A big Happy New Year 2026 to all of our gardening/music/radio mates from around the world of ours. May all your gardening/music/radio wishes come true this year!
Happy New Year from us at Weeds
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Happy New Year’s Eve from Hokkaido, Japan
A big thanks and a massive shout goes out to our good friend Stevyn from the excellent Iron Feather Journal fanzine in Hokkaido, Japan. He sent us a 5 tune mix which was put together earlier this evening at 11.45pm on New Years Eve (Japan Standard Time). It’s wonderful stuff and apart from the Hendrix intro, we’ve never heard any of the tunes before and we could imagine the late great Jose Padilla playing the Kitaro track on one of his “Cafe Del Mar” cassettes.
Here’s the tracklistings of Stevyn’s mix:
The Jimi Hendrix Experience – “EXP”
Hall & Oates – “Wait for Me” [Recorded live at the Montreal Forum in March 1983]
Space Battleship Yamato – Planet Shalbart
Kitaro – Aqua
Godiego – Flying
And additional notes about the mix: “Space Battleship Yamato AKA Star Blazers was my favourite anime when I was a kid, watching it on Boston US TV in the 80s” and “Kitaro was a customer when I was a college student in Boulder and clerking at the bohemian cafe Penny lane”.
A happy new year to you and yours out there in Hokkaido Stevyn! Cheers for the first mix of 2026!
Out with the fleece, newspapers and net curtains please
Thanks to Debby H for the reminder to get the frost protection out this weekend as we’re in for a touch for frost. It’ll be wise to cover those plants that aren’t hardy or for those that think that spring has arrived what with this mild weather we’ve had of late.
Net curtains, horticultural fleece, plastic buckets or even newspapers can be used. Ideally, there should be some space between the plant and the outer protection, which can be as simple as a tent-like structure made from bamboo canes. That said, here are a few classic frost-protection contraptions we’ve used over the years. They don’t have to be smart, they just have to work! Send us your frost protections pictures, the more unusual the better.
Are you experienced?
We got out in the garden today and did just over an hour to warm up those “doing the gardening” muscles. We cleared the bed at the side, gave the ground a light forking which creates the illusion that a lot of work has been done on it when you look from afar. It is nice to see a tidy flowerbed.
And yes we know this is a dandelion (above) but for some reason earlier we didn’t want to dig it up as we thought it may be one of the plants we obtained at the plant stall in Crystal Palace last year. We were told about the plant “the inexperienced gardeners think it is a weed and dig it up” so of course we left it as we didn’t want to be caught out.
Oh, dear we’ve just checked the blog post from last year here. It was this plant (below) they were talking about which looked like a dock. The offending dandelion above will be pulled up first thing tomorrow!
And sick of buying spring onions on a weekly basis, we’ve taken to planting any left-over spring onions in a plant plot by the kitchen rather than throw them away! And why not, waste not, want not and all that.
Anyone else been out in the garden today?
Scratched out and scratchy, seven inch singles
Here’s a mix called “Have you seen me record middle?” that was inspired by a Facebook post the other day about the M Robinson “Follow you” single that had a lack of information on the label.
It led us to have a butchers through our 7″ singles yesterday and on this mix have included some (mainly Jamaican) singles with scratched-out artist/tune names and hand written tune details. Here’s the tracks:
Ewan & Jerry With The Carib Beats – Get on the right track (00.04)
Stranger & Patsy with Baba Brooks Band – Yeah yeah baby (03.23)
The Heptones – A change is gonna come (06.23)
Hugh Roy/Tommy McCook & The Supersonics – Mabrouk (09.07)
Bells Group – Kingston 13 (11.37)
Earl Curry – One Whole Year Baby (14.08)
If you love a scratched out label and lack of information on records, this one is for you!
Signing off on Boxing Day with a great tune
An excellent cumbia-inspired track from Seattle-based Terror/Cactus titled Descalzo. We originally picked this up on the Names You Can Trust Bandcamp (here) earlier this year and recently rediscovered while putting together an upcoming shortwave mix. Ace stuff! Over and out for Boxing Day.
A view from Perth, yesterday
It’s a mildish 6°C on Boxing Day in London today, but thanks to our Downbeat on Shortwave collaborator Jesse Yuen, here’s some pictures of summer in Australia at the moment.
These photos of his parents’ garden in Perth are full of some great plants and landscaping ideas and we’re particularly loving that shaded retreat in the bottom picture. Their garden is looking great Jesse and thanks for the update!
Crying on boxing day
Heard on the radio this morning, one we didn’t know about by The Heptones with a tune called Crying Over You, production services by one Lee Perry at The Black Ark studios. Wonderful stuff!
And here’s a version with Jah Lion on the microphone.
And no, we’re not watching Dad’s Army tonight
And here’s another Christmas themed number, on the B side of M(artell) Robinson‘s “Follow you”, a version of Jingle Bells. It’s on a Port-of-Jam white label and it may be the sound of Rico Rodriguez. Whoever it is, it’s a whopper of a tune!
And we heard this on the radio today. We didn’t even know that this tune existed in reggae!
Coming through a chimney’s a whole lot of stupidness
A big season’s/holiday greetings to all our gardening, radio and musical mates from everywhere around the world. A big thanks to everyone for supporting the blog and whatever you celebrate at this time of year, make sure you have a great one!
And for this time of year, here’s a wonderful tune from Lord Nelson (from Trinidad & Tobago we reckon) called A party for Santa Claus. It’s a brilliant 7″ on Camille Records with some very funny lyrics and a great tune too.
“Christmas is here and we’re all having fun
Santa brought presents for everyone
But he had to squeeze through a chimney Poor Nicholas
What a horrible place to pass
Why not open your window
Or your front door
So Santa could bring his gifts?
I find that climbing on a rooftop and coming through a chimney’s
a whole lot of stupidness.”
Weeds up to me knees 