirming music and dance with the world."

WHAT I’VE BEEN LISTENING TO:

I’m posting this one for a reason that will become clear soon. Hold tight.

Ekho Laliah is an experimental pop and electronica producer and vocalist from Wellington, New Zealand. A few weeks ago, I saw her perform for the first time and was rather impressed. As it turns out, she’s got an EP up on Bandcamp (two actually), and some of the music has similar sonic qualities in the tracks I heard in the early days of UK Grime (the sinogrime era) as reimagined through a dance-tempo singer-songwriter lense. Give it a shot.

WHAT I’VE BEEN READING:

The Therapist in the Machine: For The Baffler, Jess McAllen, looks into chatbots take on the talking cure. Read here.

How Dialled In is championing South Asian music, culture and community: Dialled In began with a simple idea: to centre South Asian arts, music and culture in the UK. In the three years since its debut festival in London, the collective has gone from strength to strength, connecting communities and spotlighting emerging underground DJs, producers and live artists in the South Asian diaspora, as well as hosting world-renowned stars and unsung heroes. This year, alongside another successful London festival, a Southbank takeover, and their debut edition in Manchester, they co-founded a new space at Glastonbury's Shangri-La area, Arrivals. As they look toward the future, for DJ Mag, co-founder Dhruva Balram documents Dialled In's evolution. Read here.

DJ AG Online is the people’s DJ: Accruing tens of millions of views for his spontaneous ‘open format DJ’ sets across London and support from the likes of Skepta, JME and more, DJ AG Online is on a mission to support grassroots artists. For Dazed, Solomon Pace-McCarrick. Read here.

QUINCY JONES INTERVIEWED (1990): The Dude, back on the block: Quincy Jones doesn’t quite put it this way, but he knows that great power comes with great responsibility. Jones has great power because of a financial empire founded on an extraordinary music career that spans from bebop to hip-hop. For Elsewhere, Graham Reid. Read here. REST IN PEACE QUINCY JONES!

VERB WELLINGTON / LITCRAWL 2024:

Making noise: Aotearoa music writers

From 8.30 to 9.15 pm on Saturday, the 9th of November 2024, I’ll be in conversation at Cuba Street’s Flying Nun store with Kiran Dass and Chris Bourke as part of Verb Wellington’s Litcrawl event. The topics on hand will be mostly related to music journalism: What it used to be like. How it’s changed. Where it’s going. Expect a tight forty-five. Details here.

BONUS:

We need your help: New Zealand Geographic has been an icon of environmental journalism for 35 years, but times are changing, and we need your help to survive. More details here.

RNZ: The Richard Poems with Simon Sweetman: Simon Sweetman is a Wellington-based writer, broadcaster, podcaster and RNZ semi-regular. Simon has written his second poetry book...which he says is his best work yet. The poems cover toxic friendships, toxic masculinity, nostalgia and grief. The Richard Poems is out this month and has an accompanying soundtrack. More here.

FIN.