Tag: πNode

fugitive frequency, season 5 episode 2: Dham Dham Foundations

Four figures peer into the screen of a laptop.

Dham Dham began as a three day workshop, “Thalaam Riddim Reapers” to introduce free digital music productions tools at DreamSpace Academy during Dinacon 3, 2022. In 2024, it evolved into a 10 day “bootcamp”, Dham Dham Riddim and in June 2025 it will rejoin Dinacon at Sea Communities and Les Village to lead a research Node, “Sonified Plastics”. This episode revisits conversations, field recordings and music made in Batticaloa to tease out some of the ideas and context that gave rise to the “Dham Dham Method”. Featuring the voices of: Dinoj M., Lucinda Dayhew, SajaS, Kishoth Navaretnarajah, Andrew Quitmeyer and Hannen Wolfe. Music is from the Dham Dham Riddim EP (2024) [Bandcamp], alongside recordings made in Batticaloa during Dinacon 3 and Dham Dham Riddim.

As suggested by Kishoth Navaretnarajah, co-founder of DreamSpace Academy, the “Dham Dham Method” is somewhat elusive but it is shaped by the role of music, (digital music) skill-sharing and cultural exchange in “peace-building” in post-war, post-genocide Sri Lanka. This is related to cultures of commoning, the use of free/libre and open source tools and informal processes of collective learning. This was necessary for the circumstances in Batticaloa, had already declared itself bankrupt by the time Dinacon convened there in July 2022, and was in the midst of a fuel, energy and political crisis, as President Gotabaya Rajapaksa was usurped just days after we arrived. Indeed, I propose that making technology accessible and malleable and developing digital literacy via music is foundational to the Dham Dham Method. It is inherently collaborative, open to differing skill sets and is all for having fun—which is crucial to the learning process. And as Dinoj and SajaS discuss, it promotes reciprocity—once you have learnt something you are encouraged to pass it on.

An important aspect arose from the enthusiasm of participants in Dham Dham Riddim. This might simply be due to making time and space and finding a legitimate reason to pursue people’s passion in making music. This is something that Dinacon co-founder Andy Quitmeyer touched on during a address delivered at DreamSpace, where he expressed his frustrations with academia because it put up so many obstacles to simply pursuing one’s curiousity.

Passion, enthusiasm and curiousity are also an ideas that DreamSpace invests in, as it encourages and facilitates a post-war generation to pursue their interests in order to become “change-makers”, empowering themselves and their communities. For DreamSpace and Batticaloa, this is inherently entrepreneurial as there is a need for youth to make an income and local opportunities are slim. So, leveraging the affinity between people who share similar interests is crucial to developing friendships, networks and opportunities, and underscores the Dham Dham Method. “A bunch of weirdos hanging out together” is how Luci phrases it, or as Dinoj M. puts it: “working together to get things done.”

fugitive frequency, season 5 episode 2:A Close Listen to Rojak Radio Rojak

SAM Residencies “Out of Office”, 17–19 January /24–26 January 2025.


“A Close Listen” is an audio fanzine documenting Rojak Radio Rojak made for SAM Residencies “Out of Office” programme during Singapore Art Week, 17–26 January 2025. It features excerpts from two live broadcasts: “What’s in A Voice?” with Suvani Suri [Instagram] and “Learning Together – Alternative Pedagogy and Art Schools” with Engy Mohsen [Instagram], both supported by Angela Pinto and Seline Teo from SAM Residencies. The centrefold is a sound piece “Do you have in mind someone else, or do you sometimes think of them as yourself” (2024) by Huijun Lu [Instagram].

We were all SAM residents in 2024, but we didn’t all meet, so radio became a third space to connect. Both Suvani and Engy produced “scripts” that were the basis of these live broadcasts, which remain accessible on GoogleDocs. Suvani’s is here and Engy’s is available here. With radio as the stage we uncovered some interesting resonances and overlaps in our interests in sound, voice, pedagogy and ephemeral spaces.

fugitive frequency, season 4 episode 12: plays Yes No Wave Music

typographic illustration of Yes No Wave music

A live mix of selections source from legendary free music label Yes No Wave Music, founded in 2007 by Woto “Wok the Rock” Wibowo in Yogjakarta. It spans genres including punk, metal, mash-ups, club music, electro-acoustic improvisation and folk forms, over one hundred releases. All are free to download at 320Kbps with a Creative Commons Non-Commercial Share Alike license with lossless versions for sale on Bandcamp.

Wok came of age during the collapse of Indonesia’s Soharto regime known as the Reformasi, 1998, and became involved in punk collectives in Yogja, including the activist art group Taring Padi, embedded in an anti-capitalist, share culture. As Wok recalls in an informative interview with Wok by artist/curator Aki Onda from 2023:

In Indonesia at that time, underground music scenes such as punk, indie-rock, death metal, industrial music, hip-hop, and electronic music were developing. We learned how to organize these subculture movements with very minimal resources — how to produce albums and release them, organizing gigs, publishing zines, building and expanding networks et cetera. Some of our friends brought zines, books, bootleg tapes, and VHS from abroad, and those were great inspiration.

Senyawa are probably the label’s most well known artists, a collaboration between vocalist Rully Shabara and musician and instrument builder Wukir Suryadi that Wok fostered. Their album Alkisah (2021) was released simultaneously on 44 labels during the Covid pandemic, with each label producing its own formats, arwork and a varied selection of tracks, further pushing the idea of what decentralized music publishing could be. Stems of the album’s songs were made available for remix, encouraging a deeper engagement and further disseminating Senyawa’s music. Another notable release following on from these ideas is Latent Sonorities (2023), an album that brought together artists to work with a collection of Javanese gamelan at Rumah Budaya Indonesia (House of Indonesian Culture), Berlin.  They devised ways to best record these courtly instruments to develop a “royalty-free” sample bank with tuning instructions as well as researching and documenting their histories and cultural significance. More than a sum of its parts, “latent sonorities” is method of engaging with sonic heritage and provenance, as discussed in a podcast conversation with Project Leader Morgan Sully from September.

This mix draws from Yes No Wave Music’s back catalogue of electronic and experimental releases and was mixed live with Rekordbox software and a Pioneer DDJ-FLX4 controller. Also a shout out to Lloydfears [Instagram] & Bonebroth from whom I swiped the idea of asking Wok to leave a voice note. Listen to their great mix of “club music based on folk music“ from around the world on Kiosk Radio here.

Tracklist
01. Yennu Ariendra & J “Mo’ong” Santoso Pribadi – “Raja Kirik (Dog King)”
02. Senyawa/Wahono – “Alkisah II (Dalam Dua Bagian)”
03. Gabber Modus Operandi – “Jathilan Titan”
04. TerbujurKaku – “Rekayasa Cinta”
05. Bottlesmoker – “BA ALUK”
06. JFK – “Stabber”
07. Senyawa/Prontaxan – “Kekuasaan”
08. Mother Bank – “Jalan-Jalan”
09. Barakatak – “Musiknya Asyik”
10. Y-DRA – “1.2. Banjir Rob”
11. rEmPiT g0dDe$$ – “HIERARCHY IS NATURE”
12. Lynn Nandar Htoo – “Unlawful”
13. Pisitakun – “10/05/2010”
14. Y-DRA – “No-Brain Dance”
15. Asep Nayak – “Nayaklak Werni Wamena Aworok Haok Nen”
16. rEmPiT g0dDe$$ – “EROTIC RAPTURE”
17. Uma Guma – “Satu Kali Lagi”
18. Raja Kirik – “ACT III. Perangan”
19. Gabber Modus Operandi – “Hey Nafsu”
20. Haingu – “Nahanduka Na Eti Nggu”

fugitive frequency, season 4 episode 11: 200 Suaves b2b DJ BACKLASH, MISS READ Berlin 2024

Illustrations of a figure in a balaclava (200 Suaves) layered over a black magpie (fugitive productions). Another layer of text reads: "Teoria falta barrio"-

200 Suaves [Instagram] from Mexico City going b2b with fugitive radio’s DJ BACKLASH recorded live at the opening party of MISS READ Art Book Fair Berlin, at Haus der Kulturen der Welt, Friday 11 October 2024. The recordings were made by Eddie Choo from lumbung radio and Station of Commons and 200 Suaves’ alter-ego, Icnelly representing Radio Nopal. They have been edited to fit the time slot.

fugitive frequency, season 4 episode 10: sonic heritage with Morgan Sully

Morgan Sully AKA Memeshift, a tall lanky figure with straight, dark shoulder-lenght hair that hangs down from under a beanie, a stands bent over a number of electronic devices connected with a tangle of audio cables.

This month’s episode is a conversation with Morgan Sully, an artist and organiser based in Berlin. Morgan records and performs music as Memeshift [Bandcamp] and also initiated “Latent Sonorities”, a “transcultural musical proposal” to explore notions of musical heritage, tuning systems and instrument-building among other things. Our conversation was recorded during a live broadcast at Refuge Worldwide Radio, Berlin, Saturday 7 September.

fugitive frequency, season 4 episode 9: Mixed Feelings II

A close up photograph of a hand holding a plastic cup. It contains cube shaped edibles alongside a plastic spoon and a straw which extends beyond the frame.


Yet another live mix from, this time from DJ Abstract Vortex 😉 More thoughts soon.

Tracklist
01. The Maghreban & Omar – “Waiting (Paul Woolford x Special Request Rework)”
02. Uwalmassa – “Untitled 01”
03. T. Wiltshire – “Outbound”
04. Nakibembe Embaire Group – “133 (with Gabber Modus Operandi & Wahono)”
05. Bamz – “LASER QUARTZ”
06. Gábor Lázár – “Source”
07. Cut Hands – “Stabbers Conspiracy”
08. Silvestre – “Sozinho”
09. Wahono – “Prambanan”
10. The Maghreban – “Dust”
11. Lorenzo Senni – “XAllegroX (DJ Stingray’s Molto Allegro Mix)”
12. Nakibembe Embaire Group – “140 (with Gabber Modus Operandi & Wahono)”
13. LCY – “2020”
14. Gábor Lázár – “Stream”
15. Client_03 – “Symmetry Finder”
19. DJ Rashad & DJ Spinn – “DJ Rashad & DJ Spinn Meet Tshetsha Boys”
20. Tirzah – “Hips (Loraine James Remix)”
21. Special Request & Tim Reaper – “Straight Off The Block (Tim Reaper Remix)”
22. The Maghreban & King Kashmere – “M25160”

fugitive frequency, season 4 episode 7: Subhas Nair, “The baton is in our hands.”

Subhas Nair, wearing a black COVID mask and tee shirt, both emblazoned with the URL: STATEVSUBHAS.COM

Subhas [Instagram] is a unique voice in Singapore, whose music and organising confronts issues such as capital punishment, the treatment of migrants workers, climate capitalism and racism while advocating for class solidarity. His activities have provoked the ire of authorities and our conversation took place as he awaits the outcome of a court case in which the State accused him of “promoting ill will between races and religions.” Subhas’ upcoming album is scheduled to drop when the verdict is announced.

If these issues concern you, take a look at the Migrant Worker Death Map, Singapore and consider supporting Migrant Mutual Aid Singapore.

If you like what you hear, sign up to receive details about Subhas’ upcoming album The State Vs Subhas Nair. You can also support Subhas via
Patreon.

Music used in the episode is on the major platforms Spotify and Apple, in chronological order:
Malabar (2021)
Riot! / Dumbshit! (2018)
PUNISHMENT (2018)
Bhasa (2021)
Long2befree (2021)
The Line (2020)
UTOPIA (feat. Migrants Band Singapore) (2021)
Blk101sunsetway (2018)
DMT (2021)
Time Of My Life (2021)
Some Nights (2021)

Our conversation was recorded 26 June 2024 while in residence at Singapore Art Museum, 1 April–29 June 2024.

Let Subhas take you on a tour of Singapore as he unpacks some of his music!

fugitive frequency, season 4 episode 6: Good Morning Geylang

A view of a carpark entrance through a silhouette of palm fronds. The leaves of the fronds match with the hazard stripes painted onto the speed hump and the strong parallel lines of the image made by the railings and gate,

“Good Morning Geylang”, a deep listening dawn mix and a meditation on migration, labour, infrastructure and place-making in Singapore. Made in residence at Singapore Art Museum, 1 April–29 June 2024.

The field recordings that make up this mix were recorded in the streets, rooftops and void decks around the neighbourhood where I am staying in Geylang. Singapore is undoubtably an air-conditioned nation however I’m not a fan of such climate controls. I prefer to keep the windows open and as my apartment is on the 4th floor of an old shophouse, I am at tree height. I’m often stirred before dawn by the sounds of birds chattering. Soon after I hear the first MRT commuter train rumbling off in the distance and as the city starts to wake it is often the sound of a garbage truck and its distinct pungent scent that brings me to my senses. I’m in an area where many migrant workers also stay and in the mornings I can watch them gathering in the street below, waiting to be taken in trucks to work sites around the city. I’ve been struck by the interplay of daily rhythms at this time of day. With reference to Henri Lefebvre’s notion of rhythmanalysis, I can discern  the circardian rhythms as night turns into day, the institutional rhythms of the train schedule and the rhythms of the working day. Singapore imports much of its construction and domestic workers from neighbouring countries including Bangladesh, Thailand, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Their wages are lower than locals and they have few rights. There has been some discussion about constructions workers who are transported around in lorries with minimal safety, an exception to Singapore’s road rules, and there have been several serious accidents.

“Good Morning Geylang” is the first iteration of a live sound work I am developing. Comprised of field recordings I’m making in Singapore as a reflection on migrant labour/leisure. I’m thinking of it as a deep listening work to be performed in pitch black — picking up on a recent discussion of sensory deprivation following the debut of REFUGE at Singapore International Festival of Arts, by the Observatory in collaboration with Duck Unit, Rully Shabara and Justin Shoulder.

A list of artists I’m thinking about includes:
33EMYBW, specifically Mandala (2023)
William Basinski
Robert Curgenven
Philip Jeck
KMRU
Francisco López
Oval (early releases)
Steve Reich (early tape pieces)
David Toop
Chris Watson

fugitive frequency, season 4 episode 5: (Pseudo) Sino-Club

Rollerbladers in the underpass between City Hall and Esplanade, Singapore-

“(Pseudo) Sino-Club Mix” by DJ Ayam Hitam is a kind of sonic fan-fiction recorded in Singapore for Labour Day, 1 May 2024. With the artists Animistic Beliefs and Wanton Witch as its spirit guides, the mix invokes the Bangkok queer and feminist rave collective NON NON NON as its animating force, racing towards an inevitable climate catastrophe (cli-fi) dsytopia/utopia as evoked by Rắn Cạp Đuôi Collective. DJ Ayam Hitam scrapes the surface of the so-called “Global Techno Underground” to fashion a sound shape-shifitng across South East Asia and that is allegedly “decolonizing dancefloors” (de-culo-nizing as they say in Latin America) in clubbing metropoles such as Berlin and London.

The art of crashing a mix
This mix was recorded live using a Pioneer DDJ-FLX4 controller and Rekordbox . The “game plan” was to start with Neo Geodesia’s “Wat Ang Ta Minh” and get to Rắn Cạp Đuôi’s “Bloody” by way of Animistic Beliefs and Wanton Witch. After landing in Singapore in April, I purged my playlist of UK bass, footwork, gqom—my go-to genres—to instead play around with tracks made by producers from South East Asia, or those who have some vested interest in this region. Over the last week I scoured my hard drives for odd bootlegs and also listened through the back catalogues of labels SVBKVLT and Genome 6.66 Mbp, affiliated with the now defunct Shanghai club Shelter and its successor ALL. Indeed, it was the recent release of Osheyack and Nahash’s Bait (2024) (notably none of the tracks from this EP made it to my mix) that prompted me to read accounts of this burgeoning scene in Shanghai, prior to Covid. In an interview from 2019 for zweikommasieben, Osheyack discusses clubbing as a new phenomena in China with no precedence or (rival) scenes:

I think the difference is that the club culture there is so new that there is not really a context or a hierarchy of “you need to do this” in order to play on Saturday night. So there are a bunch of people from a bunch of different places and Chinese kids—who are completely new to club music in general—and they are just picking up everything and re-contextualizing it.

I was also taken by his description of ALL’s patrons as a ”DJ-set culture of people wanting to hear a bunch of different shit mixed together.”

Last year I introducing a friend to DJ software, with which one can match BPMs at the touch of a button. She caught on very quick and was already working up a small crowd during this first afternoon session in a small bar. After some time, she turned to me and said something like: “I understand how to mix between tracks that are of a similar BPM, but what if I want to mix a track of say 120BPM with a track that’s at 160BPM? Is there a button for that?”. Actually, I think on Rekordbox there is a function that auto-mixes across speeds, steadily moving the pitch and crossfade between tracks, but I enjoy listening to the hand of the artist, and so I replied to my friend’s query: “That’s the real art of DJing, knowing how to crash a mix!”

Not that I’ve necessarily achieved that with this mix. I did attempt to plan and rehearse it before recording it for the radio, but I failed in my attempts to play it again (the) same. Mixing across a range of BPMs, nudging the pitch sliders back-and-forth, eventually I gave up trying to repeat myself and tried to get into the zone. Made to share on Labour Day, 1 May, it is apt that this mix resisted being laboured over!

Working with software, I’ve come to think about the parallels between DJing and console video gaming. Is not the (novel) musical instrument as much a toy as it is a tool? Making this mix felt a bit like playing a racing game in which one attempts to get to the finish line without crashing. The thrill is in the ride and the challenge is to not “drop the ball”, ie fail to mix in the next track. Wipeout would be the obvious point of reference, which I may have played once and was certainly terrible at it. Rez, a musical first-player-shooter, might be more appropriate. Although, as I recall its soundworld was more like progressive house and techno rather than the wonky sonics and “crash montage” mixing I tend towards.

Listening back, this is not my most elegant mix. I do cringe at some of the sloppy segues and there are some segments where I seem to have wandered astray and am clutching for the right track to get me back on course. I’m also reminded of the “bashment” ragga sound systems that first lured me into mixing. Here the selector might not always beat-match to the ones and instead employ sound effects, rollbacks and fearsome noise as part of the sonic collage experience. The spills are as much part of the thrill and are a counterpoint to interlocking rhythms that wind-up dancing bodies. Was there ever a sound clash video game?

Tracklist
01. “Wat Ang Ta Minh វត្តអង្គតាមិញ” – Neo Geodesia
Saphy Wong is the founder of the “multidisciplinary Asian platform and record label”, Chinabot. Under the moniker Neo Geodesia, Wong treats traditional Khmer music with experimental electronic processes. This track is lifted from the remarkable 2562 Neon Flames (2020), in which Wong revisits the sudden death of his mother during the celebrations of Khmer New Year 2562. I’ve heard nothing else quite like it.

02. “Edda” – Rui Ho
Rui Ho is a new discovery for me, whom I came across via Genome 6.66 Mbp. This track can be found on 戰記 (2017), which I believe was her first release. She has since evolved into a “non-binary pop singer”, and her more recent releases foreground vocals and narrative.

03. “吃掉” – Jason Hou & Yider
I assumed I found this on a Genome 6.66 Mbp compilation, but I cannot locate it. I have a feeling this track also crossed over into UK grime and dubsteps playlists circa 2016, which is how I might have picked up on it following some thread about Sinogrime. Here is a curious video of Hou performing an AlphaSphere, a curious haptic sensor-based instrument.

04. “Club Apathy” – Osheyack & Nahash
A definitive release on SVBCVLT, 2021.

05. “Shatter” – Hyph11E
Tess Sun is one of the most lauded artists affiliated with SVBCVLT and this track is a personal favourite lifted from Aperture (2020), an album about holes!

06. “Empty Spoon” – Wanton Witch
Miriam Alegria’s is relatively new to me. Currently based in Berlin, via Malaysian Borneo and Bangkok where she founded queer rave collective NON NON NON [Instagram]. Wanton Witch caught my attention at CTM earlier this year, performing as part of Thai artist Pisitakun’s takeover of Berghain’s Säule, launching his “The Three Sound of Revolution” project. She opened her set with a slew of what sounded like high velocity Baile Funk cut-ups, before nose-diving into 4/4 hard techno. This track is from her album AKU (2023) which struck me for its emotional breadth, shifting moods and polished production.

07. “Kniom Nahn” – Lafidki
Since 2008 Saphy Wong has released music as Lafidki. Taken from his debut album Chinabot (2017), “Kniom Nahn” has a charming music video, you can watch below. Chinabot has emerged as an important platform connecting South East Asian and diaspora artists pursuing experimental (club) productions.

08. “Medical Fodder” – 33EMYBW
While 33EMYBW (nee Wu Shanmin) is arguably the face of SVBCVLT, I first encountered her music from the Arthropods Continent on the compilation Alterity (2020) released by Houndstooth, a label affiliated with the London club fabric. “Medical Fodder” opens the album and remains for me one of its highlights.

09. “Kawasaki Outrun” – DJ Loser & Xiao Quan
I have no idea who these people are or how this track came to me. Invariably as I was slipping down some internet rabbit hole, but I cannot recall for what and when. That DJ Loser is based in Thessaloniki provides some clues, as I have spent some time in Greece in recent years. Is Xiao Quan a former pop singer in China responsible for the “Social Shake” meme dance craze? And/or this producer living in Sâo Paolo? Whiskers are trembling, what other treats await?

10. “Childhood Memories (Totobuang)” – Animistic Beliefs
Taken from the Rotterdam duo’s extraordinary album MERDEKA (2022), notably released on N.A.A.F.I. (No Ambition And Fuck-all Interest?) from Mexico City. As mentioned above, Animistic Beliefs were foundational for this mix, leading me towards this so-called “global techno underground”, and specifically some of the sounds surfacing in South East Asia, that are supposedly decolonizing dancefloors. I would loved to have caught them on their tour through China and Vietnam [Instagram] in the last weeks. I’ve heard murmurings about the unhinged rave scene in Vietnam, that is in contrast to Singapore’s relatively costly and thus closed party scene.

11. “虫草FIRE Edit” – RVE
From Genome 6.66 Mbp’s Club Shanzai Bootleg Compilation (2020), “a collection of remixes, edits, and blends by artists from Greater China.” This is all I could find.

12. “Puritan (Gabber Modus Operandi Remix)” – Homicide
Homicide, a political rap crew who formed in Bandung in the 1990s, are legendary. This remix by Gabber Modus Operandi, who are currently forging their own legendary status, was commissioned by the afore mentioned Pisitakun for his multi-faceted research project with the DAAD. “The Three Sound of Revolution”  focuses on the artist’s interest and involvement with revolutionary protest music in Thailand and expands its scope to consider the South East Asian region. The album Middle Sound (2023) was launched earlier this year at CTM. Incidentally, Pisitakun has also released music with Chinabot.

13. “The Border-Walking Monk” – Howie Lee
From the 7 Weapons (2020) series released by Belgian label Maloca Records. Splitting his time between China and Taiwan, Howie Lee is the co-founder of the label Do Hits, which also counts Jason Hou in its stable of producers. Lee is a veteran producer and visual artist who earned a reputation for music that melds traditional and folk instrumentation with contemporary club production techniques, working across a range of genres and aesthetics. I appreciate this track’s wonkiness.

14. “Sacrifice” – Selecta
From Genome 6.66 Mbp’s Genome Compilation Vol​.​1 (2016). I can’t find anything more about this artist.

15. “LCD (Estoc’s TFW Your Name Is Written On The Ostrakon Remix)” – Tzusing & Hodge
The Malaysian-born Tzusing is famous, no? I most likely came across him via his affiliation with the Berlin-based label PAN. This track is from an album of remixes, Next Life (2021), released via Tzusing’s label Sea Cucumber, that can be found “on the sea floor worldwide.”

16. “As If You Whisper” – Wanton Witch
Another cut from AKU (2023).

17. “With Us (feat. Nahash)” – Osheyack
From Osheyack’s Sadomodernism (2018) released on Bedouin Records from Tokyo. While a thought-provoking and theory-informed release that takes aim a complacent clubbing, I must admit to have simply reaped its bangers. From the 2019 interview mentioned above it’s worth noting Osheyack’s approach to performing live during this time:

When I play live, it’s a lot of short, small ideas cut up and pushed together, so that it’s digestible and danceable, but it’s trying to throw people off-kilter as much as possible, to shake people out of the “dancing experience.” And I’m very much trying to make a comment on that kind of static genrefication that goes on in Europe—to try and break down rules as much as possible.

18. “LilBlackDizzeeKidXCX6Truth” – XDD
Another track from Genome 6.66 Mbp’s Club Shanzai Bootleg Compilation (2020). No further info on XDD, but evidence that Sinogrime may have developed as a productive dialogue rather than simply a British projection.

19. “Scheme” – Evaa
It seems Evaa is based in Brussels. From Genome Compilation Vol​.​1 (2016).

20. “Boss 直聘 Bootleg” — GG Lobster
A favourite from Club Shanzai Bootleg Compilation (2020). GG Lobster co-runs the Hangzhou label/crew Functionlab, who have also released music by Xiao Quan—the weave tightens.

21. “Cows” – Gooooose
Gooooose is another stalwart producer for SVBCVLT, and this track is taken from the label’s compilation Cache 02 (2020). The sample is from a Saturday Night Live sketch “More Cowbell” (2020), depicting a recording session by the band Blue Öyster Culter and that features actor Christopher Walken as producer Bruce Dickenson. Here’s an entertaining and informative video of Gooooose making a beat for FACT’s “Against the Clock” series.

22. “Hyph11E X Dj Missdevana (Amor Satyr edit)” – Amor Satyr
An edit circa 2020 by Parisian producer Amor Satyr, who co-runs the label WAJANG with Siu Mata.

23. “ZENO” – Slikback & 33EMYBW
I had to slip Slikback in here. Taken off the Slip A (2019) EP released on HAKUNA KULALA, a subsidiary of Uganda’s Nyege Nyege Tapes. Slip B (2019) was released simultaneously on SVBCVLT, and the EPs are an outcome of the much respected Kenyan producer inaugral visit to China. Representing an exchange between East Asia and East Africa, this project maps out a cartography of (alter?)globalising club musics:

For the first stage of the project, SVBKVLT invited Kenyan producer Slikback to China for a 3-week tour and residency in April 2019. During these 3 weeks, Slikback performed in 5 cities (Shenzhen, Shanghai, Hangzhou, Nanjing and Beijing), spending time in the studio with artists throughout the tour. The results of these studio sessions are now being presented in the form of two EPs, to be released simultaneously across the two labels Hakuna Kulala and SVBKVLT on September 6th, coinciding with Nyege Nyege Festival 2019, Jinja – Uganda, at which Slikback and 2 of the collaborators, Hyph11E and 33EMYBW, will perform. All the artists involved in both releases will then perform at Unsound Festival Krakow in October 2019.

24. “Kurang Tidor – 幻觉” – Animistic Beliefs
Another track lifted from MERDEKA (2022). The title employs the Bahasa word for “independent” or “free” to describe the artists breaking free of expectations as they set out to explore postcolonial intergenerational trauma and their own changing selves.

25. “Bloody” – Rắn Cạp Đuôi Collective
This track that is the finishing line for this mix is from the Saigon collective’s recent album 1 released on Nhạc Gãy, a Saigon-based music and arts collective who throw raves, release experimental club music and lead mental health initiatives. An earlier version of “Bloody” soundtracks a short video by Nhạc Gãy, SỐNG VỚI LŨ (2021), which translates as a “living with flood”, an idiom for accepting the situation, “any situation at all”. The video juxtaposes scenes of flooding with sequences of raving. As Nhạc Gãy explain:

Vietnam’s latitude puts it at the forefront of global warming consequences and a part of it will begin to be submerged within a few decades. Yet, playfulness and ingenuity of Vietnamese can turn the uncomfortable and unforeseen into a new playground.

The video can be viewed via this GoogleDoc.

–

LAFIDKI Kniom Nahn (Official Music Video)

fugitive frequency, season 4 episode 4: Carnatic controversy

The cover photograph from Lalgudi G. Jayaraman and Party’s album "Violin, Venu, Veena". Six men sit on the floor of a stage, poised for the camera with their instruments.

Recently, when visiting my mother in Sydney, I came across a cache of vinyl records that she bought in the 1970s and was now storing in her garage. They are predominantly recordings of South Indian Carnatic music, often considered to be a “classical” form. Whenever I visit, I spend some time clearing out items accumulating in storage. While I’m certain these records had not been played for decades, my mother and I both agreed to hold on to them. Hidden in a cupboard I found the family stereo system from the late 1980s, and while its radio was useless, its tape deck was defective and its speakers had been misplaced, I was surprised and delighted that the turntable and amplifier still functioned. So I set about dusting off and digitizing some of these records, listening closely to a kind of music that I largely ignored growing up.

Coincidentally, my mother introduced me to a family friend; a distant relative who had recently moved to Sydney who is a musician and visual artist active in the Indian classical music scene. As we were getting acquainted, the conversation turned to the controversy rippling through the Carnatic music community. The singer Thodur Madabusi Krishna, popularly referred to by his initials T.M.K., had been awarded the coveted Sangita Kalanidhi for 2024. This is a prestigious accolade conferred annually by the Madras Music Academy (established 1928) and is considered to be the “highest accolade in Carnatic music.” The 48 year-old musician and writer has become a controversial and divisive figure for his criticisms of caste and class inequalities in the world of Carnatic music, notably as one of these privileged elites. Indeed, in 2023 Krishna was given another prestigious award; a Ramon Magsaysay award for his efforts to reduce inequalities, using “art’s power to heal India’s deep social divisions, breaking barriers of caste and class.”

While Krishna gave his debut performance at the Music Academy, aged 14, in recent years he refused to participate in the Academy’s annual month-long festival in December/Margazhi, known as Kutchery season, objecting to its caste favouritism. Instead, he was among a team of social organisers who co-founded the Urur-Olcott Kuppam Festival at an under-served, centuries-old fishing village in Chennai, to showcase a range of cultural forms across numerous sites and venues.

In 2023, T.M.K., who is of the Brahmin caste, commemorated the centenary anniversary of the anti-caste movement Vaikom Satyagraha, with music that honouring E.V. “Periyar” Ramaswamy, who is often referred to as the father of the Dravidian movement. Krishna’s critics responded that he in turn advocated for “Brahmin genocide”, recalling one of Periyar’s provocations.

“Carnatic controversy” does not include any music by T.M. Krishna. Rather, the task of digitising my mother’s record collection became a timely entry point into learning about Carnatic music and its current issues in the context of India’s Hindutva. The music in this episode in sequential order is:
N. Ramani, “Raga Ranjani”
Salem S. Jayalakshmi, “Muthu Vidhanam”
Palghat T. S. Mani Iyer, “Eka Tala” (excerpt)
Lalgudi G. Jayaraman and Party (N. Ramani, T. R. Mahalingham, R. Venkataraman, Umayalpuram Sivaraman, T. K. Murthy), “Violin, Venu, Veena” (excerpt)
Sivananda Vijayalakshmi, “Soundarya Lahari”

It’s worth noting that the family of the late Palghat T. S. Mani Iyer (1912–1981) have a particular “beef” with T.M.K. who interviewed the revered mridangam player’s for his recent book Sebastian and Sons (2020). Concerned with Dalit Christian mridangam makers and their relationship with Brahmin musicians, the family claimed they were not aware of the scope of Krishna’s concerns and felt deceived by the “caste-based” tone of his book.