Category Archives: Reggae

Around the world, around the world

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This Sunday 27th August 2023 at 2000 UTC (that’s 9pm UK time) tune in your shortwave radios to 6160 or 3975 kHz via Shortwave Gold for Skybird Radio International featuring the Imaginary Stations crew who bring you an hour of great music from around this planet of ours.

At 9 seconds into the show there’ll be a mix from our very own One Deck Pete with tunes from Huamansara, The Yamasuki’s, International Dub Ambassadors, Wimeanacas Cambodian Band and the Frank Gutowski Trio. So tune in via a shortwave radio or by using the online SDR here on Sunday evening and enjoy the international world of radio!

 

Calling the world, calling the world

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Here’s last night’s broadcast of Skybird Radio International which was beamed to Europe thanks to Shortwave Gold on 6160/3975 kHz at 9pm UK time.

There’s an hour of a mix up of music from around this globe of ours including a mix at 23.36 from One Deck Pete. Here’s the tracks which was played on the said mix:
Madtone – Diamonds in the sky (excerpt)
Unknown – Berceuse (off John Peel’s Archive Things LP)
Minyo Crusaders – Cumbia del Monte Fuji
Cyril Diaz & his orchestra – Taboo
Brno Radio Folk Orchestra – Cymbalom Dance (off John Peel’s Archive Things LP)
Sam Carty – Bird in hand

Enjoy!

Where were you in 1982?

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Over the last few days the Cardoon up near the house has been expanding on its neat purple tufts. We don’t grow them to eat but for their great punk rock-like hair arrangement. Talking of the loveable spikey tops, the other morning on Bandcamp we read a great piece on Crass and Anarcho Punk (here) and there was a nice quote from Penny Rimbaud “Crass said that there is no authority but yourself… You know, live your life, find your own garden, and then share it.” We love that quote!

Crass played Birmingham once and the story goes they brought their own PA, support band, fanzine stall etc making it a great DIY event. The only let down of the night was that the beer at the gig was awful. That led to a rumour that the band took the DIY ethic to the nth degree and brought a load of their own home-brew to the venue. We doubt that very much as how much beer would they would have to transport from Dial House in Essex up to Birmingham to keep a few hundred punks happy? If only Crass did produce their own lager. Imagine how good the graphics would be on the bottles/cans too?Another plant we don’t use in the kitchen is Marjoram. We originally bought a plant from Shannon’s as we thought it was an alternative to Oregano and it’s spread like crazy. The bees and all the other winged insects that flock to it in the hot sun certainly love it and it’s well worth having in the garden to keep those insects happy and the masses of flowers look great too!

Remix awareness for a Thursday night

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Last year we posted up an LP called Social Awareness from Stinky Jim out of Auckland, New Zealand here. Cheers goes out to Jim who this morning let us know about the new remix LP here. If you love reggae, chilled out tunes and the eclectic you’ll love this!

On first listen Cry for the Ute (Solar Tropics Remix) really stuck and we now can’t get it out of our heads. Very subtle but also very grand. We’ve just found out that Solar Tropics are “an Ambient Art project based on Nature, Space and Magic” from California. Sounds like something up our street and have got a bandcamp site we’ll explore (here).

Like the original LP there’s some brilliant productions here, including Strange Fish‘s version of On The Ag and the strange warped sounding ice cream van type chimes and mad beats of Christophe El Truento‘s remix of Cry for the Ute. Flames of Love the Jefferson Belt Remix is tripped out and bassed out on a stripped down, less is definately more tip. More horizontal dreamery on Le Creak (Triblin Sound Remix). Who needs stress with these tunes. Looks like we have another favourite as well in Runs On the Board with Jefferson Belt on the desk, now this stuff brings the blood pressure down with its chilledness. If you want it bringing up again you can always listen to Loose Carry (18th Man Dub by Seekers International).

So if you like reggae, downbeat and a little bit of upbeat-downbeat (if that’s a thing) and you want to listen to something that encapsulates all of that but at the same time want something that takes you on a different trip, you must get this 16 track set.

By the way Jim runs Stinky Grooves the long running radio show on 95bFM out in New Zealand which is well worth lstening to if you love tunes of the dubbed and bassed out variety. Have a butchers here. Cheers again Jim for letting us know about this top LP!

Sundays on shortwave

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If you’re about the shortwaves this Sunday 16th July 2023 (with a radio or an online SDR here) there’s a couple of programmes that may interest you if you like the eclectic. The first is KNTS (Kearsarge North Transmission Service) from the Imaginary stations crew beamed to Europe via the services of Shortwave Gold in Germany at 2000 utc (9pm UK time) on 6160 khz.

Expect lots of shortwave, radio related sounds and even some tunes with CW (that’s morse to you and I) and at 15 mins in there’s a mix from One Deck Pete. If you haven’t a shortwave radio tune in here.

Then later at 2200 hrs UTC on 9395 kHz the great Shortwave Music Library returns via WRMI. DJ Frederick digs through his across the board record collection taking a few requests, pulling out some tunes and giving them an airing over the shortwaves. Sit back and relax with a COOL drink and turn that shortwave radio back on. If the batteries have been taken out of the shortwave radio by the kids you can always tune in here.

We heard it on the radio

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Cheers to our good friend The Rhythm Doctor for playing this chilled out piece of summer inspired balearica from John Beltran called La Hermosa Vista on his excellent Monday morning radio show “The Rhythm Doctor’s Waiting Room” (all shows available here). If you want two hours containing some great tunes from chilled, funk, reggae, jazz and a lot more on a Monday morning you want to be tuning into IDA Radio – Tallinn from 9-11am UK time. Here’s this week’s show:

Crimson and clover

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Here’s the audio from last night’s Imaginary Stations show on WRMI, a tribute to all things Hippie/Hippy called WHPY. Tune in and turn on to some mind blowing sounds from the Imaginary Stations crew including at 18.50 a mix from One Deck Pete called “For all the wallies out there”. Here’s the tracklist:
Can – Vitamin C
Bongo Isaac, Itekted, Dread I Benji – Perfect Love and Peace Dub 1
Emma-Jean Thackray – Ley Lines
Richie Havens – Going back to my roots

Calling all Wallies, calling all Wallies

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What with all this great weather we’re having at the moment, we’re reminded of the old free festivals that used to be about. Festivals like Stonehenge and Deeply Vale where The Fall used to love to play and also where The Ruts were formed. If you love all that free festival business have a look at this site here. It’s a brilliant documentation of when festivals didn’t have 30 or so big name DJ’s/Bands playing each day and where you weren’t searched for cans of Carling Black Label on your way in. There were certainly no artisan bread stalls and WI tea tents selling home-made victoria sponges in those days though there was some alternative home-baking going on. RIP to Wally Hope (above on flyer) who was a part of getting the punk band Crass together and the nude dancer William “Jesus” Jellett. There’s a great bit in Paul Gorman’s blog where “Jesus” is pictured dancing at an early Sex Pistols gig here.

Sort of related to all of this Free Festival malarkey, Imaginary Stations bring you WHPY this Sunday 18th June 2023 at 2200 hrs UTC on 9395 kHz via WRMI. They’ll be broadcasting a special programme live from the Skybird mobile studio van parked up in a free festival in a car park in the hippy haven of Woodstock. They’ll be a mix from One Deck Pete called “For all the Wallies out there” featuring tunes by Can, Bongo Isaac, Itekted and Dread I Benji, Emma-Jean Thackray and original Woodstock artiste Richie Havens.

So don your best 1970’s long afghan coat even in this heat, grab something strong to drink if there is anything still left in the communal fridge and play your imaginary recorder or shake a home-made tambourine along to the far out sounds of WHPY.