Category Archives: Reggae

Sundays on shortwave

Posted on by
Reply

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

Posted on by
Reply

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

Posted on by
Reply

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

Posted on by
5

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.

 

We’re talking numbers here

Posted on by
Reply

Big shout to Sam O for letting us know yesterday about this great video by Ringway Manchester of numbers stations used in popular culture notably ones used on musical tracks. To get around the issue of copyright Lewis (Ringway Manchester), lists the actual tracks and plays and names the sample used in said track. We didn’t know half of the tracks chosen and we do love a tune with a number station in it here.

Big thanks to Lewis for featuring two tracks from Madtone at 2.21, Calling Live on Channel and E3 both from the Garden of Earthly Delights session from 2006.

He’s done some great research with the video and above are a couple of tunes featured in it. He has many a good video on his youtube channel about number stations and radio based stuff as well, so do yourself a favour and have a good root about here. We’ve got a good bit of discovering to do ourselves there. Cheers again Lewis!

It may (not) be winter outside

Posted on by
Reply

It isn’t officially winter anymore yet it still doesn’t feel like spring all the time does it? We’re getting some lovely days then a few days of cold.

Perhaps April is always like this but here’s an excellent set of dubs to cheer you up from Mad Calypso & Apocalypse Dub Faction called Winter Skank. We’ve a soft spot for Winter Dub 2 here. If these tunes are Winter, we don’t mind it!

Is your cocktail glass half empty or half full?

Posted on by
Reply

Put on that silk dressing gown, plonk an imaginary cigarette into a long and stylish cigarette holder, mix yourself a cocktail of what’s available in the fridge and sit back and enjoy the studio version of last night’s Skybird Supper Club Imaginary Lounge programme on WRMI. There’s some great chilled lounge tunes and a nice relaxed vibe as they say.

At 11.55 in is One Deck Pete with his Lounging on the shortwaves mix and here’s the tracklisting:
Godspeed – Nightcrawling  (Excerpt)
Monodrone – Solitary feeling
Dub Addiction – Ecological Dub (Calm Down Remix)
Gore – 06
Godspeed – Nightcrawling  (Excerpt)

Enjoy the show!

Ne’er cast a clout or throw anything out

Posted on by
Reply

We picked up another bag of Lldl’s best peat-free compost on Saturday and in between the rain and the suprisingly warm for the time of year sunshine we filled up an old washing up bowl (with some drainage holes in the bottom) and sowed some lettuce seeds. May not be classy but it works.

A good few years ago we did a great Saturday gardening course with our friend Scarlett Cannon and she us told of many ingenious ways of growing spuds including using carrier bags and such-like containers. An old shopping bag with holes in the bottom and a seed spud in it is now perched on a found in the street coat stand down the side of the garden. A bit unorthodox but why not?

And finally we had to put another layer of bricks below the old windowpane as those shallots are fast moving on! Keep your fingers crossed we get more sunshine that rain this week heading into May.