Weekend Beats + Pieces

Listening, reading, photos.

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:

Last week, I interviewed the Scottish-Indian musician and visual artist Kapil Seshasayee for this newsletter. If you missed out, you can read it here. Kapil’s new album Laal is out now.

I also reviewed the latest Growing Bin Records release, the MAGIC $ EP by The Person for Test Pressing. You can read about it here.

Apart from that, I’ve been travelling around the country for work and taking photographs. We’re pretty close to wrapping things up for the year, but hopefully, I’ll have a couple more treats for you before 2022 comes to a close.

WHAT I’VE BEEN READING:

Critical Infrastructure: Celebrating Grassroots Music Journalism - Resident Advisor’s Nyshka Chandran surveys the independent magazines that have shaped our publication and electronic music journalism around the world.

We like to party: how pop became the sound of the underground - Pop has infiltrated dance music in a way not heard for many years. With DJs playing Britney Spears edits in Panorama Bar, bootlegs of Ciara, Spice Girls and Whigfield doing the rounds, and megastars like Dua Lipa commissioning club-tuned remix albums, there’s something going on. DJ Mag’s Chal Ravens asks: why now? What does pop actually mean? Is it all just part of a cycle, or is there something new happening?

Woosh, The First Uk Drill Book, Tells The Real Story Of The Demonised Genre: A new book from cinematographers Tim & Barry and writer Ian McQuaid explores the rise of UK drill over the last four years. Isaac Muk for Mixmag.

The Ephemeral Life of Blog Rap: The phrase “underground rap” might often evoke a specific style: slam poetry flows, boom-bap beats, and old-school revivalism. But what makes an artist underground really has nothing to do with sound at all; being underground is a material condition, more about how an artist produces and distributes their music than what kind of music they make. Nadine Smith for Bandcamp.

How 2manydjs made their mash-up masterpiece As Heard on Radio Soulwax Pt. 2: As the landmark DJ mix compilation arrives on streaming platforms to mark its 20th anniversary, Selim Bulut (formerly of Dazed) speaks to 2manydjs’ David and Stephen Dewaele, Erol Alkan, Peaches, and more.

WHAT I’VE BEEN LISTENING TO:

Jamaican disco reggae covers recorded in late seventies/early eighties Toronto by Studio One drummer Joe Isaacs and a band of US/Canadian musicians? Sign me up. It’s worth noting the dub version of ‘Ain’t No Stopping Is Now’ got a lot of play from David Mancuso at his Loft parties back in the day. Not much else to say, I’m a sucker for this stuff.

There’s ambient music, and then there is ambience music. Espresso Quiet by the Los Angeles musician Matt Elliot Gooden very much falls into the latter category. Fittingly, the album was produced, mixed, and mastered by Danny Scott Lane, who very much has his head in this space as well. You want to hear this music at 2 am in a lounge bar, or 2 pm in a cafe. You won’t find Matt in a cafe, though. He gave up coffee recently, hence the espresso quiet.

We are officially in the reissues from the early 2000s era, and I am here for it. Two slices of Y2K VGM digi-dub from Sydney via Bromley electro-dub producer Jeff Dread, fittingly released through the great Efficient Space. Australia does it again.

I know, I know. Christmas music can be a very dicey proposition, but when you’ve got the Los Angeles singer-songwriter, composer and quiet genius Kadhja Bonet at the controls, her command of atmosphere, mood and tone will always find a way. Comforting songs for cold winter nights and warm sunny days. After all, Christmas isn’t the same everywhere, is it?

BONUS:

Police are following up 'a number of reported sightings' of missing musician Hamish Kilgour: A number of people have contacted police with sightings of missing Kiwi musician Hamish Kilgour. The Flying Nun Records musician has been missing for five days. He was last seen at The Palms shopping centre in Christchurch on Sunday.

Rest In Peace, Irene Cara. The New Zealand version of your ‘Breakdance’ video was legendary down here.

All six episodes of Jess Fu’s RNZ Amplified series are out now.

FIN.