Weekend Beats + Pieces (April 1st 2023)
Resident Advisor, Dazed Digital, Thattu Pattu and more.
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.
WHAT I’VE BEEN DOING:
I wrote about WOW, the new album from the Russian musician/visual artist Kate NV for Resident Advisor. Recently released through RVNG INTL, WOW is a kaleidoscopic journey through sound and joy. Read more here.
Four times a year, I write a recap of ten under-the-radar music releases from the last three months for Dazed Digital. As we’ve just passed into April, my first recap for 2023 is live on the site now. Check it out here.
Non-Applicable (N/A) is a live electronic music act and audio-visual collaboration created by Colombo, Sri Lanka-based musicians Asvajit Boyle & Nigel Perera. For my latest essay for Thattu Pattu, I wrote a response to their new live performance video, ‘Entry 01’. Check it all out here.
As I noted last week, I recently penned the release notes for Surly and MoonDoctoR’s collaborative album, Ten Days In San Antonio. You can check them out and pre-order the album here. RIYL: UK Garage, Juke, Footwork, Rave.
WHAT I’VE GOT COMING UP:
Every Thursday morning at around 9 am NZ time, I get on the phone and chat with RDU 98.5 FM’s breakfast host Liam about some new music. If you ever want to tune in, you can stream RDU live here.
Later on this month, I’ve got guest mixes airing on Hong Kong Community Radio (in Hong Kong, d’oh) and Skylab Radio in Melbourne. Expect more details soon.
BONUS:
Last week, Independent Music NZ announced that the 2023 recipient of the Taite Music Prize IMNZ Classic Record Award is Micronism's inside a quiet mind. If you’re unfamiliar, inside a quiet mind is the New Zealand techno classic. Learn more here.
It’s been just over a year since Los Angeles internet radio station Dublab first aired the Susumu Yokota tribute I made with Ken Hidaka and Yokota-san's friends. You can listen to it via the site archive here.
WHAT I’VE BEEN READING:
Wild Wild West: After the pandemic, LA's rave underground bounces back stronger than ever - A new era of the rave underground - led by femme and queer POC DJs and collectives – is popping off in Los Angeles. Star Eyes and Bianca Oblivion of the Warp Mode crew clue Mixmag in.
Fresh Kicks 196: Maral: Los Angeles-based, Iranian-American artist Maral celebrates Nowruz – Persian New Year – and the arrival of spring with her 80-minute, genre-spanning Fresh Kicks mix, and speaks to Eoin Murray for DJ Mag about sampling, the influence of nature on her music, her unconventional DJing technique, and the inherent beauty of resistance.
Ethiopian composer and nun Emahoy Tsegué-Maryam Guèbrou dies at 99: Guèbrou passed away in Jerusalem, where she spent much of the latter half of her life. Raphael Helfand reporting for The Fader here.
FIN.