We’re gearing up for an expedition to London and it’s looking like a phenomenal trip. Living room concerts with Absolute Ambient with Matt Coldrick and Matt Hillier a.k.a Ishq, Radio Massacre International, Leo Abrahams, Marconi Union and Ajanta Music. Interviews with Steve Hillage, Sounds from the Ground, John Foxx, and Bombay Dub Orchestra.
It’s interesting how music keeps coming around, recycling and reconstituting itself. John Foxx was the lead singer of Ultravox and we interviewed him back in 1982 for our documentary Totally Wired. Ultravox was one of my favorite New Wave bands and his interview remains one of my favorite interviews, full of intelligence and insight that is not that common. Foxx has been underground for most of the last two decades, putting out electro-pop albums and deep ambient projects like Cathedral Oceans.
Last year he did a CD with ambient pianist Harold Budd Translucence/Drift Music.
Another new wave connection comes from Ajanta Music
with Paul Simon (no, not the Garfunkel Simon) and Robin Simon. Both Robin and Paul also go back to the New Wave days. Paul was in Cowboys International and Robin was in Ultravox with Foxx and later, Magazine, another smart and under-appreciated band from the early 80s. Ajanta Music is quite a shift for them and I’m curious to find out how they arrived here after 25 years.
But predating all these guys is Steve Hillage . Steve has been on Echoes a couple of times before, but it’s always fascinating to talk to this psychedelic warrior who has re-invented himself as a techno artist and producer who works with pop bands and world music artists like Rachid Taha. In fact, he’ll be mixing a new album by Taha when we visit him next week. He records his own music as System 7 and Mirror System 
It’s going to be a frantic 4 days, in which we’ll record 14 interviews and live performances all in different locations around London. More later. Next message from London.
–john