Celebrating African Music and other radio highlights
18
Jan

I’ve always sensed there’s a massive difference between the BBC 6 Music audience in the week and at the weekends.

Don’t get me wrong, I love the station to bits but like all other stations, it has its playlist favourites and house style, focussing on a particular strand of cool white music, mainly from the 90s onwards but delving back from time to time as far as the Specials and occasionally the Doors.

There is room for a lot more experimentation and variety at the weekends, and this weekend sees their bravest move yet as they are devoting much of the weekend to African music.

Everywhere you look there are intriguing-sounding programmes, so here’s a few that sound unmissable, plus a couple of other radio highlights this week.

Chris Hawkins (Saturday 7.00 am)

Chris Hawkins has Rokia Traore as a special guest, and also features some great archive tracks and jams, including Tinariwen, who have a new single out :

 

Gideon Coe – Virtual road trip through Africa (Saturday 3:00 pm)

This is the sort of themed show Gideon Coe does really well, and I’m really looking forward to this one.

” From the Desert blues of the Sahara to the deep funk of Fela Kuti the music of Africa has long moulded our musical cannon. For this 3 hour special Gideon Coe restores African music’s place at the centre of the story, hitting the road with Rita Ray to unearth tracks from the townships of South Africa to the plains of Mali. We hear from Damon Albarn about the musicians who inspired him to work in Africa as well as Fela Kuti’s legendary drummer Tony Allen, Dave Okumu from the Invisible, Nigerian born African Boy as well as great Senegalese crooner Baaba Maal on their favourite tracks from the continent. With their help we trace a path from the biggest African artists to the western music they gave rise to, from funk to folk and back again.”

Gemma Cairney in Mali (Sunday 1.00 pm)

Presenter Gemma Cairney travels to Bamako in Mali to discover more about the music and artists there, and how it has been affected by the music ban which was in place due to the recent troubles in the north of country.

Mali, for so long a musical powerhouse with some of Africa’s finest performers has seen its music scene damaged by the coup, the collapse of the country and the Islamist takeover of the north. Incredibly, music was banned for several months in much of this nation that is so entwined with its musicians.

Gemma meets local musicians including Naba TT and Afel Bocoum who talk about their experiences of the ban and living through this very difficult time.

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Sound Of Cinema “Filthy Lucre” – Radio 3 (Saturday 4.00 pm)

Matthew Sweet introduces film scores on the subject of money by Max Steiner, Ernest Gold and others, and profiles the music for the new cinema release from Martin Scorsese, “The Wolf of Wall Street”.

“There’s nothing quite as wonderful as money on the this week’s Sound Of Cinema – except of course when it’s dirty, filthy, stolen and the root of all evil.”

The programme features music from – amongst others – “Rogue Trader”; “The Treasure of the Sierra Madre”; “Indecent Proposal”; “Glengarry Glen Ross”; “Trading Places” and “Wall Street”

Matthew’s Classic Score of Week is Ennio Morricone’s “The Good, The Bad and the Ugly”.

Bet there’s nothing from “The Great Rock’N’Roll Swindle”. I’d die a happy man if I could hear the Sex Pistols on Radio Three.

The First Time with Marianne Faithfull (Thursday 2.00 am)

Series in which figures from the world of music discuss the important musical milestones in their lives. The format is as old as radio itself, but what saves it from being merely a hipper Desert Island Discs is the excellence of Matt Everitt’s interview technique. Engaging and knowledgable, Matt’s got a genuine fan’s love of his subject, but the questions are intelligent and far from fawning.

This episode is one of the best – Marianne Faithfull is a loverly interviewee.

Matt leads Marianne through a warm, engaging look at a career spanning over five decades. She has worked with many great musicians including David Bowie and Dr. John, and, more recently, Blur and PJ Harvey.

Marianne discusses the music she grew up with – including Chuck Berry and The Everly Brothers – and the way it influenced her solo work. She also covers her forays into country music, her love of jazz, and explains why she received a credit on The Rolling Stones’ song Sister Morphine. The singer also talks about her past drug problems and the way that she has now made peace with difficult periods in her life. This is one of her best.

Adrian Longhurst “Let The Good Times Roll” (Angel Radio, 6pm Friday)

Finally a recommendation for an excellent station I discovered completely by accident.

Angel Radio (“Pure Nostalgia”) can be found online and on DAB, and on 101.1 FM in certain areas (Hampshire and the Isle Of Wight among them).

The show I heard was really excellent – “Let The Good Times Roll” presented by Adrian Longhurst, which featured jazz and swing. Particularly nice to hear Louis Prima and Keely Smith on the radio in the Friday rush hour.

Call me idealistic but I swear you’d get rid of road rage overnight if you made this station compulsory. A real find.

http://angelradio.co.uk/

LONDON Gig Guide w/e Mon 20th Jan 2014
13
Jan

Here’s seven great gigs in seven great venues on seven different nights for your live music pleasure!

 

Tuesday – Slaves – Madame Jojo’s

White Heat is one of the most regularly reliable club nights in the indie calendar. Yeah, you have to walk past a lot of dodgy sex shops to get there, and I’m getting fed up of the assumptions that the reason a middle-aged Asian bloke is in Soho is to get his cock sucked.

This evening’s entertainment is way better than that are Slaves. A duo from Kent, Slaves are making a lot of noise as an unmistakably British punk act. They have gained a lot of attention for bringing raw and exciting performances that have a distinct lack of pretentiousness in a British music scene flooded with bands that are leaning more and more towards American-centric influences.

You can put that on the posters if you like, guys. “Better than having your cock sucked”. Just get the URL right.

Wednesday – The Curst Sons – Tommy Flynn’s (previously The Crown), Leytonstone

The What’s Cookin’ brand together with it’s predecessor Come On Down And Meet The Folks has been providing quality live music of a (semi-) acoustic nature for ten years or so. Upstairs at The Crown (as I suspect it will be known by locals for a good while yet) is a great room in which to drink and listen to music.

The Curst Sons drew the following praise from the occasionally-cynical-but-not-when-it-comes-to-music Mark Lamarr :

“Purveyors of good-time Americana, inspired by early American folk music – don’t matter if it’s Blues, Bluegrass, Old Time or Gospel – with a shot of urban grit and a dose of wry humour. Absolutely fantastic”

Thursday – Laura J Martin – Sebright Arms, Hackney.

Down an alley off the Hackney Road that will certainly confound your sat-nav if arriving by car, the Sebright hosts a variety of styles of music, Laura J Martin’s gig there on Thursday being one of the quieter ones of the year, but no less intense for that.

Multi-instrumentalist LJM spins oddly affecting lyrics around some bonkers combinations of instruments – ukulele, flute, harmonium and trumpet among many, many others – which always work perfectly for the needs of the song. Unmissable. I”ll be the big bloke down the front glaring at people talking during the quiet bits.

Friday – Slim Chance play Ronnie Lane – Borderline, Soho

The warm, wooden panellings of the Borderline give a country vibe to the venue, making it the perfect setting for ex-Small Face Ronnie Lane’s band. Lane formed Slim Chance on splitting from the Faces in 1974 and they produced some beautiful, reflective and occasionally rocking music. This should be a cracker.

Saturday – Dub Inc – Cargo

I love Cargo. Always have done. Some belting evenings here – Simian (before the Mobile Disco days with Fat Truckers supporting springs to mind.

Dub Inc are a troupe of highly energetic musicians hailing from St-Etienne and fusing dub and roots reggae with dancehall, ska and hip hop.

Sunday – Chris T-T & The Hoodrats, Oxygen Thief, Smallgang – Lexington

Emerging from roots in late 90s lo-fi and psych-folk, Chris T-T first gained acclaim for sarcastic, city-obsessed urban folk.

More recently he has developed into an influential figure of UK song; crossing barriers between punk, psych-pop and English folk.

He writes scathing, witty lyrics and is excellent live whether with full band The Hoodrats or solo.

Monday – Volkova Sisters – Shacklewell Arms.

Synth-based Hungarian band with some excellent tunes. I’m told by mates who take a drink that the beer at the Shack is excellent too, but I wouldn’t know anything about that now, sorr.

 

Something in there for everyone I reckon!

 

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Radio Radio #2
10
Jan

Here’s a few suggestions for your listening pleasure for the wee ending Friday January 17th 2014.

The Story Of Pop (daily on 6 Music and also on the BBC iPlayer)

You could easily have listened to the first episode of this epic 52-part series from 1994 and decide it’s too messy and unfocussed.

It’s a sprawling work for sure, some editions hit home while some leave you scratching your head – (did they REALLY shoehorn “Long Live Rock” by The Who into a show about the rock’n’roll star system in Part 4?)

But then .. ah, but then there’s the times they get it right.

Chief among these this week was Episode 2 “It Came From Africa”, an excellent, all-points-covered sixty minute trip through the black roots of white pop music, necessarily only scratching the surface, but the names are all there if you want to dig further.

And of course these days we CAN dig further thanks to the Interweb, further and in as many different directions as you like, so if you want to find,say, Nigerian music of the late fifties, it’s all there for you.

“The Story Of Pop” at its best provides an excellent starting point. Each episode is themed rather than being done year-on-year, so you can dip in and out – it’s not an encyclopaedia in partwork form to be read from start to finish, unless you’re doing a school or college project on pop music history – and if you are, then more power to your elbow. I can think of few things more worth doing!

For the rest of you, I’d recommend the following episodes meself. Still available on the BBC iPlayer but be quick are …

Episode 2 –  It Began In Africa
Episode 3 – Blacks, Whites And Blues – Blacks, Whites And Blues
Episode 6 – Goin’ Up Country Goin’ Up Country

And to come this week …
Sunday – Episode 9 Big Surf – the Californian surf sound
Tuesday – Episode 11 – When We Was Fab – The Beatles & The “British Invasion”
Wednesday – Episode 12 – England Swings – The myths and legends of Swinging London
Thursday – Episode 13 – Hitsville UK – The first ten years of the Motown label

Dave Rowntree of Blur (XFM,Thursday s)

Blur’s Dave Rowntree continues his regular weekly show at 9pm.

Dave’s an engaging bloke and – yeah I know this is an unusual criticism of a music dj but first impressions are that I’d like to hear him talk a bit more.

Oh, and ditch the sidekick, Researcher George. He seems a nice enough chap but when you have The Drummer From Blur, one of THE marquee XFM bands on the payroll, what we the listeners want is to hear his stories about his time at the epicentre of the Britpop scene in the mid-nineties,as we’ve been promised in the advance publicity.

Hopefully that will come in time. I’ll definitely be listening to the next edition.

Last week’s music choice included The Magnetic North, Alt-J. Beck. John and Paul separately. Kaiser Chiefs. Wall Of Voodoo – Mexican Radio. Polyphonic Spree and Wall Of Voodoo from 1982, who really should have been more popular.

Prezedent on Colourful Radio

It can be difficult to find he black music/chat digital station Colourful Radio outside of the London area, but you can pick it up online at www.colourfulradio.com. and it’s an absolute goldmine for black music.

As far as I’m aware you can’t pick it up on the Sky dish, which I think’s a bit of an oversight on the part of all concerned.

This is a station that provides news and discussion of things that affect Britain’s black communities, AND whether you reckon this directly affects you or not, the music is effing awesome.
Prezident’s reggae show is particularly fine. Going out at 10pm on a Friday evening, he features reggae ” starting from the dancehall then working our way all the way back to the beginning”. A lot less frenetic than the night dance music featured on pretty much ALL stations at that time on a Friday. Like this one from Don Campbell.

Along with the rest of Colourful’s output, the show is also available to “listen again” from Colourful’s site here.

Prezedent

Check it out.

As the man himself says, it’s all about da goodah Reggae Music mate!!!

Hawkwind Live In London 1972 (6 Music Saturday 02:00)

There are some superb live concerts in the BBC vaults and this is no exception. The psychedelic space cadets at their trippiest, noisiest, wall of soundiest peak featuring songs like this, their big hit.

Whatever happend to the long-haired chap with the tash doing the singing?

Hope you enjoy at least a couple of these shows. There’s never been more choice and variety on the radio if you know where to look, and this just scratches the surface.

More next week , and every Friday, and don’t forget to check out This Week’s Gig Guide

And every week you can download a new music  featuring an hour plus of great sounds from all types of music. Latest one here.

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London Gig Guide 2014 w/e Mon 13th Jan
6
Jan

London Gig Guide w/e Monday 13th January

Promoters are all gearing up for the new gigging year with Winter Sprinters, Ones To Watch and Pandamonium a go-go!

Here’s a gig to check out in the capital for every day of the week

Tuesday – Let’s Wrestle – Lexington

Fortuna Pop’s “Winter Sprinter” gigs at the Lexington provide everything you need to get back into the swing of live music after the festive period.

Let’s Wrestle have been peddling their shambolic Art Brutal sounds around London for five or six years now.

Frankly, I thought they were a bit unfocussed to really move punters in great numbers but if this new, Kinksy track is anything to go by, the forthcoming album’s going to be a leap forward. Definitely be featuring this on the next Beat City podcast (details at the bottom of the Gig Guide)

Wednesday – Dragons That Make Love To Pandas – Water Rats

If all they had was the name, they would be epic. But check out this slightly rough live footage and what we appear to have here is a bona fide decent white funk tune … see you down the front!

Thursday – Tom Hickox – Borderline

Tom Hickox has musical pedigree in spades, being the son of a conductor (hence the majestic sweeping orchestral backing) and a timpanist (hence the beats). But what you can’t breed into somebody is a voice and Tom’s is exceptional, reminiscent of Matt Berninger of the National after his pneumonia has cleared up a little bit.

Friday – The Wave Pictures – Buffalo Bar

Check out the magnificent Wave Pictures in a small, intimate venue that Homer Simpson would describe as “intamit”. Their double album “Cold Forgiveness” was a highlight of last year and the unassuming appearance of singer / songwriter / guitarist David Tattersall hides a TOTAL GUITAR LEGEND!

Saturday – The 1975 (Islington O2 Academy)

Stadium indie or Motown influenced pop-rock? The 1975 are wisely hedging ther bets for the moment. One of the more interesting bands around – you don’t get the usual bland soundbites from these boys. Here’s singer Matt Healy:

“We’re a band that defines a certain generation at a certain time. Nobody my age consumes media in a linear, straightforward way; it’s like a human eye, light coming in from everywhere. You can expect a 17-year-old girl to be listening to Kendrick Lamar and to Carole King. I think we’re the first band to really embrace the fact there aren’t many rules left.”

Pretentious? More than somewhat. But you have to admit the boy has a point.

Oh, and Matt is the son of Tim Healy from Auf Wiedersehen Pet and also the lead singer of folk band Half A Shilling:

Sunday – The Black Feathers (Green Note, Camden)

English folk duo who incorporate elements of Americana and some loverly bluegrass harmonies into their music. The excellent Green Note seems the perfect setting. Try the organic lager.

Monday – Neck Deep – Barfly

Sprightly and unashamed pop-punk – the vid gives a really good flavour of what they do live.
Album out very soon.

http://beatcity.podomatic.com/

www.twitter.com/@tonylazarus

http://beatcity.podomatic.com/entry/2014-01-05T09_09_45-08_00

Radio Radio #1
3
Jan

w/c Saturday 5th January 2013

First in a regular weekly blog in which I’ll be recommending some music radio highlights for the forthcoming week.

Saturday – The Story Of Pop (04:00 6 Music, continues daily)

Alan Freeman’s epic, FIFTY-TWO PART look at the history of pop music was first broadcast in 1994, so you could argue that there’s ample room for a sequel or an updated version.

I’ve never heard this but I’m a sucker for epic aural journeys so I’m going to tune in. It’s on every day, at 04:00 at weekends and 01:00 on weekdays, but you can listen again through the iPlayer.

One criticism is that without some means of recording these, it’s going to be difficult to keep up with absolutely every episode. Gonna see how it goes and report back next Friday.

Saturday – Hawkwind Live In London 1972 (02:00 6 Music)

The psychedelic space cadets at their trippiest, noisiest, wall of soundiest peak featuring songs like this, their
big hit. Not being familiar with the band, we all thought Lemmy was their lead singer, on account of he was apparently the only member of the band with the precise vocal range to sing the song. This happy accident did the old bugger no harm at all career-wise.

Sunday – Mary Anne Hobbs (07:00 6 Music, also Saturday)

Mary Anne seems pretty happy about returning to the BBC, and her Saturday and Sunday morning shows are an excellent, ecletic mix if you love music. The presence of Anna Calvi and Eddie Argos of Art Brut who will be sharing tips on singing, elevates Sunday’s show to “unmissable”.

Sunday – John Cooper Clarke (16:00 6 Music)

The Bard Of Salford ™ has been a highlight every time he’s done a stint as a DJ and I’m really looking forward to these shows, running for a few weeks on Sunday afternoons. He probably won’t get to play this though.

Monday – Thursday – John Kennedy’s XPosure (XFM) (10:00 – 01:00)

The Observer described John Kennedy as “the doyen of underground alternative music” which proves they sometimes DO get it right. He’s been around seemingly forever, a reliable source of sounds that make you go “WOW! WHAT THE FUCK WAS THAT!” on a regular basis. The line-ups for the XPosure gigs are always well chosen, too.

XFM’s output can get a little bit “landfill indie” at times, but not on JK’s shift. He remains the only DJ I have ever heard giving airtime to one of the great unsung bands of the Noughties, They Came From The Stars I Saw Them :

Thursday – Dancehall with Robbo Ranx (1Xtra) (22:00 – 02:00)

Four – count ’em, four! – hours of the finest modern dancehall reggae sounds. Deffo a bit of an eye-opener for those who tend to stick to reggae records made before 1980 … have to admit to a bit of the old school prejudice myself but this makes a refreshing change

There’s plenty more good listening out there, obviously, and I’ll be pointing you in the direction of a lot of it every Friday. Enjoy!