Monday night serious listening

Thanks to our good friend Marc B for letting us know today about this great show featuring the late great Penny Reel which starts with a couple of old doo-wop tunes with their reggae counterparts and then into some very choice tunes, a show well worth listening to!

There’s another show up on Weeds, posted not long after his passing which featured Penny with Paul Bradshaw here. Below is one of the tunes he played on it, The Lord’s Army by Hy Mann that we’d previously never heard of. The tune sounded like it may have been recorded at the same session as a personal favourite of ours Follow You by M (Martell?) Robinson. This music lark never fails to disappoint, opening a can of worms also comes to mind.

STOP PRESS And talking of opening cans of worms, as if by magic we have been directed to a Jamaican born singer called Martel Robinson who used to sing in working mens clubs in Coventry and Birmingham and release records under M Robinson. Same chap? We do hope so!

STOP PRESS JULY 2023: Also known as Ray Martell!

https://www.discogs.com/artist/2205400-Martel-Robinson

DJ Spycatcher

Last night the latest edition of Imaginary Stations KSPY took to the ionosphere thanks to WRMI. Thanks to all agents who tuned in to the spy-laden broadcast via the shortwaves but if you didn’t, the studio audio is now up on mixcloud (below).

At 7 minutes in is a mix from One Deck Pete.
Here’s the tracks:
Zeb – The Spy from Cairo – Qanun in Dub
Top Secret…shhh – Winding the time
Edwin Starr – Agent Double O Soul
Secret Nuclear – Coded messages
Ax Martz – Mensaje en codigo (Coded Message)
Nat King Cole – The Blue Danube (Excerpt)

Enjoy the hour of all things KSPY but please don’t forgot to look over your shoulder as you never know who’s watching.

Calling all agents

Whilst looking for some tunes for a forthcoming shortwave mix we found an excellent tune from Ax Martz out of Mexico City called Coded Messages which samples a couple of well known number stations. It’s an uptempo tune as well and one that will bring a smile to you face!

A frosty reception this morning

It’s always the way, awoke to a frost this morning (above). Typically a couple of days after planting the elephant garlic out under a thick mat of leaf mulch. We reckon we may have lost them but let’s see if they survive. That’s the trouble with gardening, just like life you get good days and bad days. We’ll update you about the garlic.

At lunchtime we got some plug plants through the post, some White Foxgloves off ebay (below). Expertly packed or what? They’re not going out just yet even though it said on the supplied notes they can be overwintered in a cold frame. Possibly, but they’re staying on the windowsill for a couple of days before we can knock up some sort of cold frame-like structure with protection outside in the garden. We’re talking an old piece of glass on some bricks or something, it won’t be pretty but it may work. Trouble is we don’t want the plugs to get too comfortable indoors even though they’ve probably come from a greenhouse before being posted.

And below is the latest episode of Imaginary Stations, KBUS which was broadcast last night on WRMI (also home to This is a music show and Radio Northern Europe International). The show’s theme is travel which features all sorts of eclectic goodness as ever featuring this tune below by Wesley Willis “Harmony Joy Bus Ride” which we’ve never heard of, shamefully we’ve never of the artist before either. We must do some more research on Wesley Willis as he was an interesting fellow by all accounts.

And at 43 minutes in on the show is One Deck Pete’s “Where’s me travel card?” mix.
Here’s the tracks:
John Harvey – Automated Announcement, Platform 7, Shewsbury station
Ceramic The Band – Tickets, Please
Tabasco Driver meets Delroy Wilson in Dub
N&L – Metropolis
Inteus – Angry Bus Driver
Phil Pratt – Safe Travel
kK4P M3TR0 – NEXT STOP – Riverside – Town Creek

Fingers crossed those garlic bulbs survive!

Music for Eno’s waterlogged garden

A big thanks to our good friend Gerry Hectic who just forwarded on a couple of musical recommendations this wet Saturday morning. The first is on a KBUS tip from Psychic Temple with Music For Bus Stops. It’s a great jazzed out groove with a bassline that reminded us in parts of Human League’s Being Boiled. One for supping a large of mug of tea to whilst looking out of the window.

The next is a crazy dubbed out track called Strange Times At Roswell High Dub by the X Ray Cat Trio from “Leeds, England” (as Cowboy Joe would say, 6 minutes in here). Play this whilst putting on your gardening footwear when having to pop down the garden in the pouring rain when that kitchen waste container is well overflowing and a compost heap visit is a must. By the way supposedly better weather tomorrow.

And they’re not interested in Amateur Radio then?

On the radio this evening is a transmission celebrating shortwave radio by the Imaginary Stations crew. It’s broadcast at 2300 UTC on 9395 kHz by WRMI and is called Kearsarge North Transmission Service (KNTS). Expect some ham radio/shortwave themed music, numbers stations and Ionosphere Jazz. Here’s more about the transmission tonight:

At 15.43 into the show there’s a shortwave inspired mix from One Deck Pete featuring tunes from Shortwave Sounds, Kwook, Jodey Kendrick, Yomakomba and a shortwave exclusive of a remix of Nocturnal Emissions by Madtone. After the transmission a recording of the show will be available on their mixcloud site here.

If you’re mad about shortwave radio tune in tonight and if you haven’t a shortwave radio tune into 9395 kHz in AM mode here.

The days when the lute ruled

Tomorrow Sunday 6th November 2022 from 2300 UTC on 9395 kHz shortwave there will be another episode of WREN in a renaissance style. The hour long show will include tunes with “harmony that places a greater concern on the smooth flow of the music and its progression of chords.”

There’s another mix in a renaissance style from One Deck Pete at 17 minutes in featuring: Beyond the Wizards Sleeve, Deega, O.G. Jigg and Baroque Baroque. Tune in and enjoy another journey back to the time when the lute was all over the musical charts.

Tuppence a bag

In a couple of hours this evening Sunday 23rd October 2022 at 2200 UTC/2300 UK time the imaginary station WREN goes flying into the ionosphere on shortwave on 9395 kHz thanks to those big cage-like antennas at WRMI. 

Expect all sorts of great bird related tunes from all genres throughout the show and at 43.33 minutes in One Deck Pete spreads his wings with Are you feeling Chirpy? It’s a 15 minute mix featuring Jiony, Hawk, Mr Bird feat John Skweird, Lee Perry and Mighty Sparrow.

This show is especially for all the twitchers out there! Bird watching slang of the day is Pish pronounced Fish – A noise made with the lips for the purpose of attracting birds and having them come closer to you so they can be identified.

If you haven’t got a shortwave radio no problem, just tune in to 9395 kHz on AM mode at 2200UTC/2300 UK time using this SDR here. This is not a fly by night radio show. Tune in or listen again.

STOP PRESS The show is now up online here: