Newsletter #2 - June 2024
Made it to Week 2! We're off to a good start.
This week kicks off where last week’s newsletter finished, in the rain and mud. This time I was much better prepared for it though. I headed off to London on Monday morning in my boots, with waterproofs and plenty of fresh socks in the bag. As I got to Brixton, I realised I was possibly the only person going to City Splash that day who was actually prepared for it. Hundreds of people were heading towards Brockwell Park in box fresh trainers and their finest garments, looking wet and nervous. A couple of enterprising Brixtonites had started selling cheap raincoats, so more and more people started to roll past wearing those, but it was too late for most people. To their credit, everyone just seemed to be carrying on regardless. The park was packed and the vibes were high despite the weather, although you could feel people tire out much earlier than usual.
By the time Beenie Man came on, it felt like people had started to have enough. There had been plenty of sing-a-longs to Busy Signal before him, despite mic issues and a relatively lacklustre performance, but Beenie was struggling to get people behind him. I’d waited a long time to catch both Busy and Beenie live, they are both two of my favourite dancehall artists by far. But the artists I’d grown up watching on live videos from Jamaica were long gone, and although it was nice to hear some of those classic tunes live, ultimately it was just a reminder that those halcyon days are behind us and we’re all old men now. Keep in mind this is my fourth festival of the weekend so I’m not exactly at my perkiest, plus both artists were having problems with the sound. I was still having a good time, but this was a far cry from the sunshine and laughter of last year.
Things weren’t made any better with a couple of no-shows from Triniboi Joocie and Black Sherif, and by the time Shenseea had stepped on stage the crowd had given up. Not that ShenYeng was going to bow out without a fight. She quickly corrected the mic issues and gave a strong performance which definitely won most people back onside. She didn’t have a band to help her hold the stage, but she did have a crew of dancers with her and invited some more from the crowd to have a twerk-off. One poor girl danced well but then hassled her way onto the mic, proceeded to reel off some of Shenseea’s own lyrics badly, and got booed hard by the crowd for her troubles.
Seani B, relatively fresh back from his first time in Trinidad & Tobago, dropped an amazing soca set, and by that point I’d hooked up with the Super Soca Show and Tun Up crews from Bristol who were out for Dub Boy’s stag do.
Just a quick note here that despite not having been a presenter on the show for a couple of years now, I love tuning into the Super Soca Show on a Saturday lunchtime. Tim and Sam are such a great source for new tunes and information, plus it keeps me connected to Bristol in a way that only local community radio can.
I listen to a lot of radio here in Cardiff, mostly because the stereo is broken in my car. I’m mostly tuned into BBC Radio Wales and I love hearing Aleighcia Scott, Huw Stephens and Adam Walton regularly. I also enjoy the chat from broadcasters like Jason Mohammed and Wynne Evans, even if their music isn’t always to my tastes. However I’ve not been able to get on with Radio Cardiff since I moved back, and I’ve realised that has to change. I know for a fact that there’s some great shows on there, so I’ve made an effort this weekend to tune into a few such as Love & Harmony, the 360 show with Tim Short and Steady Jay’s Sunday Reggae Show. I’m also hoping to catch the Studio 54 disco show tonight as well.
Anyway, for now we’re still in Brockwell Park for City Splash, and I’m wondering how I’m ever going to survive playing the after party. I’m done in from a long weekend of muddy fields. My legs feel like giant sausages and I’m yawning so hard it looks like I’m really just tired of life. Then Capleton steps to the stage.
I must have watched my live videos of Capleton hundreds of times over the years, but never managed to catch him in real life. I had fairly high expectations already but he took to the stage with so much power and presence he exceeded them completely. You would never guess it was the same crowd in attendance. People were jumping, waving, hollering and generally going wild as the “Fireman” blazed through 3 decades of hits. He completely brought me back to life, though I was worried it was rinsing the last few drops of energy I had left. I lasted an hour out of a 90 minute show, then decided I should head back over to Hootananny before the crowds.
For the second year in a row myself and Fizzy Gillespie were playing after legendary sound system crew, Sir Coxsone Outernational. As they are one of the most important foundations for British reggae and dancehall here in the UK, this is never an easy task, especially in Brixton which is practically home turf for them. Last year was a lot of fun though and we had Deemas J on the mic with us, who as well as being a great host, is absolutely deadly with the fast dancehall chat. At various points in the evening, he tore up the place, as we spun some instrumental riddims for him.
Make sure you check out Deemas J’s new 6 track release here
The rest of our selections veered from lover's rock to roots to rubadub mostly, with touches of ska, soca and jungle at the end. The place was rammed from start to finish and despite every technical problem under the sun hitting us, we had a lot of fun with it. It was an extra touch that Lloyd Coxsone stayed for the full 3 hours and at the end came up to say, "You boys fucking bun down the place." Not much more we could ask for there.
I took the long road back to Cardiff the next day with nothing but an early night in mind, totally forgetting I'd arranged to have a catch up with DJ Jaffa about a project I'm really excited about. I'm also very mindful not to waste any time on it, so rescheduling was not an option this time. Besides it's never a chore to catch up with Jaffa and it was great to properly go through all the new tunes we've gathered for our mixtape. I'll tell you all about it once it's ready to go.
Wednesday morning I had a breakfast meeting with Lekan from Tân Cerdd before I carried on with my museum work. I'm still deep in spreadsheets and tidying up before our next big push to try and find some of the missing pieces to the exhibition happening next year! In the meantime keep an eye on what Tân Cerdd are up to because they really are working on some great projects right now.
Despite my shout out from Romesh on BBC Radio 2 last week (for anyone who read last week’s newsletter), there was no further communication from his team and so after my Blindboy failure, yet another high profile personality passed through the city without me being able to sell them on the idea of Welsh hip hop. Hopefully I’ve at least planted the seed with them both, and when the time is right they’ll come around! In the meantime I’ve realised that as a late 40s hip hop fan with social anxiety and a slightly warped sense of humour, I’m Romesh’s target audience. The show was brilliant and Martin 2 Smoove was dropping some classics beforehand and in the intermission. Of course the audience was mostly made up of people who look like they’ve discovered Romesh on Bake Off, or The Apprentice, or maybe League Of Their Own, or perhaps one of the other many, many, many TV shows he’s appeared on over the past few years. Still everyone seemed to find him funny, and at least 90% of the audience knew ‘I Got 5 On It’ when it was played, so who am I to judge?
I don’t remember Thursday at all. I honestly couldn’t tell you what I was doing. Perhaps I’ve been pushing it a bit hard. I do remember seeing the line up to Sŵn Festival though, and I’m very excited that OneDa is coming to Cardiff. I’ve only seen her once live at Green Man, when she was a guest vocalist with The Mouse Outfit, but she really stood out then and I’ve been buying her tunes ever since. I’m guessing that looking at the line up, she’s on the same performance as ManLikeVision, Razkid, Mirari and New Wave Ent. That’s a really strong line up if so.
Check out OneDa’s new DNB single here
I’m also looking forward to Scottish singer Hamish Hawk and Rwandan-Belgian artist Dushime, and I want to give both Wu-Lu and Porij another chance after being critical of their performances previously. I might even go and see Das Koolies again because they were brilliant earlier in the year. There’s more information at swnfest.com
I saw the Llais line up as well. I do love Cate Le Bon, Lleuwen and Joan As Policewoman, but it’s some of the names I don’t recognise that have caught my eye the most: Ganavya, a New York born, South India raised and California based artist who has collaborated with Quincy Jones, Esperanza Spalding and Sault amongst others! That’s good enough for me; Sahra Halgan from Somaliland, whose music pulls in influences from afrobeat, ethio-jazz and desert blues; Washington DC collective, Sweet Honey In The Rock; and La Gateau Chocolat and Allyson Devenish, with a show that’s described as "a homily of Black Queer excellence through Negro-Spirituals". Definitely sounds like one not to be missed. Check the rest of the line up here.
Friday and Saturday evenings I had the pleasure of watching the Welsh reggae queen herself, Aleighcia Scott, perform in two very different settings to usual. On Friday I was asked to host her set in Studio 5, a virtual live gig space in the metaverse that has been created by Condense in Bristol. I’ve worked on a few shows for them over the years and so it was a pleasure to step in and introduce virtual Aleighcia to a crowd of avatars. Whilst I hope it’s not our only future, I think it’s great that Studio 5 allows musicians to perform for audiences all over the world, and Aleighcia took to this unorthodox environment really well.
After the show, Aleighcia headed a little further north to host three interviews at Hay Festival the next day, but came back to Cardiff in time for a show at Porters, singing jazz with the Siglo Section band. It was the first time I’ve caught her playing a jazz set but she totally owned it. Her soulful voice lends itself perfectly to the sound, and you could tell she really loved it. If this show happens again next year (it happened around a year ago previously), then I highly recommend seeing it.
Now it’s Sunday and I’m trying to do as little as possible. Everyone needs a day off sometimes. It means you’re getting this newsletter a little earlier too.
Finally, I’ve got a new Spotify playlist. This one is inspired by the HBO series STAX: Soulsville U.S.A. If you get the opportunity, do watch this incredible series. It covers arguably the greatest soul label of all time (yes I realise Motown is the favoured one) from its early beginnings as a southern country & western label, through the struggles of the 60s and 70s when both Atlantic and CBS tried to screw them over and beyond. They had two of the all time best backing bands with Booker T & The MGs and The Bar-Kays, plus a whole host of huge stars from Otis Redding to Isaac Hayes. No more spoilers though. This is a must see, it had me in tears. I’ll probably get a few playlists out of it but I’m starting off with the classics from the late 50s and throughout the 60s. Everyone should have a copy of these tunes!
See you next week! Do tell others if you’re enjoying my adventures.
ps. All phone photos by me.