What We Listened To - March 2025
I kicked things off with a side from Awa Poulo’s Poulo Warali, a gorgeous 2017 album from the Malian singer on the always-reliable Awesome Tapes From Africa label.
Afterwards, Ben stepped up with Sleepy For Life, a melancholic slide of retro-acid by AAAA from 2018’s Acid Avengers 010 release. Then we looked back to, in Ben’s words, “a time before John Carpenter was a genre” and Gatekeeper’s magnificent, crushing Optimus Maximus from 2009 before closing out this set with Pussy Galore’s 1988 cover of Einsturzende Neubauten’s Yu Gung from 1988’s Sugarshit Sharp.
Erin kept us in the acid zone with an extraordinary rarity - a test pressing of one of his own records where glitter had been tossed in with the clear vinyl in an experimental process; five records were made but four broke making this the only surviving copy. Miraculously, it played extremely well but then unfortunately snapped when it was removed from the turntable, meaning this might be the one of the rarest records we’ve heard. He followed this with another rare test pressing of Autocratz’ reaKtor on Kitsune from 2007, before closing out with Deaf Club’s cover of Nirvana’s Tourettes from 2024’s split 7” with Fuck Money.
Rahil brought along two impulse purchases - the first an absolutely delightful beat record by M Shariff & The Zurah from 1973. We listened to the first side of Sudah Nasib, including the title track and Kembalilah Padaku, before switching up to enjoy Muévelo Negro, a 2013 cumbia 12” on Tru Thoughts by Quantic & Nidia Góngora.
Paul saluted International Women’s Day with a rapidfire set of cuts made by women from around the globe, starting with Asha Puthli’s incredible We’re Gonna Bury The Rock With The Roll Tonight from Mr Bongo’s 2022 compilation of her work. Then we heard Gina Martin’s Omo Belli from Soul Jazz’s Caribbean comp 90° Degrees Of Shade (2014); The Dezurik Sisters’ The Arizona Yodeller from Mississippi Records’ 2009 comp Mata La Pena; Mortuary Bound from Elyse Weinberg’s 1969 album Elyse; the magisterial Bulgarian choral singing from 4AD classic Le Mystère Des Voix Bulgares; some really psychedelic cut and paste from Cobra Killer’s 1998 self-titled album; before finishing with Japanese duo Pop-Off Tuesday’s self-titled album from 2000.
Geoff brought some truly remarkable gems from the USSR in the 1970s, including three selections from Georgia (two on flexi-disc!) and one each from Kyrgyzstan and Mongolia, running the gamut of expansive orchestration, traditional instrumentation and, fascinatingly, some soul influences. I snapped photos of all of these treasures but have been struggling to cross-reference them on Discogs; I’ll update this section of the post as and when I have more information.
Rob brought a selection of intriguing-looking records but hit a home run with the two he played. Pony Ride was the 2017 debut of Chinese/Greek drone duo Elephant House and was my favourite discovery of the night; he followed with a track from Butter (1996), the sole album of experimental rock supergroup group Butter 08 featuring members of Cibo Matto, the Jon Spencer Blue Explosion and Sean Lennon.
Nick brought along a collaborative 12” between English Krautrockers Standard Planets and author Iain Sinclair, in which the latter reads from his book Overground, putting the boot into London gentrification to a musical backing.
Paul returned to the turntable with a few more selections: the Finnish IDM of Kuupuu from their Sisar album (2013); the Malian desert folk of Idassane Wallet Mohammed’s Inarègh from her Issawat album (also 2013); Lottie Kimbrough’s Rolling Log from Mississippi’s Last Kind Words 1926-1953 blues/folk comp from 2006; and finishing with a track from Mu’s Afro Finger & Gel album, a 2003 Maurice Fulton production.
Ben closed out the night with two final records from his bag - Foetus Über Frisco’s Finely Honed Machine 12” from 1985, and Laibach’s lullaby-like cover of Across The Universe from 1988.