WORLDWIDE FM

Worldwide FM is a new global music radio platform founded by Gilles Peterson as an addition to his taste-making Worldwide brand. Broadcasting live from London, 10AM-6PM on weekdays, Worldwide FM is co-curated by Thris Tian, with satellite studios in Los Angeles and Tokyo and monthly shows from Motor City Drum Ensemble, Louie Vega, Channel One, Francois K and Lefto.

Instead of the usual Top 10 for August, Gilles Peterson celebrates our one year birthday, by picking a favourite moment from each of the last 12 months.

Listen to Worldwide FM on the move via the free app and keep up to date with the latest shows and other happenings at on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and Mixcloud.

1 September 2016: WeTransfer presents HOW WE DO LA (27-09-16)

Track: Nai Palm – Arrow Through Me (Live) [Unreleased]

One of Gilles’ first projects as the newly-appointed Creative Director for WeTransfer was the curation of How We Do LA, an evening of music at the Ace Hotel Theatre in downtown Los Angeles. Led by Miguel Atwood Ferguson, it featured a unique lineup of new collaborations, featuring performances from Gaslamp Killer, Bilal, Sa-Ra Creative Partners, Kamasi Washington and Nai Palm of Hiatus Kaiyote. There were some amazing musicianship on display, but one of the standout moments was Nai Palm covering ‘Arrow Through Me’, by Paul McCartney’s Wings.

Explore more:
▹ Listen back to the full HOW WE DO LA live show.
▹ While Worldwide FM were in town for the event, we also did a series of pop-up broadcasts from downtown LA. Guests included George Clinton, Thundercat, Adrian Younge, Ali Shaheed Muhammed, MNDSGN, Nia Andrews, Jimetta Rose, Kamasi Washington, Dexter Story and Nai Palm. Listen back through the archives.

2 October: Esa with Ata Kak Live // 18-10-16

Track: DJ Katapila – Lalokat (Ata Kak Freestyle) [Awesome Tapes From Africa]

Brought back from obscurity by Brian Schimkovitz’s Awesome Tapes From Africa, Ata Kak is a Ghanian highlife singer and rapper, who sounds like a warped Prince prodigy ad-libbing of an otherworldly proto-house creation. Full of as much energy as when he originally made the tracks over 30 years ago, he gave us an impromptu rendition during his show with Esa in October.

Explore more:
▹ Esa is the musical director of the Ata Kak live band and currently presents his own fortnightly show. with friends and sounds from his travels. Listen back through the archive.
▹ Esa is also musical director of Mim Suleiman’s live band, a vavacious Tanzanian vocalist and Maurice Fulton collaborator. She joined Thris on his New Music Worldwide show (insert date) even getting him to sing live on air!
▹ Esa presented a Synth Day celebration with Trevor Jackson and Lapalux (23-05-17).

3 November: Colleen Murphey’s David Mancuso Tribute // 22-11-16

Track: Alfredo De La Fé – My Favorite Things (Live Version) [Criollo Records]

2016 seemed to be filled with an unusually high number of high-profile deaths in the music world and few were more significant to the dance community than David Mancuso’s passing in November. Through his New York party, The Loft, David Mancuso shaped many of the sounds and attitudes that have permeated through club culture, not just in his hometown but any venue with a dancefloor. One of Mancuso’s closest friends and artistic collaborators, Colleen “Cosmo” Murphy shared her memories and experiences across a four hour tribute show in the days after his death. Alongside Tim Lawrence and Jeremy Gilbert – her partners in the Lucky Cloud Loft Party, the London event run with and in tribute of Mancuso’s own parties – they discussed David’s extraordinary childhood, his impact and legacy.

Explore more:
▹ Colleen presents her own Cosmodelica show every month. Listen through the archives.
▹ Colleen also presents the Classic Album Sunday show on the last Sunday of each month, looking in depth at iconic albums. Listen through the archives, which include Michael Jackson, Rolling Stones, Kraftwerk and Stevie Wonder.

4 December: Calibre & Craig Richards // 15-12-16

Track: Convextion – Flyby [a.r.t.less]

After joining us for a hard-hitting fabric special in September, just days after their license was revoked, Craig Richards returned to Worldwide FM in December to co-host his own show. The fabric resident and recent festival founder was joined by Calibre, in light of his new release Grow on Craig’s label, The Nothing Special. Calibre might be best known for his drum and bass, but this show, and the album as a whole, revealed a side that traversed different sides of the electronic music spectrum.

Explore more:
▹ Listen back to Craig and Calibre’s full show (15-12-16).
▹ Listen back to the four hour fabric special with Gilles and Thris Tian hosting words and music from Craig Richards, Howie B and founder Keith Reilly (08-09-17).

5 January 2017: WW LA: Quartetto Fantastico // 18-01-16

Track: Quartetto Fantastico – Improvisation (Live WW LA Session) [Unreleased]

For our January highlight we shine a light on our weekly WW LA broadcasts, that have consistently supplied us with some amazing live sessions, interviews and DJ sets, all giving a snapshot of the city’s rich musical output. Quartetto Fantastico are a string quartet made up of Chris Woods (Violin) Paul Cartright (Violin) Miguel Atwood Ferguson (Viola) and Peter Jacobson (Cello). Their improvised live set on air was a dynamic blend of classical, jazz and hip-hop.

Explore more:
▹ Watch the full live session from Quartetto Fantastico (starts at 13 mins).
▹ Listen to the archive of the weekly LA broadcasts, featuring shows from Jimetta Rose, Jeremy Sole, Dan Digs, Andrew Jervis and Mak de Clive-Lowe and Seano.

6 February: WW Cape Town presented by Gilles Peterson and Esa // 03-02-17

Track: Card on Spokes – Improvisation (Live WW Cape Town Session) [Unreleased]

In February, we went to Cape Town with Gilles to record an audio documentary about the city’s music culture for Lufthansa. During the trip he also co-hosted a special broadcast with Worldwide FM regular and our tour guide for the trip, Esa Williams. We were joined by one of Cape Town’s most loved vinyl DJs Pierre Estienne, singer Nonku Phiri, producer Portable aka Bodycode and multi-instrumentalist Card on Spokes.

Explore more:
▹ Listen to the full Cape Town Sounds documentary.
▹ Listen to the four hour WW Cape Town show (03-02-17).

7 March: Gil Scott-Heron Special: Dave Okumu with Lemn Sissay & Jono McCleery // 30-03-17

Track: Jono McCleery – Angola, Louisiana (Live WWFM Version) [Unreleased]

To celebrate what would have been Gil Scott-Heron’s 68th Birthday, The Invisible bandleader Dave Okumu presented a two hour show, accompanied by poet Lemn Sissay MBE and Ninja Tune-signed singer-songwriter Jono McCleery. The enduring sentiment from the session was how relevant Gil’s work is today, not just for its musical qualities but for his role as a spokesperson for a beleaguered generation and its critique on social inequalities. Aside from playing some of their favourite originals, Jono McCleery also performed a live cover of ‘Angola, Louisiana’ (above), taken from Secrets, a collaborative album with Brian Jackson from 1978.

Explore more:
▹ Listen to Dave Okumu’s two hour Gil Scott-Heron tribute with Lemn Sissay and Jono McCleery (30-03-17).
▹ Watch a video session of Jono performing ‘Angola, Louisiana’.
▹ Roger Robinson interviews The Last Poets, including stories of time spent with Gil Scott-Heron through some of his more difficult periods battling drug addiction (25-11-16).
▹ Gilles Peterson interviewed Lemn Sissay in our first week of broadcast (08-09-16).

8 April: Erased Tapes 10th Anniversary Takeover // 20-04-17

Track: Daniel Brandt – On The Move (Live WWFM Version) [Unreleased]

To celebrate 10 years in the game, avant-garde classic label Erased Tapes took over the Brownswood Basement for a four hour broadcast. Label founder Robert Rath looked back on some of their favourite releases and also presented two special live sets, one from Penguin Cafe and the other a world exclusive performance from Daniel Bradt (above), co-founder of Germany’s electroacoustic ensemble Brandt Brauer Frick.

Explore more:
▹ Listen to the Erased Tapes 10th Anniversary special (20-04-17).
▹ Watch a video of Penguin Cafe perform ‘Protection’ live at Brownswood.
▹ Watch a video of Daniel Brandt perform ‘On The Move’ live at Brownswood. 
▹ An Erased Tapes regular, Olafur Arnalds joined Thris Tian for an hour of words and music (01-11-16).

9 May: WW Nola

Track: Yosi Horikawa & Tank – Song For NOLA [Unreleased]

As part of a collaboration with Six of Saturns festival at Ace Hotel’s Three Keys venue, we curated 11 special broadcasts in as many days live from New Orleans. Gilles, Mark de Clive-Lowe, Brice Nice and Soul Sista all hosted and were joined by a range of guests, including Bill Summers, Taylor McFerrin, Maurice Brown and Tank and the Bangas. During the trip, field recording specialist Yosi Harikawa walked the streets of New Orleans to create ‘Song For Nola’, collaborating with Tank, from Tank and the Bangas, on vocals.

Explore more:
▹ Gilles hosted a Best Of show to recap on two hours of his favourite moments (29-05-17).
▹ Watch Yosi Harikawa walking the streets of New Orleans to create ‘Song For Nola’ with Tank, from Tank and the Bangas (below).
▹ Listen to the archive of all WW Nola shows.
▹ DJ Soul Sista and Brice Nice hosted their own four hour takeover as part of our weekly WW International show (06-09-17).

10 June: Gilles Peterson with Alain Mion (Cortex) // 21-06-17

Track: Cortex Live Wurlitzer Medley and Interview

This year we dedicated a full day of programming to celebrate the French holiday Fête de la Musique. As part of the nationwide party, Gilles invited French pianist and composer Alain Mion to the studio. Alain is the founder of from legendary jazz funk group Cortex who are also known for their work being sampled by MF Doom and Tyler The Creator. With Gilles, he discussed his life in music and then performed a medley of Cortex tracks on the Wurlitzer piano inside the Brownswood Basement.

Explore more:
▹ Listen to Gilles’ show with Alain Mion (21-06-17).
▹ As part of our Fête de la Musique coverage, Philippe Cohen Solal re-opened the doors of the Hash Club for a special broadcast (21-06-17).
▹ Weekly hosts on Worldwide FM, live from their Paris cafe, Le Mellotron curated their own Fête celebrations with a two hour broadcast (21-06-17).

11 July: Worldwide Festival Sete: BCUC Live in Sete // 06-07-17

Track: BCUC – Asazani (Live from Worldwide Festival 2017)

BCUC, which stands for Bantu Continua Uhuru Consciousness, are a afro-psychedelic seven piece from the Soweto Township in Cape Town. Signed to Nyami Nyami Records, their music is as politically charged as their name suggests with tracks that far exceed the ten minute mark, building momentum with frenetic drumming and an intrinsic musical understanding between its members. Before they took to the stage at the Theatre de La Mer on the Thursday night at Gilles’ Worldwide Festival, BCUC were such unknown entities that festivalgoers could scarcely remember the letters that made up their name. After one of the standout sets of the festival, theirs was a name you couldn’t hear enough of for the rest of the week.

Explore more:
▹ Listen back to BCUC’s set in the Best of Worldwide Festival catch-up (27-07-17).
▹ BCUC preceded Shabaka and the Ancestors during a South African themed evening at Worldwide Festival. Listen back to their set in the Best of Worldwide Festival catch-up (27-07-17).

12 August: New Music Worldwide: Thris with Skinny Pelembe // 11-08-17

Track: Skinny Pelembe – Baby Laxmi (WWFM Live Session)

Our highlight for August was a live session from Future Bubbler alumni Skinny Pelembe. Run by Amy and Selassie, Future Bubblers is a talent development programme affiliated with Brownswood, now in its third year of mentoring unsigned talent. Skinny Pelembe is a London-via-Doncaster multi-instrumentalist tapping into strains of Afro-tipped soul. Following his inclusion in the Brownswood Bubblers 12th edition, Skinny Pelembe has just recently become the first Future Bubbler to be signed to Brownswood for a full album. More news on that soon.

Explore more:
▹ Listen to Skinny Pelembe’s live set, as part of Thris Tian’s four hour New Music Worldwide show (11-08-17).
▹ Listen to Brownswood Recordings’ Bubblers Special (27-04-17).
▹ Listen to the archives of Future Bubblers’ monthly show.

13 Honorary Mention: Gilles Peterson with Sampha // 20-02-16

Track: Sampha – (No One Knows Me) Like The Piano

Yeah we noticed there aren’t 13 months in the year too, but we’ve made an exception in honour of this year’s Mercury Award winner, Sampha, with his album Process. Gilles was one of the first DJs to get behind Sampha’s music on radio so, on the occasion of his much-anticipated debut album on Young Turks earlier this year, the two got together for an in-depth chat back in February.

Explore more:
▹ Listen to the interview with Gilles and Sampha (20-02-17).