Sonic vibrations
part 1
Guest edited by Michael McMillan
“This guest edition is a multimedia journey into the sonic vibrations of sound system culture, lovers rock and dub with writers, poets, scholars, sound and visual artists, choreographers, and sound women from the African diaspora. Sonic vibrations, part 2 drops on 6 October 2021”
“The sound system calls and the crowd ‘massive’ responds on the dancefloor with their hands and lighters in the air as if they just don’t care.“
“Amplify
Jah Shaka – Wasiffa – Maverick
deep dub-tion waves
moving cool n deadly, wid
top notch riddims /turn table precision
coin weight needle
on liquid vinyl crisp n crackle of ‘Culture dubplate
‘wat a liiv an bamba yeah’”
“Music like elemental force, heard and felt throughout the body, steaming clouds of curry goat, ganja, the barely heard cries of running children, our age and younger.”
“Well, the fact of technology – especially if you don’t have direct access to it – signifies ‘the future’. It is a metaphor – of development, of power, of perhaps ‘the West’, but certainly of a network of ideas that those on the margins crave access to or wish to echo or version.”
“I have the right to be impressed by the babbling brooks, the crackle of the flame, to feel excited about the possibility of sounds being turned into a key that unlocks somebody’s memory or an emotional journey.”
“When my son began to DJ, I told him to play for the women, because where women go, the men will follow. With my background in ballet, watching James Brown, Michael Jackson, and being a soul-head, I could beat many of the guys in a skanking competition.”
“…pelvises moving as one, scribing a full circle for the ‘round di worl’ dance. Other pelvises scribe a figure of eight, moving in and out of each other, whilst some merely rock hips in semi-circular fashion, maintaining constant contact, their movement barely visible to onlookers.”
“It’s easy to look back nostalgically, but to recognise it when you are in it and to take action, requires a different kind of understanding.“