10 Seconds: Nadeem Din-Gabisi
1. Funkadelic - (Not Just) Knee Deep (9'45" - 9'55")
from Funkadelic - Uncle Jam Wants You (1979)
“I’ve discovered so much great music through hip-hop and sampling though this may have been a discovery where I heard the original first and then linked it to the De La Soul song, ‘Me, myself and I’. (Not Just) Kneep Deep is such a fantastic piece of music that gets me moving and thinking all at the same time! Taking a phrase so commonplace, ‘ants in my pants’ and making it so catchy and full of feeling is classic Funkadelic/Parliament/George Clinton."
2. Albert Ayler - Ghosts (0’00” - 0’10”)
from Albert Ayler - Spiritual Unity (1965)
"What an opening salvo, this is like scoring a screamer from the half way line against your city rivals in the first ten seconds. One of my favourite songs, and what a way to start it! Discovering Albert Ayler changed the way I say and felt about music, it was in a period where I was leaning into instrumental music that had a voice. First I got into John Coltrane and then Pharoah Sanders and then Albert Ayler! Clear and distinct expression that dances between mystery, discovery, searching, loss and the quest for the divine. Whoever, wherever that may be.
Ghosts is featured in an amazing Japanese film called Eureka and that moment is so special!"
3. 2Pac - So Many Tears (0'00" - 0'10")
from 2Pac - Me Against the World (1995)
“I shall not fear no man but God, though I walk through the valley of death. I shed so many tears.
Tupac showed me that I could feel. Guttural, base, high, low, sad, mourning, elation. I’d been introduced to concepts of love and politics in music prior but it was through Tupac and listening to other artists of feeling that showed me all the spectrum of expression that could be present in song."
4. Michael Olatjua featuring Lyndon David Hall and Andrew Roachford - Hold On (3'26" - 3'36")
from Michael Olatjua - Speak (2009)
“Clouds lifting, Light emerging. This is what this song reminds me of and of time, the time I had to listen more deeply and intently. The song was shown to me by Will Heights who I met DJing at Exhibition Rooms, a basement space in South London. I had met Andrew Ashong first and then Will through him and then David Kwa Mensah through Will. And eventually Wu Lu, CKTRL and Hector Plimmer, Desta Haile, Nandi Bhebe. It was an art school of its own! This was around 2013 onwards and was an exciting time of musical exploration and a lot of DJing. This song reminds me of that and these ten seconds are very special!
Black British soul, rnb in this mode I hadn’t come across."
5. The Streets - Turn The Page (0’39” - 0’49”)
from The Streets - Original Pirate Material (2002)
“HMV Croydon, this song reminds me of a time that’s gone and is more bitter sweet because I lived it. I still have the cd somewhere! Everything about the song is right, the tension feels like it’s never released but also it’s never too tense and there’s always something happening, something to unpick and unpack like life I guess. In many ways listening to this, Kano and Dizzee Rascal put in my head that maybe I could do something like it."
6. Alice Coltrane - Turiya & Ramakrishna (0’22” - 0’32")
from Alice Coltrane - Ptah the El Daoud (1970)
“I was very happy to discover of another amazing non verbal voice. Alice Coltrane’s piano voice. I think what I appreciate about this song is the sensitivity, the touch in the field of patience and the exploration. It is a magnificent piece of music that in every listen shows me something different and profound.
Alice Coltrane's piano playing is so joyful and whimsical, mastery!"
7. Brenda Fassie - Vuli Ndela (1'48" - 1'58")
from Brenda Fasi - Memeza (1997)
"A hall party classic, a pan African classic by way of South Africa. I recall hearing the baseline and running to the dancefloor and moving in time with everybody else. This song that we sang but didn’t understand, didn't know what the lyrics were saying or really cared! It just moved us! There’s something about how music can connect and reach across all languages and cultures and just move people that’s quite profound about this song. It’s claimed by every country where it was played in hall parties and it reminds me of the days before smart phones were what you knew was what you knew for better or worse!"
8. Georgia Anne Muldrow - Moonsong Lullabye (2’11” – 2’21”)
from Georgia Anne Muldrow - Owed to Mama Rickie (2011)
“Sweet Dreams, my love!
Such a beautiful song from a brilliant artist who does so much amazing work spanning so many styles and genres and moods. Georgia Anne Muldrow is a remarkable renaissance woman artist and this song is such a sweet and wonderful treat in her oeuvre. This one was shown to me by Will Heights in his home studio and really made me appreciate and dive deep into Georgia Anne Muldrow’s work."
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