2022 – A Year in Music, part 1 (Singles)
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Lèspri ka a la Gwadloup, printemps 2022
In late March ’22, following two cancelled trips in the past two years due to the pandemic, we were finally back in Guadeloupe. Once we’d navigated all the bureaucratic nonsense involved in being able to travel (mainland France’s frontiers were fully opened but not Guadeloupe’s), it was as always a special feeling to set foot…
Excursions in Gwoka Vol. 1 (BATB 005)
Two years in the making, the fifth release on our Beauty & the Beat label has finally landed. This project turned out to be quite a labour of love, requiring no less than two sets of test pressings (!), and it is such a great feeling to finally see this out in the flesh (on…
2021 – A Year In Music, Part 2 (Albums & Reissues)
Despite the ongoing pressing plant chaos and ever increasing costs of making records, 2021 saw more than a healthy amount (!) of exceptional releases, on every genre and format imaginable. My previous blog post focused on the singles and here I will put my attention to my favourite albums and reissues. Early in the year…
2021 – A Year In Music, Part 1 (Singles & Revivals)
After a bleak and blank 2020, ’21 was the year we returned to party and started dancing (collectively) again. It took what seemed like forever to get there, but when we did, what a spectacular release that was! A truly “special” moment which seemed to make the traversée du désert that preceded it almost worthwhile.…
Lèspri Ka – New Directions in Gwoka (Time Capsule/Séance Centre)
Sometime in 2017, when my friend Kay Suzuki first came up with the idea of starting a high quality reissue label, asking a bunch of us to act as curators, the first idea that came to my mind was a project dedicated to gwoka in general, and gwoka moderne in particular. As a frequent visitor…
20 songs to celebrate 20 years in London
Towards the end of November 2000 I landed in London with a backpack, one cassette tape and dreams aplenty. Years have mysteriously passed (who knows where the time goes?!) and here I found myself, as Londoner as can be, celebrating twenty years of trials and tribulations in the city. For 20 days (+ 1) in…
SOUNDS OF 2020 – THE WEIRDEST YEAR IN MUSIC
Music is the healing force of the Universe” This quote taken from Albert Ayler’s spiritual jazz masterpiece perhaps never sounded so accurate as it did in 2020. Most of us searched for solace in music in even deeper ways than ever. I for one spent even more time than usual consuming music, digging, seeking out,…