On my show this month:
There are two shows from Leo this month.
In one Punk rock is not dead, apparently. It's just been reorganised, digitised, remastered, neurotically tributed and given several opportunities to explain itself.
Leo's show this month begins with John making the case, before Reeko , Arca and Tommy Barlow establish that things are unlikely to become straightforward. Gnod provide testimony from an unspecified witness, while Nina Winder-Lind considers Girls and Datblygu ring the bells of somewhere in Wales.
There is a considerable amount of fugue, moonlight and dawn, presumably because daytime has become difficult. Overmono and John Joseph Holt offer a Knight in Shining Prada, which sounds expensive and probably isn't. David Peel reminds us that he is the King of Punk, a title unlikely to be challenged by anyone with better things to do.
Elsewhere: Kenyan rhythms, Scottish weariness, dream editions, morphine, blonde people, Greek things, Brahms, intrusive visitors and at least one wrong number. Xiu Xiu bring the Smashy Smashy. The Spook School bring the Falling. The Femcels bring the final word.
And somewhere in the middle, Leo contributes Qwershape, because apparently someone has to.
Thirty-five tracks. No clear conclusion. This is probably for the best.
In the other - billed as Leo Gilbert Again - the show begins with The Notwist looking directly into the machinery of existence and discovering an X-ray. From there, things deteriorate.
Chanel Beads sends a message to someone, possibly from inside a haunted answering machine, while Nuhara opens a ceremonial portal somewhere in Corsica. HIGHSIGH, with Max Jaffe , asks us to consider the words we choose, which is unfortunate because by this point language has already begun leaking out of the walls.
Arab Strap introduce some Glamour Magick. Black Doldrums repeat themselves until reality starts buffering, followed by Grace Cummings , who announces, with admirable directness, that something is FAKE. Senyawa then appear to set fire to the concept of rhythm.
Martin Green and One Must Forget provide further evidence that folklore and existential dread can share a bus shelter. Mannequin Pussy bark loudly. Dylan Henner phones his friends so they can sing harmonies over the distance. FRANTX supplies three mysterious letters. The Strokes are lonely in the future, which sounds about right.
Then The Avalanches summon Karen O from the Blue Shadows, Clark rearranges the moons, and Kai Whiston swings from crimson ropes.
Datblygu remind us that Welsh pop can still sound like a radio transmission from a parallel universe. Marcioz awards proceedings 6/10. Réka Csiszér & Radwan Ghazi Moumneh count to six. mary in the junkyard invoke the mantra. Julia Holter loses something.
Finally, Tommy Barlow, VESTALE VESTALE & RAY BORNEO, Hora Lunga and Obaako drag us towards the natural force that attracts things towards the Earth.
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Biography:
I am in many ways your typical John Peel fan. I grew up listening to his shows from the era of punk rock until his death, and, with increasing obsessiveness, compiled cassettes, mini discs and finally mp3 playlists of the best tunes. Music runs through my family’s veins, and in me this takes the form of a compulsive search for new sounds. As John Peel used to put it, what I really want to hear is something I haven’t heard before.
Envy fills me when I read what my Dandelion collaborators have achieved in promoting, making and playing music, but my life as a teacher for the past quarter of a century has squeezed out any time for, well, pretty much anything apart from listening to and appreciating what continues to be made musically across the world. At last, though, I have found the space to pursue what has long been an ambition and can attempt to meet the stellar broadcasting standards set by my volunteer colleagues by sharing my love of new music with Dandelion listeners. I really hope at least some of what you hear gets its hooks into you.
Tracklistings and listen again to the previous shows:
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