Resonance FM 24.1.18

Of course every episode is supposed to be diverse and bonkers and dynamic but I was especially pleased with the breadth of this one... I started and ended the show with two 'outsider music'/'cult' heroes (inverted commas necessary, I guess..), Wild Man Fischer and Shooby Taylor. The former, an institutionalised peer of Frank Zappa's (although I'm not sure how savoury that friendship was, hence the lyrics of 'Frank'); the latter, the inimitable Human Horn. In between was a whole host of global oddities: the stunning voice of Yeshimebet Dubale, the brutal and relentless percussive dance of DJ Save The NHS, the Japanese mambo of Naoyo Matsuoka, a Carling jingle by Lorin Frank Productions Inc (what are the rules on play corporate jingles on independent radio!?) and Dan Armeanca's awesome proto-manele. Regarding that last track - the title translates to 'All The Roma, Mum' and its melody is adapted from this (thanks Alexandra!).

Dig That Treasure (24/1/18)

Wild Man Fischer - Frank
Yeshimebet Dubale - I Remember A Man
DJ Save The NHS - Screaming Song
Naoyo Matsuoka - Mambo Island
Lorin Frank Productions Inc. - Carling Jingle
Dan Armeanca - Sao Roma Daje
Shooby Taylor - Over The Rainbow

Resonance FM 17.1.18

This past Wednesday I span an ever-eclectic mix of tunes, from the French sailing documentary soundtrack of 'Cap Horn' to the Australian "hillbilly" country of 'Cowboy'. Along the way was a wild journey through South London experimentation, Shropshire helium pop, contemporary Ethiopian popular music, Japanese video game music, and a Shibuya-Kei rarity. Oh yeah!

Dig That Treasure (17/1/18)

Clement Gourand - Cap Horn
Svetlana - Fabric Of The Sky
Jerskin Fendrix - Onigiri
Wondimagegn Chane - Gelaye
Jun Ishikawa - Quiet Forest
Mayumi Kojima - 恋の極楽特急
The Trailblazers - Cowboy

Resonance FM 10.1.18

I kicked this show off with a track from the amazing Ostinato Records compilation Sweet As Broken Dates, a collection of Somali pop tunes from the 70s and 80s. I played 'Haddii Hoobalkii Gabay' first, but would later spin 'Qaraami', too. Also on this episode was the cheesy exotica-yacht-rock of Belgian group Kawasaki Band and their tune 'Summer 78' and the sweet, plodding, whistling 'Mercy' from the Thai film Tears Of The Black Tiger. I also played two vaporwave tunes (or two songs roughly part of that microgenre): first, the awesome 'Twilight Pretender' by James Ferraro, one of the best tunes of last year, and then Neo Sunsetters by PrismCorp Virtual Enterprises, which somewhat skirts the line of subversive experimentalism and corporate sheen.

Dig That Treasure (10/1/18)

Hibo Nuura - Haddii Hoobalkii Gabay
Kawasaki Band - Summer '78
James Ferraro - Twilight Pretender
PrismCorp Virtual Enterprises - Neo Sunsetters
Xasan Diiriye - Qaraami
Veera Bamrungsri - Mercy

Resonance FM 20.12.17

This episode was the first dedicated Christmas show I've done, which seems a bit weird considering the show's been going four years. As one might expect, I tried to play the strangest and obscurest Christmas recordings I could, with a couple of better known tunes thrown in for balance. The episode kicked off with a disco version of 'We Wish You A Merry Christmas' by the Mistletoe Disco Band, a set of session musicians. I then played examples of two early technologies that would later become prominent in electronic music, the vocoder and the synthesiser. The first was jingle(?) in which a voice sings 'Rudolph The Red-Nosed Reindeer' through a voice box (this one was invented in 1939). It's not unlike the early Alvino Rey experiment 'My Buddy'. And then I span a rendition of 'O Holy Night' performed on the moog in 1969 (the moog only began to appear 1967). Next was a recording of Bahaman gospel/folk/blues artist Joseph Spence from three years later, drunkenly playing 'Santa Claus Is Coming To Town' and making a real hash of the lyrics. It's hilarious. Tatsuro Yamashita, of Hosono/Yamashita/Suzuki fame, was next, with his 1983 tune 'Christmas Eve' which is a Christmas staple in Japan. Bringing it right up to today, I span a track by A. G. Cook/Danny L Harle collaboration Dux Content, the amazing 'Snow Globe'. Ending the show was a song I've played on the show before, a somewhat mournful but really beautiful remix of 'Have Yourself A Merry Christmas' by Norwegian producer and beat-maker Torkelsen.

Dig That Treasure (20/12/17)

Mistletoe Disco Band - We Wish You A Merry Christmas
PAMS - Reindeer
The Moog Machine - O Holy Night
Joseph Spence - Santa Claus Is Comin' To Town
Tatsuro Yamashita - Christmas Eve
Dux Content - Snow Globe
Torkelsen - Christmas