A special collaboration between La Danza Poética and La Rebelde Academia de la Música Latinoamericana (RAMULA)! Colombian poet Gustavo Gómez Giraldo, aka Juaco, recorded in Brussels by Joaldo Domínguez. Mixed with music from Mateo Kingman, Nicola Cruz, Sentidor, and Negro Dub.

This month’s mix opens with One Sixth’s fierce poem ‘Labyrinth’ - in which he calls for compassion, for understanding, and above all, for listening. So we listen. Hip hop is the voice as music, poetry as rhythm, storytelling with the drum beats of the heart. In the hands of these artists, hip hop gets closest to the truth. Featuring Xolisa (Canada), Akua Naru (USA), Omar Musa (Australia), A Tribe Called Red (Canada), Brandon Wint (Canada), FOKN Bois (Ghana), Mateo Kingman (Ecuador), Aja Monet (USA), GANGAMix (France), One Sixth (Australia).

A multi-layered mix of poetry, rhythm, melody en français, exploring the strong voices of la Négritude movement in France, a movement influenced by the Harlem Renaissance. Our honoured ghosts, Langston Hughes, and les trois pères (the three fathers) of la Négritude: Aime Cesare, Léon-Gontran Damas, and Léopold Sédar Senghor. Their eloquent descendants, Nikki Giovanni, Youssoupha, Sunni Patterson. Voices flow through a mix of deep electronic beats, abstract French hip hop and shimmering Haitian/American folk. Featuring Leyla McCalla, Caro C, Christine and the Queens (with Tunji Ige), Fauve, Odezenne, brome, Bleu éther. Très éclectique, très fort!

The Apollo Saxophone Quartet’s collaboration with poet Lemn Sissay is one of the deepest word/music journeys you can take - expressive, cinematic, arresting. Robert Frost’s 1920s poem “Fire and Ice” observes the end of the world with the cool objectivity of someone who is part of, not just observing, the changes of seasons. There is a goal! So, let’s become the rain...

Adventurous spirits journey within and without, communing with tradition, home, self, and other. This month on the global dance poetic, a world of new releases that share an adventurous spirit of experimentation and connection. 

Paseo Mental - a walk through the mind, through the various voices in our heads, both our own and the voices of the honoured ghosts and ancestors who walk with us. Performance poetry from Segovia, Spain, from an installation by Andrés Sánchez, plus new tracks, collaborations and remixes out of South America, Mexico, USA, Algeria, and Europe.

In February La Danza Poetica crosses lines and walls, real and imagined, through the eastern Mediterranean and Levant, from Persia to Palestine, from ancient to modern. Rafeef Ziadah, Milagro Acustico Ensemble, Fawda, Abdalak, Katibeh Khamseh, A-Wa, La Mirza & Rayess Bek, Suheir Hammed, and readings of the poetry of Ashram Fayadh, on death row in Saudi Arabia over charges of apostasy. Dedicated to the silent poet.

Pausing for reflection in January 2016, a mix of tracks that I couldn’t include in the feature shows of ’15, that are still on high rotation in my mind.

For the Kulin Nation, Melbourne has always been an important meeting place. And it continues to be a place of connection for people from all around the world.

Collaborative poetic jazz, organic electronics. From New Orleans to New York; France to Brazil; Poland to Trinidad; Mali to Cape Town; Portugal to Suriname. Stretching and tensing, sincopando.

Sung poetry, the oral tradition, passed down from generation to generation, continuing today, no break in the chain…

Rêver en français… storytelling of emotion and delirium of loops, Being in transit in between times and places, in a woozy mood, a loose mix from a recent live set. No explanation, no reason, no solution. Just the enlightened, unapologetic emotion of French poets, under the spell of delirious analysis. From Saul Williams to Anaïs Nin, let’s hallucinate Napoléon Bonaparte together, la danse poétique!

Eclectic electronic, folk and poetic wavelengths from Greece. Featuring electronica pioneers Lena Platonos and Stereo Nova, fascinating composers and bands Carte Postale, Imam Baildi, ION, Anna Stereopoulou, and May Roosevelt (mixing the poetry of Dinos Christianopoulos), hip hop / low bap from Active Member with Luka Lesson, and Poetic [Low Bap], a new album from Savina Yannatou, postcards from the multicultural history of Thessaloniki, and honoured ghosts, rebetika singers Stella Haskil and Sotiria Bellou, who are the waves beneath all of our boats. 

Australia is, on the ground and in the streets, a place of amazing diversity. We celebrate the multitude of voices speaking up. Two new spoken word LPs from Joel McKerrow and Adam Gibson, and a new compilation from Melbourne Spoken Word. Poets Sean M Whelan, Andrew Galan, Randall Stephens, Eleanor Jackson, Sista Zai, Ebony MonCrief, Jacky T, Common Ground Collective (L-Fresh the Lion, Nayana Bhandari), REMI, NYUON, Cazeaux O.S.L.O. Diverse musical threads woven into the fabric of a still-evolving Australian identity - from Iran to Oz, Amin Payne; from Punjab to Caribbean to Oz, Sikander; from soul to Oz soul, Hiatus Kaiyote; from Tatarstan-Udmurtia to the Universe, Starship Z! And from the absolute heart, Jimblah re-calls Yothu Yindi’s anthem for Aboriginal sovereignty. This is Australia, a land of many cultures, beholden to one.

Following on from #6, Northern Soul dives into the deep, orchestral spaces and provocative political and social stories of Canada.

"Words can be bullets or butterflies. The truth uplifts, while lies destroy. So, say what you mean and mean what you say."—Piri Thomas

A trip around the world with the passionate voices and melodies of the Romani folk tradition, the travelling heart of humanity. Featuring Click Here's latest album Balkandalucia and new recordings from the great Taraf de Haïdouks. Following the music and the poetry from Andalusia to Bulgaria, Hungary to Slovakia, Romania to Greece. Argentinian/Bulgarian crossover from Kosta Kostov, Andalusian grooves from Thomas Blondet & Carol C., Balkan beats from the Forty Thieves Orkestar, Balkan Criminals, DJ Tomasc, Romani song and story from Esma Redzepova, Slovakia's Sabrosa, Greece's Alexandros Wilhelm Hatzis, and UK traveller Damian LeBas. Honoured ghosts, Hungarian poets Szabó Lőrinc and Berda József and the archival recordings of Bari Károly.

From the 15th until the 21st of December 2014 a series of events were held in various spaces and venues in the city of Athens, beginning with the release on 15th December of the album 'Vuelo Libre' - a “family work” album of nine tracks composed by sound artists and musicians from ten countries. This edition of the podcast is the one-hour mix I made of the album for this exhibition. Modern electronic classical music, organic sounds and poetics in six languages.

A joyful noise unto - yourself! The December podcast is up now on Mixcloud.

Following on from the 1st, and the 15th edition of the podcast, we return to Italy’s songs and stories. From north to south, from folk to modern electronic dance. All rooted in the varied storytelling and dance traditions of the peninsula.