Vandezine!

We haven’t written Vandezine since in a while. Because we’ve been selling out shows!

We’ve gone live from the institution that is Peckham Audio twice in the last couple months, featuring the very best of our roster and some amazing special guests, Next Door Records and Yosh!

To even have people come to our events is a real privilege - but back to back sell out shows is honestly unfathomable. If you’re reading this and have been in attendance, then you’ll know how special these nights have been.

We honestly can’t say thank you enough. Especially when we think about where and how first started. So tune in, check out our super talented roster, tell your friends and please, please, please don’t take us too seriously.

Turn that frown upside down with sounds and words to trigger instant relief from the pain of life.

RANDOM INNER THOUGHTS - Shadez the Misfit*

A melancholic guitar opens up to a menacing series of bars from Shadez The Misfit, skilfully showcasing lyrical ability alongside the harsh realities of systemic racism, the only flaw being it’s not long enough. 9/10

It’ll All Be Over - Supreme Jubilees

The Supreme Jubilees offer a shoulder to cry on. I can’t listen to this song without sobbing. Send this to a friend. 11/10

2000 Seasons - Talib Kweli

I listen to this track everyday, reciting the excerpt of Two Thousand Seasons by Ayi Kwei Arma (read perfectly by Talib) like a prayer. A lot of hip-hop and rap attempts to be conscious, but this is more than that. This is empowerment. 10/10

Those Days - Dal, Leah Yeger

This song triggers something. Whether it’s instant relaxation, or perhaps deeper, it relieves you of something. Stress, anxiety, worries, all forgotten for about 4 mins of what can only be described as perfect in every way possible. By the time the angelic Leah Yeger comes in , you’ve lost yourself. 11/10

Breezin’ - Gábor Szabó

Gabor Szabo has instantly become one of our favourite musicians since discovery. His entire discography is full perhaps some of the best guitar playing we’ve ever heard in our life, but Breezin’ is truly special, with the legendary Bobby Womack on the electric. 10/10

On Line - Marcos Valle

Heads will nod, feet will tap and finally hips will move. Infectious rhythms by the king of Samba and Bossa Nova, with everything great about both genres showcased in a true sampler of the range Marcos Valle has to offer. Play this outside and loud! 11/10

All these songs and more can be listened on our monthly playlist and even better music and be enjoyed by tuning in to the station.

*This song has been included due to a personal relationship between the writer and Shadez the Misfit. It’s important that nepotism is used as a tool within the black community to combat white privilege.

POM stands for Power of Music - a new dating app that matches people based off their music taste. We sent in Vandelay’s most eligible bachelor to see if it really delivers emotional connections, or it’s just Tinder for DJs.

I’ve always been wary of dating apps, as someone who likes to keep things organic.

Dating apps are another disgusting product of this hyper-capitalist landscape we live in, offering a quick solution to the human urge of wanting to be with other people but not having the time to because you’re living under the unbearable weight of wage slavery.

However, I decided to approach POM with an open mind. At first glance it came across like a more complex Tinder, allowing you to input songs for moods as well as your own personal faves. I went along with the charade, inputting 6 of my best photos (as selected by a panel of friends). I then had to input a bio, which I kept short and straight to the point: I run an online radio station called Vandelay Radio and I like rice, red wine and house music.

POM uses prompts, similar to Hinge - leading phrases such as “Dating Me Sounds Like” and “What I Sing In he Shower” which you then answer with music. I was beginning to warm up to the notion as I love talking about music, and it began to feel like a fun exercise. After much deliberation, I went with the below.

DATING ME SOUNDS LIKE: By Your Side - Sade
ALL TIME FAVORITE: I’m a Man Child - Uptown Funk Empire
GETS ME PUMPED: Next Up - OFB (Double Lz, Bandokay, SJ)

The next step was easier; selecting my favorite artists, songs and albums. I quickly and precisely listed a range of my all time greats, keen not to pigeonhole myself to a specific genre.

FAVORITE ARTISTS: MF Doom, Sade, Fela Kuti, Danny Brown and King Sunny Ade
FAVOURITE SONGS: Águas De Marco by Elis Regina, Doomsday by MF Doom, Transmission 94 (Parts 1 & 2) by Bonobo, I Shall Be Released by Nina Simone and Comfortable by Lil’ Wayne
FAVOURITE ALBUMS: The North Borders by Bonobo, Overgrown by James Blake, good kid, m.A.A.d city by Kendrick Lamar, Lovers Rock by Sade and Live in Japan by Zaiko Langa Langa.
FAVOURITE GENRES: Soul, Afrobeat, Deep House, Hip-Hop, Jazz

What did this all mean? Had the POM algorithm now determined the type of person I was through my responses? What did it think of me? What box was I put in?

It was now time to go through my potential matches. Again, no real difference here from majority of dating apps, a swipe left or right mechanic with the main difference being that you could also see their responses to the prompts. POM claims that users were matched based on their “music history and emotional responses, using this submitted data to curate a perfect end-to-end dating and social experience” so I was very keen to see who I was going to match with. A fellow jazz enthusiast perhaps? Or a die-hard Sade fan?

I was presented with an array of lovely looking people - but keen to remain objective, I ensured I took a deep dive into each of their profiles and would only swipe right if our music tastes were similar or I was into some of the songs they had on their profile. POM limits the amount of likes you can give on the app daily, again similar to other dating apps, so I had to be very selective.

However, after being on the app for about a week, I was yet to receive any matches. I began to question myself. Was my music taste not attractive? Did potential partners did not appreciate my selection?

It seems that POM’s fundamental flaw is that you can still view people’s pictures, like most dating apps based off “passions”. You know what they look like, and everything else becomes secondary. You might like someone’s music taste, but if you don’t find them physically attractive, then all the chat about music becomes redundant. The only difference between POM and other apps is you can showcase your music taste, but it’s still very much like very other app out there, where appearance is still the most important thing.

So what’s the point?

After a month of being on POM, Dare Balogun is still yet to receive a match. He remains bitter.

Poorly spelt American lingo for fizzy pop or a community developing a decentralised governance model for a music & arts venue in London? We caught up with SODAA to find out what exactly they mean.

What is a SODAA?
SODAA stands for Self-Organised Decentralised Arts Association. Maybe in the future there will be more than one!

What does community mean to SODAA?
It’s crucial – if what we do is going to be genuinely equitable, then we have to make sure we’re governed by community-led decision making. It’s difficult to get right, but we have to prioritise it if this is going to work long-term. Communities exist out of shared experience, identity, shared interest or shared circumstances. We are an open collective building a community: a community of place, interest and action. Our community will be intentional and based on proximity, values, and goals.

The club is a public good and all its denizens should have a voice: this can only be achieved with a community-oriented mindset that moves on from neoliberal individualism.

What does it mean to be decentralised?
It’s definitely not an end in itself - we’re not decentralisation maximalists. For SODAA, it means not needing an admin to give you a password, a treasurer to tell you how much money we have left, or the board to give you permission to start a project; it means distributing power across members and giving agency to voices that would otherwise struggle to be heard.

How is SODAA different to other decentralised collectives?
We are different from most DAOs because we are not tech-centric. We believe in distributing access to decisions and money, but we put humans at the centre. The code or the token alone doesn’t address systemic bias and imbalances.

So imagine a coop that decentralises admin and access to resources - you get something like a DisCO.

Analog or digital?
Hybrid forever!

Any interesting plans coming up?
GAIN CTRL! We’re taking over the Baths in Hackney Wick on 13th August, in collaboration with Threads; it will be a day and night of music, A/V, art, zines, and sharing ideas on how to realise collective ownership of our art. We’d love to see you there!

Favourite radio station and why is it Vandelay Radio?
It’s gotta be Vandelay, right? Because we are anticapitalists? But also shoutout to Netil Radio and Loose.fm who hosted our first takeovers.

How can someone join Sodaa?
Our Membership system will be launched soon! People who share our values and mission will be able to join on a pay-what-you-can and income-dependent basis, contribute to the project and have access to benefits and opportunities.

Until then, people can simply join our Discord server, get to know us, and get involved.

Full disclosure: The writer of this article is also a part of SODAA and yes, we are anticapitalists.

A column written by our artist-in-residence, Jas Sykes.

About 40 years after Pollock made his mark on our world, a group of students at Goldsmiths University got a really cool name: The Young British Artists (YBAs). Members include the likes of Tracy Emin, Damien Hirst, Sarah Lucas, Michal Lundy, and others, defined by nothing specific, just a simple desire to create and show art. (We remain unsure whether they will follow suit of Mature Singh – once Yung Singh – and update their name to a more appropriate title. BritArtists has been thrown around, but to be honest, it sounds a little 2002 Pop.)

The 1980s were times defined by change and strife, with old and new policies, values and ways of living clashing and coinciding. America, under Ronald Reagan, and the UK, under Thatcher (in her second term and on the hunt for more milk than ever before), had all their fingers in the economy pie, playing handsies under the pastry as they set about creating class discrepancy and social discontent. An era of neoliberalism and recession, with everyone selling, and no one buying expensive artworks.

This was the start of the YBA’s journey. In the late 80s they forged local fame through hand-made warehouse exhibitions and the use of found objects (objects they found) to create art and spaces, giving them a rep of a rebellious ‘can-do-attitude’. Still, the future looked bleak, until the early 90s when a knight in shining Paul Smith suit came to grace them with success and fame.

Iraqi-born British art collector Charles Saatchi, (founder of Saatchi & Saatchi, the former advertising company), had sold all his blue-chip artworks (the famous artist ones) and needed to replenish his stock so he took a walk down to Goldsmiths where Damien Hirst was polishing his shark tank. Saatchi took one look at Emin unmaking her bed in the studio, said: “I like the way you think, kids” and bought up loads of their (incredibly cheap) art.

He exhibited YBA work at Sensations (1997), colouring the controversy and success book for all. He created the notion of the celebrity artist: Emin and Hirst are the richest (alive) artists to date. As the media scrambled to find a reason for the YBAs great success (aside from Saatchi’s money because that would blow their cover of a fair and equal society), the YBAs were praised for making art that BROKE THE RULES OF TRADITION AND CONVENTION, which they did, but so did the Impressionists post-Renaissance, the Surrealists in the 20s & 30s and the Pop Artists around the 50s so it was nothing new.

The media went for the can-do-attitude of the YBAs as their focal point. This notion of entrepreneurialism fit really well with Maggy T’s neoliberalist and competitive values. As well as the idea the rich love to give the poor that if you work really really hard you can be just as rich as me!! 

This was a period where money itself was venerated, rather than what money buys. Neoliberalism values maximising utility, where is the utility in art? We don’t need it is the answer. It goes against the very purpose of artistic creation is also the answer.

So in a world that worships wealth we worship the wealthy. You see, the Impressionists, Surrealists and Pop Artists were about new ideas and new ways of seeing (respect: John Berger). The Surrealists even poked fun at commercialisation and now we have art as commercialisation, even a celebration of such. So with knowledge and mates in marketing Saatchi changed the way the art world works. He could sell anything and showed that you can, in fact, market culture.

Jas Sykes is an incredibly talented artist. Pay more attention here.

Super special, very special, extremely special shows from our talented roster.

Kisa’s show, Kulture, showcases dance music from a fresh perspective that’s very rare to find. Grime, baile, bruk, afrobeats, UK funky, and so much more served club ready.

You’re constantly discovering new sounds and scene throughout her show, with a focus on culture, not only playing the forward pushing sound of the diaspora and outside it, but the music that influenced these sounds and their origins.

She describes her most recent show as a journey across the globe, touching on Moroccan house, Latin funk, broken beat, UK funky, amapiano and more! Catch her playing again back to back with EDIE at Wax Palace’s Kaleidoscope Festival this September.

One to watch and keep listening to.

An opinion piece from Cosmo Kramer, President and Chairman of Kramerica. All opinions expressed in this piece are also shared by Vandelay Radio.

Say yes and don’t say anything that differs from the narrative that everything is great and good and we’re all having a wonderful time. Personal experience is irrelevant if there is collective experience, so say yes.

Say yes because you still want to participate collective experience, as it is beneficial for not only for yourself, but for everyone as well because the more people say yes, the more people listen. The more people listening, the more attention you have. And we like attention. Yes. Attention is currency. Yes.

People spend their lives telling themselves no. No more of this. No I can’t. No it’s not worth it. So say yes, because that’s what people want to hear.

That it’s all gravy. It’s all good. There’s nothing wrong. We’re all having a great time. There can be nothing wrong or problematic with anything that we do or say, because we all agree! Yes! Why ruin that? With difference in thought? Why have your own identity, when you can have collective identity? Say yes because there is strength in numbers. Say yes to become nothing but a number.

CK

Poetry written on the London Underground.

Go on then,
Give it to her
Passionately 

This song is amazing 
She whispers

You pay no attention 
As you continue your dance
The dance a few others know
A dance you are now confident in 
Gyrating, thrusting to the beat
Dancing to a crescendo
That only a few others are familiar with

Go on then,
Up the tempo
And with your penultimate stroke
In perfect time with that bass laden guitar solo
Drums banging away 

Ecstasy 

Softly whisper in her ear
As she lays in awe

“I actually heard it first on Vandelay Radio”

Victoria Line, 8:43am

Catalan connoisseur Max Montaner adds a new spin to an instant classic.

Ingredients:

• 1 x bag of Sweet & Crunchy salad (preferably Morrisons)

• 1 x Caesar Salad dressing (preferably Morrisons)

• About 15-20 pieces of popcorn chicken (KFC leftovers preferably, if not you can get them frozen from Morrisons)

• A few slivers of Italian Hard Cheese (parmesan that’s not legally allowed to call itself parmesan), sliced with a peeler

1. Put your popcorn chicken in the oven to warm it up. It’s essential it’s hot and crispy.

2. While chicken is warming, assemble your salad. Put the Sweet & Crunchy salad in a large bowl and ask your friend to pour in about half the bottle of the Caesar salad dressing.

3. Pull the chicken out of the oven with your bare hands and instantly spill the popcorn chicken into your large bowl.

4. Forget that you’ve asked your friend to add the salad dressing and pour in the remainder of the bottle.

5. Add cheese and further toss, pass out of forks to your hungry friends and eat while nodding simultaneously in approval and muttering “dank, yeah this is dank”.

The Vandelay Radio Test Kitchen is always on the look for talented cooks, chefs and dishwashers. Get in touch.

Did you enjoy Vandezine! to the point that you would like to contribute? We’re always looking for like-minded individuals to join our roster, get in touch.