may 2026

obviously i am too young and too white for saxophonist courtney pine to have played a central role in my uk jazz discovery story, but when i read unapologetic expression last year, i learned so much about the contribution he and the fellow jazz warriors made. i’ve known rivers uplifts me, in a very earnest and grounded way. it came out in ‘95 and was written by gary bartz — who BY THE WAY is playing brawnswood at we out here?!?! enormous revelation, i will be sat.

i DJed the kelham block party outside factory floor on the late may bank holiday weekend. beautiful sunny day. really enjoyed playing. the headliner, contours, i was unfamiliar with, but i loved his set. he dropped this lonnie liston smith track and it was so perfect: i had drunk four ‘orangello spritzes’ b2b2b2b (fucking delicious fyi) and was feeling some sort of emotional, but the slap bass in the later sections of this track carried me back to the music.

there are many ways in which i am extremely homosexual (for example, [redacted]) but one is the extent to which i love TACKY GAY CLUB MUSIC. after months of gathering classic linga sound sounds for sets, new jazz for radio shows, and really feeling on a wavelength with lots of chilled psychedelic 70s stuff, listening to this gaga x doechii track was like drinking nothing but deep, peat-y whisky and delicate, fragrant loose leaf teas for weeks, and then finally finding a vending machine, getting to crack open a can and take a delicious, ice cold, fizzy swig of god’s chosen beverage (diet coke). i love it so much. ok, back to serious business.

one of the most off the wall ‘reasons for playlist inclusion for a while’, which is that it was playing in the background of this garfield art from ‘rawdawg comics’ i saw while mindlessly reels-maxxing. it was so good to hear it. banger.

asha bhosle passed away in april. i didn’t know her work at all, a legendary bollywood singer, but i heard small features about her on a number of radio shows in memoriam, and i’ve been rinsing udi baba ever since.

another taste are on another level with regard to producing nu disco that sounds like, but, more importantly, feels like classic disco. it’s seemingly harder than you might imagine to capture the original warmth and not end up with something really tinny. like those actors who may well be good actor, but their face looks too much like they’ve seen an iphone to be convincing in a victorian period drama. another taste sound like they’re on the rotary.

i got the freakin’ chin up!!! in fact, i actually got four in one session this week. chad city.

i shazammed blow the whistle on a day when i was at the gym alone, except for one other guy who was rinsing the pec deck. prior to this, i smell pussy by 50 cent and g-unit was pumping out, which felt a little awkward, but that’s the gym bro life i guess.

after hearing this i spent a weekend in kitchen radio asking every host i was producing for “what is balearic? and why does everyone say “bah-leric” and not “bah-lee-eric”, which is what i always thought?”. what i got back from everyone (theo, gabe) was “it’s more like a vibe”. no one answered my second question though. answers on a postcard please.

• super fun kitchen radio show from jodie tyler. a great house-y mix, the song titles tell the story of a series of experiences you might have at a festival, guided by jodie’s narration. it reminded me of one of my all time favourite radio shows, gilles peterson’s club lockdown, which really gave me the feeling of floating between rooms and being lost in a dark corridor. i like concept radio i guess!

• extremely nice jazz-funk/Brit funk/touch of schmooze set from mucho maas in the stockroom at vanishing point records in chesterfield. i haven’t listened to sirrey’s one yet but i’m looking forward to it!

• shh this was technically in june but ashley holmes’ roots, rocksteady & dub mix. gorgeous selections.

in case you missed it. 100% new jazz, and an interview with jesse rae which i have talked extensively about:

don’t tell anyone but i’m lowkey mad that NTS did their own feature on jesse rae today haha. haven’t worked out how to leverage that into listens for my show so must be content with the fact that at least i pipped ‘em by a couple of weeks.

• sat 6 june, afternoon chill vibes, peddler car park

• fri 12 june, la rumba 9 bday party, sidney & matilda

• sat 27 june, 9-11am, sound service station [radio]

• 🎁🥂 fri 10 july 🎁🥂 8-midnight, sound service station [irl], grub records