Weekend Beats + Pieces
Notes, notes, notes.
Selected Works is a weekly (usually) newsletter by the Te Whanganui-a-Tara, Aotearoa (Wellington, New Zealand) based freelance music journalist, broadcaster, copywriter and sometimes DJ Martyn Pepperell, aka Yours Truly. 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:
Over the last couple of months, I’ve been DJing on the odd Friday or Saturday night at this little Burmese Restaurant on Tory Street in Wellington called Mabels. At present, we’re running from 9 pm to 12 am both nights. It’s a bit of a low-key hang, but it’s getting hotter every week. Drop by for a bit next time you’re around. If you need a late-night snack, they’ve got a few options.
In news I probably shouldn’t reveal yet, the scripts for season two of Aotearoa Hip-Hop: The Music, The People, The History are 95% complete. Season two takes us from 1997 to 2009, introducing a plethora of new voices along the way. More details will arrive when they arrive.
I wrote some quick notes on a few recent releases from Ruf Dug x Private Joy, Ghost Riders, Pinky Ann Rihal, and Seaming To for Test Pressing.
WHAT I’VE BEEN READING:
From garage to charts: how Māori strum helped shape the sound of New Zealand: The distinctive guitar pattern informs many of the country’s biggest hits, and remains an enduring cultural touchstone. Dan Taipua, Eva Corlett and Tess McClure reporting for The Guardian.
How Black Women And Queer Communities Are Shaping The Future Of African Electronic Music: Reporting for Mixmag, Shiba Melissa Mazaza examines how, in the face of male gatekeeping, misogyny and transphobia, Black women and people from queer and marginalised communities are setting the example for the future of African electronic music.
Book of the week - Tokyo gothic: Anna Rankin writes for Newsroom on a beautiful and profound meditation on grief.
Amazon's plan to have Alexa deepfake dead relatives is even worse than it sounds: Andrew Paul on how it's hard to fully capture something so brazenly boundary-crossing, but we're going to try our best.
Studio Visit: Monira Al Qadiri was seven years old during the Gulf War when Iraq, in 1990, annexed Kuwait in just two days. The US-led response resulted in a military conflict that lasted into March 1991. It produced some of the most iconic images through which much of the world was introduced to Kuwait at that time.
WHAT I’VE BEEN LISTENING TO:
London always knows how to go the extra distance and do jazz rap the right way. Thanks to Anna for tipping me off on Eyes In The Tower, the latest release from the UK duo Confucius MC and Kwake Bass.
Club Management, hosted by New Yorker Shannon Dawson tells the stories of the nightlife venues, labels, DJs and musicians around the world who are making noise and changing their communities through music. We also analyze the cultural and historical elements that shift, impact and develop our beloved music scenes too. A new episode drops every other week. You can find Club Management on iTunes, SoundCloud, Mixcloud, TuneIn, Stitcher and Spotify. Here’s a recent episode where Shannon interviewed my friend DJ Noir from Juke Bounce Werk.
I hope you like gritty lo-fi dream pop? CRUSH is a collaborative venture between Richard Larsen (Glass Vaults), Charlotte Forrester (Womb) Bevan Smith (Signer, Glass Vaults) and Cory Champion (Borrowed CS, Clear Path Ensemble). Their debut 7” is lush.
EXTRA:
Help Paul who has terminal brain cancer. Please help him buy some more time with us: Fundraising for the drug Avastin to treat Brain Cancer for Paul Huggins.
Amamelia has a new album coming soon. Pre-order Bananamelia! here.
New Zealand’s DiCE_NZ has remixed ‘What A Winter's Day’ by Suzanne Menzel.
Rest In Peace, Lamont Dozier. I’m going back to my roots.
Huge UK Street Soul head alert!