ANCOATS, MANCHESTER 5.24AM The decision as to where I will photograph at dawn is often taken the moment I turn the ignition in my car. A flock of choices swirl around my head, as if a strong breeze has caught a pile of carefully folded orders, and I must somehow pluck one out of the air. Once I’ve grasped my instructions, I’m aware and accept that I’ve set off on a particular path of fate, and that what I encounter […]
HIGHER BROUGHTON, SALFORD, SPRING EQUINOX 5.49AM The previous evening had been spent with a close friend, wandering the haunts of his past life as a student living in the area quite some years ago, him scampering childlike up and down the street where he had once shared a house. He marvelled at the changes, minimal to my eyes, but to him an era now lost and forever altered by passing time. The area’s residents are now often Orthodox Jews, and […]
This month I go for a night walk up the Irk Valley with my friend Nick Dunn, amongst the ghosts bats and rats of this etheral land, and discuss ideas from his new book Dark Futures. Soundscapes by Not Quite Light, and music features tracks from Space Afrika, Yumi Iwaki and Aphex Twin. LISTEN HERE PLAYLIST
Join Not Quite Light for the monthly rummage through the box of sounds under my bed for an eclectic mix of field recordings and delicious music. There is a hint of spring to this month, and I feature tracks by Alice Boyd, Antony Szmierek, Pefkin and Duke Ellington. LISTEN HERE PLAYLIST
WHERE WILL THE SOULS OF THE DEAD LIVE NOW? Angel Meadow is a crucible land. Once bucolic, it became home to a notorious slum in the years of the industrial revolution, and at its northern end a now anonymous pauper’s burial ground conceals the bodies of up to 40,000 people. In recent years a vast sum of money from Hong Kong has been invested in regenerating the local district, and Angel Meadow, deemed a park these days, is slowly being […]
This short documentary features the late Joan Hibberd, who lived to be 102 years old, a life long Socialst activist, who was born and bred in Trafford, south of Manchester.This film was made as she approached her 100th birthday. Directed by Simon Buckley Additional camera & editing Pete Tomkies With great thanks to the Joan, and all her family. Also, to Kate Green and Stretford Urmston CLP or supporting the film
Join Not Quite Light for an eclectic mix of field recordings and delicious music… This month we wander back through recordings from 2024, including a strange trip to Egypt in the Spring. Music features tracks by Morton Feldman, Fairuz, Julie Cooper and Vig Mihaly. LISTEN HERE PLAYLIST
MIDDLEWOOD LOCKS 7.27AM Walking towards Middlewood Locks, down Oldfield Road in Salford at around 6.40am, I was passed by a young man carrying on his back a case containing a tuba, or maybe a euphonium. His head was down, lost in thought as he made his way, I assumed, to some orchestral practice somewhere. I’m not sure why I found this slightly absurd, but I did. I wondered, should he practise at home, what it must be like living next […]
Join Not Quite Light for an eclectic mix of field recordings and delicious music… On this show we wander back through the past two months, with recordings from Poland, Manchester and Salford. Music features tracks by Thelonious Monk, The Saxophones, Yamaneko and Henryck Górecki. LISTEN HERE PLAYLIST
Islington Way, Salford 6.44am The birds seemed louder on this morning, than they had been for any morning in the previous week. As I stepped out of Islington Mill, a robin bounced near my feet, as if leading me like a pied piper, moving without fear, clearly used to people passing nearby. The only time it stopped was to listen to the melody messages flying through the air, a cold air which raked my nostrils, and carried a scent of […]