Lucky Cat Series 11 Starts today!

After a summer break I am back on the airwaves today for series 11 of Lucky Cat on Resonance 104.4FM.  Illustration above is by me, inspired by this Korean record cover (I'll play the record today - a rather beautiful find whilst crate digging in Berlin):

As always tune into 104.4FM in London or listen anywhere via www.resonancefm.com
All shows will be archived on the Resonance FM mixcloud: 
https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/

Today's show is an all vinyl special with platters from North Korea, Indonesia, China and Japan lightly sprinkled with some Jamaican bass lines. I will pay respects to the great trombonist Rico Rodriguez who sadly passed away earlier this month:

Rico at Alpha Boys School Jamaica

In the dim sum lunchbox: a review of Korean restaurant Po Cha (Lower Marsh SE1) and I have made ants climbing trees (pork with mung bean noodles)! 

Happy Mid Autumn Moon Festival everyone!

[Note: the show is repeated on Thursday at 6am UK time]

Don't forget to follow me on Instagram: https://instagram.com/luckycatzoe/

Playlist for Last Episode of Lucky Cat Series 10

Just me and my vinyl today on 104.4FM or www.resonancefm.com at 3.30pm (UK time).

China Gate - Guardian Angel (12" on Matumbi label)

Schoon ver van jou - George de Fretes en zi ju kurontong orkestra (Indonesian Folklore LP, Decca)

Baby Piano - Wendy Cooper (Playtime Series 7", EMI/HMV)

The Way Back Blues - Erroll Garner (The Most Happy Piano LP, Columbia)

How About You - Sister Rosetta Tharpe (Gospel Train LP, Mercury)

Tears  淚

- Dai Lin Chuang (Mayar Records LP, made in Hong Kong)

Tobago Lollipop - Lord Kitch (Kitch 67 LP, RCA)

Long Road   漫漫長路上- George Lam (EMI LP)

Ten Times Sweeter - Winston Francis*(PAMA LP)

Les Desesperes - Jacques Brel (Barclay/Fontana LP)

But Not For Me - 

Erroll Garner (The Most Happy Piano LP, Columbia)

*Note this is mistakenly credited to Tony Gordon

Thanks for listening, I'm off for a summer break now.  Lucky Cat will return.....

Lucky Cat Sat 18th July 2015 - Hong Kong in the 60s

Here is last Saturday's show with Chris and Mei Yau from Hong Kong in the 60s.
We talked about their new EP The Small Sound, Mei Yau brought in some old cassettes, Chris brought in a nice Sublime Frequencies CD and I played some vinyl.
The dim sum lunch box was filled with leftovers (ma pao dofu and emperor chicken) and snacks (lizardfish lollipops, garlic crisps and Korean onion rings).

Download The Small Sound EP FREE!

Listen to the show here:

Lucky Cat - 18th July 2015 by Resonance Fm on Mixcloud

Playlist:

• Oh Ya Ya - Rajah Ahmad & Dengan Dendang Irama (from the CD Pop Yeh Yeh: Psychedelic Rock from Singapore Malaysia  1964-1970, Sublime Frequencies label)
• Out in the Cold – Hong Kong in the 60s (from the EP The Small Sound) 
• Vienna International Centre - Hong Kong in the 60s (from the EP The Small Sound) 
• Rock around the Clock  - Sam Hui (Mei Yau's Polydor cassette) 
• Unchained Melody (Cantonese version) - Dai Lin (Hong Kong LP on the Mayar label)
• Happy Birthday Little Sister - Queenie Chan (Mei Yau's Cantopop cassette) 
• Baby Piano - Wendy Cooper (HMV EMI Playtime Series 7")
• China Gate - Guardian Angel (12", prod by Matumbi)

For more pics see my Instagram: luckycatzoe

Lizardfish about to be lollipopped!

Lucky Cat 11th July 2015 - PJ Rox

On Saturday 11th July I was joined by London based singer song writer PJ Rox.  I talked to PJ about her musical career and she played her song Lana live on the piano int he studio.

Find out more about PJ Rox by following her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/pj_rox

Lucky Cat - 11th July 2015 by Resonance Fm on Mixcloud

• Crane Style - no artist listed (7" Prophet Studio label, B side to Have You Ever Been to Heaven by Madoo)
• Have you Ever Been to Heaven - Madoo aka The Bionic Singer (7" Prophet Studio label)
• Lana - PJ Rox
• Trouble - PJ Rox
• No More Communication - PJ Rox (sneak preview clip, will be available as a single soon and on an EP on Downtown Artists this Autumn)
• Would You Tell Her - Teddy Robin and The Playboys
• Middle England - Art Terry (from the LP Anutha Kinda Brotha on Frizz Records)
• Kitty Kat - Lee Dorsey (Amy LP)
• Main Theme I (Opening) -Shigeru Umebayashi & Nathaniel Mechaly (The Grandmaster soundtrack LP)

Lucky Cat Sat 4th July 2015 - Anne Witchard (playlist and podcast)

 In last week's Lucky Cat I talked to Dr Anne Witchard about her new book British Modernism and Chinoiserie which examines the ways in which an intellectual vogue for a mythic China was a component of British modernism.  Chinoiserie was revived in in London’s avant-garde circles, the Bloomsbury group, the Vorticists and others, who like their eighteenth-century forebears, turned to China as a cultural and aesthetic utopia.

www.euppublishing.com/book/9780748690954

 

http://translatingchina.info/

 

We also discussed the current exhibition at the Met in New York: China Through the Looking Glass

 

The Shirley Temple film I reference is Stowaway from 1936 (see pic below). 

 You can listen to the show here:

Lucky Cat - 4th July 2015 by Resonance Fm on Mixcloud

Playlist:

Low Profile - Little Albert, lower mix feat Kwokin (so nice I played it twice!)

Broke - The Marshmallow Kisses

Season of Wind - Anita Mui Yim Fong

Kemayoran - Grup Bamba Puang (Discover Indonesia CD)

Padang Magek - Sawir Sutan Mudo, Nurasni, and Zaidir SK (Discover Indonesia CD)

 

New Music from China

On this week's show I play a mix of new music from China.  Tune in to 104.4FM www.resonancefm.com at 3.30pm (UK time).

Playlist:

From Genjing Records (http://genjingrecords.com/):

Golden Cage - The Fuzz (7")

Mirror in My Mind - Carsick Cars (7" A side)

Yoko - Carsick Cars (7" B side)

From Dalian the band Wang Wen:

Dalian Sky - Wang Wen (Eight Horse LP)

Welcome to Utopia - Wang Wen (Eight Horse LP)

Escape from Mother Universe - Wang Wen (Eight Horse LP)

From Beijing:

Tracks from Yang Fan's LP What Happened After 1001 Nights LP (cover pictured left):
Arabian Night
Arabian Princess
Blue Night River
The Fly Flies

http://genjingrecords.bandcamp.com/album/what-happened-after-1001-nights





From Metal Postcard Records we go to Hong Kong for a fantastic piece of Snoop inspired Hip Hop:
Low Profile (lower mix) - Little Albert feat Kwokin
https://metalpostcard.bandcamp.com/album/little-albert-low-profile
Then back to Shanghai:
Dark Show (Forrane remix) - AM444
https://am444.bandcamp.com/

Lucky Cat 13th June Playlist and Mixcloud link - Duck and Rice Review

On this show I review the new Alan Yau venture; Chinese gastropub and dining room The Duck and Rice on Berwick Street in Soho (pictured above, more pics below).
I also review a hidden gem in Puntey - Japanese restaurant Tomoe.

Listen here:
https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/lucky-cat-13th-june-2015/

Instagram pics: http://www.enjoygram.com/luckycatzoe

Spirulina - Chronixx (Dread and Terrible CD)

Lonely Soldier - Gregory Issacs (7" on Impact!)

Good Time Gal - Roza Eskanazi (Women of Remebetica CD)

River of No Return - Johnny Teo and the Stylers (I Love Boh Boh Cha Cha 7" EP Panda Records)

(1-2-3-4-5-6-7) Count the Days - Inez and Charlie Foxx (Greatest Hits LP Direction label)

Chicken and Rice - Young Tiger (London is the Place for Me vol 4 CD, Honest Jons)

Mockingbird - Inez and Charlie Foxx (Greatest Hits LP Direction label)

French Fried Potatoes and Ketchup- Amos Milburn and His Aladdin Chickenshackers (Rock, Rock, Rock LP, Route 66)

Love Wound - Lia Xiao Mei (7" EP, GMER)

In Your Arms - Roy and Patsy (7" on Bluebeat)

I Hear Hawaii Calling - Johnny Pineapple & His Orchestra (Hawaiian Holiday 7" EP, BRAVO!)

Photos of The Duck and Rice:
Some starters:

Behold!  Venison puffs (were 3, one escaped!).  DA BOMB as the kids might say.

Spring rolls.  Meh.

Salt n Pepper Squid. Ma ma hou hou (so so).

The mains:

Gai lan with sailfish.  YUM. Umami.

Half a roast duck.  Glistening.  Beautiful anise flavour.

STAR OF THE SHOW!  Slow cooked beef short rib.
Now I know what I want  on my last meal list.  Righteously unctuous and damn fine.

What no Huy Fong? Thai brand Sriraja Panich make an appearance at every table.
Not Huy Fong but pretty good :)

Beautiful ceiling tiles

Me and my best pal.  Very happy.

Tomoe photos coming soon...

Lucky Cat 6th June Playlist and Mixcloud link - Sriracha Sauce

Sat 6th June 2015

This week's show was dedicated to srirahca sauce. I concentrate on the story of the Huy Fong brand.
Pictured here with its soulmate mayonnaise!

Named after a coastal town in Thailand Sriracha sauce is now a global phenomenon.  In particular the Huy Fong brand has become an international cult favourite.  There have been songs, cookbooks and even a documentary about Huoy Fong brand sriracha sauce.

The brand is named after the Tawianses freighter ship that brought founder David Tran to Hong Kong as a refugee from Vietnam in 1978.  From Hong Kong David Tran went on to California USA and started making the now much beloved sriracha sauce.

Listen to the show here:
https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/lucky-cat-6th-june-2015/

Playlist:

Hey Boy Hey Girl - Derrick and Patsy (Nu Beat label 7")

Silhouettes - Frankie Lymon (Woo-Hoo! Roulette Story CD)

Chilli Was Hot

- Ruth Wallis (7" Party Favourites EP, Wallis Recordings) 

Pepper Sauce Mama

- Charlie Campbell and his Red Peppers (Barbecue Any Old Time CD, Old Hat Records)

I Get A Kick out of You

- Frank Sinatra (Songs for Young Lovers LP, Capital)

Little Red Rooster

- Sam Cooke (Greatest Hits CD)

Setting the Woods on Fire

- Hank Williams (40 Greatest Hits CD)

Dreamer of Love

- instrumental track from Taiwanese LP Dancing Music)

Promise of Return

- Yao Lee

Lucky Cat 23rd May Playlist and Mixcloud link - Damacha

New Music from China!  I played new tracks from Damacha from his new album Tuhaojin 土豪金 (translates as kind of 'uncouth nouveau riche people') on the Subculture label (album artwork by 33 above). Hold on to your bass bins folks!  Bass in your face sounds satirising post-Deng Xiaoping era Bling China.....

Listen here: https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/lucky-cat-23rd-may-2015/

Playlist:

·         The Toughest – Peter Tosh (The Toughest - LP on the Heartbeat label) ·         Tearing – Damacha (from the album Tuhaojin 土豪金)
·         Ming Ming Ai – Damacha (from the album Tuhaojin 土豪金)·         Scraping the Bear - Damacha (from the album Tuhaojin 土豪金)·         GeiNiDat - Damacha (from the album Tuhaojin 土豪金)
·         I’m Going to Like it Here – (Flower Drum Song soundtrack LP)·         Chop Suey – (Flower Drum Song soundtrack LP)·         Talk About Love – Pat Kelly and then Dillinger comes in with First the Girl   (12” on the Chanan-Jah label) Great extended DJ version!·         Stay - Li Xiao Mei (Chinese 7" EP)

I asked listeners to vote for their favourite Japanese street food and I cooked up the winning dish; yakisoba noodles!  I used a mixture of recipes:

http://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2013/jan/19/recipes-under-5-yakisoba-noodle

http://rasamalaysia.com/yakisoba-recipe/2

You can find a pic of the noodle sand lots of other lovely things on my Instagram feed: http://yooying.com/luckycatzoe

Silhouettes

If you've been listening to the show you'll know that I'm currently obsessed with the song Silhouettes, written by Bob Crewe. Here are some of my favourite versions.  If you know any others please feel free to leave a comment.

The original recorded by The Rays:




Little Frankie Lymon:


The Ronettes, (This features audio from the recording - Phil Spector giving direction.  Ronnie giving it back!):



In Reggae:

The Sensations:

The Crown Prince of Reggae Dennis Emmanuel Brown:

Jamaican keyboard player pianist Winston Wright (he played on the famous Liquidator by Harry Js Allstars:



This is NOT the song, or indeed the American Doo Wop group The Silhouettes (of Get a Job fame, named after the Bob Crewe song).  However I stumbled across this whilst searching for versions on Youtube and this is great, a Chinese cover of I Wanna Hold Your Hand by The Beatles:

Lucky Cat Sat 16th May - Kawaii Petit Koenji Special

Saturday's show was a Kawaii Petit Koenji Special!  I visited the wonderful shop Petit Koenji in Tooting Market and interviewed owner Sabrina Tobuchi, Gizmo also joined in!  

I reviewed Be My Baby, available 

Do let me know your favourite Japanese street food : luckycatzoe  at  gmail.com

Photos of Petit Koenji shop below courtesy of Stella Makinwa. 

Listen here: 

www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/lucky-cat-16th-may-2015/

Playlist 

I Will Never Grow Old - Toots and the Metals (Coxsone LP)

Doraemon Theme - Doraemon OST

Unknown Japanese 80s Anime Pop 7"!

Unknown Japanese 80s Space Anime Pop 7"!
Una Sera Di Tokyo - The Peanuts (King Hit Parade vol 5 LP)
A-Ha - The Peanuts (EMI Columbia 7")
Poetry in Motion - The Peanuts (King Hit Parade vol 5 LP)
Ein Weiss Schiff - The Peanuts (EMI Columbia 7")
All I Have is Love - Gregory Isaacs (7")
Lovely Ginza - Atsumi Oomae (King Pop Parade LP)

Kawaii Special on Today's Lucky Cat

This week's show is a kawaii Japanese pop culture special! I interview Sabrina Tobuchi in Tooting's kawaii emporium Petit Koenji. Plus a review of Japanese indie youth movie Be My Baby, directed by Hitsohi One; and Japanese street food in the dim sum lunch box.


More photos of Petit Koenji coming very soon....
3.30pm 104.4FM www.resonancefm.com

Lucky Cat Series 10 Episode 7 (2nd May 2015)

This week's show was co-hosted by my daughter Lina, we discussed the upcoming film Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon II and the Asia House Bagri Foundation Literature Festival (7th - 18th May)

Listen:

https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/lucky-cat-2nd-may-2015/

Playlist:

Crouching Tiger Hidden Dragon – Tan Dun and Yo Yo Ma (from the OST CD of same name)

Shanghai – Freddie Notes and the Rudies (Trojan label 7”, A side)

I Can’t Stand the Rain – Elaine Montague (Hums label 7”)

Rome Wasn’t Built in a Day - Freddie Notes and the Rudies (Trojan label 7”, B side)

Heigh Ho – from the 7” record of Disney’s Snow White and The Seven Dwarves

I’m a Bird – foxtrot from the Taiwanese LP Dancing Music

Penny Reel – Eric Morris (UK Island label 7”)

Mount Zion – Desmond Dekker and the Aces (UK Island label 7”)

Dark Show – AM444

Homeward Bound – cha cha from the Taiwanese LP Dancing Music

Dis Oh Dis! – Line Renauld (7”)

Gee Baby Gee - The Butterflys (The Red Bird Story Vol 2 LP, Charly label)

Karate Boogaloo - Jerry O 

PJ Rox, AM444 and KFC Lucky Cat Sat 25th April

Here is the track listing or last week's show which you can listen to here:

www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/lucky-cat-25th-april-2015/

Lana - PJ Rox (CD/download single: http://www.reverbnation.com/pjrox)

Lian - AM444 (from the EP Dark Show)

Dark Show (Forrane Remix) - AM444 ()

Love Me or Leave Me - Nina Simone (7" Bethlehem label)

Send Me Some Lovin - Jeanette Simpson (7" Giant label)

Dearest - Dotty and Bonny (7" Treasure Isle label)

I Yi Yi Yi Yi - Carmen Miranda (Hollywood Sings LP)

When the Swallows Come Back to Capistrano - Billy Ward and His Dominoes feat Clyde McPhatter and Jackie Wilson (King label LP)

Swallows Return when Willows Are Green - Lui Hung (Chinese Folk Songs LP)

I Cover the Waterfront - The Ink Spots (label 10" LP)

West Lake Under Autumn Moonlight - 

Lui Hung (Chinese Folk Songs LP)

Cool Water - Hank Williams (MGM label LP)

Drinking Again - Dinah Washington (from the Roulette LP of the same name)

The other KFC

After visiting a local Korean chicken restaurant I decided to have a go at making the finger licking' good chicken myself.  I found this fantastic blog:

http://www.koreanbapsang.com

There are many different types of fried chicken; garlic, plain, shredded spring onion style and so on.  I decided to try out this sweet sticky chilli chicken as I love to dip fried chicken into sweet chilli sauce anyway - these wings come ready-smothered in a delicious spicy sauce, yum!

http://www.koreanbapsang.com/2015/02/yangnyeom-chicken-korean-fried-chicken.html

The recipe did not fail me - possibly the best fried chicken I have ever tasted.   A bit of a palaver what with the double frying but good things come to those who deep fry twice as they say!

Recommended.  Finger smackin' marvellous!

Yangnyeom Chicken

'Dark Show' - New EP by AM444 is out now!

At last the dynamic duo of ChaCha and Jay Soul (AM444) have their new EP Dark Show out!  The new EP has more of an electronic and futuristic sound than previous releases with Cha Cha's smoky and hypnotic vocals weaving their spell over the listener.  They have a fantastic video for the title track Dark Show, which suits the mood of the EP perfectly, directed by American director Eric Ransdell (Fly Films):

 

AM444's track Guai Meng (weird dreams in Chinese) from their previous album Rooms, featured on the soundtrack to the Michael Mann film Blackhat (a Sino American thriller starring Chinese film starts Tang Wei, Wang Lihong and “Thor” Chris Hemsworth). Sadly the track couldn't save the film, not even the dynamic duo AM444 could manage that feat.

Dark Show is an EP full of atmosphere; the darker side of life in the metropolis of Shanghai, a futuristic noir, a Blade Runner for the ears!

AM444 plan to tour in the latter part of 2015...Watch this space....

Listen: https://soundcloud.com/am444/sets/dark-show-ep

Buy: https://itunes.apple.com/us/album/dark-show-ep/id979196063  /  am444.bandcamp.com

See also:

http://am444.com

chachashanghai.tumblr.com

Chinese Visual Festival - Podcast Online

 

Art Curator Xuhua Zhan and Festival Director James Mudge with Zoe

Last Saturday I was joined by Chinese Visual Festival Director James Mudge and Art Curator Xuhua Zhan.  We spoke about the upciming Chinese Visual Festival (held at Kings College London and the BFI).
There are some fascinating films showing this year, including The Naked DJ (Singapore), 0.7% Salt (China), The Last Moose of Aoluguya (China) and Meeting Dr. Sun (Taiwan) .  For the full programme see:
http://chinesevisualfestival.org/

Listen to the show here: https://www.mixcloud.com/Resonance/lucky-cat-18th-april-2015/

Playlist:
Jaan Pehehan Ho - Mohd. Rafi (Ghost World sound track)
Picnic in Spring - Lui Hung (from the LP Chinese Folk Songs pictured above)
Jing Me De Hu Po (Lies) - AM444
Good Morning - from the Best Chinese Folk Songs LP (helf by James in the pic above).

Thanks to Xuhua and James for joining me.  To follow the festival on Twitter go to: @CVF_London

To follow me on Twitter go to: @luckycatzoe


 

China Visual Festival Guests on Today's Lucky Cat

For today's show I will be joined by CVF Director James Mudge and Art Curator Xuha Zhan.
We will discuss the upcoming China Visual Festival and the films showing this year; documentaries, features and experimental and art video from mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong and Singapore.

This year's line up has several strands / themes including comedy, transition into post-modernity and LGBT queer cinema.

For more information and to book tickets for the Festival go to: 
http://chinesevisualfestival.org