SELECTED WORKS #014
Another week passed, and the world still turns.
Another week passed, and the world still turns on its axis. Donald Trump is gone (at least for now) and in under two days, Bernie Sanders became the meme of all memes and flipped it into a sold-out run of sweatshirts fundraising for Meals on Wheels Vermont. Every day is a new day, but if nothing else, the last seven gave us a few moments of respite.
I’ve been up in Auckland for the last week for work. The day before I arrived, my friend Barry Aickin passed away unexpectedly, and far too soon. Three years ago, Barry set up Karangahape Road’s excellent Toi Turama photographic community hub. They develop my photos for me, you know, the ones I tend to weave through my newsletters. I went to Barry’s funeral yesterday. It was beautiful and sad, and it made me reflect on morality. Afterwards, I headed down to a nightclub called Neck of The Woods, and watched a teenaged DJ prodigy play a six-hour multi-genre set though a warm sound system. Music is healing, and here in Aotearoa New Zealand, we’re extremely fortunate to be able to share time together with community during these uncertain and wearying pandemic days. I’m going to write something about the unique situation we’re in down here soon
The night before Barry’s funeral, I went out to Manukau City in South Auckland, the storied region that gave birth to Aotearoa’s greatest soul, funk, reggae, and hip-hop, RnB and pop talents. OMC, Savage, Dawn Raid Entertainment, Ardijah, Jawsh 685, the list goes on. While I was out there, I spent a few hours with Sani Sagala aka Dei Hamo, the Samoan New Zealand hip-hop artist who recorded ‘We Gon Ride’, one of the biggest local commercial hits of the early 2000s. Before Sani got his pound of flesh from the mainstream, he was a freestyle jazz rapper, the kind who improvises over live bands. Not many people know this anymore, but Sani has a beautiful singing voice, and he’s a hell of a songwriter. Over the last year, Sani has been recording an indie rock EP. He's singing his heart out over guitars and drum loops. It's real good, and it's going to really surprise a lot of people when it comes out.
Right now, I’m sitting in a lounge bar called Verona, just down from Toi Turama. I’m DJing here later on tonight. My record bag is full of outernational salsa, samba and bossa nova records, steel pedal jams, ambient guitar workouts and bits and pieces of Balearic boogie. It should be a good, good evening.
WHAT I’VE BEEN LISTENING TO:
Bassline Featuring Lorraine Chambers, You’re Gone (Isle of Jura)
Sample track: ‘You’ve Gone’ (Original Mix)
Utterly essential, gorgeously vintage UK Street Soul from the halcyon days of 1989. You’ve Gone’ is the sole release from Bassline, the studio project of Southeast London-raised musician Tony Henry, not to be confused with Tony Henry from Manchester jazz-funk/R&B band 52nd Street. Featuring the singer Lorraine Chambers, it’s one of the true jewels of the UK Street Soul scene. As Lorraine’s heartsick soul vocal glides over sunrise synths, dusty drums, elegant electric piano figures and a reggae indebted bassline, ‘You’ve Gone’ captures the optimism and strength of the era perfectly. Adelaide’s Isle of Jura is reissuing the release in 12” and digital formats in March. There is also an accompanying t-shirt, if you’re into that sort of thing. I was lucky enough to write the release notes for this, which was a really lovely experience (Buy here)