Love is the Message: Dance, Music and Counterculture

In this episode Tim and Jeremy continue the story of the NYC Record Pool. We hear how the Pool invited the record labels to their inaugural meeting in the basement of David Mancuso's Prince Street Loft, the demands they made of them, and the egalitarian way they wished the Pool to be organised. These techniques of self organisation and collective self-assertion are set against the wider contemporary context of political and social movements of the New Left.

We also hear about feedback forms, the changing status of the DJ as a professional category, modern platform capitalism, and how the DJs of the Pool staged a sit-in protest at the offices of a record company who refused to play ball.  

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This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To become a patron from just £3 a month, got to Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod

JS Bach - Harpsichord Concerto No.1 in D Minor BWV 1052

Books and Articles:

In this episode Jeremy and Tim begin the first of a two-parter on the New York City Record Pool - a cooperative venture that saw DJs in the city come together to distribute the records they received from the labels equally and with a spirit of egalitarianism.  

Produced and edited by Matt Huxley.    

Tracklist:

Books:

This is an excerpt of a full length episode currently only available to patrons. To become a patron and support what we're doing from £3 per month, head to www.patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.

In this patrons-only episode, Tim and Jeremy react to Louis Vuitton's latest menswear line "Fall in Love", designed by the late Virgil Abloh and, according to the LV publicity, inspired by David Mancuso and the Loft. Tim published a long article on this topic, linked below, in which he tears into the claim by Louis Vuitton, the largest and most profitable luxury corporation in the world, that it shares David’s concern with egalitarianism.

The show opens with Tim outlining his argument after which Jem and Tim dig deep into the problem of corporate appropriation, the luxury brand market, conspicuous wealth in music culture, the role of language in fashion reportage, Roland Barthes, private luxury and public squalor, how to deal with corporations, and some extended biographical recollections about David.

You can read Tim's article here: https://www.timlawrence.info/david-mancuso-and-louis-vuitton

And join the conversation on facebook here: https://www.facebook.com/tim.lawrence.3152

Tracklist:

Love is the Message series 4 continues apace. In this episode Jeremy and TIm continue to examine the dynamic environment of New York City around the 1975 Fiscal Crisis, contrasting pessimistic and optimistic accounts of the time: was the Big Apple a depressed town cut off from the rest of the country, or a city enjoying its own cultural renaissance? Or both?

We hear about the early emergence of Neoliberalism, the cybernetic revolution, and the affect and aesthetics of Heroin. Tim and Jeremy introduce some early electronic music outfits, spend time on the singular sound of Suicide, discuss artistic representations of alienation, and introduce us to the downtown 'Loft Jazz' scene. Plus, Richard Hell and Morton Subotnick.

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

Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes - Bad Luck ft. Teddy Pendergrass

Books:

This is an excerpt of a full length episode currently only available to patrons. To become a patron and support what we're doing from £3 per month, head to www.patreon.com/LoveMessagePod.

In this patrons-only bonus episode, Jeremy and Tim have a conversation about what music has been on their turntables recently.  We hear more music from the Californian psychedelic renaissance, another dose of celestial harp music, cosmic Gwoka, and a good time party-startin' sitar funk jam.

TIm and Jeremy also recount some of what they've been playing out, including a pair of genre-hopping Brazilian Bass bops, some deep and murky Bayou beats from the Dixie Cups, as well as Italian ambient house and Weather Report. Plus - will Jem every make it to Ibiza?  

Tracklist:

Arushi Jain - The Sun Swirls Within You

Love is the Message is back for a new series! Early this year we travelled the world in search of Afro-Psychedelic sounds, but in now we're bringing it back to New York City. Tim and Jeremy will be exploring the melting pot city around the year 1975: at the pinnacle of the musical and art worlds, yet teetering on fiscal collapse and almost bankrupt, transforming from industrial to post-industrial and at loggerheads with the rest of the American population.

In the opening episode of the series, Jeremy and Tim set the scene on the political and economic backdrop of the age. As the Fordist settlement begins to collapse, we hear about the creeping neoliberalisation of the city. We explore the austerity aesthetics of the proto-punk scene emerging from bands like the Ramones and the Modern Lovers, and think about how Patti Smith bridges this new sound to the rock songwriters of the late '60s. Plus a Loft classic and the return of Adam Curtis.

Tracklist:

Patti Smith - Free Money

Books:

As listeners will know, we've come to the end of our series on Afro-Psychedelia. Tim and Jeremy will be back soon with a whole new series, but in the meantime Love Is The Message is very happy to share 'Screwed and Chopped', an episode from the archive of the Phantom Power Podcast.

Phantom Power is an excellent podcast about sound, sound art, music, and the scholarship that surrounds it. It's beautifully put together and is a real treat for the mind and the ears. Host Mack Hagood was kind enough to share an episode of ours with his listeners recently, and we're happy to return the favour with you today.

If you like what you hear, do check out the back catalogue at PhantomPod.org, or search wherever you get your podcasts.

'Screwed and Chopped' features an interview with folklorist and Houston native Langston Collin Wilkins, who studies “slab” culture and the “screwed and chopped” hip hop that rattles the slabs and serves as the culture’s soundtrack.

As we finally come to the end of our series on Afro-Psychedlia, Tim and Jeremy bring us back to New York, David Mancuso and the dancefloor of The Loft via Puerto Rico, Salsa and the Latin influence on the city in the early '70s. We hear about the mighty Fania Records - a classic example of the sort of small labels who found a commercial audience while still releasing amazing music - and the band they fostered, the Fania All-Stars. We also spend time exploring the catalog of Ray Barretto, who's track Acid featured at the very beginning of the LITM project.

We'll be taking a bit of a summer break and back with a new series in the Autumn - but keep an eye on the feed, we'll be throwing out some extra bits for patrons to tide you over.

Become a supporter of the show for as little as £3pcm by visiting www.Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod

Estrellas de Chocolate - Fania

We're almost at the end of our series on Afro-Psychedelia. The final stop on our tour is the Caribbean island of Puerto Rico, an unincorporated territory of the USA, with a rich musical tradition and close migratory ties to New York City, where our journey began. We hear about the accessible complexity of the percussion-rich music of Puerto Ricans like the mighty Tito Puente; hear how Cuban and Jazz flavours made their way into Salsa and Mambo; and consider the role played by Puerto Ricans in the construction of NYC as an immigrant city. Plus, Celia Cruz, Louis Vega, and how purchasing a vacuum cleaner secured Tim his first trip to the Big Apple...

Cortijo Y Ismael Rivera - Bomba Carambomba