Midweek Mixes (12/10/22)
A run-down of some of the mixes and radio shows that have been soundtracking my existence – from the box-fresh to the tried-and-tested – all guaranteed to brighten up your week.
Lakuti and Tama Sumo kick their latest RA mix off with a piece of highlife electrofunk by Ghanaian musician Charles Amoah, released by a German label in 1984 and reissued this year. As always it feels like there’s an underlying message to this selection: this is who we are, African (in Lakuti’s case, South African) and German, and our combined heritage means something profound to us and our music.
Hot on the heels of this opening statement come appearances from Black house music legends like Kaidi Tatham and IG Culture (as Likwid Biskit feat. Herbie Hancock), Larry Heard (Gherkin Jerks) and Marty Bonds (Reel By Real), and more recent torch bearers like Jamal Moss, Gifted & Blessed and Mark Grusane.
After a satisfyingly upfront acid-focussed Chicago/Detroit section, the second half of the mix spreads out kaleidoscopically, beginning with the chuggy industrial of Ministry and ending up at the gorgeously orchestrated (modern!) disco of Far Out Monster Disco Orchestra. It’s a joyful whirlwind of a ride that I can testify matches up to the experience of their Your Love night at Panoramabar.
I’ve said it before (for example here) but when these two put together a mix like this it’s both an education and a delight.
Nick Kagame - EOS Radio (September 2022)
Nick opens his guest session on my EOS Residency with Silvestre’s ‘Não Me Disseram Nada’, from the album Sossegado (see here for more on that release), and closes with ‘Se Você’ by Vermelho Wonder on Goptun - both tunes close to my heart and thereby creating a set of intimate parentheses to house the remainder of the mix.
And what’s inside? 50 minutes of laterally-minded selections and nimble transitions that blend spacious 100-110bpm broken rhythms - dancehall, amapiano, dembow, and derivatives from the UK, France and elsewhere - with slow and seductive moments of house, IDM and leftfield beats old and new. There’s also a curious contingent of Australian producers included here, a scene that feels distant but via mixes like this - or projects like CC:DISCO’s First Light compilation - is brought much closer.
I’m once again struck by how lucky we are to have DJs like Nick, and Tama Sumo & Lakuti, doing the job of bringing these disparate musical threads together into legible tapestries for us to immerse ourselves in at our leisure. Thank you Nick as always for the time and thought you put into this fabulous mix.