Martyn's Four Things
Four things to take with you..
I... just... can't... resist.. doing more things. Making music, compiling a radio show, organizing events, run a label, write a book, an endless restlessness and need to amplify the things I enjoy and believe in. A little while ago I was mourning the hundreds of emails with "interesting links" that I have sent over the years to the dark depths of my friend Jeroen Erosie's inbox, to never see the light of day again. That's when I got the idea to do this modest, irregular news letter, sharing things I've come across, amplifying friends' work, and staying in touch.. Hope you enjoy, please unsubscribe if not, I will not hold it against you! Feel free to forward to others if you think they're interested in it as well.
Martyn,
Sept 23, 2019
READ: John Chau
A couple weeks ago I came across this fascinating long read by Doug Bock Clark for GQ about John Chau's encounters with (one of the last) uncontacted tribes in the world. You have probably heard about this story a couple months ago, a young American missionary was killed after trying to convert this tribe in North Sentinel (in the Indian Ocean) to Christianity. This article gives you a thorough look at missionary work anno 2019, (There is a Christian website that lists uncontacted tribes in the world that still require "Messengers of the Good News" so you can google which one you want to go and visit!) and a lot of background on the pitch black history of missionary work and Western encounters in this part of the world. It's a bit of a read but I guarantee you it's worth it. https://www.gq.com/story/john-chau-missionary-and-uncontacted-tribe
WATCH: Jeremy Deller's Everybody in the Place
It received a lot of attention already, but Jeremy Deller's new BBC Four documentary about the birth or Rave is so good I feel everyone needs to see it. I've been thinking quite a lot recently about the endless stream of articles etc digging up the past, legendary club night this, amazing underrated artist such, not everything needs to be regurgitated endlessly. But when historic events are put in an original, even current, context, or when a new look at old facts actually teaches us something about ourselves and the world, the results can be very satisfying. Deller places rave culture in a harsh socio-economic context, as a yardstick for the social changes of early 90s Britain, and discards it of its often over-romanticized narrative of unity, love, and diversity. A must watch! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Thr8PUAQuag
LISTEN: Cedric "Im" Brooks
My friend Garin who runs the local record shop "Right On", round the corner here in Herndon VA has been obsessing with me about the Jamaican saxophonist Cedric "Im" Brooks. You may have clocked me playing music on my NTS show by Count Ossie and the Mystic Revelation of Rastafari, of which Cedric was an integral member. Cedric attended the super famous Alpha Boys School, a name you will find in many Jamaican music books and biographies as it was an important stomping ground for many reggae musicians, especially the more spiritual ones. After stints in several uptown hotel bands he ended up moving to the US in 1968 to attend the Combs School of Music in Philadelphia. Here, a musical transformation took place as he encountered the music of Sonny Rollins, Leon Thomas and most importantly Sun Ra and his Arkestra. Suffice to say that upon his return to Jamaica in 1970, Cedric had become a different spiritual being and recorded some brilliant music that lies between reggae, traditional Nyabinghi drumming, and jazz. Check him out on Discogs, besides the Mystic Revelation also his bands Divine Light and Light of Saba.
https://youtu.be/t3X5tH8J88M
READ: Cycling in Holland
English-language articles about the joys of Dutch cycling culture; for most major US newspapers and magazines they are a yearly repetition, alongside musings on Danish design, French parenting, etc. Most of these cutesy stories include an inexperienced, clumsy American trying to navigate incredibly complicated traffic patterns, and they're sprinkled with 'funny' anecdotes. Dan Kois' article in The New Yorker ticks those boxes perfectly ("In The Netherlands, only tourists wear helmets" hahahaha) but it does dig a little deeper into the Dutch psyche, finding solutions for living in dense areas, how to become part of a traffic pattern instead of 'encountering' one. "Car drivers behave like a bunch of geese. They have the same distance from each other and fly at the same speed. Cyclists move like a swarm of sparrows, there are thousands of them moving in chaos, but there are no collisions." https://www.newyorker.com/culture/personal-history/how-i-learned-to-cycle-like-a-dutchman