Very much appreciated, @George-Szirtes! You've completely justified my presence on SoundCloud.

Seamus Heaney (1939-2013)

Follower

My father worked with a horse-plough,
His shoulders globed like a full sail strung
Between the shafts and the furrow.
The horse strained at his clicking tongue. 

An expert. He would set the wing
And fit the bright steel-pointed sock.
The sod rolled over without breaking.
At the headrig, with a single pluck 

Of reins, the sweating team turned round
And back into the land. His eye
Narrowed and angled at the ground,
Mapping the furrow exactly. 

I stumbled in his hob-nailed wake,
Fell sometimes on the polished sod;
Sometimes he rode me on his back
Dipping and rising to his plod. 

I wanted to grow up and plough,
To close one eye, stiffen my arm.
All I ever did was follow
In his broad shadow round the farm. 

I was a nuisance, tripping, falling,
Yapping always. But today 
It is my father who keeps stumbling
Behind me, and will not go away.

"Follower," by Seamus Heaney, Read by David J. Bauman

Fever

From Dr. Pinch & the Pinchtones, an original song written by David Melville, "Snow in Georgia." Happy Holidays!

Produced and mixed by Dan Schwartz, engineered by Jim Lang. Recorded at Knobworld. 

Vocals: Ashley Nguyen and Mary Guilliams. Piano: Jim Lang. Bass: Dan Schwartz. Drums: Mary Guilliams. Ukulele: Dr Josef A Pinzweiller.

Snow In Georgia

Banks live on air @ BBC radio 1 Live Lounge w/ Phil and Alice.

Are You That Somebody (Acoustic Cover) - BBC radio 1 Live Lounge w/ Phil and Alice

read by Frances Uku
one of Five Poems by Roberto Bolaño 
::

MY GIFT TO YOU
My gift to you will be an abyss, she said,
but it will be so subtle you’ll perceive it
only after many years have passed
and you are far from Mexico and me.
You’ll find it when you need it most,
and that won’t be the happy ending,
but it will be an instant of emptiness and joy.
And maybe then you’ll remember me,
if only just a little.

:: appears in the summer 2012 issue of The Paris Review 
:: audio produced by Declan May

Roberto Bolaño Ávalos (28 April 1953 – 15 July 2003) was a Chilean writer, author of novels, short-stories, poems, and essays. He has been described by the New York Times as "the most significant Latin American literary voice of his generation."
http://theparisreview.tumblr.com/post/56887306240/my-gift-to-you-will-be-an-abyss-she-said-but-it

My Gift To You by Roberto Bolaño - read by Frances Uku

Frying Trout While Drunk By Lynn Emanuel Read By Kierstin Bridger

David J. Bauman | Decorum
Recording | Ygor Raduy

Decorum by David Bauman

Afro Beets is the hottest new musical genre on the planet.

Just kidding: Afro Beets is not a genre. And neither is Afro Beats, the rather silly name coined by some UK radio dj to hype his show that seems to have stuck. What we really have here is Electronic Pop and Dance music from West Africa, specifically modern Highlife from Ghana, and Naija Jams from Nigeria (with a touch of Coupe Decale from the Ivory Coast and South African House for good measure).

The term “Afro Beats” has the most tenuous of links to its reference – P-Square has not much to do, musically, thematically, anything-cally, with Fela Kuti. About the only link between “Afro Beats” and the Afro-Funk/Soul/Rock of the 1970s, what is known as Afro Beat, is the same place of origin. But the differences are many: 70s Afro Beat was of course Funk and Blues based, while these new styles use beats related to Afro-House and Reggaeton, bass-lines from Highlife and Rumba, vocals a mix of local styles,  Jamaican Dancehall and American R’n'B/Rap, with healthy doses of techno-rave energy. While 1970s Afrobeat often spread conscious political messages which passionately spoke of social realities and the struggle against oppression, these new forms of pop music deliver an entirely hedonistic message which passionately speak about glamour, escape, sex, and money.

Purist of both the musical and political variety, please let go of your seriousness and get with the serious boogie. To the "Drum Machines Have No Soul" type i say don't forget that the 70s musicians you worship all embraced the latest technologies and sounds of their day.  To people who take issue with the materialism this music espouses, from a dj thoroughly dedicated to anti-capitalism: dance music, with its anarchic celebration of pleasure and wanton disregard for the law, is always in essence, if not on the surface, anti-authoritarian; and partying, even in these bleak times, can still be an insurrectionary activity, disruptive of hum-drum consumerist routine.

But whatever. Love it or leave it. And whatever we call it, if it even is an “it”, the sweet grooves and irresistible hooks of this action packed music is not only the perfect summer party soundtrack, but simply the most uninhibited fun your money can buy, anywhere. 

Though of course this download is free :)

Track List:  http://ngomasound.com/2013/06/19/afro-beets/

P.S. Track 21, called Azonto Decale, is by the Focus Allstars, a pan-African musical force which grew out of the Focus Organization.  If you are in London they do proper events:  http://ymlp.com/ziZL7k

NGOMA 12 - Afro Beets

:: actor. writer. coquette for hire.
putting the noir back in film noir ::
frances.uku @ post.harvard.edu

IMDb.me/francesuku

My Gift To You by Roberto Bolaño - read by Frances Uku

FrancesUku

Recent comments

FrancesUku

George Szirtes

Related tracks