Midweek Beats + Pieces vol. 34
Radio Alhara, RDU, Reading Recommendations
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.
Bit of a short one this week on the newsletter front.
WHAT I’VE BEEN DOING:
Radio AlHara is a Palestinian internet radio station that broadcasts live from Bethlehem and Ramallah. Over the last few years, I’ve been lucky enough to present with them a few times. Last week, I continued this tradition with NEO JACK FEELING, a sixty-minute exploration of 90s street soul and swingbeat from around the world. You can listen to the archive stream here.
WHAT I’VE GOT COMING UP:
Every Thursday morning at around 9 am NZ time, I get on the phone and chat with RDU 98.5 FM’s breakfast host Liam about some new music. If you ever want to tune in, you can stream RDU live here.
WHAT I’VE BEEN READING:
My Cyclone Diary - after the flood, the dread that replaces panic: In the second instalment in a series of diaries about Cyclone Gabrielle’s aftermath in New Zealand, Anna Rankin describes the fears, rumours and unexpected effects of a lack of internet in the town of Wairoa.
A Brief History of South Indian Kuthu and Teenmaar Music in 10 Songs: From Deva to M.I.A. to A. R. Rahman, we trace the evolution of the dance-folk genre at the heart of RRR hit “Naatu Naatu”. Adesh Thapliyal for Pitchfork.
Everything But the Girl on their unlikely return - ‘This life came into our music. We didn’t have control over it’: They went from leftist outsiders to huge dance-pop stars, then walked away when stadiums came calling. Back after 24 years, Tracey Thorn and Ben Watt explain how lockdowns led to a new album – and why they’ve embraced Auto-Tune. Alexis Petridis for The Guardian.
Mystery To One - Wtchcrft's Vocal-Driven Techno Will Put You Under A Spell: A techno producer with a hip hop foundation, Arielle Lana LeJarde chats to Brooklyn mainstay WTCHCRFT about true crime, going to the toilet at HÖR and navigating hijacked Black spaces. For Mixmag.
Birnham Wood, by Eleanor Catton: I’m about 3/4 of the way through Birnham Wood, the first book the celebrated New Zealand author Eleanor Catton has published since she won The Brooker Prize for The Luminaries. Set in New Zealand’s South Island, it’s a thriller about a guerilla gardening collective, a recently knighted Kiwi legend, a sinister American billionaire and an aspiring investigative journalist with a passion for film photography. The open secret about The Luminaries is it was one of those books that many readers really struggled to finish (it’s a big big book), so I can see why Catton opted for a shorter, snappier story. So far, I’m enjoying the momentum and all the subtle digs she’s throwing at well-known New Zealand figures along the way. Let’s see.
FIN.