Love is the Message: Dance, Music and Counterculture

In this episode we continue our trio of episodes on Punk by examining some crucial mid-70s proto-Punk antecedents. Via the lean funkiness of Dr Feelgood Jeremy and Tim explore the interesting British formation of pub rock, with its R’n’B roots and distinct danceability. This leads to a discussion on the slipperiness of Rock’n’Roll as a term and its tensions with ‘rock’ proper. We also hear an early influence on Post-Punk and meet the influential Stiff Records at its foundation.
In the second half of the show we make a second encounter on the show with the Ramones, and ask: what were they really up to? Authenticity, performance, historiography and hagiography all come under the microscope as we lead to the first definitively British Punk record: New Rose by The Damned.
Join us next time for Blondie and the Sex Pistols.
Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.

Tracklist:
Dr Feelgood - She Does it Right
Dr Feelgood - Keep it Outta Sight
Nick Lowe - So It Goes
The Ramones - Blitzkrieg Bop
The Saints - (I’m) Stranded
The Damned - New Rose

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the whole thing and a huge number of other conversations, head to Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.

In this patrons episode Jem and Tim once again share what’s been on their turntables recently. We hear two tracks - one contemporary and one not - from the UK Asian Underground, along with a consideration of the cosmopolitan aesthetic of artists like Bally Sagoo and Nitin Sawhney. Tim reflects on trips to the WOMAD festival and digs into trip hop while Jem shares a powerful Qawwali cut. Elsewhere we hear Swedish afrobeat, extremely psychedelic roots reggae, free love, a compilation for Gaza, Messages from the Stars and more…

Tracklist:
Nitin Sawhney - Charu Keshi Rain
Nora Dean - Angie La La
Bally Sagoo - Noorie
Morelo - Promise (from ‘For Gaza’ comp by Planet Turbo Records)
The RAH Band - Messages from the Stars
Orgōne - Strike
Nusrat Fateh Ali Khan - Shamas-Ud-Doha, Badar-Ud-Doja
Olumo Soundz - Sunday Jump
June Jazzin - Shine Your Brightest Light

Books:

Sanjay Sharma, John Hutnyk, Ashwani Sharma (Eds) - Dis-Orienting Rhythms: The Politics of the New Asian Dance Music 

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the whole thing and a lot more besides, head to Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.

In this patrons’ episode we conclude our trio of episodes on Glam Rock.

Tim and Jeremy pick up where they left off with a walk on the wild side. This leads to a discussion of the relationship between Lou Reed, Bowie and Iggy Pop in the early 70s. They discuss the undisputed glam anthem Cum on Feel the Noize from Birmingham’s finest Slade, replete with its football terrace chant and fist-pumping energy. And on the mellower side, explore the idea of glam as torch song, with entries from international treasure Elton John and a return to the show for Roxy Music.

Jeremy and Tim conclude the episode with an acceptance of the might of Queen and a brief scintilla of postmodernism - much more of that to follow.

Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.

Tracklist:

Lou Reed - Walk on the Wild Side

David Bowie - Moonage Daydream

Slade - Cum On Feel The Noize

Suzi Quatro - Glycerine Queen

Elton John - Goodbye Yellow Brick Road

Roxy Music - In Every Dream Home a Heartache

Queen - Killer Queen

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the whole show, and a whole lot more besides, head to Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod to sign up.

In this patrons’ episode we move into the second of three episodes on Glam. The third part of this trilogy will be dropping in your feed sooner than our normal schedule so hold tight for that.

Tim and Jeremy discuss that big beast of British rock, Roxy Music. They consider Brian Ferry’s cultivation of a White British vocal style, the effects of art college on this and so many other contemporaneous UK bands, Ferry’s eventual styling as ‘Frank Sinatra in quotation marks’, and the emergence from within Roxy of one of the most influential producers of the Twentieth Century - Brian Eno.

Also in the episode the guys go deep on Ziggy Stardust and unpack the desire of so many 70s musicians to just be taken seriously. Plus, the shadow of Dylan, Cornelius Cardew, and more Marc Bolan. 

Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.

Tracklist:

Roxy Music - Re-Make/Re-Model

Roxy Music - Virginia Plain

David Bowie - Ziggy Stardust

T.Rex - Children Of The Revolution

In this episode Jeremy and Tim are joined by writer, historian, and friend of the show Simon Reynolds to discuss British musical trends of the 1970s and his life as a music journalist. Simon is arguably the most important music critic writing today, having penned seminal books on post-punk, electronic dance music, feminist rock and much more. In this interview he mostly talks about his most recent book, ‘Shock and Awe: Glam Rock and Its Legacy, from the Seventies to the Twenty-First Century’, sharing stories from his childhood interest in the decadent world of Glam.

The three discuss how so many artists came to aestheticise a rejection of suburbia, the purply gauze of Top of the Pops, and thinking the Situationists were a band. They unpick how Punk is imagined and historicised versus how it was experienced, how Simon came to reappraise the 60s against a hostile critical culture, and consider the role of the music press historically and today.

For patrons, our extended edition also includes a discussion around Simon’s 2011 book ‘Retromania: Pop Culture’s Addiction to its Own Past’. Tim, Jeremy and Simon recount the particular conjuncture from which the book arose, tease out its key theses, and apply those to contemporary music culture.

Simon Reynolds is the author of ‘Blissed Out: The Raptures of Rock’, ‘The Sex Revolts: Gender, Rebellion and Rock 'N' Roll’ with Joy Press, ‘Energy Flash: A Journey Through Rave Music and Dance Culture’, ‘Rip It Up and Start Again: Postpunk 1978–1984’, ‘Bring The Noise: 20 Years of Writing About Hip Rock and Hip-Hop’, ‘Retromania: Pop Culture's Addiction to Its Own Past’ and ‘Shock and Awe: Glam Rock and Its Legacy, from the Seventies to the Twenty-First Century’. His next book, ‘Futuromania: Electronic Dreams from Moroder to Migos’ is forthcoming.

Tracklist:
Scott Joplin - The Entertainer
Ian Dury & the Blockheads - Plaistow Patricia
The Rezillos - Top Of The Pops
The Specials - Ghost Town

Led Zeppelin - Whole Lotta Love

UNLOCKED - We've made public this previously patrons-only episode following the death of Can singer Damo Suzuki. If you'd like to become a patron, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.

W do you call it? Krautrock, space rock, the Great Komische Music? It’s all German to me. In a little under two hours the guys cover the history of post-WW2 Germany (East and West), anti-Communist geopolitics, what you want to hear when you’re tripping, Pop Art, post-rock and playfulness, all in reference to the music of Can, NEU!, Ash Ra Tempel and more.

We hear about the characteristics of the German counterculture from which many of these players came, the various tendencies of revolutionary European socialism, the Green Party, and the problems of De-Nazification. We consider the avant-garde compositions of Karlheinz Stockhausen, the impact of American acid rock, Ancient Egypt, and the many ways James Brown’s funk filtered into the motor rhythms of Dusseldorf 1971. More than anything, we survey a formidable body of work that is at once mesmeric and danceable - both things we like here at Love is the Message!

Produced by Matt Huxley.

Books:
Julian Cope - Krautrock Sampler: One Head’s Guide  to the Great Kosmische Musik
David Stubbs - Future Days: Krautrock and the Building of Modern Germany

Tracklist:
Ash Ra Tempel & Timothy Leary - Timeship
Karlheinz Stockhausen - Spiral (Realization A)
Amon Duul ii - Yeti (Improvisation)
Ash Ra Tempel - Amboss
Kraftwerk - Stratovarius
Tangerine Dream - Genesis
Tangerine Dream - Flute Organ Piece
Can - Halleluwah
NEU! - Hallogallo
Can - Moonshake
Kraftwerk - Autobahn
Harmonia & Eno '76 - Atmosphere
Kraftwerk - Trans Europe Express

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the whole thing, plus dozens of hours more discussion and conversation, head to patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.

In this patrons’ episode we continue our look at musical currents of the 1970s by pulling on our platform boots, pasting on some eyeliner and getting ready for Glam Rock. In the first of two episodes, Tim and Jeremy excavate the pre-history of this strange trans-Atlantic phenomenon, which expresses both fascinating cultural insights and some pretty bad music (to our ears). Tim and Jeremy discuss the concept of glamour itself, the glamorous side of Hippy culture, and clothing and makeup as forms of self-expression. They also get stuck into 60s Garage Rock, focusing on The Stooges and The Velvet Underground, to consider ideas of decadence, masculinity, mass culture, Warhol and more, before - via a detour through the singular artistry of David Bowie - teeing up two recognisable faces of early Glam: Marc Bolan and Alice Cooper. Next episode we’ll be continuing on to Roxy Music, the New York Dolls, later Bowie, Slade, and the legacy of this strange musical force. Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.

Tracklist: The Pleasure Seekers - What a Way to Die The Velvet Underground - Venus in Furs The Stooges - TV Eye Alice Cooper - I’m Eighteen David Bowie - The Man Who Sold The World Alice Cooper - School’s Out T. Rex - Hot Love

Books: Philip Auslander - Performing Glam Rock: Gender and Theatricality in Popular Music Simon Reynolds Book - Shock and Awe: Glam Rock and Its Legacy, from the Seventies to the Twenty-First Century Colin Campbell - The Romantic Ethic and the Spirit of Modern Consumerism

To hear an extended version of this conversation, become a patron at Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.

In this episode Jeremy and Tim are joined by historian and New Yorker Kim Phillips-Fein to discuss a crucial event in the Love is the Message story: the 1975 New York City fiscal crisis. Kim’s book ‘Fear City: New York’s Fiscal Crisis and the Rise of Austerity Politics’ is widely regarded as the definitive text on the matter, so she was the perfect person to talk to, and she brought some great music recommendations to boot.

The three discuss both the long- and short-term backdrop to the crisis, charting how the city’s unique social democratic municipal system of rent controls, hospitals and education changed across the twentieth century, before examining how the centre of international capital came extremely close to bankruptcy. Kim explains the financial mechanisms which animated the crisis and the political choices that precipitated it. She elucidates President Ford’s predicament during the crisis, the effects of ‘white flight’, and reminds us that New York was itself an industrial city rapidly de-industrialising. 

This being Love is the Message, naturally we also hear about the extraordinary cultural creativity of the time and examine its material causes, including changing democraphics and the transformation of Soho. Finally, Tim Jeremy and Kim consider what happened next, and how the fiscal crisis has been historicised to serve a particular ideology.

Kim Phillips-Fein is the Gardiner-Kenneth T. Jackson Professor of History at Columbia University. Her book ‘Fear City: New York’s Fiscal Crisis and the Rise of Austerity Politics' was named a finalist for the 2018 Pulitzer Prize for History. She is also the author of ‘Invisible Hands: The Making of the Conservative Movement from the New Deal to Reagan’.

Tracklist:

Television - Venus

The Dils - Class War

The Rolling Stones - Shattered

Grandmaster Flash & The Furious Five - The Message

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the whole show, plus much more, head to Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.

On this festive edition of What We’re Listening To, Jeremy and Tim share selections from their turntables alongside thoughts on religion, atheism, death - and Blondie. We hear psychedelic jazz from north India and northern England, a brace of uplifting Gospel anthems from Pastor T.L Barrett, and some free-wheeling spiritual jazz from the Bronx via Puerto Rico. A smattering of seasonal song is dispersed throughout the selections, and with an eye on the horrors of the last two months in the Middle East, an uplifting call for peace to sign off on.
We will be taking a short break for Christmas and New Year but will be back in mid-January with more LITM. Tune in, turn on, get down…

Produced by Matt Huxley.

Tracklist:

Manish Pingle - Raga Puriya Kalyan
Erobique (ft. Florence Adooni) - Mam Tola
Matthew Halsall - An Ever Changing View
Pastor T.L. Barrett And The Youth For Christ Choir - I Shall Wear a Crown
Pastor T.L. Barrett And The Youth For Christ Choir - Jingle Bells
Blondie - Yuletide Throwdown
Antonio Ocasio ft. Nina Hadzi Antich - That Something
Alfredo Linares - La Musica Por Dentro (Remixed by Jose Parla & Phenomenal Handclap Band)
Joseph Macwan - Climb That Mountain (3AM Mix)
Mike Anthony - Why Can't We Live Together

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the full show, and much more, head to Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.

In this episode Tim and Jeremy begin a series of shows for patrons that flesh out some of the other musical currents of the UK and Europe in the late 60s and early 70s, beginning with… well, what do you call it? Krautrock, space rock, the Great Komische Music? It’s all German to me. In a little under two hours the guys cover the history of post-WW2 Germany (East and West), anti-Communist geopolitics, what you want to hear when you’re tripping, Pop Art, post-rock and playfulness, all in reference to the music of Can, NEU!, Ash Ra Tempel and more.

We hear about the characteristics of the German counterculture from which many of these players came, the various tendencies of revolutionary European socialism, the Green Party, and the problems of De-Nazification. We consider the avant-garde compositions of Karlheinz Stockhausen, the impact of American acid rock, Ancient Egypt, and the many ways James Brown’s funk filtered into the motor rhythms of Dusseldorf 1971. More than anything, we survey a formidable body of work that is at once mesmeric and danceable - both things we like here at Love is the Message!

Produced by Matt Huxley.

Become a patron at Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod

For rights reasons, we can only play excerpts of the tracks we discuss. However, if you'd like to listen along in full, with updates every episode, follow our Spotify playlist at: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1ZylmJYk5SxyyTI2OQp0iy

Books: Julian Cope - Krautrock Sampler: One Head’s Guide  to the Great Kosmische Musik David Stubbs - Future Days: Krautrock and the Building of Modern Germany

Tracklist: Ash Ra Tempel & Timothy Leary - Timeship Karlheinz Stockhausen - Spiral (Realization A) Amon Duul ii - Yeti (Improvisation) Ash Ra Tempel - Amboss Kraftwerk - Stratovarius Tangerine Dream - Genesis Tangerine Dream - Flute Organ Piece Can - Halleluwah NEU! - Hallogallo Can - Moonshake Kraftwerk - Autobahn Harmonia & Eno '76 - Atmosphere Kraftwerk - Trans Europe Express

In this week’s episode, Tim and Jeremy are joined by writer and scholar Mark Anthony Neal. Mark’s 1999 book ‘What the Music Said: Black Popular Music and Black Public Culture’ is a crucial text for us here at Love is the Message, so it was fantastic to have him join the show to discuss his life and work in music. We discuss how the Black popular music of the past 60 years provides an insight into black socio-political life, via Gospel, Soul, Hip Hop and more. Mark explores how his upbringing in the South Bronx, from spending Sunday mornings with his parents to heading to the Apollo to see the Jackson 5 and Aretha, shaped his view of the Black public sphere. The interview provides Jem and Tim with the opportunity to trace their interest in the progressive potential of the 1970s back to the slave experience, the development of spirituals that became a channel for acts of resistance, the African American church’s reversioning of Christianity as a space of Black communion and expression, the importance of the jook and the rent party for expressions of Black pleasure. These spaces contributed to the shaping of an increasingly radical Black politics, from the burgeoning civil rights movement to Black Power, with rhythm and blues, soul and funk. We discuss the late-80s turn toward commodity culture within Hip Hop and consider what happened politically to black musicians into the 90s.

For patrons, Mark, Tim and Jeremy also discuss early disco, Black dance music and Saturday Night Fever; consider the aspirational, entrepreneurial mindset of many of the 70s pioneers; and the role of sampling as an act of Black archival work undertaken by caretakers of Black musical lineage, bringing us right up to the listening practices of today.

Mark Anthony Neal is the Professor of Black Popular Culture in the Department of African and African-American Studies at Duke University host of the weekly webcast ‘Left of Black’ in collaboration with the John Hope Franklin Center at Duke University. He is the author of ‘What the Music Said: Black Popular Music and Black Public Culture’, ‘Soul Babies: Black Popular Culture and the Post-Soul Aesthetic’, ‘Songs in the Keys of Black Life: A Rhythm and Blues Nation’, ‘New Black Man: Rethinking Black Masculinity’ and ‘Looking for Leroy: (Il)Legible Black Masculinities’.

Produced by Matt Huxley.

Become a patron to hear an extended version of this conversation by visiting patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.

Check out the back catalog, reading lists, playlists and more at our website: https://www.loveisthemessagepod.co.uk/

And listen along our Spotify playlist featuring music from the series at: https://open.spotify.com/playlist/1ZylmJYk5SxyyTI2OQp0iy

Tracklist:

The Sugarhill Gang - Rapper's Delight 

The Jackson 5 - Dancing Machine

Eugene McDaniels - Headless Heroes

Eric B. And Rakim - Paid in Full

Ray Charles - (Night time Is) The Right Time

The Isley Brothers - Fight the Power

Marvin Gaye - What’s Going On

Sly & The Family Stone - Stand! 

Bessie Smith- Back Water Blues

LL Cool J - The Boomin' System

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the full show, plus many more hours of conversation, become a patron at Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.

In this patrons episode Tim and Jeremy offer music on the theme of war and peace. They reflect on the ongoing conflict in Palestine, discussing the current unfolding crisis and taking a longer view on Israeli history. We hear about the ecstatic peace of John Coltrane, a lesser-known companion to Edwin Starr’s ‘War’, why Tim loves the Human League but New Order not so much, and consider the Promised Land. Tim and Jeremy also share music by Palestinian musicians Sama’ Abdulhadi and Kamilya Jubran, talk about Jem’s experiences DJing the country, Boiler Room as an unexpected anti-imperialist organisation, and the pitfalls of cultural appropriation.

Produced by Matt Huxley.

Tracklist: John Coltrane - Peace on Earth (Live At Shinjuku Kosei Nenkin Hall, Tokyo, Japan / July 22, 1966) Edwin Starr - Stop The War Now The Human League - The Lebanon  Sama' Abdulhadi - Reverie  Mutado Pintado presents Sworn Virgins - Michelle (Acid Arab Mix) Bashar Murad - Maskhara Joe Smooth - Promised Land (Club Mix) Willie Hutch - Brother s Gonna Work it Out Kamilya Jubran & Werner Halser - Wa (pt.1) Maurice Ravel - Kaddish

This is an excerpt from a patrons episode. To hear the full show, and much more like this, head to Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.

In this patrons-only bonus episode, Jeremy explores what it means to analyse music from a feminist perspective. Beginning with a literature review of both the various forms of feminism theorised in the 1970s, and the body of feminist music writing from the late 80s to the early 2000s, we hear about the work of important thinkers like Susan McClary, Simon Reynolds, Angela McRobbie and Judith Butler to tease out what the various feminist perspectives were and what the task of feminist music criticism might be.

We consider formal expressions of gender within music through Bach, Beethoven and Black Sabbath; spend time with the feminist post-punks Siouxie Sioux, Patti Smith and the Raincoats; think about how disco fits into all this; and consider the work of Laurie Anderson and Donna Haraway in the early 80s as they point towards a new form of cyborg feminism.

Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.

Books and Articles:
Simon Frith and Angela McRobbie - Rock and Sexuality
Simon Reynolds and Joy Press - The Sex Revolts: Gender, Rebellion and Rock and Roll
Richard Dyer - In Defence of Disco
Andy Beckett - I Promised You A Miracle: Why 1980-1982 Made Modern Britain
Donna Haraway - A Cyborg Manifesto

Tracklist:
JS Bach - The Art of Fugue, BWV 1080 (Contrapunctus 1)
Black Sabbath - Paranoid
The Byrds - Wild Mountain Thyme
The Chicago Women's Liberation Rock Band - Mountain Moving Day
The Pleasure Seekers - What a Way To Die
Joni Mitchell - Woman of Heart and Mind
Siouxsie And The Banshees - Mirage (John Peel Sessions)
Patti Labelle - The Spirit’s in It
Donna Summer - I Feel Love
The Raincoats - Lola
The Raincoats - Dancing in my Head
Soft Cell - Say Hello, Wave Goodbye
Laurie Anderson - O Superman

We say that LITM is a podcast about music, the dance floor, sound systems and counterculture, but we realise that we haven’t dedicated a show to dance floor practices for some time. So in this episode, Tim is in the hot seat to give us a quick primer on the history of social dance in the USA and beyond. With reference to the prevailing gender, class and power relations of their time, we learn about the surprising sensuousness of the Waltz, James P Johnson and the Charlston, the Lindy Hop, the Swing Age, The Twist and even Deadhead freakouts. 

Calling into this history the Great Migration, the Harlem Renaissance, Elvis, the Acid Tests and more, Tim charts a history of social dance spanning over 200 years, and bringing us to the doors of the Loft and the Sanctuary in the early 1970s, from where we’ll pick up next episode.

Become a patron my visiting Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod

And check out our new website: https://www.loveisthemessagepod.co.uk/

Tracklist:

Johann Strauss II - The Blue Danube Waltz

James P Johnson - Charlston

Frankie Manning - Hellzapoppin

Count Basie - One O’Clock Jump

Hank Ballard & The Midnighters - The Twist

The Grateful Dead - Mama Tried (Live at Woodstock)

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear this and much much more, become a patron at Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.

In this patrons-only bonus episode, Tim draws on some recent research into David Mancuso’s record collection to share some tracks that might have been played during what he called ‘the prelude’ -  the introductory portion of the night’s musical entertainment. Taking into account the different settings at both the Broadway and Prince Street Lofts, and David’s never-ending adjustments of the sound system, Tim explains what the prelude represented for the party, why hi-fi audio was crucial, and how the prelude changed across the 70s.

Drawing on the three bardos understanding of the acid trip, we explore why this gentle introduction to a night of dancing was an important innovation and select a range of pieces of music that we can speculate would have been played.

Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.

Tracklist:

Van Morrison - Astral Weeks

Morgana King - A Taste of Honey

Aretha Franklin - Amazing Grace

Valerie Simpson - I Don’t Need No Help

Jean-Michel Jarre - Oxygene, Pt. 1

Gong - Bambooji

Norman Connors - You Are My Starship

Elliott Fisher - Land of Make Believe

Carl Orff - Fortune Plango Vulnera

Donald Byrd - Places & Spaces

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear more, become a patron at patreon.com/LoveMessagePod

In this patrons-only episode Jeremy is once again flying solo on the podcast to explore the lives, ideas, and uses of the French philosophers Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari. Starting in the intellectual hotbed of late-60s Paris, Jeremy explains who the pair were, how they met, what their shared - somewhat heterodox - philosophical canon was, and how this was expressed in their two-volume work Capitalism and Schizophrenia.

Deleuze and Guattari are often seen as being very hard to comprehend, but Jeremy introduces us to concepts like schizoanalysis, deterritorialisation and reterritorialisation, the rhyzome, the refrain and the notorious body-without-organs in accessible and easy to digest language.

Through the work of both the composers cited by the philosophers and a good deal of musicians who weren’t, Jeremy shows how the radically materialist, non-dualist analysis of Deleuze and Guattari can help us understand how music works on us as listeners, with examples ranging from Messiaen to Keith Rowe and Kode9.

Books: Deleuze and Guattari - Anti-Oedipus Ian Buchanan - Reader’s Guide to Anti-Oedipus Deleuze and Guattari - A Thousand Plateaus Jeremy Gilbert and Ewan Pearson - Discographies Jeremy Gilbert - Common Ground Kojo Eshun - More Brilliant Than the Sun Ian Buchanan & Marcel Swiboda (eds) - Deleuze and Music Tim Lawrence - “In Defence of Disco (Again)”. New Formations, 58, Summer 2006 Jeremy Gilbert - “In Defence of 'In Defence of Disco’”, New Formations, 58, Summer 2006

Tracklist: Olivier Messiaen - Fête des Belles Eaux Olivier Messiaen - Chronochromie Mozart - Adagio for Glass Harmonica Schumann - Cello Concerto in A Minor mvt. 1 Debussy - Rêverie Spontaneous Music Ensemble - Karyobin Pt. 5 Keith Rowe - Ode Machine No. 2 Oval - SD II Audio Template Kode9 & The Spaceape - Sine of the Dub

This is a patrons episode. To become a patron, head to Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.

In this patrons-only bonus episode, Jeremy and Tim have a conversation about what music has been on their turntables recently.

Tim kicks things off with a bang - sigh - with a field recording of a thunderstorm and a lengthy conversation about New Age, David Mancuso’s wind machines, Frankie Knuckles and the -8 pitch control. Jeremy brings Deep House and Welsh Jazz harp, along with memories of the trials and tribulations of record shopping at Fat Cat Records. 

Tim and Jeremy also return to Summer of Soul, share a lesser-known Pharoah Sanders cut, Afro-House floor fillers and dedicate some time to the life and work of Collin Curtis.

This is part of a rough series of more conversational, unplanned episodes reflecting on what's been on our record players recently and what we've been up to that we'll be releasing to patrons to say thank you for your support.

Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.

Tracklist:

Environments: Totally New Concepts in Sound - Ultimate Thunderstorm

Amanda Whiting - Little Sunflower

Ju Ju - Black Samba

Pharaoh Sanders - Oh Lord, Let Me Do No Wrong

Arturo Sandoval - Fiesta Mojo

Nina Simone - Are You Ready

Guinu - Palagô (Jose Marquez Remix)

Slam Mode - Monopole

Cignol - Modularity

Born Under A Rhyming Planet - Spasm Band

Following our last episode on the state of psychedelic culture in the 1970s, we wanted to expand the historical setting in which our series is situated. In that spirit, in this episode Jeremy goes solo, taking it all the way back to the 1790s for a historical primer on the New Left: a political tendency to emerge from the decline and split of the hegemonic left forces of the early and mid-century left tradition. In order to accurately explain who the New Left were - and to challenge a prevailing inaccurate story about what they achieved (more on that next episode) - we go back to the origins of the French Revolution for a refresher on what we mean by ‘left wing’. In a whistle stop tour, Jeremy explains the concepts of Liberalism, Conservatism and Radicalism, and the historical conjunctures that they emerged from. 

We hear about the ‘old left’ of the Communist party and the USSR, exploring their aesthetic and political frameworks, and how the tendency fractured after 1956. For the music heads, Jeremy discusses the somewhat bogus ideas of popular authenticity that gave folk music a privileged position within the old left, and lays the groundwork for the more expressive libertarian art forms that would accompany the New Left. Plus the Spanish Civil War, Trotsky and the New Left Review.

Become a patron at Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod

Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.

Tune in, Turn on, Get Down!

Books:

Doris Lessing - The Golden Notebook

EP Thompson - The Making of the English Working Class

Tracklist:

Ewan McColl and Peggy Seeger  - Dirty Old Town

Peter, Paul & Mary - If I Had A Hammer

Trini Lopez - If I Had A Hammer

Ewan McColl & Peggy Seeger - The First Time Ever I Saw Your Face

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the full podcast, plus much much more, become a patron at Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.

Jeremy and Tim conclude this mini-series on the 1975 Schizo-Culture conference with a look at some of the other contributors to the event. They explore the rhizomatic theories of Gilles Deleuze and discuss desire with Felix Guattari, taking in the Steppe nomads, molecular revolution, and explaining why trees are bad as they go. We also hear about the composer John Cage and his Zen Buddhist influences, the Mudd Club, the internal pressures the conference faced, and ask whether it could be seen as a success. 

Plus, minimalism, the Modern Lovers, and the meaning of ‘schizo’ in the conference title.

Books:

Deleuze and Guattari - A Thousand Plateaus

William Burroughs - Naked Lunch

Tracklist:

Spontaneous Music Ensemble - Forty Minutes pt.1

John Cage - 62 Mesostics Re Merce Cunningham

Steve Reich - Music for 18 Musicians

Eliane Radigue - Triptych pt.1

The Modern Lovers - Roadrunner

This is a patrons episode. To become a patron, visit www.patreon.com/LoveMessagePod

In this patrons-only episode, Tim and Jeremy continue our mini-series on the 1975 Schizo-Culture Conference. They discuss the demographic makeup of the two thousand attendees - from philosophers and writers to theatre makers, Black Panthers, radicals and prisoners - and consider what this interdisciplinary assemblage represented. We hear about the intellectual scenes of France and America, ask what they each had that the other lacked, and consider what the unexpected outcomes of Continental Philosophy eventually were.

Tim and Jeremy also discuss the potency of an irreducible multiplicity, S&M, the opportunities and limits of anti-psychology, and ask how much repression is too much repression?

Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.

Tracklist:

Dominatrix - The Dominatrix Sleeps Tonight

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode of LITM. Become a patron for just £3 at Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod

In this patrons-only episode, Jeremy and Tim begin the first of a mini-series on the 1975 Schizo-Culture Conference, held at Columbia University in NYC and convened by the writer and editor Sylvere Lotringer. Lotringer wanted to bring the ideas of Continental Philosophy to the US, so we hear about the intellectual culture and key thinkers of post-'68 France, including Derrida, Foucault, and Deleuze and Guattari. 

Tim and Jeremy consider the position of madness, sanity and freedom to these thinkers, how these ideas influenced the 'schizoanalysis' from which the conference took its name, and how they contrasted with Freudian thoughts and methods of analysis. Plus, free jazz, the Floyd, Bowie and beyond.

Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.

Tracklist:

Mahjun - Nous Ouvrirons Les Casernes
David Bowie - Aladdin Sane
Pink Floyd - Shine On You Crazy Diamond
Ornette Coleman - Free JazzOrnette Coleman - The Circle With A Hole In The Middle
Television - Little Johnny Jewel part 1 & 2

Books:
Michel Foucault - Discipline and Punish
Deleuze & Guattari - Anti-Oedipus
Deleuze & Guattari - A Thousand Plateaus

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To become a patron, head to Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.

In this patrons-only episode, Jeremy and Tim respond to an article in the New York Times about early evening partying for which Tim was interviewed - and misrepresented!

This precipitates a wider conversation about the history of daytime partying and how partying at night became normalised. Tim and Jeremy recount their experiences of dancing in the day at Lazy Dog and Body and Soul, explore the reasons why throwing an intense daytime party is hard, and make the case for an early bedtime.

Jeremy and Tim also cover the Northern Soul 'weekender', drag balls, rent parties, nascent Acid culture, amphetamines, rave, and - for the first time on the show - the Bee Gees.

Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.

Tracklist:
Wilson Pickett - In The Midnight Hour
The Beatles - Day Tripper
Bohannon - Have A Good Day
Dobie Gray - Out on the Floor
Bee Gees - Night Fever
Eddie Grant - Time Warp

This is a patrons episode. To hear the full thing, become a patron at Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.

On this patrons-only episode of Love is the Message we are excited to welcome the legendary Nicky Siano onto the show. Nicky is a central character in story of the NYC underground party scene and disco, as well as a frequent interviewee for Tim's books.

Nicky discusses his recent book, 'I, DJ: Stonewall to Studio 54', which tells the story of his life behind the decks in New York in the early 70s. We talk about Nicky's early life, how he got his first DJing break, what New York City was like in the 70s, and how he started the Gallery.

Nicky also shares stories about his friends Frankie Knuckles and Larry Levan, his work with Alex Rosner on building the perfect sound system, the various early turntablist techniques of his crew of DJs at that time, and his experiences away from the dance floor working with people with HIV/AIDS.

We're very grateful to Nicky for generously giving his time, humour and endless stories. You can read his book in serialised form by visiting Patreon.com/nickysiano.

love lasts forever, glitter - they sweep it up every night...

Tracklist:

The O'Jays - Love Train

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To become a patron, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod

In this patrons-only bonus episode, Jeremy and Tim have a conversation about what music has been on their turntables recently.  

True to form, Jeremy brings psychedelic jazz and ambient selections both modern and classic. The legacy of Alice Coltrane is discussed around two excellent releases from the Spiritmuse label alongside some beguiling flute playing from Tenderlonious.

Tim asks: where have all the live dance bands gone? Answering his own question, he brings a number of high quality Afrobeat cuts from Tokyo to Zurich. The guys discuss the role of live musicianship in a computer age, why were we all getting into cumbia, and close on an end-of-the-night Bobby Womack classic.  

This is part of a rough series of more conversational, unplanned episodes reflecting on what's been on our record players recently and what we've been up to that we'll be releasing to patrons to say thank you for your support.  

Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.

Tracklist:
Surya Botofasina - Sun of Keshava
Tenderlonious - Shahla Bagh
Wau Wau Collectif - Xale (Toubab Dialaw Kids Rhyme)
Konkolo Orchestra - Blue G.
Jaribu Afrobeat Arkestra - Rock Steady
Ed Longo & Applied Arts Ensemble - Love On the Line
Grupo Jejeje - Kumbia de la Rober
Bosq & Kaleta - Ipade
Bobby Womack - Daylight

Our mini-series on the Downtown gay scene continues in earnest, so grab your towel because we're visiting the iconic Continental Baths. Tim and Jeremy give the history of this seminal space, charting the various forms of bathhouse culture since Antiquity, and exploring the role of promiscuous, anonymous and/or public gay sex through time.

They also discuss 'queerness' as a radical act, heternormativity, the decriminalisation of gay sex and the utopian aspirations for radical changes to ways of living that characterised New York in the early 70s.

Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.    

Tune in, Turn on, Get Down!  

Become a patron at Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod

And check out our new website: https://www.loveisthemessagepod.co.uk/

Tracklist:
Bette Midler - Do You Want To Dance?
Bobby Byrd - Hot Pants (I'm Coming, I'm Coming)
The Equals - Black Skinned Blue Eyed Boys
The Staple Singers - I'll Take You There

Books:
Guy Hocquenghem - Homosexual Desire
Deleuze and Guattari - Anti-Oedipus

This is a patrons-only episode. To hear the full interview, and many more episodes like it, go to Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.

In this patrons-only episode Jeremy and Tim talk about New York City in the 1970s with writer and academic Sharon Zukin. Sharon is a Professor of Sociology, teaching at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York, and the author of books including Loft Living: Culture and Capital in Urban Change, Landscapes of Power: From Detroit to Disney World, and Naked City: The Death and Life of Authentic Urban Places.

In this interview, Jeremy and Tim ask Sharon both about her research and her experiences as a public sector worker in New York City in the 1970s. They discuss changing patterns of cooperative housing and loft living in downtown Manhattan, the social and economic circulation within and between these various neighbourhoods, and the problems loft living presented. They also talk about the visual art scenes of the East Village and Soho, the pursuit of professional art careers within these spaces, the role of gender and race in how these opportunities were presented, and the incorporation of the avant-garde into the American establishment.

Tim, Jeremy and Sharon also discuss the work of David Harvey, Richard Nixon, suburbia, and scrutinise why the 1970s came to be so widely understood as a crisis decade.

Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.

The is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear more, as well as many more episodes on Fordism, Afrofuturism, Walter Gibbons, Marx and more, become a patron by visiting Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.

As we're in the dog days of December, we're happy to share with you: the LITM Christmas Special 2022. Tim and Jeremy have selected 9 records to form the basis of your alternative festive listening. We hear from show staples like the Salsoul Orchestra, Arthur Russell and Lee 'Scratch' Perry, some seasonal deep house, Senegalese monastic music and the Modern Jazz Quartet. We also discuss the relevance of the winter solstice, the proliferation of novelty records, what makes a gimmick, acid brass, glam rock, vibes and more...

Thank you for all your support this year, it's been great to have you all along for the party. We'll be taking a short winter break, then the music is back on the platter early in January.

Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.  

Tracklist:
Williams Fairey Brass Band - Voodoo Ray
The Modern Jazz Quartet - England's Carol
The Salsoul Orchestra - Christmas Medley
Choeur des Moines de l'abbaye de Keur Moussa au Sénégal - Exulte, fille de Sion
Blondie & Freddie - Yuletide Throw Down Rapture
Lee 'Scratch' Perry - Merry Christmas (Happy New Year)
Arthur Russell - In the Light of the Miracle
Jerome Sydenham & Kerri Chandler - Winter's Blessing
The Celestial Singers - Stand on the Word

In this week's episode Jeremy and Tim flip the record for Side B of our examination of the 12" single. The guys consider what was going on in Dub culture and the format in the mid-70s, talk dubplate spec, and give the proper meaning to the dub discomix. They consider the appealing acoustic qualities of the 12" record, situate SalSoul within the story, and consider when the 12" single could be judged to have truly established itself. Plus, Walter Gibbons.

Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.  

Tune in, Turn on, Get Down!

Become a patron from £3pcm at Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod

And check out our new website: https://www.loveisthemessagepod.co.uk/

Tracklist:
The Jays and Ranking Trevor - Yaho
Patti Jo - Make Me Believe In You
Double Exposure - 10 Percent (Walter Gibbons Remix)
Freddie Perren - 2 Pigs and a Hog
Rare Earth - Happy Song
Jermaine Jackson - Erucu
Jacki - Sun, Sun, Sun

This is an excerpt from a patrons episode. To hear the full show, plus lectures on Fordism, Marxism and music, book readings, interviews and more, become a patron from £3pcm by visiting Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod

In this patrons-only bonus episode, Jeremy and Tim have a conversation about what music has been on their turntables recently.

Tim and Jeremy play and discuss Malian Blues-inflected modern psychedelia, uncover devotional south Indian classical music, and try to pin down what Prog House is meant to mean. They select another slice of excellent contemporary ambience from show favourites International Anthem, introduce a new Afro House bootleg through Radio Mundo, and tie back to the main series with a new Walter Gibbons release. Plus, sunrise on Mount Sinai.

This is part of a rough series of more conversational, unplanned episodes reflecting on what's been on our record players recently and what we've been up to that we'll be releasing to patrons to say thank you for your support.

Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.

Be sure to visit our new website athttps://www.loveisthemessagepod.co.uk/

Tune in, turn on, get down!

Tracklist:

Vieux Farka Toure and Khruangbin - Savanne
Bombay S Jayashri - Kalimaheshwari
Photay with Carlos Niño - Change
Jorja Smith - Rose Rouge
Roy Ayers - Liquid Love
Greg Foat - Electric Dreams pt.2
Andronicus - Make You Whole
Radio Mundo - Garango
Kerri Chandler - Kaiku (Disco Version)
Walter Gibbons - The Ten Commandments Are the Law of the Land

A major technological innovation to emerge from the milieu of NYC 1975 was the 12" single. In this episode, Jeremy and Tim uncover the demands of dancers and DJs in the discos for longer tracks, the precursors found in acid rock and Bob Dylan, and tell the story of individual releases that presaged widespread adoption of the 12" format.

Tim and Jeremy also talk album aesthetics, the Penny Lane / Strawberry Fields double A side, nascent remix culture, the importance of wide grooves, and return to a recurring character of the show: Tom Moulton.

Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.    

Tune in, Turn on, Get Down!  

Become a Patron from just £3pcm at Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod

And check out our new website: https://www.loveisthemessagepod.co.uk/

Tracklist:
Rare Earth - Get Ready
Eddie Palmieri - Una Dia Bonito
Leon Russell - It's A Hard Rain Gonna Fall
Don Downing - Dream World
Al Downing - I'll Be Holding On (Disco Mix)
Calhoon - (Do You Wanna) Dance Dance Dance
Bobby Moore - (Call Me Your) Anything Man
South Shore Commission - Free Man (Tom Moulton Mix)

This is a excerpt of a patrons-only episode. To become a patron from just £3pcm, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.

In the concluding episode of the mini-series, Jeremy completes his account of those Marxist academics and thinkers whose work either makes reference to music or can be brought to bear on it. Picking up in the 1950s, we hear about ways of understanding music's autonomous capacity to affect people's bodies and make them feel, desublimation, Structuralism and it's descendents, and vibe. Jeremy touches on the writing of Bloch, Marcuse, Freud, Barthes and Kristeva, as well as staples of the show Deleuze and Guattari. We hear about the 'grain' of the voice, the difference between the meaning and the material aspects of song, and finally return to the big question: what drives historical change?

Tracklist:

Pete Seeger - Which Side Are You On?
Ewan McColl & Peggy Seeger - The Shoals of Herring
The Grateful Dead - Birdsong

Books, articles etc:

#ACFM Podcast on folk music: https://novaramedia.com/2021/05/08/acfm-microdose-jeremy-gilbert-on-folk-music/
Ernst Bloch - The Spirit of Utopia
Herbert Marcuse - One Dimensional Man
Herbert Marcuse - Eros and Civilisation
Sigmund Freud - Civilization and its Discontents
Roland Barthes - Mythologies
Roland Barthes - The Grain of the Voice
Julia Kristeva - Revolutions in Poetic Language
Deleuze & Guattari - Anti-Oedipus
Deleuze & Guattari - A Thousand Plateaus
Jeremy Gilbert - 'Becoming Music: The Rhizomatic Moment of Improvisation’ in Deleuze and Music Buchanan & Swiboda (Eds)
Jaques Attali - Noise