SELECTED WORKS #006

NTS mixes, new music, books/articles to read and more.

Another week has passed. If you need some music to listen to, I’ve collected up some mixes I’ve put together or contributed to for NTS over the last few years. I’ve also included a few listening and reading tips + some extra stuff. Fingers crossed.

NTS:

When it comes to online radio/internet radio, there are a few stations that have a special place in my heart, Dublab, The Lot Radio and NTS. Since 2017, I’ve been lucky enough to broadcast with NTS a few times. I started off guesting on other people’s shows - respect due Diamondstein and Tej Adeleye - then started putting together my own presentations, mostly recently a 60 minute special on Street Soul and Swingbeat from Aotearoa New Zealand. Here’s a list of all the NTS shows I’ve guested on, or hosted myself. Please enjoy.

Closer: Street Soul & Swingbeat From Aotearoa with Martyn Pepperell: In the late 80s and 90s, a generation of Polynesian musicians took inspiration from UK groups like Soul II Soul, creating their own South Pacific strain of street soul and swingbeat - Martyn Pepperell explores the scene's greatest records in a special 60 minute show. (Listen here)

Archipelago with Martyn Pepperell: Martyn Pepperell presents a 60 minute survey of contemporary electronica, dream pop, rap, house and techno from Aotearoa New Zealand and Australia. Sui Zhen, Jess B, Church & AP, Rainbow Chan, Coco Solid, Borrowed CS, Peach Milk, Nice Girl, Vanessa Worm, etc. (Listen here)

Martyn Pepperell: In 2018, I spent a week digging through the crates in record stores and outdoor markets in Seoul, South Korea and came back to Aotearoa New Zealand with about 20 Korean city-pop, synth-pop and disco records from the ‘80s and early ‘90s. A few months later, I went to Los Angeles and presented a mix of them for NTS2. (Listen here)

Floating Roofs - New Zealand Music Special with Martyn Pepperell: After a conversation on Twitter, London-based contemporary jazz specialist Tej Adeleye invited me to put together a presentation on Aotearoa New Zealand jazz (and jazz related music) for her fortnightly NTS show, Floating Roofs. Reader, I did as she requested. (Listen here)

Night Shift w/ Diamondstein & Martyn Pepperell: Cold winds, empty street. Diamondstein presents Night Shift - ambient techno and moody experimental music for night time noir moments. In 2017, Diamondstein invited me onto his show while I was in Los Angeles. I played a mixture of Aotearoa New Zealand ambient/noise and some Japanese city-pop. (Listen here)

WHAT I’VE BEEN LISTENING TO:

Borrowed CS, Grooves (Self-Released)

Covid notwithstanding, it’s been a banner year for the Wellington, New Zealand musician, composer, producer and DJ Cory Champion. Cory started his year by releasing his first proper jazz album as Clear Path Ensemble through Berlin/Auckland label Cosmic Compositions and followed it up with a complimentary EP of remixes by Kush Jones, Christoph El Truento, AceMo, Glen Astro and others. On the techno side of things, he’s released two albums and several EPs under his Borrowed CS alias. Grooves is his second Borrowed CS record for the year. Over nine house, techno and electro tracks, Cory uses dub production techniques, composition by subtraction and rich textural manipulation to deliver a forever vibe. Grooves should have been the soundtrack to Voyager 1 and Voyager 2’s journeys into the depths of the outer solar system. (Purchase)

John Morrison, South Philly: HOME (Self-Released)

Philadelphia’s John Morrison describes himself as a writer/DJ/Sample flipper, and I think that description is practically perfect. We’re talking about a guy who grew up with '90s/2000s hip-hop, while simultaneously taking an interest in shoegaze, alternative rock, Chicago House, Detroit Techno and British sound system music (a la jungle, garage). At some point, John started learning his musical history (jazz, soul, funk, folk etc), and as well as DJing, making beats and rapping, music writing became one of his key domains. Created since he moved to South Philly with his partner last year, South Philly: HOME is a collection of beat loops that seem to pull most of John’s influences and interests together. These are beats that combine the knock of early 2000s Roc-A-Fella with a depth of musical history and diversity. Basically, they’re nerdy as fuck, but would still go down well in a boxing gym. (Purchase) 

SIDEBAR: John has an ebook about Do You Want More?!!!?! By The Roots coming out soon. You can preorder it (here)

WHAT I’VE BEEN READING:

Hari Kunzru, Red Pill (SCRIBNER Simon & Schuster UK)

Hari Kunzru’s sixth novel isn’t non-fiction, but it very easily could be. Around a year before Donald Trump’s 2016 election, our narrator feels an existential malaise creeping into his life in the big apple. Temporarily saying goodbye to his wife and young child, he decamps to the outskirts of Berlin to take part in a writing residency, complete his new book, and hopefully return home a man transformed. From there, over a series of chance interactions, our narrator finds the ground shifting under his feet. But is this a case of a man in freefall, or could he perhaps be a canary in a coal mine? I tore through this in about six hours. The pages turn themselves! (Purchase)

Nyshka Chandran, Asia's forgotten musical gems rediscovered on vinyl (BBC News)

As the vinyl market experiences booming demand, crate diggers are spending time and money to re-release forgotten musical gems around Asia and beyond. Nyshka Chandran speaks with Fariz RM, Dean Chew, Munir Harry Septiandry and Jan Hagenkoetter (Click here)

Giacomo Bottà, How Post-Punk Heralded Modern Coffee Shops (Norient)

How does music affect the image of a city? In his recent book Deindustrialisation and Popular Music, Giacomo Bottà elaborates the relationship between de-industrialization and genres like house, industrial or post-punk. Here, he thinks about the seemingly new role of techno in Covid-19 times. (click here)

WHAT I’VE BEEN DOING:

Katie Brown from The May Project interviewed me for her new digital media outlet The May Magazine. As part of the interview, I created a playlist of music Andreas from Frederiksberg Records has introduced me to over the last few years. (Click here)

WHAT I’VE GOT COMING UP:

On Saturday afternoon, I’m hosting Radio Active 88.6 FM’s Late Late Breakfast Show (presented by Parrotdog Bar). DJ Dam G is joining me as well for a guest mix. 1-4PM NZT, Sat 21 Nov. 

I’ve recorded a sequel to my Closer: Street Soul & Swingbeat from Aotearoa New Zealand mix. It’s called Seasons. I can’t thank the Fuemana family enough. More details soon.