[Chris Kirkley sketch by Isabel in Mauritania] One of my favorite musical investigators will be joining me live on Mudd Up! a week from today: Chris Kirkley. You may know him from the Music from Saharan Cellphones compilation, or the Ishilan n-Tenere LP on Mississippi Records, or his TOP LEVEL blog, Sahel Sounds. As I … Continue reading MUSIC FROM SAHARAN CELLPHONES LIVE ON-AIR
As a talisman against the fall-like chill of Brussels, here’s a heater-upper remix I did for Architecture in Helsinki a few years ago. The original is so good, I went all out brought in Mr Lee G on vocal duties: Architecture in Helsinki Heart It Races (DJ Rupture’s Ital Hymn Mix feat. Mr Lee G) … Continue reading HEART IT RACES & A LAST-MINUTE BRUSSELS FÊTE
A few days ago I came across the first mention of Auto-Tune I’ve seen in fiction: Lauren Beukes’ 2010 novel, Zoo City. It’s weird noir, set in contemporary Johannesburg, featuring an ex-junkie protagonist named Zinzi December and her magic sloth. The unconvential pair is caught in a web of intrigue involving murder, 419 email scams, … Continue reading ZOO CITY: ON SLOTH, AUTOTUNE, & AFRICAN NOIR
¡Órale! Tribal Guarachero – “Aztec Rave from the Future” – keeps on rising. A quick review: There was my Fader feature on Tribal Guarachero in Monterrey from last year, now viewable online. Then came a National Geographic article suggesting that certain stone buildings in the Americas were Pre-Columbian ritual spaces for heightened sound reception and … Continue reading 3BALL MTY: AZTEC RAVE FROM THE FUTURE ON VIDEO
[Downliners Sekt – Picture by Fric Lopez / Postproduction by Gerard Franquesa] A week from today, tune into Mudd Up at 8pm EST to catch a special show, recorded on-location with the mysterious Barcelona-based duo Downliners Sekt, who make “soul-filled gospel hymns for a technological apocalypse.” We will learn new myths about Portbou , enter … Continue reading DOWNLINERS SEKT ON AIR
If there’s been a way to build it / there’ll be a way to destroy it / things are not all that out of control – Lætitia Sadier, Stereolab Monday’s radio show had a nice flow. Now streaming: tracklist:
Radio from last Monday, Memorial Day in the States. Block by block, we make a wall. Take the wall to a hole, push it over, use the wall as a bridge to get to the other side. The other side of what? If you turn it up loud enough, we don’t have to listen. you … Continue reading BBQ HEAT STREAM
[Sorry Bamba] Last night’s radio show stretched time out proper, starting with a hypnotic track from Sorry Bamba’s upcoming album on Thrill Jockey, a real standout in a year thick with African reissues. This erroneous Guardian review by Rob Fitzpatrick claims that the song, “Yayoroba” (which Mr Fitzpatrick also misspelled), was “written to honor Bamba’s … Continue reading RADIO RAIN PARADE
Mudd Up! radio tonight: 7-8pm EST, WFMU 91.1fm. To everyone who supported WFMU by pledging for my DJ Premium a few months back: good news, it will arrive shortly if it hasn’t already! 3.5 hours of choice Maghrebi sounds, After Tropical Comes Arid; your generosity was the only way to get it. and I nearly … Continue reading AFTER TROPICAL COMES ARID
[photo by Beyond Digital’s Juan Alcón Durán] We’re been putting a lot of work into preparing for the June stretch of Beyond Digital, when our team of eight people (and rising!) will converge in Casablanca, Morocco… Website coming soon, along with a proper update. But for now: part one of the Beyond Digital Summer Reading … Continue reading BEYOND DIGITAL BEACH BOOKS – part 1