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.
John Lane is a Baltimore, Maryland-based composer, instrumentalist and producer who records ambient, modern classical and electronica as A Journey of Giraffes. For the first-ever edition of the Selected Works Podcast, John talked to me about Empress Nouveau, his sixth album with the Shelbyville, Kentucky label Somewherecold Records. We discussed film soundtracks, the late great Japanese composer, producer and DJ Susumu Yokota, half-remembered childhood memories and more.
Selected Works Podcast: A Journey of Giraffes, Empress Nouveau was recorded and mixed by Benny Tones at Organik Muzik Workz in Newlands, Wellington. Interview clips were supplied as audio notes by John Lane. Voiced by Martyn Pepperell.
Tracklist:
A Journey of Giraffes, ‘Ztnu (for HB)’
Harold Budd, ‘Bismillahi 'Rrahman 'Rrahim’
A Journey of Giraffes, ‘Red Diamond Somni’
Joe Hisaishi, ‘One Summer’s Day’
Hiroshi Yoshimura, ‘Water Copy’
A Journey of Giraffes, ‘Bubble Credo’
A Journey of Giraffes, ‘Eyespot Feather’
A Journey of Giraffes, ‘Every Swan Goes Until Gone’
FIN.
Selected Works Podcast: A Journey of Giraffes, Empress Nouveau