Fenster’s Funky Sevens

Taking the tune "Song For Shelter" by Fatboy Slim featuring Roland Clark (also known as "I Get Deep") from 2000 as a focal point. I go back and trace the development of the style of vocal delivery used in Spoken Word House Music; moving through churches, publishing houses and civil rights rallies to the mid 80s House Music and Poetry Slam scenes of Chicago and beyond.    I, also, make the case that Spoken Word House Music is its own unique form of artistic expression and should be held in the same regard of Rap/Hip Hop and other spoken word forms.   Special Thanks to Marlon Billups (Joe De Presser), Reg E Gaines and Micah Salkind Check out Micah's book on House Music  https://www.amazon.com/Books-Micah-Salkind/s?rh=n%3A283155%2Cp_27%3AMicah%2BSalkind Roland Clark's Bandcamp   https://djrolandclark.bandcamp.com/music   Maurice Joshua's "everything house music and more" podcast   https://theblackpodcastapp.com/rss/podcasts/everything-house-music-and-more/

Dublin City in Ireland is currently experiencing one of the worst housing crises in the world, Property prices have increased so much that only a handful of working people can afford to buy a home. The rental market is in chaos too, with very few places  for rent and the accommodation that is available  is often very expensive and low quality. 1000s of people are being made homeless every year.  In this episode, I try to tell the history of housing in Dublin and the causes of the current housing crisis through seven Irish songs, ranging from folk to pop to hip hop,  with lots of clips from musicians, politicians, historians, analysts and of course, the people of the great city of Dublin.

If your Instagram algorithm is tuned to serve you wholesome musical moments, you might have seen a video recently of an Alaskan bluegrass band (The Heists with Josh Fortenbery) playing the song "East Virginia Blues" with vocals from a Mongolian throat singer (Bataa Jambaldorj of Nomads). It's a joyous meeting of musical styles and cultures.    This episode tells the story of how that wonderfully serendipitous moment came to be.    The video   https://www.instagram.com/reel/DYw9SRYRN3j/?igsh=MWJzZGd6OHQyaXp0dA==   Bataa's instagram   https://www.instagram.com/bataajambaldorj?igsh=ZTh2eGVodWU1Y252   Nomad's bandcamp   https://nomadsdublin.bandcamp.com/   Bataa playing in class   https://www.instagram.com/reel/DA36MolMmyM/?igsh=OWt0bmN1dzhvaWFs   Hansel/Billy   https://www.instagram.com/_hansel_s?igsh=YjhyMnlja3Zwbzd4   The Heists   https://www.the-heists.com/   https://www.instagram.com/the_heists?igsh=NTk2dDcwdGxnZ2ts   Josh Fortenbery   https://www.instagram.com/josh.fortenbery?igsh=MWRsZjB0czljcmV0cg==   Taylor Vidic    https://www.instagram.com/taylordallasvidic?igsh=Z291aW16ZTh0cHhu     Deni Hurtado   https://www.instagram.com/deni_hurtado?igsh=bnJnMm1vYTExZHluY     Lisa/Twitcher   https://www.instagram.com/twitcher_music?igsh=Yjg0NW9weXowd3cx   Cormac/Big Monster Love   https://bigmonsterlove.bandcamp.com/album/game-over    

In the last episode, I inadvertently took a turn into the realm of true crime podcasting, and while I'm not intentionally planning this, it seems this episode could be filed under the heading of self help.  Back in the 80s, I heard a song, Dignity by Deacon Blue, which explored themes I hadn't come across in a song before. It's about finding meaning in the drudgery of manual labour and how the right attitude can become inspirational and filled with joy and hope. Subconsciously, over the years. I've been drawn to other songs that dealt with similar themes and now I've collected these songs into a sort of mental health journey. The modern world can lead people to act in a way that might cause them to lose their dignity, maybe the messages in these songs could help someone regain it. If that's not too lofty a claim. Ronan Hession/Mumblin' Deaf Ro's music https://mumblindeafro.bandcamp.com/music

I'm not exactly sure what this episode is, I guess it's a kind of audio essay based on seven "ghost songs" (songs with the word ghost in the title) and how they relate to some moments from my life. Maybe it's something of a personal memoir through song,;as pretension as that sounds. The last 30, or so minutes are more of a documentary about a very sad and tragic event in Dublin's history, so be prepared for that if you are of a sensitive nature.  So please have a listen and enjoy these Ghost Memories    Aoife's Sing Along Social https://www.singalongsocial.com/   Gary's music  https://gazlerock.bandcamp.com   Trapped Inside: The Stardust Nightclub Fire Disaster Documentary https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deHNbwW6B6U

About a year ago, an Instagram account called the Jazz Dispensary shared a photo titled "Miles Davis in his New York apartment 1986". The picture was taken from a book called No Picture by Japanese photographer Shigeru Uchiyama. It shows Miles reaching behind his bed to adjust his sound system. On the floor around the bed there are two rows of records, some CDs, a selection of belts,  magazines and various other items. And while the photo gives us a candid snapshot into the life of one of the most important musicians of the 20th century, it can also tell us a whole lot about where Miles Davis's music career was at that moment of time. Check out the photo here https://ibb.co/Jw6Qp74b And the mystery CD https://ibb.co/rRVDv5ZT

A history of the remix; from the avant garde tape loop experiments of the 50s, to the creative expansion of the standard three minute song in the late 60s. And the innovations in DJing and dancefloor dynamics of the 70s, through to the current situation when a remix is now more a statement of the remixer's musical expression that a reinterpretation of the original producer's work. Featuring  interviews with many of the key characters like Tom Moulton, Mel Cheren and Walter Gibbons,  plus lots of the pivotal tracks that shaped the sound of dance music today.  Norman Whitfield playlist https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6bRq6ju63svO3C7eSBTW4Q?si=aT-KAms3RYuw9m-1ObNs8Q&pi=sXT7KBhdSdGDO

An update of episodes 24 and 26, where I introduced the genre of Dude Hop, mid 90s alternative rock infused hip hop made by white dudes with hangovers, with some more dude hop songs I've discovered over the last year or so    The Dude Hop Timeline playlist on Spotify   https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4dNXabIDPDFwQ00UwK06Gr?si=TKt2fWXTQmOkkGSgdsHo3A&pi=idkD9sKhTGeYH   The Dude Hop sub Reddit https://www.reddit.com/r/DudeHop  

A selection of sometimes cringe, sometimes cool comedy rap tunes from the early to mid 80s, featuring tunes from England, Scotland, Ireland and The Netherlands

The Grove was a teenage disco in the Northside of Dublin, Ireland that ran for 30 years, from 1967 to 1997.  and thanks to Cecil Nolan, who was the DJ for that entire time, and the music he played, The Grove became an essential part of the formative years of the tens of thousands of young Northsiders who attended. In this episode, many of those who were lucky enough to have gone to the Grove share their stories and the music they heard there.  Links  Joe Kearns - What is the Grove?  https://thegrove-jk.blogspot.com/p/memories-of-grove-1973-to-1975-from-2025.html?m=1 The Grove Facebook group  https://www.facebook.com/groups/4512479386/?ref=share The Grove radio show on NearFM https://nearfm.ie/the-grove-show/ Eamonn McCormack's "Kindred Spirits" album https://open.spotify.com/artist/7IYQbgnmiFhHdnp5WESEQV?si=hYYbsEFpTuWxxMuCwaFtiw "More Than A Feeling" - RTE documentary on the Grove https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iccATMMFBtM 32a - Irish Film https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPA8aUK3q80