Monthly Archives: June 2026

Get plugged into the solstice

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Want to see the Sun rise over the heel stone at 04.52 am tomorrow and enjoy some true solstice vibes from the comfort of your own home/bed?

Feeling a bit too long in the tooth for standing in the cold all night, and listening to the sound of early morning drumming workshops with no sleep is not the aural delight it used to be? Tune into the above youtube for some genuine solstice vibes piped to you via the internet. Put on your best Stonehenge slippers, have some tea and toast ready and watch that magic moment when the sun rises.

A Happy Solstice to you all, whatever time it is where you are and wherever you’ll be celebrating the solstice.

We love the stories of the good old days when Ken Barlow used to turn up at a Stonehenge solstice and you could sit on top of the stones and watch whilst Hawkwind played “Silver Machine” as the sun came up. All for Free! Unfortunately we didn’t go to any of the festivals there but attempted it once and missed it by one day. The convoy was driving off when we got there.

Big up Wally Hope by the way, organiser of the Stonehenge Festival. Without him there would be no Crass and without Crass there would be no Crass-like Anarchic seed sowing method that we use.

A bit of downbeat for the weekend

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Here’s the fourth episode in the Downbeat on Shortwave series with Jesse Yuen and One Deck Pete that was broadcast this weekend on Imaginary Stations via Shortwave Gold.

Jesse and Pete bring you two 15-minute downtempo mixes each over the hour-long show. We’ve posted up two recordings, the above the clean studio version. The recorded off the radio, mono version complete with atmospheric sounds literally, is below. Enjoy the tunes!

Jesse Yuen Mix 1
Stress Assassin – Me We
Pugilist –  introspect Ft. Tamen
Drug Free America – Baby Doll and the Dolphin Burger (video edit)

One Deck Pete Mix 1
Deadbeats – Got it going on (Space Hopper original)
Stereo Total Vs Mad Professor – Das erste Mal dub trip 2
Transglobal Underground – Templehead – Burundi Beat mix
Madtone – It is AI but WE created it

Jesse Yuen Mix 2
Leslie Winer – King of sleep
99 Cents – Adrenalin Spaceboy (Dub Boy Extended mix)

One Deck Pete Mix 2
変化への恐れ – Shinogi シノギ
Mad Professor – Boombox version 2
Kuna – Decade Dub
Space To Crash – Holding Hands

It ain’t in FM stereo, but we like it!

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Earlier this afternoon we tuned into Downbeat on Shortwave (brought to us via Imaginary Stations) using The University of Twente’s online SDR here. Propagation wasn’t brilliant but we got a signal, unlike the sound of static on our shortwave receiver at home. Hopefully tomorrow’s conditions will be better and the later timing of the transmission helps. Here’s what was heard.

Imaginary Stations bring you music you don’t usually hear on the shortwaves every week and has an archive that is well worth looking through here. Expect the unexpected as they say and a whole lot more! Never mind the genre, it’s all about great music on the shortwave bands with some added remixing thanks to the ionosphere and those groundwaves.

Tune in here tomorrow at 1300 UTC (2pm UK) and 2000 UTC (9pm UK) for some chilled out sounds from Jesse Yuen and One Deck Pete. A big shout to all the Imaginary Stations crew: Fred and NanSea, Justin Patrick Moore and Marc from Belgium. Here’s to more eclectic programming on shortwave!

More Downbeat on Shortwave this weekend!

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This weekend Imaginary Stations bring you the fourth episode in the Downbeat on Shortwave series with Jesse Yuen (from Perth, Australia) and One Deck Pete (from Catford Village, Londres).

Jesse and Pete bring you two 15-minute downtempo mixes each over the hour-long show. Expect some ambient, dub, reggae and downtempo tunes for a chilled-out weekend.

The show is broadcast on Saturday 13th June at 1100 hrs UTC (12 noon in the UK) on 6160 kHz and then again on Sunday 14th June at 1300 hrs UTC (2pm in the UK) on 6160 kHz and 2000 hrs UTC (9pm in the UK) on 3975 kHz/6160 kHz. Thanks to the great Shortwave Gold for beaming those radio waves skywards.

Don’t worry if you haven’t a shortwave radio you can tune in via an online Software Defined Radio here (pre-tuned into 6160 kHz). Just plug in at the right time(s) and experience that shortwave mono sound with all the fading and cross channel interference live.

Here’s the older shows for your listening pleasure!

Programme 1

Programme 2

Programme 3

Kings of speed(well)

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Here’s a recent addition to the Weeds HQ garden, a couple of white speedwells (AKA Veronica) which have gone in next to a poppy that is on its way out (and now producing seeds to be distributed around the garden/to mates).

Also, a few weeks ago when we moved one of the Belfast sinks that contained a climber, we stuck it by the trellis halfway down the garden. We then stuck a couple of pots of pelargonium cuttings we took from the kind folks at Honor Oak station on the top.

We think the humble pelargonium has a bit of a bad reputation, as someone we know calls them “Granny flowers” and we were told pollinators go nowhere near them. It was through the success of those cuttings (they are doing great and so easy to propagate) that we have been trying more, as we never were that interested in taking cuttings before. Anyone got any good “cuttings” tips?

If you look closely, you will see the famous Theatre of Hate stone, that gardening legend has it, that Kirk Brandon used as a prototype for the band’s logo. More on that famous stone here.

Love in a mist, it’s (not) so dumb

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Here’s a few pictures from around the Weeds HQ garden.

We’ve had the above for a few years now and it pops up every year in the wild bit at the bottom of the garden. It’s quaking grass and we’re not sure who we got it off, but it was off a gardening mate somewhere (if it’s you, do remind us!) from 2023. It’s only small but it’s interesting stuff. Original post here.

The above is also in the wild part of the garden. Nigella or love in a mist is a great plant and as soon as the seed pods are ready, it’s a seed to chuck around the garden in an anarchic Crass-like sowing style. You’ll get results and it’s a great plant to cover a large area.

One of the great poppies that are just popping up all around the garden. They can seed where-ever they want in our garden, as we love them so much.

And finally, the mad plant that is the teasel. Bought off the internet (post here) and then moved from its original location. The wind blew it over last week and we’ve staked it up but before we did, it tried to straighten itself up hence the mad angles. Unless they always are like that!

Let’s hope the weather is better where you are tomorrow and you can get out in the garden!

Opening doors

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Cheers to Will Jeff for letting us know about this great tune by Jack D called Opening the Door. It’s got a touch of the Ghost Towns mixed with a chilled out Renegade Soundwave. Cheers Will!

Who listens in mono anymore? We do!

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A week tomorrow (thanks to Fred and the Imaginary Stations crew), we have the fourth episode of Downbeat on Shortwave via Shortwave Gold.

Big shout to our musical collaborator Jesse Yuen from North of The River Swan, Perth, Australia! One Deck Pete (Slightly south of The Napier public house) and Jesse bring you two 15-minute downtempo mixes each over the hour-long show. Expect some top ambient, dub, reggae and downtempo vibes to wind down to and enjoy.

The show is broadcast on Saturday 13th June at 1100 hrs UTC on 6160 kHz and then again on Sunday 14th June at 1300 hrs UTC on 6160 kHz and 2000 hrs UTC on 3975 kHz/6160 kHz. If you haven’t got a shortwave radio you can tune in via an online Software Defined Radio here (pre-tuned into 6160 kHz). Check you are in the right time zone (UK is presently an hour ahead of UTC so if you wanted the 1100 UTC broadcast, tune in at 12 noon) and experience the mono sounds with all the fading live.