Getting on the right track

Here’s the Imaginary Stations tribute to the humble locomotive, CTRN. All the crew were aboard this week including DJ Frederick, Justin Patrick Moore and Marc from Belgium with all sorts of interesting train stuff crammed into the one hour show which was broadcast thanks to Shortwave Gold.

After a great story from Marc from Belgium at 7.50 mins in is a mix from One Deck Pete called “This one’s for the trainspotters out there”. Here’s the tracks:
Saiko – Traintrack
Jah Wobble – Turner, Whistler and Blake
The Hardy Tree – Railway tracks
Vin Morgan meets Lone Ark – Train Dub
Otis Rush – So many roads, so many trains

Here’s a few more train related tunes.

Who listens to shortwave these days?

A big thanks again to DJ Frederick and all the Imaginary Stations Crew for broadcasting the Downbeat on Shortwave 3 show over the weekend via those radio transmitters at Shortwaveradio.de

The show featured a “hands across the ionsphere” collaboration between Jesse Yuen from Perth, Australia and One Deck Pete from south London, UK who played two 15 minute mixes each in a back to back style featuring some downtempo business.

We’ve posted up two recordings of the show. The first is the super stereo studio recording, clean as a whistle.

Then the off-air recording via the shortwaves recorded in glorious mono. There’s added texture to the show thanks to signals bouncing off the ionosphere/groundwave propagation. Enjoy both recordings!

Tracklistings:
One Deck Pete Mix 1
Alpha Seven – Rain chime (beatless remaster)
Múm – There Is A Number Of Small Things (2019 Remaster)
Submersible – Teak Forest

Jesse Yuen Mix 1
Siva – Respect (version)
Mohinder Kaur Bhamra – Mainu Apne Pyar Wich (Mystic Jungle Remix)
Coyote – Living In Heaven

One Deck Pete Mix 2
Rauschwerk – Oxidation (timeless space mix)
Kris Kemist – Casio Hip Hop
Junior Y Su Equipo – La Borrachita
Terror-Cactus – Descalzo

Jesse Yuen Mix 2
Michael Shultz – Weather report excerpt
Elijah Minnelli – Venn Diagram (Dub)
The Modern Pop Ensemble – Brakhage (Stereolab cover)
OK EG – Open Sky

Around the world on the 45th Parallel

Last weekend, Imaginary Stations beamed their Annual 45th Parallel Midwinter Broadcast via the ionosphere using the services of the great Shortwave Gold. From a secret shortwave laboratory in the mountains way up north, the broadcast had tracks featuring the circle of latitude, music from above, below and along the magic line, and also tunes to keep us warm during this mid-winter season thanks to DJ Frederick and Justin Patrick Moore.

And at 07.15 One Deck Pete brings us a mix called Above and Below the 45th Parallel.

Tracklistings:
Radio Lario – 30 Degrees North
Boca 45 – Forty Five
Haj i Ji – Above and below (RSD remix)
The 45 King – Armen
The Soulfulists – 4 degrees warmer

So get wrapped up, get a cup of hot cocoa in your hands and make sure you’re wearing those warm comfy slippers and enjoy this show of the highest (45 degrees) order,

Slow mo shortwave

Imaginary Stations will be bringing another Downbeat on Shortwave (show number 3) this weekend (cheers Fred!) on Saturday 14th February 2026 at 1200 UTC and on Sunday 15th February 2026 at 1000/1400 hrs/2100 UTC on 6160 kHz.

Our good dub gardening friend Jesse Yuen from North of The River Swan, Perth, Australia and One Deck Pete from SE23, will be bringing you two 15 minute mixes each in a back to back downtempo style.

Tune in your shortwave radio or if you haven’t got one, via an online Software Defined Radio here (tuned into 6160 kHz) at the right time this weekend in AM mode and listen in and chill out to their slow-mo selection.

Buses connect us all

Here’s KBUS from last weekend, a tribute to the ‘umble autobus from Imaginary Stations. There’s all sorts of bus related tunes from DJ Frederick and Justin Patrick Moore and the show really is the ticket if you love bus travel!

The show includes at 03.49 a mix from One Deck Pete called Mind The Closing Doors and here’s the tracklistings:
Alan Doyle [f/ Steph Simon] – Confessions Of A Bus Rider
Hoovobot – No fair Bus Fare
The Salsoul Orchestra – Chicago bus stop
Lifetime Pineapple – Double bus fare

Big up the bus!

This is WLIS calling, WLIS calling

The off-air recording above comes from the Imaginary Stations episode WLIS, captured via the University of Twente (Enschede, NL) SDR on January 10th, 2026. It’s a mix called One Deck Pete presents Five Good Ones (from the Imaginary Stations mixes), a hand-picked selection of five standout tracks pulled from old One Deck Pete Imaginary Stations mixes.

Here’s the records that were played, in their true stereo, just in case unlike us, you don’t like that “bounced off the ionosphere” sound. We love the ionosphere and we love Imaginary Stations!

Celine Dessberg – Сэлэнгэ – Selenge (from HARP)

 

Morschen43 – MV Ross Revenge For Ever !! (UK) (from The great lakes pirate ships)

 

Busy Signal – Jamaica Jamaica Dub Pt 2. Gregory Morris (from Skybird Telephonic Exchange)

 

Terror-Cactus – Descalzo (from SURF)

 

Los Zheros – Para Chachita (From Skybird Radio International)

There’s an archive of the last 10 Imaginary Stations episodes on their Mixcloud here.

A life on the ocean (air)wave(s)

This weekend, a show called Great Lakes Pirate Radio Ships from the Imaginary Stations crew was broadcast to the far flung reaches of Europe via those old shortwaves. It was a programme that celebrated the spirit and sound of those offshore stations of old. Here it is in its full glory below.

At 33.27 there’s a mix from One Deck Pete called “Have you ever been to Windermere?”. The tracklistings are:
Imandra Lake – VööImandra
Lake Radio – Culture Veins
Zap Pow – River Stone (Lee Perry Prod.)
Morschen43 – MV Ross Revenge For Ever!
The Cats – Swan Lake

And as the song below goes from Morschen43:
“To you, web radio director, presenter of radio show,
And for all music programmers!
Real people!, real music!
Said their radio slogan”

By the way there’s a great archive of the pirate radio ships here.

Rose thorns as gramophone needles. Isn’t it?

Thanks a million to the one and only Rhythm Doctor for playing One Deck Pete’s “Put a sock in it” mix (originally for Imaginary Station’s KTAB) 11.30 mins in on his “Mojo” It’s a mix up of some fine funk, jazzy stuff, latin, soul, ska and whathaveyou. More on the show here.

Tracklistings:
Jimmy James – Come to me Softly
Off a Jamaican 7″ single on WIRL from 1962 from the man Jimmy James as in Jimmy James and the Vagabonds “I’ll go where the music takes me” fame.

Kouta Katsutaro – Asu ha otachika
Off the wonderful set simply entitled “Kouta Katsutaro” on Death Is Not The End’s Bandcamp (here).

King Stitt/Tommy Mc Cook – Sauvitt
As sampled by One Deck & Popular on “Son of Stitt” (here) and a version of Mongo Santamaria‘s Suavito (here).

Alick Nkhata – Kalindawalo Ni Mfumu
This track is something else! A sort of Rock n Roll stomper, with some lovely harmonies and some horns courtesy of a Coventry Salvation Army brass band sound-alike and someone tinkling those ivories very skillfuly towards the end. It don’t get much better than this. On an LP called Radio Lusaka off the mighty Mississippi Records Bandcamp here.

Marty Robinson – Follow you
From a very battered Coxsone Dodd white 7″ blank and later released on his Port-O-Jam label. M (Martell/Marty) Robinson may have lived in the Coventry/Birmingham area for a bit too. More about the artist here.

Do you know where you lad’s going tonight?

Here’s a recording of last weekend’s Skybird School of the Air broadcast via Shortwave Gold featuring an education theme. There’s all sorts of school/university/teacher references in there including a mix called “Lesson1” at 2.57 in from One Deck Pete.

Here’s the tracklisting:
Timetable – Anti Chamber
Madtone Vs Biggabush – Where’s your bike
Teacher Jekyll – Otro Sonido
Do you know where your lad’s going tonight? 1970’s Public Information film
Eccentronic Research Council – Bun Fight in the Open University Staff Room
Madtone Vs The Upsetters vs Kenny Everett
L’Equipe du Son – Lesson 1

Enjoy the start of term vibes!

A shortwave slow down

Imaginary Stations will be bringing another Downbeat on Shortwave this weekend (cheers Fred!) on Saturday 5th July 2025 at 1200 hrs (UK Time) on 6160 kHz and on Sunday 6th January 2025 at 1000/1400 hrs (UK) on 6160 kHz and at 2100 (UK) on 3975 kHz/6160 kHz.

Our good dub gardening friend Jesse Yuen from Perth, Australia and One Deck Pete from Brockley Village, London will be bringing you two 15 minute downtempo mixes each in a back to back downtempo style.

Tune in your shortwave radio this weekend or if you haven’t got one, via an online Software Defined Radio here (tuned into 6160 kHz) at the right time in AM mode and listen in and chill out to their slow-mo selection.