Midweek Beats + Pieces vol. 36

Mokotron, Skylab Radio, Hong Kong Community Radio, etc

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.

Mōrena, Good Morning, Buenos días, however, you say! Hope you’ve all been well (or well enough). This weekend just been, I spent a couple of days down south in Ōtautahi (Christchurch), catching up with friends and checking out a few things. The most notable was the first-ever live performance from the Māori electro/breaks artist Mokotron.

If you’re familiar with The Egyptian Lover, Cybertron, Drexciya, Stingray, UR etc, you’ve got some idea of the ballpark, but if you add in vocoded te reo Māori language vocals, Taonga pūoro (traditional indigenous wood, shell, bone and rock instruments) and content/context drawn from Te Ao Māori, you’ll have a clearer idea. Fittingly, given the electro elements, he performed in a 80s/90s style video game and pinball arcade/venue at a night organised by some local techno and electro heads. Huge sound, huge vibes and a huge performance. The whole thing was simple, effective and powerful. Not one wasted moment or gesture.

Here’s a few EPs of his. You can listen to them or buy them via Bandcamp.

Here’s an interview with Mokotron for Newzician Magazine, as conducted by Tasha Tziakis.

WHAT I’VE GOT COMING UP:

On Thursday, the 20th of April, 2023, I’m presenting a guest DJ set in Naarm / Melbourne on one of the city’s great local internet radio stations, Skylab Radio. I’ve been presenting on Skylab periodically for a few years now, which has been a real pleasure. This time, I’ve put together a selection of British, French and New Zealand street soul from the late eighties and early nineties. They’ll be playing it from 12:00-1:00 PM AEST time. You’ll be able to stream it on the site here.

WHAT I’VE BEEN DOING:

Last week, I presented a global mix of 90s street soul and swingbeat on Hong Kong Community Radio in, you guessed it, Hong Kong. This one was a real honour for me. You can listen back to it via the site archive here.

WHAT I’VE BEEN READING:

Eddie Chacon: Sundown review – delightful career renaissance for former one-hit wonder: The 59-year-old singer of Charles & Eddie fame is back with a second album of tightly written melodies and abstract tracks that draw you into a rich, heady world. Alexis Petridis for The Guardian.

Spotify’s RapCaviar Presents Documentary Series Is Hip-Hop Storytelling at Its Most Sanitized: Plus praise for Teyana Taylor’s acting breakthrough in the NYC drama A Thousand and One, and scorn for the abysmal rock remix of Lil Uzi Vert’s “Just Wanna Rock.” Alphonse Pierre for Pitchfork.

Nick Cave on the Fragility of Life: The singer-songwriter believes that we are deeply flawed, impermanent creatures who can sometimes do extraordinary things. Amanda Petrusich for The New Yorker.

Breaking Through - Animistic Beliefs: The Rotterdam duo, who infuse experimental club music with instruments and ideas from their Southeast Asian heritage, have become a must-watch live act. Mike Steyels for Resident Advisor.

WHAT I’VE BEEN LISTENING TO:

For BBC Radio One’s Residency series, Auckland-based DJ Half Queen goes turbo mixing multi-genre global bass bangers, covering Jersey club, Gquom, Footwork and some crazy club edits from Burna, Uniique and more. Listen here.

Mdou Moctar is a Tuareg songwriter and musician based in Agadez, Niger, who performs modern rock music inspired by Tuareg guitar music. Trevor Reekie spoke with Mdou for RNZ Music before his show at Womad New Zealand.

For BBC Radio 6’s Full Force Friday Feelings, the legendary Mary Anne Hobbs. Back-to-back bangers, as she shakes off the week with wall of sound and hurtles towards the Friday Guest Mix. She also celebrates our favourite music from the Near Future and takes a moment to relax with our Hit Reset moment. Hint: This one features Surly & Moondoctor’s ‘Howdy’ track.

Kingston, Jamaica-based hip-hop formalist The Sickest Drama has just released his new album, Luxury Tax. If you enjoy confident, effortlessly detailed reality rap and cinematic stripped-down hip-hop beats, TSD has got a full platter prepped up and ready for you. As well as a array of producers, Luxury Tax also showcases vocal features from Sherie, Triple Threat, Dizzy The Ill One & RZNZ. Check it out now.

Yet more lush Balearic excellence from the low-key legend Cantoma. This one reminds me of Penguin Cafe Orchestra if their classical composition impulses were wired into a set of shuffling Latin jazz funk grooves aimed straight at the dancefloor. ‘Way To The Sun’ feels like a heat-seeking missile for early morning sunrise and hypnotic after midnight hours in the club.

I’ve been waiting for someone to do something like this. If you’re familiar with the work of the electronic musician, visual artist, designer, and cultural researcher Damien Roach - aka patten, you’ll already know he’s always operating on the cutting edge, looking for ways forward in art and culture.

For Mirage FM, patten used a system called Riffusion to generate hours of lo-fi A.I music recordings, before spending a similar length of time digging through the output for samples. From there, he applied the beatmaker principles of sampling, chopping, looping and manipulating sound. In the process, patten created 21 tracks that recontextualise elements of pop, techno, R&B, opera, hip-hop, grime, ambient and yacht rock into a truly 21st-century beat tape that feels it was pulled out of the digital dreams of the World Wide Web. There’s something really calming and soothing about this project and the accompanying music videos patten created for it.

WHAT I’VE BEEN WATCHING:

Who is Jai Paul? And why is he so revered despite so little output? Resident Advisor’s latest video essay traces his journey from the early 2010s to Coachella 2023.

BONUS:

Congrats to Denver McCarthy aka Micronism, who is being awarded the 2023 IMNZ Classic Record prize at the Taite Music Prize ceremonies in Auckland, New Zealand, tonight. You can listen to his New Zealand techno classic Inside A Quiet Mind below.

FIN.