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Sound Science · Music History · Music Theory · Origins & Oddities · Genre Tombola · Entertaining Noises
Follow a musical thread: Five notes, many musical worlds.
Episode 42 – Never the Same Melody Twice with Akram Abdulfattah
What happens when a melody can never be played quite the same way twice? Akram Abdulfattah brings his six-string violin to explore maqam, microtones and improvisation, with stories of musical tradition, family and his Palestinian-American identity.
Episode 35 — Mulatu Astatke, Pentatonic Worlds and Ethio Jazz
Mulatu Astatke — the father of Ethio jazz — joins me in a long-lost interview recorded during Hackney Colliery Band’s Collaborations Vol. 1 sessions. We dig into pentatonic worlds, the Derashe tribe, unusual scales, and how Ethiopian traditions shaped global music.
There’s also a trip through the physics of sound, a live Barbican recording of “Derashe”, and reflections on Mulatu’s incredible collaborations from Duke Ellington to Talib Kweli. A deep, warm, gently mind-bending episode.
Episode 34 — Ciphers, Picks and the Art of the Jam
From WOMEX in Finland, cyphers meet bluegrass picks with Gangstagrass — a live acoustic “Do Better,” an in-studio freestyle, and why the banjo’s a “pitched rhythm” engine. Improvisation as a shared language across genres.
Episode 33 - Malawian Madalitso, Vampire Vamps & Sofa Songs
From sofa farts to Malawian folk, Steve Pretty explores how play, curiosity and imperfection keep music alive.
Episode 32 – Sampling Firepits, Feeling Flamenco, Finding Tonás
From a Dorset firepit to Manchester flamenco, Steve Pretty explores how rhythm and emotion evolve through sound.
Episode 28 - Jeremy Deller, 303s and Knitting
Artist Jeremy Deller joins Steve to talk Acid Brass, TB-303s, knitting, and how art, brass bands and dance music collide — with Manchester threads throughout.
Episode 22 — Rock n roll defibrillators, bierhall melodies and tech trance
Rock ’n’ roll fundraisers for defibrillators, Bavarian beer hall brass at the Hofbräuhaus, and a Tech Trance Prosit — a Genre Tombola trip through how music saves lives, oils communities and powers dancefloors.
Episode 20 — Afro-joik, arctic ukuleles and 'Big Boobies Is A State Of Mind'
From Bitchy Big Boobies Bang Band in Hemnesberget to an Arctic eight‑string ukulele maker and Afro-joik fusions in Vadsø, this Norway special explores pride, place, Sámi identity and genre-bending joik.
Episode 19 - Narco music, Ola Onabulé and turf wars
Studio time with Ola Onabulé, AI-anxious soul grooves and a corrido-fuelled look at narco music, diss tracks and musical turf wars.
Episode 17 — Sound balancers, Bowie's favourite studio and Debussy
Inside Maida Vale with BBC sound balancer Martin Appleby, plus Debussy's Arabesques and an AI challenge — an episode about how recordings really work and where musical nuance still wins.
Episode 14 — Eliza, a cello made of U-boats and Igbo flow
Eliza on announcing pregnancy live on stage, Verity Simmons on a U-boat-spiked cello, and a Genre Tombola dive into Igbo rap, rhythm and call-and-response.
Episode 13 — Worldwide Washboard Registry, autistic art, rockets and zydeco
Autistic Joy and accessible sound with Maddi Crease, New Orleans washboard and Zydeco with Alex Macdonald, and Robyn Rocket’s inclusive space-trumpet nights at Cafe OTO.
Episode 12 — Frank Turner, Trumpet Mafiosi and not talking about Jimmy
Ashlin Parker on Trumpet Mafia, blues and New Orleans, Frank Turner on UK hardcore ethics and FTHC, and a shared attempt to answer: what is the point of music?
Episode 11 — Lofi hip hop, Zigaboo grooves and New Orleans explorations
Hannah Davis on New Orleans community music, a lofi hip hop mix deconstruction, and a deep funk homage to The Meters and Zigaboo grooves.
Episode 10 — East Anglian cowpunk, trombone marathons, the 'i' word and reverb
Trombonist and ultrarunner Nathanial Dye on living loudly with stage four cancer, Steve's deep dive into reverb from Wilton's to the Natural History Museum, and an AI-boosted East Anglian cowpunk experiment.
Episode 8 — Samplers, orchestras and fancy dress harpists
A dog-costumed harp cadenza with the LSO leads into a shed-deep dive on samplers, Amen breaks, synths and a UK hardcore rework of the Origin of the Pieces theme.
Episode 6 — Festive phasing, guitar percussion and Nitin Sawhney
Festive Reich-inspired phasing, sleepless sleigh bells and a deep studio conversation with Nitin Sawhney on flamenco, Indian classical music, rhythm cycles, modes, identity and what music is actually for.
Episode 5 — Nordic creativity, grand pianos and AI emo
Northern Norway workshops, young players taking charge of their own music, a Fazioli grand piano up close with Birk, and a Genre Tombola deep dive into emo pop with LK Francis and AI-assisted angst.
Episode 4 — Harmonic remembrance, blues shouting and deathgrind taxonomy
Bugles in Abney Park, brass harmonics and Remembrance Sunday, binaural blues shouting with Nicole Cassandra Smit, and a gloriously over-detailed tour through deathgrind with Andrew O’Neill — plus Philip Larkin over blast beats.
Episode 3 — Pubs, flutes, township rhythms and tape delay
A hymn to pub gigs and grassroots venues, binaural baritone sax and flute experiments with Tamar Osborn, and Claude Deppa guiding a joyful, political dive into South African mbaqanga and township rhythms.