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SOUNDWAVE : 26 : HANNAH PEEL

SOUNDWAVE : 26

On today’s SOUNDWAVE our guest deejay is Hannah Peel! I’ll tell you why I am so excited to have her on today’s show shortly.

I just got back from traveling to Chicago for a vacation. I love that city and each time I go to there the more I want to move there. Granted, we went there just before fall, which is the best time to visit Chicago. It was neither hot and humid or wet and frigid.

I got to spend time with my brother and sister-in-law, run to the lakeshore and watch the sunrise, and bike around the city but overall it was an eating vacation. I live near Los Angeles so my expectations for superior restaurants is high. Chicago surpasses those expectations. You simply can’t get a bad meal in that city. The restaurant that served the best meals was The Purple Pig but our favorite dining experience was Podhalanka. We met Greg, the owner, who made us feel welcome and ordered our meals for us and each dish was delicious. Greg clearly loves what he does and he cares deeply that you are well fed.

But I’m not here to talk about what I did on my vacation. I’m here to tell you that I’m grateful that I was able to spend time with family and friends. I hadn’t realized how much I needed a vacation until we landed in O’Hare. Usually it takes me a day or two to unwind but I instantly relaxed the moment we arrived. And I’m also grateful for our vacation because it gave me some time to process a lot of my thoughts and feelings regarding COVID-19 and how to lead my life going forward. I’m not going to go into the details here but what I will share with you is that COVID-19 has brought into sharp relief that our time on this planet is short and we could leave it at any moment. The last few months I’ve met many people who have I opened up and shared their deepest thoughts with me. And why not? Now’s the time to do it. And like a lot of people, I’ve been reevaluating my life and what I want to do with it during the time I have remaining. Despite the anxiety of COVID-19 I’m also excited about the possibilities that lie before all of us.

I began SOUNDWAVE to help cope with the stress of the pandemic but over the last half year my relationship to COVID-19 has changed dramatically. I hope it has for you as well. Carpe diem.

Let’s get to today’s show, shall we?

As I mentioned above, our guest deejay is Hannah Peel.

Until a few weeks ago I wasn’t familiar with Hannah and had only become acquainted with her when I asked SOUNDWAVE guest deejay, Charles Hazlewood, who he knew personally that might be interested in sharing a mix on the show. Charles put me in contact with Portishead’s Adrian Utley and Hannah Peel. Adrian’s mix was lovely and Hannah’s mix is no less so.

On today’s show Hannah will take you to some very surprising places and she begins her mix with a track from Joni Mitchel. So unexpected! You’re in her capable hands so enjoy the journey. I know you’re going to love today’s show.

As I said, I was unfamiliar with Hannah but I’ve been getting up to speed. And you should, too, because Hannah’s music is also unexpected. Her songs can be delicate and achingly familiar. She’’ll paint impressionistic music with swathes of sound but will also delight you with covers of pop songs from the ‘80s performed on music boxes. I catch myself singing Soft Cell’s “Tainted Love” constantly thanks to Hannah.

Join us again next week when our guest deejay will be Jonathan Ammons.

 

Hannah Peel
Hannah Peel

  1. Joni Mitchel “A Case of You”
  2. Darkstar “Blurred”
  3. Mort Garson “Music to Soothe the Savage Snakeplant”
  4. Nick Drake “River Man”
  5. Bobby Krlic “The House that Härga Built”
  6. Caroline Shaw “Plan & Elevation: IV. The Orangery”
  7. The Hermes Experiment “Uh Huh, Yeah”
  8. Julianna Barwick “Labyrinthine”

Subscribe to SOUNDWAVE on iTunes, Overcast, Castro and Pocketcasts.

Logo by Rik Oostenbroek

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SOUNDWAVE : 25 : ADRIAN UTLEY

SOUNDWAVE : 25

I’m very excited about today’s show because our guest deejay is Adrian Utley!

Most likely you know Adrian from Portishead, the band that put trip hop on the map late last century. Or you many know Adrian more recently for the work he did with Will Gregory for the soundtrack to the motion picture Arcadia, which I featured on the first episode of SOUNDWAVE. Adrian is a man who cares deeply about his craft and his love of sound and music is expressed in any project he is involved with.

I want to give special thanks to Charles Hazelwood for putting me in contact with Adrian. After Charles’s mix for SOUNDWAVE went live I asked him who he knew personally who might be interested in participating in the show and he suggested Adrian and Hannah Peel (who will be our guest deejay on next week’s show). It’s little things like that that make this show feel special and more intimate. At least to me, anyway.

Okay, time for me to wrap this up. My family and I are going to take a little but much needed vacation and get away from the wildfires and earthquakes that have wracked California.

I hope you are safe and well. See you next week.

 

Adrian Utley
Adrian Utley

  1. Pulled by Magnets “Nowhere Nothing”
  2. Philip Glass “Music in Similar Motion”
  3. Townes Van Zandt “Sky Blue”
  4. Asher Gamedze “Movement Three: Synthesis”
  5. Robert Fripp & Brian Eno “Evening Star”
  6. Sonic Youth “Dirty Boots”
  7. Lee Morgan “Search for a New Land”
  8. Nick Cave and the Bad Seeds “Into My Arms”

Subscribe to SOUNDWAVE on iTunes, Overcast, Castro and Pocketcasts.

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SOUNDWAVE : 6 : JAMES CURCIO

SOUNDWAVE : 6

Today’s guest deejay is James Curcio.

I met James years ago back when I was hosting the small WORLD podcast. I was part of the second wave of podcasting and I was small WORLD as the punk rock Fresh Air. If by punk rock, you mean badly played music on out of tune instruments. Anyway, James Curcio was one of my guests and I believe we we talked about his book, Join My Cult!

During the course of producing small WORLD I noticed that James would pop up again again in various circles. Into culture jamming? James was there. Interested in philosophy. James is your man. Writing? James. Music? James again. Magick? Also James.

When I was putting together a list of guest deejays for SOUNDWAVE I included James because I was curious what kind of mix he’d put together. I suspected it would be a playlist that included Coil, Current 93 and Dead Moon. You know, some sort of musical art project attempting to turn lead into gold. Instead, I got a mix of David Bowie interspersed with industrial and Nordic folk music. Did not see that coming.

Before I let James introduced this week’s show, I want to thank everyone who is listening to the show and the kind words they’ve shared. I just ask that you do it in on iTunes. Leave SOUNDWAVE a quick review and whatever algorithm Apple uses pushes the show up their podcast charts. SOUNDWAVE is a super niche show so I don’t expect that it’d take much.

Come back next week. Out guest deejay will be electronic musician Frank Riggio.

 

James Curcio
James Curcio

This mix was probably inspired by spending 3 years writing and researching MASKS: Bowie & Artists of Artifice (especially the themes that come up in this long-form blog post, Masks All The Way Down). But it’s not a “Bowie mix” as such: mortality, futility, transience, being lost in the simulacra, isolation during coronavirus… and some great beats. Everything in our lives feel so fragile now, but of course the truth is it always was. The outro track is an original remix of Nine Inch Nail’s “Me I’m Not” that I did like 10 years back, and some live studio outtakes from a mushroom party.

  1. IAMX “Stardust (Video Mix)”
  2. David Bowie “No Plan”
  3. Forest Swords “Panic”
  4. David Bowie “Love is Lost (Hello Steve Reich Mix)”
  5. Eivør “Í tokuni” (lyrics translation)
  6. David Bowie “The Motel/Sunday”
  7. Onuka “Zenit (intercut with sections of Davi Bowie’s ‘Sunday’)” (lyrics translation)
  8. Perturbator “Tactical Precision Disarray”
  9. Igorrr “Downgrade Desert”
  10. SKYND “Tyler Hadley”
  11. David Bowie “Killing A Little Time”
  12. Nine Inch Nails “Me I’m Not (James Curcio Original Remix)”
  13. James Curcio “Mother Hive Brain (Recorded at OrangeFace)”

Subscribe to SOUNDWAVE on iTunes, Overcast, Castro and Pocketcasts.

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SOUNDWAVE : 5 : VINCE MILLETT

SOUNDWAVE : 5

I’m writing the show notes you’re reading from my backyard. Vince Millett’s mix, today’s guest deejay, plays in the background. The sun is out, the sky is blue, birds are chirping and my dog is smelling a flower. It is an idyllic day. Except that it’s week seven of California’s safe at home. COVID-19 has completely disrupted civilization and we’ll feel the aftershocks for years, if not decades, to come. So, yeah except for that, I’m having a fantastic day.

Today’s mix, by the way, is spectacular.

Opening the show to guest deejays has been a great idea because it’s really exposed me to so many musicians I’ve never heard before. I was counting on Vince to turn me on to some great stuff and his mix does not disappoint. It is exactly why he was one of the first people I asked to guest deejay on SOUNDWAVE.

I met Vince eight years ago on Twitter. I was impressed with his netlabel, Broken Drum Records, and his podcast, Secret Archives of the Vatican, and invited him to be a guest deejay for solipsistic NATION, my electronic music podcast. You’ll want to listen to that episode as soon as you’re done with today’s show. Vince’s taste in music leans towards the Asian and Middle Eastern and that is reflected in today’s mix. Each song is a gem. Dhafer Youssef’s “Dawn Prayer,” for example, is gut wrenchingly beautiful

Vince will talk about his musical selections below but before I go, I want to thank everyone who has sent the mixes you will hear in the upcoming months.

In just a few short weeks I’ve received a lot of mixes for SOUNDWAVE from some amazing guest deejays. It’s humbling how everyone were so quick to respond to my requests and their generosity of their time.

Last week’s show featured a gorgeous mix by Steven Howard. Next week’s guest deejay is James Curcio and his mix was inspired by the three years he spent writing and researching for his book, MASKS: Bowie & Artists of Artifice, and is a meditation on mortality, futility, transience, being lost in the simulacra and isolation during the coronavirus.

See you then.

 

Vince Millett
Vince Millett

We open with “Kemancheh” by Moving Ninja. Some years back when I was first discovering dubstep, the folk music of my hometown Croydon, I was surprised to find tracks like this that were far away from the dancefloor and had some middle eastern influences. Genre labels can be so limiting and misleading.

We then move into one of my own, “Outremer” by Thousand Yard Prayer. This is built upon a simple Viola Da Gamba line playing an Arabian musical scale with some medieval frame drums, a Persian ney flute and some subtle Croydon post-dubstep bass wobble adding to the low end.

Tunisian born oud player and vocalist Dhafer Youssef then leads us into the exquisite “Dawn Prayer.” His music gets marketed as jazz but I’m not convinced. It is unique. Listen to that voice!

Next we head towards the world of film soundtracks with “Eastern Path” by Vangelis from the film Alexander. The duduk is one of the most expressive and melancholy instruments on the planet.

We continue to head east with “Battle Remembered” by Yo Yo Ma and the Silk Road Ensemble. I’m not a huge fan of western classical music but I love to hear musicians from that world working with highly skilled musicians from other traditions.

Bassist Jonas Hellborg recorded “Suriya” live in Aleppo in 1996. The whole album, Aram of the Two Rivers, is beautiful and is another example of superb musicians from disparate traditions creating something transcendent.

I finish this mix with my favourite piece of medieval music, “Palästinalied,” here played by Kalenda Maya from their album Pilegrimreiser. I have a Spotify playlist with 42 versions of this tune, all sounding different. This is a particularly chilled rendition.

  1. Moving Ninja “Kemancheh”
  2. Thousand Yard Prayer “Outremer”
  3. Dhafer Youssef “Dawn Prayer”
  4. Vangelis “Eastern Path”
  5. Yo-Yo Ma & The Silk Road Ensemble “Battle Remembered”
  6. Jonas Hellborg “Suriya”
  7. Kalenda Maya “Palästinalied”

Subscribe to SOUNDWAVE on iTunes, Overcast, Castro and Pocketcasts.

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Weekly Mix 13: April 2, 2017

Before we got to today’s show I want to welcome Blumenkraft from the pnut social media platform to the show. I actually know Blumenkraft from App.Net, which was a great social media platform that was ad free but unforutnately shut down last month. Anyway, I promoted my recent show on Pnut and Blumenkraft really enjoyed it and went back to download prevous episodes of The Weekly Mix. Blumenkraft, if you’re listening, welcome aboard and I hope you dig today’s show.

The other thing I wanted to chat about is the trip my girlfriend and I made to Los Angeles last Thursday to see The Firesign Theatre. You probably don’t know who they are but they are extremely important to me. The Firesign Theatre was a comedy group from the 60s who recorded these really complex concept albums. When I was a boy, about four years old, my dad would play them all the time. The Firesign Theatre had a lot of TV and radio commercial skits that confused me because at that age I was still struggling to distinguish reality from fantasy. They sounded like commercials but I knew something was not quite right. The Firesign Theatre shaped my own sense of humor and when I got into radio I would insert bits from their albums into my shows.

Last Wednesday I was talking to my friend Taylor about working on another show I produce called Pop Culture Intelligentsia. We were catching up with each other when he mentioned that he was going to provide sound effect for a life performance from The Firesign Theatre. Taylor only had a vague idea who they were and cetainly had no idea how important those guys are to me. I asked Taylor if he could get me into the show because those guys are senior citizens now, in fact, there are only two members still alive. I’d regret it if I didn’t see them. Taylor was kind enough to get me into the show and I even got to ask Phil Proctor, one of the founding members a question!

Okay, enough out of me. Enjoy today’s show.

  1. Nathaniel Rateliff & the Night Sweat “I Need Never Get Old”
  2. Shirley Bassey “Spinning Wheel”
  3. Portugal. The Man “Feel It Still”
  4. Lauren Sanderson “Alotta Me”
  5. Yaeji “New York 93”
  6. Naadei “Not Nice”
  7. o k h o “Hey The House Is On Fire”

Illustration: GDBee ©2017mix

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Weekly Mix 11: March 19, 2017

This week my girl friend and I started a 30-day juice fast. That’s right, 30 days of drinking vegetable and fruit juice instead of eating meals. I’ve done something like this before when I drank Soylent for a month. But this is different. It’s definitely more of a challenge. For some reason, when I was drinking Soylent for a month I barely missed food. But when I’m drinking juice all I can think about is food. Not that I’m hungry. I just want something with texture in my mouth. Crunchy things like popcorn or potato chips are always on my mind. Or barbeque. Or a wad of hot, gooey cheese. And when I go into a supermarket or a restaurant, I smell everything.

But I like challenges like this because anything that breaks you out of your routine makes you see the world and your life in a different light. For example, until I started this juice fast I didn’t realize how many little rituals I have about food. For example, on Friday nights I’ll usually eat somethingthat’s a little saltier and a little fattier than I normally eat as a reward for making it though the week. I’m sure we all do that, right? Maybe treat ourselves to an ice cream or something? I’m hyperaware about all that stuff now.

And I’ll be honest with you, I’m never excited about drinking a glass of vegetable and fruit juice. It tastes okay but I don’t crave it like I’m currently craving some rolled tacos.

And then there are the side effects: the headaches, the hunger pains, I’m tired, and my tongue is emitting a layer of white gunk. All this stuff is supposed to pass in the first few days and then I’ll start feeling energized and my cravings will change from my normal diet to a healthier, green diet. But I have to get past these first few days. On the plus side, I’ve lost almost six pounds in the first two days, so it’s not all bad.

I’m happy to chat with you about this if you’re interested. Just hit me up on Twitter. But if you want to see the documentary that inspired us to take the plunge to do this 30-day juice fast ,then I suggest going to Netflix or Amazon or whatever and watch Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead. The doc follows this guy Joe Cross on his 60-day juice fast and his trip across America. I’m not being evangelical about this, because believe me, I can’t wait to eat a cheeseburger. But if you’re interested, go watch the flick.

Okay, let’s get to today’s show. I’m sure me talking about my 30-day juice fast is not the most exciting thing in the world.

You can find me online on Twitter at josephaleo or at my website at josephaleo.com While you’re there, click the links to purchase and download any of the songs you like from today’s show. It’s a simple way to show them your love and support. And if you want to support The Weekly Mix, tell a friend about the show. No need to keep The Weekly Mix to yourself, there’s plenty to go around.

You can listen to The Weekly Mix every Sunday on KAOS Radio Austin at 6PM Central and every Friday on Bondfire Radio out of Brooklyn at 11:30 AM Eastern Standard Time.

Time for me to bug out. See you next week!

  1. Walter Martin “Sing to Me”
  2. The Exquisites “Count on Me”
  3. Mateo Katsu “Nag Hammadi 1276”
  4. Pleasurekraft “Rigel (Orginal Mix)”
  5. Kid Cudi “Kitchen”
  6. Lily Allen “Smile”
  7. Keith Hudson “Depth Charge”

Illustration: GDBee ©2017

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Weekly Mix 9: March 5, 2017

There’s a lot of tools I use to put these shows together and I thought I’d share one of them with you today. It’s called Pinboard. It’s a social bookmarking service that’s a lot like Delicious, if you happen to remember Delicious. It’s okay if you don’t because Yahoo pretty much killed Delicious when they purchased the service. Killing services is something that Yahoo seems to excel at.

Anyway, the way Pinboard works is that when you come across a website or article or blog post that you want to go back to later, you can bookmark it on Pinboard. You can also tag your bookmarks, include a summary of what your bookmarking and search all your bookmarks or any of the bookmarks others have saved to Pinboard.

Some people use Pocket or Instapaper or Evernote for bookmarking and I use those, too, but Pinboard is pretty much where I save everything.

So why am I talking about Pinboard on today’s show? Because I bookmark everything that I might want to reference on each episode of The Weekly Mix. If there’s anything that comes up on The Weekly Mix that you’re even remotely curious about, you can find it there. Bands, labels, interviews, videos, all of it is on Pinboard. You can click the link to my Pinboard account on today’s show notes or go directly to bit.ly/WEEKLYMIXPINBOARD

Thanks for indulging me in my nerdery.

  1. Jim’s Big Ego “Feelin’ Groovy”
  2. Francis and the Lights “It’s Alright to Cry”
  3. Erik Blood “The Attic System”
  4. El Michels Affair “Tearz (feat. Lee Fields & The Shacks)”
  5. Bishop Briggs “River”
  6. Kojey Radical “Gallons (feat. PW)”
  7. Dawn of Midi “Io”

Illustration: GDBee ©2017

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Weekly Mix 7: February 19, 2017

I’ve been having a lot of fun producing The Weekly Mix. Its different from other shows I’ve produced in the past because it’s short and informal. I’m not trying to craft a seamless mix that’ll take you on an emotional journey like I’ve done on solipsistic NATION, the electronic music show I used to do. And when I do the occasional interview on The Weekly Mix they’re quick, usually around five minutes, instead of the long form interviews I’m used to doing.

I’m also not trying to build up an enormous audience for the show. It’s mostly for my friends and family to enjoy. But look, if you like the show and you want to turn other people on to The Weekly Mix, I’d certainly appreciate it. The more people who listen to the show the more musical guests I can get on the show. Besides, why keep The Weekly Mix to yourself?

The other thing I’ve been doing differently is using Periscope and Facebook Live to promote The Weekly Mix. I don’t know if it’s actually making a difference but it’s fun and I plan on exploring the possibilities of streaming video. For example, this Friday I’ll be interviewing The Brevet on Facebook Live when they perform here in San Diego at Lestat’s. I’ll also stream one or two of their songs they’ll be performing while in town. And I’ll also be using the Rode VideoMic Me that my friend Robin turned me on to, so I’ve got an extra reason to be excited about that show. Follow me on Twitter at @josephaleo if you want to know when that’ll be happening.

You can also listen to The Weekly Mix each week on KAOS Radio Austin every Sunday at 6PM Central and every Friday on Bondfire Radio at 11:30 AM Eastern Standard Time.

Okay, I’m out of here. See you next week!

  1. Dashboard Confessional “Love Yourself”
  2. Ivy Sole “Life (feat. Dave B)”
  3. Chet Baker “It’s Always You”
  4. Alemayehu Eshete “Feqer Feqer New”
  5. AfroCubism “Djelimady Rumba (feat. Toumani Diabaté, Eliades Ochoa & Bassekou Kouyaté)”
  6. Buena Vista Social Club “Chan Chan”
  7. Orishas “537 C.U.B.A.”

Illustration: GDBee ©2017

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Weekly Mix 3: January 22, 2017

I’ve got quite a show for you today. Not only do I have a fantastic mix of eclectic music for you to groove to, but we’ll also chat with Geneva Bee, who provides the illustration of the headphone wearing beauty who graces the album art for each show.

I first discovered Geneva Bee through my girlfriend, who follows Geneva on Instagram. Through her illustrations Geneva creates a world of whimsy and color that’s decidedly very girly. Seeing Geneva’s artwork in my Instagram feed always delivers a hit of dopamine. When I launched The Weekly Mix I asked Geneva if she’d allow me to use one of her illustrations for the album art for each show and she was generous enough to let me.

See you next week with another weekly mix. I’m out of here.

  1. Interview with illustrator Geneva Bee
  2. Tall Can & Generik “Bridge ft. Generik & 12Gage The Poet”
  3. OKBADLANDS “Dust & Gold”
  4. PNL “Le monde ou rien”
  5. Lil Uzi Vert “Scott and Ramona”
  6. Anderson.Paak “Come Down”
  7. Chairlift “Ch-Ching”
  8. Yola Carter “Home”

Illustration: GDBee ©2017

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solipsistic NATION No. 310: Mutamassik, Live

Today on solipsistic NATION we’ll hear a live set from Giulia Loli from Mutamassik, which was originally recorded for Fari Bradley‘s Six Pillars radio show on Resonance FM to promote Giulia’s 2012 release, Rekkez, out on Ini.itu Records. In fact, there are quite a few tracks from Rekkez on today’s live set.

We’ll also talk to Giulia about balancing artistry with industry, and her growth as an artist, musician and as a DJ.

Today’s show is eight years in the making.

When I launched solipsistic NATION podcasts were a new thing and most people didn’t know what a podcast actually was, which made it difficult when I would email labels and ask for them to send me promotional CDs for the show. And even if a label knew what a podcast was I didn’t have the audience that I do now, so why mail out music to show that only had a few hundred listeners? I can’t blame them, really.

But one label I did approach was generous enough to send a CD. I had read a review about Mutamassik’s album, Masri Mokkassar: Definitive Works in XLR8R, back when it was still a print magazine. Definitive Works had been released by Sound-Ink Records and they sent me Mutamassik’s LP without questions or hassle.

Like I said, podcasts were an unknown quantity back then, so it meant a lot to me that Sound-Ink took me seriously enough to send me Mutamassik’s album. And it was a great album! I played it on the show and I played it on my iPod constantly. Someday, I told myself, I’m going to have Mutamassik on the show as a guest so I could get to know the person behind all this fantastic music!

That day is today. It took months of planning and aligning our schedules but it finally happened.

Join us again next week. I’m still getting my ducks in a row but I think our guests will be Known Rebel‘s Germán Escandell and Jaime Irles.

See you then!

  1. Mutamassik “Babomb”
  2. Interview with Giulia Loli of Mutamassik
  3. Mutamassik “Live”