Podcast – Rob Watson Media: Recent Episodes
Rob Watson
Ryan and I got together at the recently extended Phoenix Cinema and Digital Arts Centre in Leicester, for a chat about what makes for a meaningful life. Ryan shared his experience of getting a car and being stuck in endless traffic trying to get to work. This was the first time we’ve met in the evening and had a beer as well!
A rather jazzy glass…
It was really nice to have a coffee this morning with Jonathan Taylor and Paul Whitehead, who are based at the University of Leicester’s Centre for New Writing. We chatted about the way that literature has faced the challenge of the consumer society, and what role literature plays in a progressive and democratic society.
As well as sharing their professional insights, Jonathan and Harry shared who and what they have been inspired by, and how they hope to promote and support the uptake of all forms of literature in Leicester.
Jonathan’s website has links to his publications, writing and poetry. Harry’s focus is on the Literary Leicester Festival in March 2023.
Today I chatted with Dafydd Roberts, about Listen to the Voice of Fire, Dafydd’s music project that encompasses sound art and experimental music performances. Since relocating to West Wales, to pursue a PhD in the alchemical writings of Thomas Vaughan (fl.1650), Dafydd has been active in DIY underground music networks since the early 90s. His projects synthesise his academic interest in hermeticism and sound. Dafydd’s music has been released on labels in the USA, Germany and Australia, played by John Peel, BBC Wales on Resonance FM.
We chatted about the process of developing an aesthetic approach to music that is diffused and promotes a sense of imagination informed by poetry, mystery and hermetic engagement with stories.
Tracks played are available from Bandcamp, and include:
In A Strange Chamber
I Saw a Sword Lay Shattered
Kemel Atlantis
For the first time in ages, Ryan and I met up to chat and discuss what we’ve been up to for the Distraction Therapy podcast. This was the first time we’d met on a Sunday morning, though the coffee was on hand as ever. We spent some time discussing Ryan’s visit to the Thought Bubble [...]
Ryan and I met up on Saturday morning for our regular coffee and chat. Ryan came hot-footed from a bikram yoga session, and was super energised. We chatted about the after-effects of Queen Elizabeth’s funeral, and how narrow many of our cultural options have become. It turns out I was a few hours away from [...]
Leicester Lo-Fi is a community darkroom and photography collective that promotes fine art and traditional photographic processes, by supporting specialist knowledge and facilities, education and exhibitions. Leicester Lo-Fi started in 2011 with no place to call a home, but managed to put on workshops and events at any place that would have them, converting toilets [...]
I thought I’d share another music mix. These are tracks I’ve been listening to as I work at home. There’s not a lot of time to wander about at the moment, but I’m sure this will be handy to keep me company on a walk one day soon, as spring starts to push in to [...]
I though’t I’d do a music mix I can listen to while I’m doing my supermarket shopping later. Another day in lockdown, and an endless succession of days that merge into one. This kept me entertained putting it together earlier though. Tracklisting (not in order): Osamu’s Theme: Kyoko’s House, Kronos Quartet & Philip Glass: Mishima [...]
The lockdown continues here in Leicester. It’s cold and not a lot is happening, so here’s a music mix I’ve put together as a way of interrupting the boredom. The Good Morrow – John Donne Read by Richard Burton Plans for the Future – Paul Leonard-Morgan – Last Breath OST Dropping Off the Bell – [...]
I went for a walk into Leicester on Saturday and recorded some sounds and some thoughts. I’ve mixed them together with a couple of tracks. It was a gloomy day. It was raining, and the city felt calm and lacking in festive spirit. I’m convinced that this is a good thing as long as we [...]
It’s the last day of British Summer Time, and the clocks return to Greenwich Mean Time tonight. It means we get an extra hour in bed, but the evenings are dark and the curtains get closed at 5pm. So, to while away the hours I’ve put together a mix of music and some spoken word. [...]
The nights are drawing in, and the leaves are shedding their green hue and turning brown before they fall and scatter. I’ve been working from home a lot recently, and these are some of the tracks that I’ve stumbled across as I’ve been answering messages, planning funding applications, and looking for my next client. I [...]
In our pandemic times, it’s worth reminding ourselves that people have been through these kinds of experiences before, and that we should be able to meet the challenges that are before us if we apply our imagination and our intelligence. As W.B. Yeats put it the ‘centre cannot hold’, and something is pushing to be [...]
Here are some tracks I’ve sequenced together in no particular order. The summer is over, and we are heading into the shorter and colder days. Though with the lockdown we might all be taking it a little easier this winter. The tracklisting is: La verité – Frànçois & The Atlas Mountains -Piano ombre Secret of [...]
Here’s another mix of tracks that I’ve been listening to as the summer is coming to an end, and autumn is on its way. Hang’em All – Carpenter Brut – EP II Interlock – Stereolab – Fab Four Suture Motion in Field – Tom Rogerson & Brian Eno – Finding Shore Subliminal – Fujiya & [...]