Hello friends,
It’s almost knitwear season in the UK. Let’s look to the positives, eh.
Can I play you some music?
This was partly recorded live in the SE London studios of Sister Midnight FM, before my pup cut the broadcast. Naughty boy.
But ‘mixtape’ is part of the ML concept, so we pivoted in the aftermath.
Please let me know what you’re into!
✌🏾
MAL WALDRON – Candy Girl [Strut]
Those familiar with the Mal Waldron of late 50’s hard bop or the modal compositions recorded later in Japan might be taken aback by the volatility of this curio, recorded during his self-imposed exile in Paris after a debilitating breakdown. I read it was so bad that he had to teach himself how to play piano again.
Originally a super-limited release on the Calumet label, Candy Girl was recorded spontaneously in the studio of French producer Pierre Jaubert with members of the Lafayette Afro Rock band. Bassist Lafayette Hudson, drummer Donny Donable, and keyboardist Frank Abel on clavinet, Moog and more.
In a spritely set, it’s the title track that has stayed with me. A minor key wander by Waldron on electric piano. Look out for the vinyl dropping this week on Strut Records. For more electric Mal, try The Call.
DANIEL ODUNTAN – Kilohertz – Variations on a Constant Madness [06m 25s]
Over the past decade and more, Daniel has been incubating his idea to depict the changing face of Southwark in SE London through audio and visuals. Encountering lots of speed bumps and roadblocks along the way. What started as a photographic study has expanded into an ensemble.
The project is called Soul Complex Unfinished and I think this recording was from the session I attended in Peckham a while back. We had studio don Sean Montgomery Dietz on bass, Deronne White on Flute, man like Ashley Henry on them keys and Daniel on modular synthesiser, drums and bass. Phew.
And the process continues to unfold. Daniel will be having an open rehearsal on Friday 12 September from 7pm at Reference Point off The Strand. Joining him will be frequent collaborator Roxanne Tataei and Jerald Coop Cooper of Hood Century. A space to think aloud, explore the black mundane and respond to the moment. Come be part of a living archive.
PINO PALLADINO & BLAKE MILLS – Heat Sink [Impulse!] [14m 40s]
Bass daddy Pino Palladino and California guitarist-engineer Blake Mills follow up 2021’s Notes With Attachments with That Wasn't A Dream. Their goal on this one was to develop sparser arrangements, punctuated by Mills' prototype fretless baritone sustainer guitar. Time just comes and goes during this track. One to meditate on.
SARATHY KORWAR – We Take Things For Granted [Otherland] [23m 50s]
From There is Beauty, There Already, which drops on 7/11 on his own new imprint Otherland, this is Sarathy Korwar in reset mode. After four far-reaching albums, he’s attempting to find his voice again as a composer through live drums and percussion. Tabla, South Indian clay pot ghatam…
With only a smattering of human voices and electronics through the 70’s Buchla Easel. It’s got me thinking of unique records such as the Don Cherry and Latif Khan collaboration Music / Sangam.
An album for deep listening as Pauline Oliveros implored us to do. One to inhabit from beginning to end for sure, no skips, noticing different variations each time.
Catch him during the London Jazz Festival on 15 November at the ICA.
THEON CROSS – Wings (live at Blue Note New York) [New Soil][27m 15s]
I had a very wholesome evening in one of my local places of worship, St Lawrence Church, Catford, watching tuba player and composer Theon Cross and Rosie Turton playing at the Jazz Hang alongside prodigious members of Lewisham Music Jazz Band, Pulse of the Planet (Prendergast Ladywell School) and Trinity Laban Jazz Ensemble.
Proof, if any were needed, why it’s so important to support schemes like this to get instruments in the hands of the youth and collaborating with one another as well as graduates like Theon. Respect to Tomorrows Warriors as well for the mentorship they offer. Each one teach one.
This is Theon and band letting fly on his debut at Blue Note in NYC. A heavyweight rib tickler.
VENNA – Prophet [Cashmere Thoughts][34m 25s]
Debut album from composer, saxophonist, vocalist Venna. I love how he’s patiently been honing his craft, drip-feeding us with transcendent releases like ‘Prophet’.
Being very clear about what he wants to say and how he wants to present his art, from his choice of collaborators (rhythm section Yussef Dayes and Rocco Palladino) to the travelogue videos that are like lo-fi odysseys. There’s romance to his sound – not the meet-cute kind, more in the sense of a divine connection to place and time.
“Every experience, every memory, every conversation, anything new, any encounter has influenced how this album sounds,” Venna says.
Debut album coming on 5 September.
TRES LECHES – Telescope [Brainfeeder][39m 10s]
On first listen, this album of smooth Haitus Kaiyote covers may veer dangerously close to easy listening elevator music but there’s something about its utilitarian origins and off-the-cuff aesthetic that charms me.
Recorded in hotel and green rooms on tour by HK members Paul Bender and Simon Mavin together with ComputerJay, it was envisioned as a soundtrack to an imaginary supermarket for the band’s Love Heart Cheat Code. This is my pick. Breezy.
OFFICER JOHN – Stay [Wah Wah Wino][42m 30s]
Love and respect to Do You’s Charlie Bones for introducing Officer John to me. They did a lovely live session in his Hackney HQ, which you should listen back to. CB always manages to create a communal experience across the internet.
This is called ‘Stay’, taken from a five-track 12”, which includes a remix from Morgan Buckley. Coming in Autumn ’25. ‘Handle’ has also been on loop. One for all you daydream believers.
SILVER APPLES – Lovefingers [Jackpot][45m 15s]
For an album so foundational to electronic music, one that predates Krautrock and all of that, I don’t hear much about Silver Apples. The 60’s duo of Simeon Coxe III on synth and drummer Danny Taylor. Experimental, psychedelic yet open to all. Someone used the word “fantasia” to describe the mood and I’m with it. Jackpot Records have released a limited-edition vinyl. Smoke-coloured, of course.
LADY BLACKBIRD VS CROOKED MAN – When The Game is Played on You [Foundation Music][49m 05s]
Crooked Man Richard Barratt follows up that loping remix for Cymande with this hi-tension flip for Lady Blackbird. Playing this one for the chief, Ross Allen. Owner of two of the best ears in the business. As he says, Crooked Man has a way of taking originals to a different place, into the deep. Have a listen to the Lady’s album Slang Spirituals. It’s got divine power.
LEON VYNEHALL – Scab (featuring Tyson) [Ooze Inc][54m 50s]
New one from Leon inna likkle dancehall situation, with Tyson guesting on the vocals. She’s really growing as a songwriter and always picks great collaborators. Leon’s next album In Daytona Yellow is coming on 19 September. Jeshi is among the other guests on there.
Look out for Tyson also guesting on the Verses GT release that LuckyMe are putting out soon.
JAMES MASSIAH MEETS LORD TUSK – Might Be The One (Version) [Accidental Meetings][1h 00m 40s]
Lord Tusk and James Massiah join forces again after last year’s ‘Open Up’. One for the steppers who like to hang by the speaker stacks and get fried by frequencies. Some limited-edition black 7s are still available. Click the title above and head to Bandcamp.
DIJON – Yamaha [Warner][1h 04m 45s]
Ah, the rush. How much ecstasy can you pack into one tune? Dijon on some early 80’s Prince flex. My guy. New album Baby is waiting for you, exploding with big feels. Mk.gee is on co-writing and co-producing duties. Repeat after me: we deserve nice things.
I like this comment from Dijon about their collaboration last September. “We were both trying to just find a new wheel to invent, separately, and kind of questioning why nobody else was as feverishly, or embarrassingly, reaching. Then we were both like, let’s see how far we can push each other.”
Their performance of ‘Big Mike’s’ in the living room during the Absolutely film is still giving me life. Pino Palladino, who we played earlier, is also on ‘Baby’.
Can you spot the sample? Laurie Anderson, come on. Apparently, Cara Delevigne helped write this track. Trivia.
EARL SWEATSHIRT – Crisco [Warner][1h 10m 00s]
Older, wiser but still throwing lyrical curveballs, Earl is in relative domestic bliss as a father of two and isn’t afraid to rap about.
That‘s not to say he shuns difficult topics. On ‘Crisco’, he mentions his “kinda janky” pops and the replacement who “beat the failure out of me”. Traumatic experiences have compelled him to do better as a parent. Seeking “sacred knowledge 8 of cups, it's time to change his stanky diapers”.
Much of the discourse around Live, Laugh, Love oscillates between ‘I’m happy Earl is happy’ and ‘Sad Earl is way more interesting’. Harmony Holiday, one of the most important voices on black music and culture right now, blew the album right open for me, contending with the expectation placed on rap idols – by us and themselves – sensing confliction in the reformed good father with the “brittle embryo spirit”. Someone who is perhaps too eager for salvation… It’s a cautionary tale. How fragile and fleeting contentment can be.
Sonically, this track is a standout. Navy Blue, a superb MC himself, is on the beat, filtering the hell out of it so the track sluices between our ears.
VENNA – Misty (featuring Knucks) [Hillside][1h 12m 35s]
Some vintage Venna, why not? I’m still bangin’ this collaboration with Knucks and love rolling through London town on the 171 as I “stay mindin’ my damn business”.
JACK HERRERA – City Lights[1h 16m 10s]
I was listening to Ayo Edibiri’s NTS show the other day while cooking and this smooth-ass tune started making my fingers snap. A bit of Raphael Saadiq, a bit of Rahsaan Patterson, you know. What is that? I thought.
I checked the tracklist and it said Jack Herrera. Who’s he? Turns out it’s a they. It was a ‘they’. Here’s the 411 according to Confessions of a Curly Mind: “While touring for Jon B’s album Cool Relax (1997) in Amsterdam with back up vocalists DominiQuinn & Silky Deluxe, the three of them basically composed most of the music on the tourbus (which came equipped with a fully built studio).
“I assume they hit the studio to polish up and finish off the complete album Retro Futuristico soon after, probably over the course of 1998-99. But the album never saw an official release.”
Not sure why… But I’m duty-bound to spread the legend of Jack Herrera. Soul on ice.
JAMIE WOON – Heavy Going [Also Can][1h 21m 20s]
Jamie Woon is synonymous with my time in London, going back to the early 2000s. Soon after my arrival, I remember receiving a promo of his spine-tingling version of ‘Wayfaring Stranger’, which Burial remixed in 2007. I recall the OneTaste nights at the Bedford and how a community of musicians formed around that session in Balham.
How ‘Sharpness’ from the second album Making Time (2016) had everyone hooked to its sophisticated, precise yet soulful groove, including Pharrell. I caned that live version performed at Konk studios.
Rejoice because Jamie’s back with new music. Such a talented songwriter and his voice always earns my attention. His truthfulness and sincerity coming through once again on ‘Heavy Going’.
The album 3 10 Why When will follow on 3 October. His Union Chapel gig is sold out but you can catch him at the Rough Trade East in-store on 7 October.
RADIOHEAD – The Gloaming (live) [XL][1h 25m 45s]
I had to include this one for Colin Greenwood’s bassline alone. You can find it on a recent collection of The Hail to the Thief live recordings. The album features performances of songs in London, Amsterdam, Buenos Aires, and Dublin between 2003 and 2009.
What we might have lost in glitchy, crackling electronics, we gain in some serious bottom end. Can you feel it coming through your speakers or phones? The album is mixed by Ben Baptie and mastered by Matt Colton. Invigorating.
LUISA – Lenha na Foguiera [Far Out][1h 30m 35s]
Reissued for the first time on 7” by Far Out is this Brasilian artefact recorded by Luisa, backed by the mighty Azymuth who were on everyone’s records around 1981. ‘Lenha na Fogueira’ is the title, apparently a Portuguese expression equivalent to 'fan the flames' or 'to make a bad situation worse’. That’s guitarist Paulinho Guitarra on guitar and Arco Iris on backing vocals.
HUSSAIN BOKHARI – There’s Your Baby [Mood Hut][1h 33m 23s]
Born in Bangkok and raised in Vancouver, Bokhari has assembled his many formative memories, musings and musical interests into an intimate DIY bedroom set that feels much bigger than the work of just one artist. It contains multitudes of a man.
Possessions reminded me of the kind of obscure, dubbed-out soul and disco that a Music From Memory might dig up (Geoffrey Landers, for instance). But at different points, we also get echoes of the meandering of Durutti Column, the love language of Womack & Womack, the crumbled vulnerability of a Benny Sings.
I adore the way the feel of this album is described: “This is music for the spaces between – between cities, between eras, between yourself and the person you were, all held together by a minimalist studio setup and maximum heart approach.”
FOREIGNER – Désintégation [Livity Sound][1h 36m 36s]
Four equally strong, tense and kinetic productions on Foreigner’s EP for Livity Sounds. Made by Willis Anne. who is founder of record label and club night LAN in Naarm, Melbourne. I’ve gone with the heightened drama of ‘Désintégation’.
LAUREL HALO – Focus I [Honest Jon’s][1h 42m 00s]
I wish I could remember who was running through their favourite home listening albums on IG when this early release from Laurel Halo on Honest Jon’s stopped me mid-munch of my granola one morning.
I love the space and introspection of more recent work like Atlas but the pulse and the keys on ‘Focus I’ will make you take flight. Dig into the back catalogues, people. It’s fascinating to hear the changes artists go through.
KUNIYUKI TAKAHASHI – Ananda Project/GaelleCascades of Colour (Kuniyuki’s Sugar Love Mix) [Mule Musiq][1h 50m 00s]
Kuniyuki Takahashi’s debut album came out in 2006 on CD only. Almost two decades later, We Are Together is getting a vinyl release. Congratulations to Toshiya san and Mule Musiq on hitting 300 releases. This one got me thinking of autumn leaves as they begin to fall and the wind picks up. Mood.
KAYTRANADA – Do It! (Again!) (featuring TLC) [RCA][1h 57m 45s]
An all-instrumentals album from Kaytranada with that familiar bounce and kick to make the club bop. Although you can hear R&B queens TLC on the set here with a sample of ‘Let’s Do It Again’. Out to all my CrazySexyCoolkids. Left Eye, miss ya.
He also draws from artists including Tangerine Dream, Dilla and Kelis with The Neptunes. Press play to get a shot in the arm on the commute to work.
NATURE BOY – Bassline Jumper [Frame of Mind][2h 01m 08s]
In 2017, Frame Of Mind started this series with the reissue of Nature Boy's seminal Ruff Disco Volume One double album from 1992. Now they’re back with special tracks unearthed from floppy disks from that same era. The EP is called Unfinished Business. Raw and very heavy as we’ve come to expect from Milo Johnson aka DJ Nature.
MAD REY – No Return (dub mix) [Red Lebanese/D.KO][2h 06m 45s]
A likkle something I had in my folder. A selection from Mad Rey’s productions recorded between 2023 and 2024. Dubbed out where the disco meets the house.
MICHAEL J BLOOD – Get Up Tonite[2h 10m 00s]
Always keep a little Michael J Blood in your diet to ward off the arthritis … and the demons. His hit rate is ridiculous. You can find this one in the collection Achetypal Artefacts Volume 2.
GILES SMITH – Paolo’s Keys [Eglo][2h 13m 55s]
Classy productions from Giles, one half of Secretsundaze. I was very tempted to play the dub of ‘I Can Change Your Life’ featuring LaAriel but the keys on this one got me mesmerised. Paolo’s to be precise ;)
PHASE II – Reachin’ (NY Mix) [Movin’][2h 20m 00s]
A Shoom and basement classic from the New Jersey skate-shop-cum record store, released in 1988. It felt so good to hear this come on randomly in the sun the other day. Phase II comprises New Jersey club legends Blaze (Josh Milan, Kevin Hedge and Chris Herbert), plus Sean Sims, Kerry Washington and Jerry Edwards. I think this is Rheji Burrell’s mix. If you see anything from the Burrell Brothers, buy on site. Nu Groove stans, salute.
HIEROGLYPHIC BEING – The Sound of Something Ending [Mathematics][2h 24m 55s]
This is Jamal Moss aka Hieroglyphic Being – who else? – with a pulsating five minutes of interstellar techno. From the soundbook “SOMUCHNOISE2BEHEARD”. I love the title. Apt for a track that sounds so climactic, like a planet incinerating into shooting stars that become new celestial bodies.
KYOKO KOIZUMI – Microwave [Rush Hour][2h 29m 30s]
Watch the ride! Ondas record shop owner Dubby and Rush Hour’s Antal trawl the pop-meets-proto-techno period of the late 70s into the 80s. The influence of Kraftwerk, futuristic drums and synths on the disciples of YMO and others. It’s a super-fun compilation. Vinyl only. This one by Kyoko Koizumi is telling all the ears-bleeding, 7am sadists to lighten up. It comes from the album Koizumi in the House. Out of this world … and tuff.
JUNIE MORRISON – Musical Son (live) [ReGrooved][2h 35m 20s]
I was wondering if one of my favorite funk mavericks had recorded any live sets. It turns out he and The Scoon Boogie Band were committed to tape while playing multiple nights at Dooley’s in Lansing, Michigan in 1975.
The audio resonates with the antiquated charm of a bootleg, shall we say, but when there’s an Ohio Players medley on the table (including the anthem ‘Ecstasy’), you mustn’t complain too much.
“The horns, we gotta hear horns,” Junie yells on ‘Musical Son’. Too right.
*****
Check out the archive via Mixcloud or my Substack to hear past shows including a chat about 90’s rave and coming of age in a youth club with debut author Stef Macbeth. Also, words and music from SE London musician Sam Akpro. Yeah, nuff shows.
Until Monday 29/9. Stay close.
