Jan 30th, 2023
Some reading and listening tips for the week.
Selected Works is a (usually) weekly 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. Generally speaking, 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.
It’s almost half past three on Monday afternoon, and I’m hiding in the corner of the Christchurch public library after spending the weekend at a lovely but rather full-on wedding/outdoor dance party in rural Canterbury. Almost time to head to the airport, but first of all, I thought I’d put together a quick newsletter for you. A moment of silence for my very cheap, plastic underwater film camera, which finally fell to pieces on me last week. Nevertheless, you can see a few of the last photos I took with it in this newsletter. Time to upgrade to something fancier, maybe?
WHAT I’VE BEEN READING:
The Balearic Aesthetic, By Joe Muggs.
A warning before we begin: this guide is far from comprehensive — it’s deliberately partial and full of major omissions. The thing is, it could only be that way. You could try and make a complete and definitive guide to the Balearic aesthetic in music, but the effort would inevitably destroy your mind and you’d probably have to go into hiding to boot. It is a contentious business to say the very least. Ask any five DJs what it means and you’ll get at a minimum six conflicting answers, and at least two of the DJs will hunker down into a bitter two week argument over whether Apollonia 6 or Wendy & Lisa are the most Balearic. There are even arguments over whether to capitalise the “B” of “Balearic” when referring to the music rather than the geography.
11 Best Baseline Bangers From Big Ang: From Yorkshire with love
As the undisputed Queen of Bassline, for two decades the name Big Ang has been synonymous with speedy basslines, rapturous breakdowns and right-in-the-feelings vocal samples. Big Ang creates the type of music that will have you raising your arms to the ceiling, eyes-closed in the sheer bliss of being alive; while simultaneously holding onto your mates for dear life, manically grinning like you've just got to the front of the Nemesis queue, having just realised exactly what you've gotten yourself into... unable to mutter anything but "phwoar". Megan Townsend for Mixmag.
The Art of Production: 808 State
Graham Massey sat down with Matt Anniss to discuss his life in music—808 State, Björk and improvisation as the fountain of his creativity—for RA's 21st birthday celebrations last November.
Australian Label Isle of Jura Focuses on Rare Releases, By Andy Beta
Kevin Griffiths, an Englishman who has since relocated with his family to Adelaide, South Australia, looked to his home for inspiration when deciding on a name for his new record label. The actual Isle of Jura is in Scotland, but his reason for choosing the name for his imprint stems from a love of the mischievous British electronic act The KLF. “Chill Out is probably my favorite album of all time, and the Isle of Jura is where they burned a million pounds in cash,” Griffiths says. “At the time, it felt like a good metaphor for starting a label!”
Super Sharp Shooter: photographing three decades of rave with Sarah Ginn
Super Sharp Shooter is the new book from club photographer Sarah Ginn, documenting her work across the ’00s, ’10s and ’20s in capturing dance music culture. Here, Simon Doherty sits down with Ginn to talk through some of the books best photos.
Teenage Rap Phenom Redveil Is Growing Up on Record: The Maryland hip-hop upstart released his breakout album on his 18th birthday last year. What’s next?
Eighteen-year-old rapper-producer redveil gets most of his samples from digital databases like Tracklib and Splice, but from the way he combs through stacks of vinyl, you’d think he was a traditionalist unstuck in time. On an overcast fall afternoon at Village Revival Records in downtown Manhattan, he digs quietly and patiently: The loudest thing about him is the image of a cowboy who rides across the chest of his denim jacket. “Cover art is one of the first things I look for when listening to a new album,” he says, studying the brightly colored Cubist portrait that adorns experimental guitarist Adrian Belew’s 1986 album Desire Caught by the Tail. Dylan Green for Pitchfork.
WHAT I’VE BEEN LISTENING TO:
I’ve been revisiting Saravah! since Takahashi-san passed. I know this isn’t true for the super-fans, but sometimes I feel like he gets lost in the shuffle compared to Haruomi Hosono and Ryuichi Sakamoto. I hope I’m just imagining that because everyone from Yellow Magic Orchestra is geniuses in their own right, and Saravah! is a vibe in itself.
Joe Muggs’s Balearic Aesthetic article has had me revisiting a few records. The one that jumped out to me again straight away was Island by Ruf Dug. Muggs summed it up better than me, but Island really does sound like an island. Worlds within songs. You’ll hear it.
This one is a pre-order. You’re going to have to go off the strength of the teaser tracks here, but trust me on this one, with Mascarade, Gayance has fully unlocked her ability to bring together neo-soul, RnB, West London broken beat, house and techno through a whole different lens. It’s a smooth listen, but some of the tracks on here a riotous. I’m excited to see how it all goes for her.
Another pre-order. There are albums made by musicians who predominately work with voice, and then there is Megan Mitchell, aka Cruel Diagonals, using her voice to construct entire galaxies of sound. Big ideas, big sounds and even bigger emotions.
Two new dubby house and techno cuts from the ever-consistent Wellington, New Zealand producer and DJ Cory Champion aka Borrowed CS. As he notes on his Bandcamp page, “do something for someone else. do something for yourself.”
FIN.