Author: Sumugan

fugitive frequency, season 2, episode 3: Double Troubles

A protest scene in Helsinki, 26 Feb 2022 in support of Ukraine against the Russian Invasion. Peering through a crowd with flags, banners and placards denouncing Russian president, Vladimir Putin. On the far left of the frame a man in a beanie speaks into a microphone addressing the crowd. On the far right of the frame another man in a beanie with his back towards us balances a large ‘Boombox’ speaker on his head.

March is a mix ∞ or rather a sound clash. A recording from RUB’s 2202022 special with unknown participants on SonoBus meets the rally in support of Ukraine in Helsinki a few days later (26 February). It’s not quite in time, nevertheless it’s of the time.

An incomplete playlist includes:
‘LINELEH I’  – Eleh + Richard Chartier
‘Fifth Worship II’ – Kali Malone
‘Move Down Low’ (Dubplate Mix) – Grievous Angel
‘Culebra’ – Arca
‘Barnacles’ (Kode9 Mix) – Hyph11E
‘Travel Light 2010’ (Tekz Keyz 3-5-7) – DJ Phil
‘Ratnam’s Riddim’ (Nonfuture Remix) – Iyer
‘Feels Like Free For All’ (Fisky Bootleg) – Kevin JZ Prodigy x Errorsmith
‘Hold Pattern’ – Osheyack & Nahash
‘Dancing‘ (Instrumental) – Omar and Zed Bias
‘gum on ur shu remix‘ –
‘Click Clack’ –  Leonce feat. Divoli S‘vere
‘Blaze ‘n‘ Cook’ (Radioslave Remix) – Stereotyp Vs Al Haca
‘Tourist‘ (Nídia Rework) – Lafawndah
‘Circulate False Notes’ (Suckerfish P Jones Remix) – Filastine
‘Rakkama, Clap Your Hands’ (Wellbelove Remix) – Iyer
‘Tar’ – Myxomy

RUB5, 2 February 2022

RUB4

RUB is a club with a no body policy — literally no bodies in the room — but you can take the club to your room and to your body. RUB emphasises sound as a haptic sensation, as changes in air pressure vibrate the sensitive organs of our inner ear; sound pressure that scales with volume.

RUB runs on the night of the new moon, modulating the ‘cyclical rhythm’ of the lunar phase cycle with the rhythmic abstractions of bass musics. Its seemingly erratic placement according to the Gregorian calendar system (Sunday 2 January, Tuesday 1 February, Wednesday 2 March and Friday 1 April in 2022) is akin to a ‘shifting one’ in music composition, where the stress or the accent of the beat moves (with repetition) over time. Will RUB synergise with or clash against other scheduled events? Will anyone listen? Would anyone intervene? RUB began on the first new moon following the Autumn Equinox (22 Sept 2021), and will continue until the Spring Equinox (20 March 2022).

fugitive frequency, season 2, episode 2: Missy & Thomas Moose #FinlandBallroomScene

Missy on the left wears a covid mask and faces the camera, her back pressed against Thomas Moose’s chest. Thomas wears a black muscle shirt and also faces the camera, their left shoulder to the front. The Image rendered in low resolution greyscale.

Episode 2 is a conversation with Thomas Moose (Instagram) and Missy (Instagram), two young spokespersons from the Finland Ballroom Scene (Instagram) founded by choreographers Virpi Kurkihovi (Instagram) and Venla Vuorio (Instagram) circa 2010. The recording was made in November 2021, as Thomas and Missy were preparing to ‘walk abroad’ as part of the Finnish delegation led by Angel Ninja (Instagram) in the Scandinavian Ball in Oslo, December. We discuss their entry into the scene and the history of Ballroom in Helsinki, how the scene is structured workshops with Kiki House of Angels (Instagram), and their experiences as ‘guests’ in a culture found by queer Black and Latinx people in 1970s New York. I am most grateful to Eveliina Tuulonen for introducing us.

The episode features music made by Lucian for the Oslo Ball. Other music and media used in the podcast is below:

House Of Ninja Ball in Paris! Serving Runway!, Paris Ballroom TV 2017 (feat: Venla Vuorio) (Facebook)

 

‘Wuhan’s vogue dance finds life after lockdown’, Reuters 22 December 2020

fugitive frequency, season 2, episode 1: REWIND

A sign with text that reads ‘Helsinki’ backwards. In the background is Oodi central library.

A selective review of some of the events, interviews and broadcasts that occurred over the last year or so. It features, in order of appearance, the voices of: Sepideh Ardalani, Alice MacKenzie, Yes Escobar, Irina Mutt, Elina Nissinen, musicians in the online jam spaces: ‘Jazz so what’, ‘probando‘ and ‘1234_Portugal‘, Ana Fradique, Suva Das, Tania Nathan, Susheela Mahendran, Léo Custodio, Yeboyah, Caroline Suinnerin and Meriam Trabelsin of the Pehmee podcast, Vishnu Vardhani Rajan and Lintulintu (Lintu Lunar & Dramatika).

It touches on ideas that fugitive radio will develop in the coming year such as: trocar/exchange, poethical descriptings/the politics of accessibility and representation, karaoke theory, postporn spaghetti.

fugitive radio’s live broadcasts are supported by Sophea Lerner and Kaustubh Srikanth of openradio.in

RUB4, 2 January 2022

RUB4

New year/new moon! RUB lights out for another trajectory. Join us on SonoBus, where you can soundclash or intervene or listen here on the stream at 22.00 CET/23.00 EET. This year RUB will run on: Sunday 2 January, Tuesday 1 February, Wednesday 2 March and Friday 1 April as a special ‘fooled moon’ finalé to celebrate the end of the dark with Spring Equinox on 20 March. Mark your (luna) calendars 😉

RUB is a club with a no body policy — literally no bodies in the room — but you can take the club to your room and to your body. RUB emphasises sound as a haptic sensation, as changes in air pressure vibrate the sensitive organs of our inner ear; sound pressure that scales with volume.

RUB runs on the night of the new moon, modulating the ‘cyclical rhythm’ of the lunar phase cycle with the rhythmic abstractions of bass musics. Its seemingly erratic placement according to the Gregorian calendar system (Sunday 2 January, Tuesday 1 February, Wednesday 2 March and Friday 1 April in 2022) is akin to a ‘shifting one’ in music composition, where the stress or the accent of the beat moves (with repetition) over time. Will RUB synergise with or clash against other scheduled events? Will anyone listen? Would anyone intervene? RUB began on the first new moon following the Autumn Equinox (22 Sept 2021), and will continue until the Spring Equinox (20 March 2022).

fugitive frequency episode 12: a vernacular power play with Aderemi Adegbite

A certificate of incorporation from the Federal Republic of Nigeria registering the Tutuola Institute.

Aderemi Adegbite is an artist and curator from Lagos, Nigeria, who founded the Tutùolà Institute, a legal non-profit arts platform pursuing Yoruba cultural diplomacy launched at ‘White Money’, produced by Flinn Works at Sophiensaele Berlin, 17–20 November 2021. He is also the founder of the Vernacular Art-Space Laboratory [Instagram] in Lagos, who will host the Iwaya Community Art Biennial 10–18 December 2021. We discussed the power dynamics of European cultural funding in Nigeria, and more broadly speaking in the so-called ‘Global South’, that prompted him to found the Tutùolà Institute. Its inaugural exhibition as part of ‘White Money’ featured Candice Breitz, Mario Pfeifer, Aline Motta and Rehema Chachage.

There’s a joke that curators secretly desire to curate their record collections, and in Berlin Aderemi did just that! Tutùolà Institute presented a selection of the hundreds of LPs it has in its collection from Nigerian labels such as Jofabro, featuring styles such as Apala, High Life, Waka and more. The music selected for this episode takes cues from what I handled and heard at the exhibition, featuring: Adeleke Aremu & His Group, Alhaja Queen Salawa Abeni & Her Waka Funky Modernisers, Ayisatu Alabi & Her Group, E.C. Arinze & His Music, Jolly Orchestra, Fela Ransome Kuti & Africa 70, Godwin Ezike & The Ambassadors, Hadji Amusa & Hadji Mustafa, The Sahara All Stars, Zeal Onyia & His Music.

Music and media used in this episode

Channel 4 News, ‘Young queer Nigerians taking a stand’ 13 October 2021
https://fb.watch/9L7w_JtoVa/

RUB3, 4 December

Tonight RUB coincides with a Saturday night, a new moon, a solar eclipse and a spike in the new Coronavirus ‘Omnicron’ variant! Don’t sleep on dark times — join the room on SonoBus, where you can soundclash or intervene or listen here on the stream at 23.00 CET/midnight EET. Join

RUB is a club with a no body policy — literally no bodies in the room — but you can take the club to your room and to your body. RUB emphasises sound as a haptic sensation, as changes in air pressure vibrate the sensitive organs of our inner ear; sound pressure that scales with volume.

RUB runs on the night of the new moon, modulating the ‘cyclical rhythm’ of the lunar phase cycle with the rhythmic abstractions of bass musics. Its seemingly erratic placement according to the Gregorian calendar system (Wed 6 October, Thur 4 November, Sat 4 December in 2021) is akin to a ‘shifting one’ in music composition, where the stress or the accent of the beat moves (with repetition) over time. Will RUB synergise with or clash against other scheduled events? Will anyone listen? Would anyone intervene? RUB began on the first new moon following the Autumn Equinox (22 Sept 2021), and will continue until the Spring Equinox (20 March 2022).

RUB2, 4 November 2021

RUB goes live tonight at 23.00 CET/midnight EET. Join the room on SonoBus, where you can soundclash or intervene or listen here on the stream.

RUB is a club with a no body policy — literally no bodies in the room — but you can take the club to your room and to your body. RUB emphasises sound as a haptic sensation, as changes in air pressure vibrate the sensitive organs of our inner ear; sound pressure that scales with volume.

RUB runs on the night of the new moon, modulatingthe ‘cyclical rhythm’ of the lunar phase cycle with the rhythmic abstractions of bass musics. Its seemingly erratic placement according to the Gregorian calendar system (Wed 6 October, Thur 4 November, Sat 4 December in 2021) is akin to a ‘shifting one’ in music composition, where the stress or the accent of the beat moves (with repetition) over time. Will RUB synergise with or clash against other scheduled events? Will anyone listen? Would anyone intervene? RUB began on the first new moon following the Autumn Equinox (22 Sept 2021), and will continue until the Spring Equinox (20 March 2022).