Love is the Message Podcast

www.patreon.com/lovemessagepod

Finally, we introduce a major character in out story over the coming months: Arthur Russell...

The guys unpack how funk and reggae were influencing bands like The Contortions in their experimentation with rhythm, visit the CBGB club in New York, and dispute received ideas about the division between punk and disco.../

They discuss where the term came from, what exactly the ‘punk’ it was following was, and some the music’s early proponents. With reference to The Slits, Wire, Talking Heads and more, we hear about the Hacienda, John Peel, Modernism and Mark E Smith.../

'THE NEW MUSICK': POST-PUNK pt.1

Apple: tinyurl.com/5n85zx88
Spotify: tinyurl.com/bbzjcann
Patreon: tinyurl.com/n9k5298b

A historical period, an unhelpful genre descriptor, a structure of feeling? @jemgilbert.bsky.social and Tim Lawrence return to 78 to explore post-punk.../

To hear an extended, almost 2hr version of this conversation, become a patron at patreon.com/lovemessagepod

Jeremy and Alex discuss blues rock, ‘sophsti-pop’ and Sting, the folk club legacy of the North East, Prefab Sprout, the smallpipes and the Sultans of Swing.../

Alex talks us through the particulars of the region, one of Britain’s main post-industrial heartlands, exploring through music various expressions of white working class identity and a particular form of masculinity that artists have variously embodied or pushed against.../

Our interest in this subject was piqued by Sam Fender’s victory in last year’s Mercury Music Prize. Fender is himself an artist indebted to our recent subject, Bruce Springsteen.../

THE MUSIC OF NORTH EAST ENGLAND with Alex Niven

Apple: tinyurl.com/28etdbax
Spotify: tinyurl.com/46s8wfd4
Patreon: tinyurl.com/33ffu8dh

@jemgilbert.bsky.social is joined by @alexniven.bsky.social
to talk about the musical history of England’s North East.../

Become a patron to hear the full episode and many more like it:

Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod

Jeremy describes how Springsteen’s songs of New Jersey post-industrialisation were heard in the cities of North West England, Tim interrogates his endorsement of Obama, and both try to understand his unique mass appeal in the USA.

We hear about the sense of place in his music, the influence of Dylan on his writing, the iconography of the small town and the big car, and his various attempts to express a white vernacular working class experience.../

Tracing his life from his early career up to 1984, they unpack specificities of the Boss’s politics, his particular aesthetic, and the often confused reception of his repertoire.../

LITM Extra - BRUCE SPRINGSTEEN

Apple: tinyurl.com/bdh8d6xr
Spotify: tinyurl.com/e3kkzy6f
Patreon: patreon.com/posts/146133...

@jemgilbert.bsky.social and Tim spend some time exploring the life and times of Bruce Springsteen.../

We also hear a potted history of the DSA, consider the particularities of Left Populism as a contemporary political tendency, spend time with Bernie and de Blassio, and appraise a couple of the incoming mayor’s early rap tracks.

Tim and Jeremy recount the emergence of Zohran as a political figure, his background and parents, his democratic socialist politics and what his election means for the Left and anti-imperialism more broadly.../

Zohran Mamdani Podcast Episode · Love is the Message: Dance, Music and Counterculture · 04/12/2025 · 1h 42m

ZOHRAN MAMDANI

Apple: tinyurl.com/yhk8u5td
Spotify: tinyurl.com/5n85a3ts
Patreon: tinyurl.com/5ftcxenz

@jemgilbert.bsky.social and Tim Lawrence celebrate the election of Zohran Mamdani as Mayor of NYC.../

On the music side of things, we hear a potted history of the conga drum, some drum and bass, electric thumb pianos, handmade amplifiers and an African cousin to footwork./

They also unpack the ‘resource curse’ of the DRC’s mineral stocks, the activities of companies like Apple and Tesla, and finish with a reflection from the great Franz Fanon.../

Beginning with the overthrow of Lumumba, they discuss the colonial and imperialist dynamics that have buffeted the country for the last half century, cycles of violence this engenders and the role of nations like the US, China, Rwanda have played in destabilising the country.../

Soundtrack for a Coup D'Etat pt.3: DRC Today Podcast Episode · Love is the Message: Dance, Music and Counterculture · 20/11/2025 · 1h 28m

SOUNDTRACK TO A COUP D'ETAT pt.3 : DRC Today

Apple: tinyurl.com/5hc3h3sc
Spotify: tinyurl.com/a9v8fvs2
Patreon: tinyurl.com/32d4p6k5

@jemgilbert.bsky.social and Tim Lawrence review the music and politics of DRC from 1960 to today.../

If you want to take it right the way back to the beginning, here's our introductory episode...

Get more from Love is the Message: Music, Dance & Counterculture on Patreon creating Love is the Message Podcast

To hear the full episode and dozens more like it, visit patreon.com/LoveMessagePod and become a patron from £3 a month.

Elsewhere in the show we hear a post-punk Fela cover, a classic piece of Sharon Jones funk soul, Highlife guitar, the price of vinyl, a shoutout for the humble 7”, Afrofuturist mythology and… Alan Partridge.../

Tim pulls extensively from the bag he packed for a recent Lucky Cloud party, including selections from SAULT and Cotontete, while Jeremy shares a modern slice of Bukem-esque DnB and an end-of-the-night dreamy deep cut..../

LITM Extra - What We're Listening To, Nov '25

Apple: tinyurl.com/yxhsrbaa
Spotify: tinyurl.com/mmmfpvpa
Patreon: tinyurl.com/74dnnw7p

For patrons, @jemgilbert.bsky.social and Tim Lawrence share what music's been on their turntables recently.../

Also included in this show: Fantasia, the Military Industrial Complex, the Kennedy assassination and some speculative White House tripping.

We hear about Louis Armstrong in Ghana, Dizzy Gillespie’s tours to West Asia and revisit Max Roach from our previous show, alongside Brubeck, Stravinsky and… Bing Crosby.../

We get a brief history of the emergence of the CIA in the post-war USA, NATO, and detail a few of the great many instances of US interference in newly decolonised states around the globe.../