Is Friday a vibe?
My end-of-week re-cap type mailout
Selected Works is a regular newsletter by the Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Aotearoa (Wellington, New Zealand) based freelance music journalist, broadcaster, copywriter, and sometimes DJ Martyn Pepperell. Yes, that’s me. 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:
I recently mentioned that I’ve started selling copies of my first photo zine, PLACES. You can read more about it here. Due to popular demand, I had to print a second run of it this week, so if you’ve been thinking about ordering a copy, feel free to drop me a line.
Last weekend, I went down to Ōtautahi (Christchurch) in the South Island for a few work things. While I was there, I saw the Te Whanganui-a-Tara singer Ebony Lamb and her band play the first date of the national tour they’re on to promote her new solo album. Ebony’s sounding strong, and her backing musicians are on. Check out a show if you can. More details here.
The next night, well afternoon/night, I caught up with the Craigslist crew, B.Lo and Waewaeexpress, at the Stolen Moments party at Smash Palace. Smash is one of my favourite outdoor bars/venues in the country. Things can take a while to warm up there, but once the sun sets, the vibe gets nice. Later that night, I headed over to Flux to check Halfqueen absolutely tear the courtyard apart with a DJ mix of ragga-dubstep, old funky, gqom and various other club-tempo styles. Today’s newsletter header is a photo of her mixing.
WHAT I’VE BEEN READING:
The Art of DJing - Bridge: The drum & bass pioneer goes deep on the '90s, the challenge of back-to-backs and why it's not always about giving the crowd what they want. For Resident Advisor, Emeka Okonkwo. Read here.
Ayesha’s fascinating rhythm: With the imminent release of her debut LP, ‘Rhythm Is Memory’, New York’s Ayesha goes further than ever in establishing her status as one of the city’s top practitioners of envelope-pushing club music. The Nowadays resident chats with Bruce Tantum for DJ Mag about her music, self-doubt, and the similarities between gardening and producing an album. Read here.
Sofia Kourtesis on Her Debut Album Madres and Subverting Techno Perfectionism: The electronic songwriter-producer discusses the painful path of caregiving that led to her most freeing work yet. For Pitchfork, Isabelia Herrera. Read here.
“House And Hip Hop Carry A Similar Energy” - Meet RXK Nephew, The MC Making Rap Weird Again: The Rochester-born rapper has won a cult fan base thanks to his surrealist, hyperconfident bars. For Mixmag, Thomas Hobbs spoke to the rising star about his rags-to-riches ascent to the peak of underground hip hop and why he wants to make people dance. Read here.
MĀNUKA RECORDINGS X ROMI WRIGHTS:
For those unfamiliar, over the last few years, I’ve been doing a lot more copywriting, sales sheets, and liner notes work for a bunch of boutique record labels from around the world. Recently, I helped Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa (Auckland, New Zealand)’s Mānuka Recordings, put together press materials for their latest release, ‘Bring It Back / Without' You’ by Romi Wrights. Check out the full details below.
Established in late 2022 in Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa (Auckland, New Zealand) by Dylan Biscuit and Kenny Sterling, Mānuka Recordings was founded with the intention of supporting and collaborating with musicians within our immediate community, pushing artists’ boundaries, and searching for the magic within spontaneity and imperfection. A year on, we continue the mission with our third lathe cut/digital release, ‘Bring It Back / Without You’ by the Te Whanganui-a-Tara (Wellington) based singer-songwriter Romi Wrights.
In recent years, Romi has become a name to watch for within Aotearoa’s ever-expanding modern jazz, soul, funk and boogie scenes. In late October, we unveiled her debut Mānuka Recordings single, ‘Bring It Back’, produced by our co-founder Kenny Sterling, and featuring some sensational playing from a cast of musicians, including Julien Dyne (drums), Olivia Wilding (cello), Corry Champion (vibraphone), Dublin’s Gareth Quinn Redmond (violin) and Romi’s cousins (backing vocals).
Inspired by vintage orchestral soul, 1970s dub reggae and some analog drum machine experimentation, ‘Bring It Back’ sees Romi in scorching soul diva mode, singing about empty-hearted excuses, toxic relationship dynamics and the bittersweet afterglow of tainted love against a spellbinding instrumental. On the flip side, Romi and Kenny team up with Dublin’s Fiachra Kinder (drums), JY Lee (horns and flute) and Cory Champion (vibraphone). The result, ‘Without You’, is another slice of vintage reggae-influenced soul and funk-drenched in yearning, loss, love and polaroid-perfect optimism.
Due for release on November 23rd in limited edition 7” lathe cut and digital formats, ‘Bring It Back / Without You’ points towards further releases from Romi and Kenny in 2024. Before then, however, they’ll be taking to the stage in Tāmaki Makaurau on Dec 10 to open for US modern soul legend Lee Fields at The Hollywood in Avondale.
RANDOM:
It’s Bandcamp Friday tonight, and my friends at Frederiksberg Records have something very special planned for it. Keep your eyes on their Bandcamp page later on. In a bit.
‘Once Upon a Time in New York,’ when punk, disco and rap converged to create magic. I gotta thank In Sheeps Clothing for putting me on to this documentary, who were in turn, put onto it by Todd Burns’ Music Journalism Insider newsletter. That’s how it works! You can read more details about this vintage BBC4 doco over here.
Okay, that’s me for now.
FIN.