Category Archives: Reggae

Seed Spuds and Maunsell Sea Forts

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This device above may not the most sophisticated of gardening devices but that old window frame found on a skip many moons ago perched on some bricks is working well as a cold frame.

A few weeks ago we thought we’d chance it with a couple of seed spuds under it and today noticed that they are starting to show through. We put a liitle bit of soil around them (a mini version of earthing up so to speak) just in case a frost decides to show itself. Hopefully in a few weeks we should be in a frost free zone and we’ll take the protection off for good, but until then…

Soundtrack to this post: Big shout to Thomas from the excellent Explorations in Dub for sending us this track out of Poland called Streams of bubbling dub from Muflon Dub Soundsystem and a nice chilled bit of dub it is.

 

And through the Explorations in Dub blog here we found this great Maunsell Tower dub related track from Banco de Gaia called My Little Country (Rob Bong’s Roughs Tower Dub). Big shout to all the Sealand crew! We do love a seafort here and we are a bit partial to dub too so it’s a winning combination. Cheers again Thomas.

Tulips from Lew-is-sham

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Yesterday we popped into that shopping emporium Lewisham Lldl and spied some gardening bargains. There were various variety packs of mixed summer bulbs and corms and we picked this one which was “Flower Masses Collection” for around £6. No idea if it is an actual bargain or not, but there’s 40 bulbs in there including one dahlia that went in a large pot near the house with a transparent plastic bag over it to keep any cold weather out. Also there’s some gladioli, lilly and african corn lilies that went in the ground probably a bit early but these things burn a hole in our pockets and we’re far too impatient to wait until the risk of frost is over sadly.

The bulb planting reminded us of a daft story from the Westminster City Council Gardening days that was covered in the Sounds From The South spot that we used to do many many moons years ago for the gardening programme The Dirt on Manchester’s Fab Radio International (show below). We wonder where Watford Mick is now?

There’s also a silly episode about when a gardener met some of his punk heroes in his council regulation Donkey Jacket here.

Best of luck with the weather and happy gardening over the bank holiday break!

 

Here’s hoping

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The weather isn’t looking too great for the Easter weekend so who knows how much gardening we’ll get in. This week we’ve tried to do an little bit in the garden (weather permitting) after work for an hour or so. As you know a lot of small chunks out there really does add up and in the long run saves you a good bit of time.

The first tune for tonight is from a good few years ago which shamefully we’ve never heard of before or even the artist for that matter, it’s from Axel Boman and it’s called Sunrise Over Slussen. It’s on the strange side with a lovely piano riff, a great percussive sound and even some noises that Joe Meek would be very proud of towards the end. Very odd but very catchy. Lovely stuff!

The next is a cracking piece called Champion Sound Dub from Ono-Sendai Sound out of Tilburg, Netherlands. It’s a heavy understated piece and one that’s been played over and over a few times today.

And the final one from The Impossible Dreamers with a tune called Spin was heard on this week’s Rhythm Doctor’s Waiting Room on IDA Radio (Tallinn) and it’s from 1982 can you believe! What a mad tune.

Who flipped the weather switch?

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We awoke this morning to a cold and greyness which was a contrast to the last fews days where we’ve had a bit of sunshine. Yesterday it started nice then over the day we had a shower or two of hailstones then the sun went in and out a few times. We can’t complain as New Hampshire in the US is experiencing some deep snow at the moment.

We had plans today for some more gardening as well. Roll on the real spring not this pale imitation we’re having at the moment. We’ve stuck a picture of a poppy from a few years ago above to remind us that sometimes we do get good weather.

And by the way congratulations in advance to Charlie Harper of the punk band UK Subs who is 80 in May this year. As they say old punks never die they just stand at the back. They are planning to make his birthday on 25th May a national holiday for old punks and pints of Lager and Blackcurrant will be sold at 1977 prices in selected pubs*. London Transport are also getting in on the act and going to release a special Charlie Harper bus pass holder to put your 60+ Travelcard in. We at Weeds welcome all these moves and boo to the poser punks who will be putting these special travelcard holders up on ebay at inflated prices.
*Subject to availability and while stocks last. Punk Terms and Conditions apply.

Whistling three sheets to the Wind

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Cheers to Justin Patrick Moore for sending us this great instrumental from Luna called Drunken Whistler and a lovely little number it is. For some reason it reminded us of something that may have been on Andrew Weatherall‘s excellent Live at Antenna Studios mix (below) which we have mentioned a good few times.

If you haven’t heard the mix before it’s well worth a listen, there’s a track from Manfred Mann of all people called Just for me (“And there, I saw trees reaching to the sky. And birds full of colour and flying high”) and Harpers Bizarre with Witchi Tai To. Excellent stuff of the eclectic kind! Cheers again Justin for sending us the track recommendation.

And lay the binbag on the ground

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Over the last couple of days we’ve been out with more bin bags and the remainder of the seed potatoes so much so there’s no more left to plant. We are still very early with planting (the great Joe Maiden RIP used to say Good Friday was the traditional seed potato planting day) so let’s hope the weather is on our side and if it’s not, we’re hoping the bin bags do their job!

And for no reason at all here’s a gem from Creation Rebel, the title of the classic LP Dub from Creation. First heard here on a tinny transistor radio played by the great John Peel.

Who needs patience when you have a bin bag or two?

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We’ve had those seed spuds for a couple of weeks now and they ain’t half burning a hole in our pockets. We’ve an egg box with a handful of them chitting away by the back room window, a couple went in in the cold frame (an old window frame found in a skip, balanced on bricks) and we’ve just put two in each raised bed down the side even though it’s a liitle bit early to be putting in Maris Pipers.

We stuck a bin bag over the bed, made a rough hole in the plastic so light will show through and stuck the seed potato directly under it. We then covered it with compost and now we’re keeping our fingers crossed that they survive any forthcoming frosts. On two of them we have put some old wire shelving from a plastic greenhouse to stop certain felines (ours) stop digging up the soil and leaving presents. Seed spuds we wish you luck!

And music today is one from a long time go from Cosmos called Summer In Space (Mark Harmonic 33 Mix). It’s a lovely chilled out number for a Sunday.

And as we have a lack of patience when it comes to gardening here’s Nish Wadada with Patience Dub. It’s a lovely bit of dub!

Music for snoozin’

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Here’s the audio of yesterday’s Imaginary Stations show WZZZ, all about the art of sleep and dreaming. It was a horizontal themed show with music to drop off to and songs to dream to. 

 

There’s some great tunes throughout the hour from DJ Frederick and Justin Patrick Moore (have a look at his great new book here) and at 1.52 mins in there’s One Deck Pete with a 15 min mix called “You may say I’m a dreamer”. Gerry Hectic‘s answer mix “You’re not the only one” is here if you want to complete the set!

Here’s a tracklisting:
Jah Wobble – Fading (Instrumental)
L. Pierre – Fan-dance
The Barbados Steel Orchestra – Barbados My Island of Dreams
Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons – The Night
Owen Gray – Midnight Track

Have a good day and if you fancy a lazy Monday snooze, drop off to WZZZ!

Music to send you to sleep

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Tune in via Shortwave Gold this Sunday 10th March 2024 at 1000/1400 hrs UTC on 6160 kHz and then at 2100 UTC on 3975 kHz to the sound of sleep with WZZZ. This is a horizontal themed show and they’ll be lots of great tunes to drop off to and to dream to, all around the sleep theme from the Imaginary Stations crew of DJ Frederick, Justin Patrick Moore and One Deck Pete.

At 1.50 minutes in they’ll be a mix from One Deck Pete called “You may say I’m a dreamer” with tunes by Jah Wobble, L. Pierre, The Barbados Steel Orchestra,
Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons and Owen Gray. Tune in for an hour of tunes on a sleepy tip next Sunday if you fancy a morning/afternoon snooze or an early night depending on the time.

And our good friend Gerry Hectic has compiled an answer mix (above) called “You’re not the only one” and an excellent mix it is too so listen and dream. Cheers Gerry it’s great stuff! Here’s the tracks:
Janek van Laak – Sloppy Dreams (Sonar Kollektiv)
King Jammy – Dreams (Dub Version)
MG Gost feat. Jack Jones – Dream Chaser
SEED Ensemble feat Cherise Adams-Burnett – The Dream Keeper
Spiritczualic Enchancement Centre – Dreaming of Miles Davis (Transporting Salt [Enhanced Version])
Miles Davis & Michel Legrand – The Dream

The Bedworth musical connection

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The other week we had a bit of nostalgia for second-hand shops that smelt of damp and mould (Post here). Recently whilst going through records for a shortwave mix we found an ace LP called “Step Forward Youth” featuring Prince Jazzbo, I-Roy and The Aggrovators with a stamp from one of the shops we visited that day.

 

We checked on google to see what the shop is now and of course we weren’t expecting it to be Westminsters New and Used Furniture as we’re talking 1978/79. It was worth tapping it in though as what a nice suprise we had to see it now as Keith Richard’s Hairdressing. Great stuff, we love it!