Sat 30 December - 2023 New Releases Roundup - New Music

 New music releases from 2023 including Kelsey Michael, Hot Wax, Ger Eaton, Borough Council, Montague Armstrong, Nick Haeffner, Nick Carlisle, David Lance Callahan and many from the Dimple Discs stable.

Sat 16 December - James Ensor in Ostend

James Ensor, the Belgian painter beloved by the counter-culture for his psychedelic use of mask and satire begins a posthumous retrospective for 2024 with three shows in Flanders and Brussels. A visit to the first at the Mu.Zee in Oostende is also a visit to his hometown and an opportunity to see Flemish still life painting from 1830 to 1930. Also Marvin Gaye in the seaside port where he wrote 'Sexual Healing'. For more information see thenewsagents.blogspot.com

Sat 9 December - Benjamin Zephaniah, Kirsty MacColl and Carlos Gardel

 The work of three genius writers no longer with us dominates this show, Benjamin Zephaniah who died this week and who was such a huge life force of the Newham Arts Community in the late 1980s and 1990s when Jude worked at the Tom Allen Arts Centre, Kirsty MacColl the singer-songwriter and Carlos Gardel the most acclaimed writer of tango song. 

Sat 2 Dec - Pioneer Radio Stations

Amateur pioneer stations in the UK (Great Britain) in the early 1920s. Looking at some of those early broadcasters who set up radio stations in their own homes and venues, selected ones of which later became the network of the British Broadcasting Company. Plus music from Joni Mitchell, Sons of the Pioneers and remembering Shane McGowan's pub in Islington, Filthy McNasty's. For more information see thenewsagents.blogspot.com

Sat 25 Nov - Helmut Newton in A Coruna

 Helmut Newton Show in at the Marta Ortega Pérez Foundation in A Coruña. The soundtrack this week features music relevant to the exhibition including themes from Hitchcock and Fritz Lang movies.

Sat 18 Nov - Fossil Finder in Us All

Fossils Finder in Us All is a new community arts project in Hastings in conjunction between Explore the Arch and Hastings Museum and Art Gallery. We play some of the soundscape made by the team then launch through imaginary time travel into lost valleys of dinosaurs through music, foley, animation and sound design in popular culture. 

Sat 12 Nov - Jazz Fusion, Nucleus and the the First Play to be Televised

 Jazz Fusion including tracks from Nucleus albums and sonic extracts from the first play to be televised - Logie Baird was inventing television in Hastings one hundred years ago.

Sat 4 Nov - Palestinian folk music and Geoff Deane (Leyton Buzzards)

Palestinian folk songs plus a little baroque pop and pop memoir from Geoff Deane of the Leyton Buzzards.

Sat 21 Oct - Piano Twentieth Century

Piano music from the twentieth century and beyond with selections relating to songwriting and jazzy playing. In advance of a new Sunday afternoon of 'kind-of-jazz' music at the Twelve Hundred Postcards bar in Queen's Road, Hastings. Part of an occasional radio series looking at artists using the piano as a musical tool, and the fate of this once popular now often unwanted instrument in the 2020s

https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/the-news-agents-21-october-2023-piano-twentieth-century-1/

Sat 7 Oct - Wreckless Eric's 'Leisureland' & Ground Collective at Electro Studios Project Space

 Wreckless Eric's new album 'Leisureland' as he prepares to tour South East England including a visit to Hastings, Ground Collective at Electro Studios Project Space, Michael Gibbs's score for Madame Sin and George Harrison tunes.

https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/the-news-agents-7-october-2023-wreckless-eric-madame-sin/

Sat 14 Oct - Hoagy Carmichael & Bettina Schroeder

Hoagy Carmichael, one of the top Tin Pan Alley songwriters plus early ragtime from James Scott and Bettina Schroeder talks about curating the exhibition Vida la Viva forthcoming at Hundred Years Gallery

https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/the-news-agents-14-october-2023-hoagy-carmichael-james-scott-vida-la-viva/

Sat 30 Sept - Picasso at Guggenheim, Basque sport and culture

Picasso as a sculptor celebrated at the Guggenheim Museum in Bilbao, Basque Euskadi as part of the commemorations taking place, primarily in France and Spain, on the 50 year anniversary of his death. Plus reflections on Basque sport and cultural icons, particularly the traineras coastal boat racing. 

https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/the-news-agents-30-september-2023-picasso-sculpture-guggenheim-bilbao/

Sat 20 Sept - Galician Photography, Paganism and Animism

Fresh from a photography trip in Galicia, Spain exploring ideas of paganism and animism in the landscape. Plus some classic songwriting tracks and thoughts on lyric writing.

https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/the-news-agents-23-september-2023-galicia-pagan-photography-lyrics-for-songs/ 

Sat 16 Sept - Logie Baird Part Two

John Logie Baird and the Invention of Television Part Two. To commemorate the centenary of Logie Baird's invention of TV which took place in Linton Crescent, Hastings in June 1923 - although at this point his successful prototype used wires and was only able to transmit the outline of a Maltese Cross. This show continues the story of Logie Baird.

 https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/the-news-agents-16-september-2023-logie-baird-2/

Sat 9 Sept - Logie Baird Part One

 To commemorate the centenary of Logie Baird's invention of TV which took place in Linton Crescent, Hastings in June 1923 - although at this point his successful prototype used wires and was only able to transmit the outline of a Maltese Cross. This show tells some of the story of Logie Baird, interspersed with some 1960s songs from film and gospel rock.

https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/the-news-agents-9-september-2023-logie-baird/

Sat 24 June - A Mix of Cello Music

On acquiring a second-hand cello Jude is reconnecting with her grandfather's instrument as a player. He played cello in the Hallé Orchestra for 44 years. A mix of cello music selected from different sources selected to mark this departure and begin a new musical adventure revisiting sounds of her childhood as the granddaughter of a virtuoso cellist. |"He would disappear into the shady front room where his memories were kept and these dark emotional tones would waft through to the parlour where I would be drawing."

Sat 17 June - Cornelius Cardew with Carolyn Rogers

Carolyn Rogers, a member of the Scratch Orchestra looks back on working with Cornelius Cardew and those heady times of experimentation. With memories from their performance at the infamous Munich Olympics in 1972 where although orchestra left before the terrorist attack was implemented the story followed them to their opera appearances in Austria. With extracts from 'The Great Learning' and more.




https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/the-news-agents-17-june-2023-cornelius-cardew-scratch-orchestra/

Sat 10 June - Latvian Country Dance

Latvian country dance with Raimonds Dale of Dudalnieki, the Latvian folk group group based in West Yorkshire. With music from lively dances like pankukas (pancakes) and famous polkas like Oira Oira. If you are interested in finding out more about Latvian country dance, visit https://www.dancukratuve.lv/




https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/the-news-agents-10-june-2023-latvian-country-dance/ .

Sat 3 June - Serbian folk and gypsy music

A trip around Serbian folk music and Serbian gypsy music. Featuring instruments such as tamburica and frula, vocalists Predrag Gojković Cune, Lepa Lukić and Lukić's friend the Bosnian singer Silvana Armenulić.

https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/the-news-agents-10-june-2023-balkan_serbian-gypsy-folk/

Sat 27 May - Reconstructing Music of Ancient Greece

Reconstructing ancient Greek music. Looking at the current practitioners working to remake and to play ancient music, academics looking at the sources and the solutions that have been drawn for them. This exercise intersects with fantasy music making and composition for epics of cinema and TV such at 'Game of Thrones'. Instruments featured include the aulos and the kithara.

Sat 20 May - Saidi Baladi Dance

Saidi belly dance dates back to ancient Egypt, a folkoric dance from the Uplands. Looking at this performance and its music and other arts stemming from this investigation, stimulated by the ‘A Curious Agenda’ Dream festival which takes place in Hastings in early June. With Yemeni tracks too from Tel Aviv based El Khat and earlier popular 45s from Yemen now being distributed by the Dust-to-Digital label.

The News Agents - 20 May 2023 (Saidi Baladi Dance) by Resonance FM | Mixcloud

Sat 13 May - St Andrews Mews & Horror Cinema Tracks

 During an arts project at St Andrews Mews, Hastings we witnessed the rediscovery of a boarded area that has not been touched for over one hundred years. This evocative and creepy-feeling space has prompted thoughts of Edwardian horror stories containing warnings not to disturb the devil. This has prompted a show of samples of horror soundtracks, classic and not so classic and reflections on composing for this area of cinema . With recommendations from Resonance FM listeners and social media friends. 

The News Agents - 13 May 2023 (Horror Movie Scores and Rediscovery of Abandoned Buildings ) by Resonance FM | Mixcloud

Sat 6 May - Keith Rodway and Necessary Animals

 Conversation Hastings continues with musician, author and film-maker Keith Rodway about the ongoing mixed-media project Necessary Animals with Amanda Louise Thompson and his life in music and other arts, focusing on post-punk and art-rock. Tracks featuring Lucy Brennan, Paul Huebner, Liane Carroll, Mick Hutchinson and Derek Lee Ragin plus some live coded Morris beats from the ongoing creative technology experiments at the Montague Armstrong workshop. For more information see thenewsagents.blogspot.com

Sat 29 April - Mouth Music, Puirt à beul and Jacobitism

A journey through the arts of diddling and Scottish mouth music, how to imitate the bagpipes and instruments with only vocals plus stories of Jacobite resistance in music. As a descendant of a Paisley poet and the ferryman from Oban to the islands, this is a personal trip into ancestral music making and history of Jacobitism.

https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/the-news-agents-29-april-2023-scottish-mouth-music-puirt-%C3%A0-beul-and-jacobite-history/

Sat 22 April - Ukraine and Russia songs of conflict - Andrei Rogatchevski

 Andrei Rogatchevski Professor of Russian Literature and Culture at UiT - the Arctic University of Norway looks at music of the relationship between Ukraine and Russia in music by analyzing the popularity of current songs via their presence on the Youtube platform, discussing what the music and lyrics show about attitudes and political and national identity. This is the fourth show with Professor Rogatchevski on songs of the conflict. 

The News Agents - 22 April 2023 (Andrei Rogatchevski) by Resonance FM | Mixcloud

Sat 15 April - Waulking and Gaelic songs in the Scottish Islands

 Looking at Gaelic songs in the Scottish islands in particular 'waulking', the songs sung by women working cloth, and output of some contemporary artists who have been influenced by this folk tradition.

The News Agents - 15 April 2023 (Scottish Waulking Songs) by Resonance FM | Mixcloud

Sat 8 April - A Town Explores a Book - Mary Seacole

 A Town Explores a Book is a unique community arts festival in St Leonards-on-Sea in Sussex. This year the book chosen is 'Wonderful Adventures of Mrs Seacole in Many Lands', the autobiography of Mary Seacole who was well known for her work in the Crimean War of the 1850s. Including original sound pieces by Ruby Colley and Yasmin Aisha 'Unmasked' and 'Stripped Bare'. 'Unmasked' features migrant community members Les Booth, Michael Braithwaite, Paulo Lopes, Dave Rohoman and Elwaldo Romeo. Mary Seacole was born in Kingston Jamaica to a mother of mixed heritage. 

The News Agents - 8 April 2023 (A Town Explores a Book: Mary Seacole in St Leonards-on-Sea) by Resonance FM | Mixcloud

Sat 1 April - Irish and Scottish Slow Airs

A wandering through Irish and Scottish airs, exploring the music and art of the Celtic lament, dirge and keen. 

Sat 18 Mar - Cairo Cosmopolitan City

Cairo nightlife in the 1920s and 1930s, an essay on the city and looking at women who flourished there (briefly), and this disappeared era. With orientalist soundtrack from the period and extracts from a conversation with Stephanie Mireille Halser whose family and father lived in the city during these cosmopolitan years.

https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/the-news-agents-18-march-2023-cairo-cosmopolitan-city-1920s/

Sat 11 Mar - Dennis Potter, 1920s & 1930s music, Pennies from Heaven

Dennis Potter, TV playwright and his three series 'Pennies from Heaven', 'The Singing Detective' and 'Lipstick on Your Collar'. Looking at the first of these series, 'Pennies from Heaven' and reflecting on the use of popular music to create a fantasy life juxtaposing with and interweaving with the gritty realistic drama.

Sat 4 Mar - Morris (Rheda's Dream)

having newly joined a Morris side, Rheda's Dream in St Leonards on Sea, to play fiddle and dance and having a plan to bring together live coding and Morris for a presentation at the International Conference of Live Coding, Jude explores some of the tunes and history of Morris dance in England.

https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/the-news-agents-4-mar-2023-morris-rhedas-dream/

Sat 25 Feb - Cathal Coughlan, Jacknife Lee, Telefís and Corrosive Nostalgia

 Jacknife Lee (ex-Compulsion and producer for U2, REM, Modest Mouse), Irish producer settled in the USA, talks about his work and collaboration as Telefís with the sadly recently departed artist Cathal Coughlan (Fatima Mansions, Microdisney). Playing tracks from Cathal's final solo album 'Song of Co Aklan' and'a Dó' (Telefís). In these last works Cathal Coughlan explores a 'corrosive nostalgia'.

https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/the-news-agents-25-feb-2023-cathal-coughlan-telefis-jacknife-lee-2/

Sat 17 Feb - Alan Hempsall, Crispy Ambulance, Scissorgun, Manchester

 Alan Hempsall talks about Crispy Ambulance, Manchester and music in in the late 70s and early 80s and about his current electronic project with Dave Clarkson mixing synth, drum programming with treated guitars, vocals and prose, Scissorgun.

Sat 11 Feb - Bollywood composers Kalyanji-Anandji

Annual Resonance FM fundraising show and occasional Bollywood composer series with a study of musical duo Kalyanji-Anandji. Classic tracks include a song featured on The Simpsons episode 'Kiss Kiss Bang Bangalore' and a party take of 'Twinkle Twinkle Little Star' alongside some brilliant thriller theme music from the 1960s and 1970s.

https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/the-news-agents-11-feb-2023-resonance-fundraiser-show-bollywood-composers-kalyanji-anandji/

Sat 4 Feb - Dave Clarkson - Pocket Guides to Faded British Isles

Dave Clarkson on his latest exploration of faded British Isles in the series 'A Pocket Guide to Dream Land: Faded Fairgrounds and Ghostal Ghost Towns'. In this release he processes field recordings from New Brighton amusement park on the Wirral. For 30 years Manchester (UK) based Dave Clarkson has been involved in music, experimental, electronic and beyond.

https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/the-news-agents-4-feb-2023-dave-clarkson-pocket-guides-experimental-musics/

Sat 28 Jan - Americana and Literary Songwriting - Jason McNiff

Fingerstyle guitarist and songwriter Jason McNiff talks about literary and Americana influences including the cantautore Fabrizio Cristiano De André and about his weekly series of singer-songwriter shows, Sundowner, at the well-known music pub the Jenny Lind in Hastings.


The News Agents - 28 January 2023 (Jason McNiff & Fabrizio de Andre) by Resonance FM | Mixcloud

Sat 21 Jan - Dance Bands of 1920s & 1930s - Al Bowlly

 A study of 1930s dance band music featuring the short but popular career of singer Al Bowlly and his enduring impact on television and film scores. Part of in an occasional series on 1920s & 1930s bands including interviews with some of the new generation of volunteer archivists who are using the internet to catalogue and make accessible the legacy of this period of music online.  

https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/the-news-agents-21-jan-2023-al-bowlly-1920s-1930s-dance-music/

Sat 14 Jan - Bollywood Composers - O P Nayyar

The occasional series on Bollywood composers continues with a look at the 1950s output of O P Nayyar focusing on his seminal and popular works with Mohammed Rafi, Asha Bhosle, Kishore Kumar and Geeta Dutt in blockbuster films such as 'Mr and Mrs 55'. His work is known for exploring light romantic themes - thumri and for his use of the tonga beat - but more generally he was a great innovator and a bold, robust songwriter who made a strong mark on the soundscape of this classic era of cinema. Plus, a heartfelt tribute to friend of the arts and of many international artists who visited his hometown of Atina in Lazio, Luciano Caira.
https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/the-news-agents-14-jan-2023-bollywood-composers-o-p-nayyar-2/

Sat 25 Dec - Ziemassvētki - Raimonds Dale (Dūdalnieki)

 Ziemassvētki: experiments in news and arts with Jude Montague. Raimonds Dale from Dūdalnieki talks and shares songs of the pagan festive season in the Baltics and how ancient pastoral and agricultural traditions survive through the dark and cold of Latvian wintertide. 

https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/the-news-agents-25-dec-2022-ziemassvetki-latvian-pagan-winter-festival/