13. Wata IgarashiRA. 617
There’s something that really cheers me up about the idea of suggesting a podcast from a rival publication in a piece about classic albums. I know tQ are open minded people and I don’t mind getting a pasting in the comments so let me explain why this one hour mix podcast is important enough to me that it’s kicked a legitimately classic record off my list. This was released the same month that I was diagnosed with a nasty bone marrow condition that abruptly stopped my touring and started me on what would turn out to be a seven month stint of chemo. In addition to weekly hospital trips for chemo I had about a bakers dozen (see what I did there) pills to take throughout the day. In the evening I had one or two that were pretty effective sedatives as a side effect to whatever they were supposed to do. So, I’d take the night pills with dinner, sit up until they were not likely to come back up and then head to bed at about 7 or 8pm in a warm haze, headphones on.
This mix, which I rarely made it to the end of, was the perfect comforting reminder of the clubland that had disappeared only a few weeks before. This wasn’t some random doof either, I had bought lots of Wata’s records and had wanted to see him play in a club for a long time. RA617 lived on my phone for ages, way outliving other podcasts or records that I was listening to at the time. What I loved about this recording is the dense, trippy atmosphere and the very distinctive sense of pacing, it’s patient but never boring, it’s psychedelic but never wafty and it really feels like a single cohesive message. Listening to it now I feel that knot of recognition in my stomach and as I remember each element just before it comes in my resolve that this is a good choice is strengthened – you would have loved the classy proper album that this kicked off though, not sorry.
