Manga Jiman - Kharis Brown

A few weeks back I mentioned on my show that I had been to the Japanese Embassy for the awards ceremony for their Manga Jiman (pride in Manga) competition.
I was particularly impressed with the work of teenager Kharis Brown, I took a photo of her work which I have been meaning to post - here it is. The manga is entitled Wave of Fate - the wave / 'nami' was the theme of the competition. Kharis has referenced the Hokusai wave and there is also a definite Ghibli influence (Ponyo?).

You can still see Kharis' work on display along with all the other mangas at the Japanese Embassy in London (exhibition closes 31st March).

Lucky Cat Podcast Series 5 Ep 7 (26th Feb 2011)

Steve Barker in the mix...


For details of playlist etc see my previous post.

More on Steve Barker here and here.

Clive Chin interview on this week's Lucky Cat Radio Show

This coming Saturday 5th March I will air my interview with the legendary Chinese Jamaican Reggae producer Mr Clive Chin.

Clive is the son of Vincent Chin (whose Chinese father moved from mainland China to the West Indies in the 1920s). Vincent Chin opened the the music store and then recording studio Randy's in Kingston Jamaica way back in 1957. Artists to record on the Randy's label included Alton Ellis, John Holt and Lord Creator.

Clive Chin began working at the store and studio aged 15 and in the1970s began to produce tracks of his own, starting up the Impact! record label. His first big record as a producer was 'Java', which he recorded with his school friend Horace Swaby (aka Augustus Pablo, the melodica playing dub legend!).

Clive took a break from music production when he left Jamaica in 1978. He moved to New York and had a Jamaican restaurant there for ten years or so. Now he is very much back in the music business and manages the
Randy's back catalogue along with Impact! and some other selected labels. And what a catalogue of music, in 2007 Randy's celebrated 50 years and brought out the box set 2 CD anthology with documentary DVD.

Recently Clive has been tracing his Chinese roots; touring China and collaborating with Chinese singers (see www.myspace.com/aboverockrecords).

In an interview recorded last year I talk with Clive about his Chinese Jamaican roots and the influence of Chinese music in Reggae and his life in the music business.

This will be broadcast on Saturday 5th March at 3.30pm (UK) on 104.4FM in London and online anywhere via www.resonancefm.com.

Today's Lucky Cat - Sat 26th Feb 2011

This week I play an exclusive mix from broadcast journalist and fellow Reggae
loving Sinophile Steve Barker.

Steve Barker has presented and contributed to the BBC Lancashire radio
programme On The Wire for over 25 years. Guests on the show have
included Lee Perry, Adrian Sherwood, REM, The Smiths, Depeche Mode and
Joy Division.

Since 2003, Steve Barker has been contributing from Beijing, where he
works for the British Council. He also regularly writes for The
Wire magazine.

On the Wire Blog: http://otwradio.blogspot.com/



Steve Barker’s Mix:

* Kill Me Sweetly (Love Me Sweetly Remixed By Sulumi)
* Traffic Report – White
* Day trip – ME:MO
* Beijing Taxi – Peter Cusack (Beijing Sounds)
* Chinese Bang Bang – Betty Chung
* Chinese Brush – Wong Ping
* Beijing bus - Peter Cusack (Beijing Sounds)
* Rice Shop Zhang - Wei Wei & Guo Long
* Zhao Mu Yang – Zhao Yi Yang
* Beijing Beer – White
* Moon Town Moon Colour No.1 – Huan Qing
* English School – White
* Dusk Blackdown - 8 Million Minority



Zoë’s Mix:

* Track 1 & 9 from SIG’s debut album. SIG is from Qingdao, China. The album will be out in April, more info to follow.
* Cobb’s Box – Hong Kong in the 60s
* Theme From King of Chinatown - Hong Kong in the 60s (both these tracks are from the bands debut album My Fantoms – out now!)
* Goldfinger – Josephine Siao Fong Fong
* Rain Rain Go Away - Zhuang Xue Fang (aka Chong Sit Fong)
* Ali Baba Riddim Dub – Augustus Pablo, King Tubby & John Holt

Asia House - Pan Asian Film Festival

The Pan Asian Film Festival will be mostly at the Appollo cinema in Piccadilly. With the exception of the UK premiere of the Murakami adaptation Norwegian Wood which is at BAFTA on Tuesday 1st March.

The festival runs from 1st - 13th March and includes a screening of Taipei Exchanges, directed by Hsiao Ya-Chuan and executive produced by Tawianese auteur supremo Hou Hsiao-Hsien. See the trailer below.

For the full line up see:

http://www.asiahouse.org/net/Events.aspx

DJing this Sunday 27th Feb

The birthday's gone but the fun is to come
ECLECTIC LX

60 years of life and musical taste

Sunday 27 February approx 3pm –8pm

OLD SCHOOL YARD, LONG LANE, LONDON, SE1

£5 on door all for the musicians. Students, claimants and senior citizen rates available.
BANDS:

• ALBERT NEWTON = Charles Hayward, Pat Thomas, John Edwards
  World-class improvisers
  www.myspace.com/charleshayward
  
• GERTRUDE= Zoe Gilmour, Dawn Rose, Iona Tanguay, Ayesha Taylor
  All women, multi-instrumentalist, feminist punksters
  www.gertruderock.com
  
• THE CRACKED = Ian T, Tom, Neill, JP.
  London style Latinesque Pop
  www.the-cracked.com
  
• Eiko Itoh
  Singer songwriter
  www.eiks.co.uk
  
• Mark Knoop with Adam
  World Class Modern Classical pianist and accordionist with singer/clown
  www.markknoop.com
  

+ DJ LUCKY CAT ZOE BAXTER East Asian sounds and recipes. That's me!

Youngsters welcome until 9pm
Food available – platters

Lucky Cat Podcast Series 5 Ep 6 (19th Feb 2011)

• Beautiful Taiwan - Grace Chang (I Want Your Love Pathe 100: The Series Vol.15)
  
• Sunset - from the I Hate You Deeply soundtrack (vinyl LP)
  
• Scenery Of Taiwan - Jin-Long Fang(The Sound of Pipa CD)
  
• That's The Way It Is - Ella Fitzgerald and The Inkspots (Ella and Her Fellas LP on Brunswick)
  
• Men With Broken Hearts - Hank Williams (Complete Hank Williams Disc 3 CD)
  
• Hold What You´ve Got -Joe Tex (Look Out! - 10 Scorching Classics From 1961 - 1970 CD from Bear Family label)
  
• Stone Cold Dead in the Market - Ella Fitzgerald and Louis Jordan (Ella and Her Fellas LP on Brunswick)
  
• My Only Lover - Gregory Isaacs(from the upcoming Giants - early Randy's compilation. This track is available to download FREE now from Clive Chin's myspace!)
  
• Feeding Chickens - Liu Yun( Cai Hong Ling Pathe
  100: The Series Vol.10). Credit where credit is due - I heard this on the brilliant WFMU show Give the Drummer Some presented by Doug Schulkind)
  
• Put The Stereo On - Gappy Ranks (Peckings label 7" 45)
  

Bunny Logo

Kitty bunny for the Year of the Rabbit.
Thank you Milo.

Today's Lucky Cat - Sat Feb 19th 2011

Today I will be joined by Daney Hsu of Mr Hsu's Taiwanese Kitchen to discuss Taiwanese cuisine. Daney (pictured above - he works on the oyster stall in Borough market) will be bringing in some of the delicious products that he makes for on air sampling. All I know about Taiwanese cuisine is oyster omelettes and milk pearl ball tea so I'm intrigued to know more...

Today is also about free music and songs with talking in.
Expect Grace Chang, The Ink Spots and Taiwanese film soundtracks (and you will not be disappointed).

Lucky Cat Podcast Series 5 Ep 5 (12th Feb 2011)

• I've Got a Feeling - The Teardops (7" on Ackee label)
  
• He Did It - The Ronettes(Colpix and Buddah Years CD)
  
• Payback - Etta James(The Chess Singles CD)
  
• Nightmare - The Whyte Boots(One Kiss Can Lead to Another: Girl Group Sounds box set of CDs)
  
• High School Drop Out - Roy C(7" on Island, B Side to Shotgun Wedding)
  
• A-Ha - The Peanuts(Japanese girl group and Godzilla stars/singers sing in German!, Columbia/EMI 7" picture cover)
  
• Melody Life - Marcia Griffiths (Coxsone 7")
  Catch Marcia at The London International Ska Festival this Spring!
  
• Take a Piece of My Heart - Erma Franklin (London 7")
  
• Mark My Word - Marcia Griffiths (Coxsone 7", B side to Melody Life)
  
• Brigitte Bardot - Les Chakachas (RCA 7" EP)
  

Read more about the The End: An Electric Sheep Anthology.
Go see Confessions at one of these cinemas.

Lucky Cat Series 5 Episode 5 Today

On today's show I will be joined by Virginie Sélavy, Editor of Electric Sheep Film Magazine to review the new release from Japanese director Tetsuya Nakashima: Confessions. The film is based on an ward-winning murder mystery novel by female writer Minato Kinae and both the film and the novel have been hugely successful in Japan.

Confessions will be shown at selected cinemas in the UK from 18th Feburary 2011 (including London's ICA and Ritzy), for a full list of cinemas see: thirdwindowfilms.com/events



Peanut Butter Mochi are in the Dim Sum Lunch Box. Check out this recipe. Photo is from The Japanese Snack Food Review.

If you have any suggestions for the Dim Sum Lunch Box I'd love to hear from you: luckycatzoe at gmail.com

Tune in at 15:30 today via 104.4FM in London or www.resonancefm.com anywhere.

Lucky Cat Podcast Series 5 Ep 4 (5th Feb 2011)

Gong Xi Fa Cai!
Kung Hey Fat Choi!

Let's celebrate the Year of the Rabbit!

Chinese zodiac predictions courtesy of Feng Shui Consultant Peter Tran (Tel: 07703 549439, Email: eyeleveldesign@btinternet.com).

Playlist:

• Bao Xing Bao He He - Twins and friends (Cantopop CNY CD from a few years ago)
  
• Up Jumped the Rabbit - Georgia Pot Lickers (The Stuff That Dreams Are Made of: Super Rarities CD)
  
• Easter Bunny Boogie - Willie Brown (Jumpin the Blues Ace Records CD)
  Run Rabbit Run - Harry Bidgood and His Orchestra (Vintage Children's Favourites 1936-1950 CD)
  
• Plaing Siam Gai Nyo - Don Tre P-Yam "Rabbit" (Secret Museum of Mankind vol 5 CD)
  
• Rabbit Foot Blues - Blind Lemon Jefferson
  
• Eye Wonder - AM444 (Cha Cha and Jay Soul), EP Sampler (Shanghai based vocalist Cha Cha and Dutch producer Jay Soul, pictured above, follow the link to download the free EP sampler)
  
• Death of Aki - John Barry composition from soundtrack of the Bond film You Only live Twice
  
• One Cup of Coffee - Robert Marley
  
• Maroule - Creole Choir of Cuba (Tande La CD on Real World Records label)
  
• Dulce Embelezo - Creole Choir of Cuba
  
• Everyday is just a Holiday - The Sensations (Duke Reid 7")
  

Lucky Cat Saturday 5th Feb 2011

Today's show features predictions for the Year of the Rabbit, courtesy of:

PETER TRAN
Interior & Architectural Designer
Feng Shui Consultant
Tel: 07703 549439
Email: eyeleveldesign@btinternet.com

To find out which animal Chinese zodiac sign you are go here:
http://www.chinese-tools.com/astrology/sign.html

Tune in today at 15:30 on 104.4FM in London or via www.resonancefm.com anywhere

Gong Xi Fa Cai! Happy Year of the Rabbit!

Podcast & Playlist Lucky Cat Series 5 Ep3 (29th Jan 2011)

For Episode 3 I was joined by Adam Torel of Third Window Films. Third Window distribute East Asian films in the UK - mainly Japanese titles - that are not just your average action / horror shockers. I spoke to Adam about how he selects films for distribution and some of the key directors that Third Windows showcase; Miki Satoshi, Sion Sono and Tetsuya Nakashima. I shall be reviewing Nakashima' upcoming release Confessions in Episode 5 of Lucky Cat.
The controversial Confessions of a Dog (pictured above) - an expose of corruption in the Japanese police - will be shown on 16th Feb at the ICA in London.
The first East Winds Film Festival is in Coventry 11th to 13th February.

Adam Torel is also a keen vinyl collector and kindly brought in some of his J-Pop and Northern Soul treasures.

Playlist:

Tonight - The Chantals (7" Jpop)
Carnival - Apache (7" late 1970s Jpop girl group, copy of the band Candies, see also Pink Lady)
Japanese Title - Soft Cream (7" 80's idol Jpop)
A Ton of Dynamite - Frankie the Love Man Crocker (Turbo label 7")
Gold of My Life - Mixed Emotions (7" on Rockway label 1975)
The above selections are all from Adam Torel's record bag.
Going to the River - Eric 'Monty. Morris (Blue Beat label 7")

The Dim Sum Lunch Box contained a review of Japanese / Brazilian restaurant Sushinho.

Lucky Cat Podcast Series 5 Ep 2 (22nd Jan 2011)

Here's last week's show, please see the playlist below.


Coming up this Saturday 29th Jan:
I will be joined in the studio by Adam Torel from Third Window Films. The Third Window Films brand was born in 2005 when its film-loving founders grew bored of the stream of worn-out shock horror vehicles from the Far East. Previous releases have included Memories of Matsuko (Tetsuya Nakashima, Japan), The President’s Last Bang (Sang-soo Im, Korea) and Twichfilm.net’s film of the year Love Exposure (Sion Sono, Japan). Adam Torel will be spinning some of tracks from his collection of 1960s Northern Soul and 80s J-pop as well as discussing Third Window’s releases and the upcoming East Winds Film Festival.

Lucky Cat Sat 22nd Jan 2011 - Playlist

Here's the playlist for today's Resonance FM show, Lucky Cat Series 5 Episode 2 (Sat 22/01/11 15:30).

• Bullet Dub - The Aggrovators (this is played throughout the show whilst I'm talking)
  
• Kowloon Hong Kong - The Reynettes
  
• Shaolin Temple - Barrington Levy(Reggae Vs Martial Arts Trojan CD)
  
• Gu Zheng Fight - Clip from the movie Kung Fu Hustle
  
• Wandering Horse Hero - from the LP Cantonese Mental Music
  
• Samurai Showdown - RZA(Ghost Dog soundtrack).
  
• Rattlesnake Daddy - The Sauceman CBrothers with their Hillbilly Quartet (The Rich R Tone Story LP)
  
• Oyrad Un Dagu (Mongolian Song From The Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region) - from the CD Mongolia - Living Music Of The Steppes
  
• Song of the Fisherman - Wang Ren-mei (Shanghai Lounge Divas CD)
  
• Guns Fever (Blam Blam Fever) - The Valentines(Trojan Box Set: Rude Boy CD)
  
  
  

Korean Avant Garde - Music & Films @ Cafe Oto

If you're in London town tonight why not pop along to this:
Balloon and Needle: The New Korean Avant Garde
(Three Day Residency) @ Cafe Oto
Exploring the unique sonic and visual world of a group of young South Korean artists and noise makers.

Choi Joonyong (cracked CD players)
Hong Chulki (turntables)
Ryu Hankil (self‐made electro‐acoustic instruments)
Jin Sangtae (cracked hard‐drive)
Lee Hangjun (16mm film projection)

Collaborations from UK artists such as Benedict Drew as well.

Info:
www.cafeoto.co.uk/balloon-and-needle.shtm

Singaporean Chinese New Year's Fish Platter

Here are the results of today's dim sum lunch box. It was crunchy, fresh, zingy, salty, sweet and deeeeeelicious! Listen in today (3.30pm Resonance 104.4M) for full details. Podcast available in the next few days.

Movie Trailers A Go Go

This week's radio show is a Movie News special, here are some trailers for films I'll be talking about:

Shaolin - Classy martial arts movie with a stellar cast.


The Gallants - Postmodern 70's Kung Fu film pastiche featuring Chinese American rapper Jin.


Tsui Hark is back in the game with Detective Dee.


Blimey Andy Lau's been busy, here he is again in a rom com remake of What Women Want with the majestic Gong Li.


It's nearly Lunar New Year, and this looks like the perfect holiday movie. The Shaw, TVB, Sil-Metropole, and Mei Ah film I Love Hong Kong features Eric Tsang and Sandra Ng.


Nicholas Tse, Yey! Dante Lam's new film Stool Pigeon.


Korean film The Housemaid, a remake of Kim Ki-young's 1960 classic (Park Chan Wook cites the orignal as one of his favourite films).