27 Feb, 2023
Mogwaa, Stuff, Mouthfull Radio, Brian Jackson, the list goes on.
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:
South Korean multi-instrumentalist, producer, and DJ Seungyoung Lee, aka Mogwaa, regularly posts videos of himself preparing coffee on his Instagram story. Between his choice of equipment and technique, a loving and respectful level of care is apparent. These same qualities are evident within the stylish boogie, electro, deep house, ambient, and Balearic beat projects he’s released over the last six years. Mogwaa is a master craftsman who values form and function in equal measure. I interviewed Mogwaa for Bandcamp Daily and wrote about eight of his essential releases. Read more here.
Last week, I wrote a short column about the books I’ve been reading lately for New Zealand’s Sunday Star Times/Stuff. You can read it here.
WHAT I’VE GOT COMING UP:
From 5-6 PM New Zealand time on Tuesday, 28 February, I’ve got a one-off one-hour DJ mix called Broken Swing airing on Wellington’s Mouthfull Radio. They’re a cool online radio station run by a bunch of enthusiastic music lovers, and I’m very happy to be contributing to their vibe. This time I went for a game of two halves vibe, 30 mins of West London Broken Beat (plus a Gayance track) and half an hour of global new jack swing rarities. Check Mouthfull out here.
While this is all going on, I’ll also be live on 95 bFM in Auckland, New Zealand, talking about the NZ hip-hop mixtape I helped DJ Marek compile ten years ago. You can read more about it in this article I wrote for Audio Culture recently.
On Thursday, as with most Thursdays, I’ll be on RDU 95.FM in Christchurch, talking about new music on the breakfast show with the host with the most, Liam. You can stream RDU online here.
On the 10th and 11th of March, the legendary Black American jazz/soul/fiunk keyboardist, flautist, singer, composer, and producer Brian Jackson is playing two shows in Auckland and Wellington, New Zealand. Although he’s best known for his creative partnership with the late great Gil Scott-Heron, recent years have yielded a collaborative album with Ali Shaheed Muhammad & Adrian Younge and a solo album, This is Brian Jackson. I’m on DJ support duties for the Wellington at Meow on the 11th. Cory Champion’s Clear Path Ensemble project will be performing as well. You can grab tickets over here.
WHAT I’VE BEEN READING:
Peter Dasent has, if you’ll pardon a terrible pun, been instrumental in creating some of New Zealand’s musical landmarks. As a member of The Crocodiles, he played on the hit song ‘Tears’ and wrote several of their other well-known tunes. He composed the scores for pivotal Peter Jackson films Heavenly Creatures, Brain Dead and Meet The Feebles. He has written children’s classics, led his own chamber ensemble, and collaborated on numerous projects with his lifelong friends Tony Backhouse and Fane Flaws. Nick Bollinger on Peter Dasent for Audio Culture.
In 2013, at 28, Eleanor Catton became the youngest-ever Booker winner with The Luminaries. In a recent interview with Lisa Allardice for The Guardian, she talks about adapting the novel for screen, being shut out of her native New Zealand and why it has taken 10 years to write a follow-up. Read here.
When they were both young travellers in the 90s DIY hardcore punk scene, Dominic Hoey had a theory he shared with Henry Oliver: put any three people together in a band and they’ll come up with at least one good song. There was an optimism to the idea that Henry loved — that we all have one good song inside us — but the dark side to that moon was daunting: almost none of those bands will be able to make a good album; most of us have just that one song. Henry Oliver profiles Dominic Hoey for Metro Magazine.
When Ekaterina Shilonosova was in kindergarten, she won a local song contest with her father. The pair would often play together, Shilonosova singing along to the simple melodies that he had written for her. The competition’s first prize was a brand new, adult-size guitar, nearly the same size as her; a symbolic victory for such a small musician. But second prize was an enormous toy dog, squishy and plush, the kind you might see temptingly displayed at a funfair. “I wanted that toy!” Shilonosova pouts over Zoom. “What the hell was I going to do with a professional guitar?” Katie Hawthorne profiles Kate NV for Crack Magazine.
WHAT I’VE BEEN LISTENING TO:
Proper abstract rhymes and beats from two of Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa’s best low-key talents, Hone Be Good & Christoph El Truento. This time, they’ve gone for shortform minimalist excellence, saying more with less. There’s not a single track here that passes the two-and-a-half-minute mark, but they’re still all complete and fully fleshed-out soundworlds and stories. That’s something.
At the end of April, longstanding Tāmaki Makaurau, Aotearoa folk artist Tiny Ruins will release her fourth album, Ceremony. She’s always been consistent, and this one follows form. Right now, you can check out two singles ‘Dorothy Bay’ and ‘The Crab / Waterbaby’ plus pre-order the album on Bandcamp.
Recently released through Numero Group, I’m Not Your Toy collects the best material from the two albums the outsider soul, RnB, and synth-pop artist Peter Barclay recorded in Oakland in the early 90s before sadly passing away far too young. Music of self-love and acceptance that simply has to be heard to be felt.
FIN.