SELECTED WORKS #008

Remembering Steve Hiett, Cosmic Compositions, Radio Alhara, Dublab, Bandcamp Friday.

REMEMBERING STEVE HIETT:

Around this time last year, I was in Europe and the UK for a holiday. While I was there, I conducted a series of interviews with some friends of the dearly departed English photographer, musician, artist and graphic designer Steve Hiett. Earlier that year, the good people at Be With Records and Efficient Space put together a two-part Steve Hiett release series. Part one was a reissue of his cult album Down On The Road By The Beach. Part two was a collection of archival tapes recorded in Paris during the late ‘80s and early 90s with the art director and musician Simon Kentish. In the wake of those releases, I was lucky enough to be able to write about Steve’s life and legacy, through the frame of those who knew him best, for The Vinyl Factory. It’s one of my favourite pieces of writing, and you can read it (here)

COSMIC COMPOSITIONS:

For what feels like close to a decade now, the New Zealand/Germany based record label and culture platform Cosmic Compositions has churned out an excellent array of compilation albums and artist releases. Over that time, what started with a series of boombap inspired tribute albums to the jazz greats (Sun-Ra, Coltrane, etc) has evolved into an open eared exploration of psychedelica, freak folk, jungle, footwork, house, techno and well well beyond. Alongside their releases, CC run an ongoing DJ mix series simply titled M i x e s [ ◯ ]. Over the course of New Zealand’s first COVID-19 lockdown, I was lucky enough to contribute to the series twice. Thank you, Addison. Here’s my two contributions.

Are These My Mem◯ries [Mix By Martyn Pepperell]

Sunrise in Berlin. Wandering through a high-tech street market in Seoul. Sweat dripping from the ceiling of a warehouse rave, neo-jacked swing and off-duty deck jockeys. A picture-perfect, postcard-worthy sunset on a palm tree-lined beach in the Caribbean. A Maori showband legend performing in a smoky nightclub. Wandering endlessly through a computer-animated maze. Daydreaming about utopian futures from the deck of a rotating space station, circa 2001. The flickering evening shadows of a nighttime party in Caxias do Sul. A trio of musicians playing free jazz on a balcony in Paris. Another nightclub, another singer; a Spanish language version of ‘Crying’ by Roy Orbison. Are these my memories, or are they my dreams? Could they be uploaded reconstructions of an algorithmically generated past? Is that a hologram, or is it something I can touch? Did they remember this for me wholesale?

Se◯ul Nights [Mix By Martyn Pepperell]

Two years ago, I spent a feverish week in Seoul. I was staying in a hotel with the most uncomfortable bed on Earth, my back was killing me, and I could barely sleep. While I was there, I caught up with the excellent boogie producer Mogwaa, who was kind enough to take me record shopping at some markets in the city, and smart enough to suggest ordering chicken soup for lunch. I left Seoul with hazy neon-lit memories, a full belly, and about twenty Korean disco, boogie, synth-pop and lounge records from the '70s and 80s. Cosmic Compositions asked me to put together another mix, so I decided to put those dusty gems to work, and here we are. Listen closely, among other delights; you'll hear Korean language covers of 'Just The Two Of Us' and 'Funky Town’.

WHAT I’VE BEEN LISTENING TO:

Blaze, 25 Years Later (Bandcamp)

Sample Song: ‘(Scene 1) Street Corner: Get Up’

Some people call this album the What’s Going On of house music, and although that’s a pretty fucking big claim, I’m inclined to agree. Fitting, 25 Years Later by Blaze (at the time, the group project of New Jersey’s Josh Milan, Kevin Hedge and Chris Herbert) was released through Motown in 1990. At the time, 25 Years Later fell awkwardly between the cracks. House heads were still on acid house, RnB fans were getting down to New Jack Swing. Thirty years on though, we can hear it for what it is, a masterpiece of soulful house. Across 25 Years Later’s running time, the social conscience of the late 60s/early 70s and the sonic futurism of the late 80s/early 90s comes together in splendid harmony. Songs to make you move, think and feel. (Listen/Buy)

WHAT I’VE BEEN DOING:

On Sunday 29 November, Palestine’s Radio Alhara aired the latest edition of my Archipelago DJ mix series. This time I focused on putting together a selection of emerging jazz, spoken word, house, techno, rap and ambient acts from Aotearoa New Zealand. You can listen to an archive of it on Mixcloud (here).

The next day, Dublab in Los Angeles broadcast another new mix of mine, Seasons. Seasons is a sequel to Closer: Street Soul & Swingbeat From Aotearoa New Zealand, which I put together for NTS last month. The early 90s was a very fertile time for music in Aotearoa, so one hour was never going to be enough. You can listen to an archive of it (here).

Since the pandemic started (sigh), Bandcamp has been doing this thing where they waive their fee percentage on the first Friday of the month. Most months, I’ve been writing up a list of suggested Bandcamp Friday purchases for Test Pressing. Reader, today is Bandcamp Friday. You can check my latest one (here).