Rebel Radio '98

December 8, 2012 2:52 PM

In April 1998, Ninja Tune duo Up Bustle & Out traveled from Bristol to Havana. They were greeted by legendary flautist Richard Egües, who would be their guide to meeting and recording a number of Cuban musicians over the next two months. The result was the two-volume Rebel Radio: The Master Sessions, an adventurous meeting point between 'the smokeyness of Bristol and the coolness of Havana'. UB&O's Rupert Mould kept a journal which he would later publish as The Rebel Radio Diaries.
posted by mannequito (7 comments total)

Thanks for posting this. It's always neat to come across unexplored corners of Ninja Tune. Love this stuff.
posted by carter at 6:49 PM on December 8, 2012

I'm pretty sure I prefer the coolness of Havana...
posted by jim in austin at 7:02 PM on December 8, 2012

The UB&O site radio thing is pretty interesting too...
posted by sneebler at 7:06 PM on December 8, 2012

I have a vinyl single from this. Lots of variations of "Hip Hop Barrio" - all really great stuff.
posted by GameDesignerBen at 7:18 PM on December 8, 2012

This came out at the peak of my vinyl buying, new UK music obsessiveness...thanks for the reminder. enjoying here on a sunday.
posted by lslelel at 7:30 AM on December 9, 2012

I met Richard Egues when I visited Cuba in 2004 as I had a present to give him from one of his students in the UK. He came across as a nice guy, but he was upset about having cataracts as he couldn't see his music charts. It was only years later that I realised that he was involved in the Rebel Radio album which I had bought when it came out. I wasn't sure what to do with it as it is such a mix of styles and then there are the field recordings between the tracks. This year I used a lot of the field recordings in a mix I did for Mefiswap, so I listened to the album again with fresh ears.
posted by asok at 1:28 PM on December 9, 2012

(should probably note that asok's 'mix' link starts an automatic download of the mefiswap mix - but I'm listening now and it's great, about 175mb in a .zip file)
posted by mannequito at 4:08 AM on December 12, 2012