Love is the Message: Dance, Music and Counterculture artwork

Love is the Message: Dance, Music and Counterculture

139 episodes - English - Latest episode: about 14 hours ago - ★★★★★ - 37 ratings

Love is the Message: Music, Dance & Counterculture is a new show from Tim Lawrence and Jeremy Gilbert, both of them authors, academics, DJs and dance party organisers.

Tune in, Turn on and Get Down to in-depth discussion of the sonic, social and political legacies of radical movements from the 1960s to today. Starting with David Mancuso's NYC Loft parties, we’ll explore the countercultural sounds, scenes and ideas of the late 20th and early 21st centuries.

”There’s one big party going on all the time. Sometimes we get to tune into it.” The rest of the time there’s Love Is The Message.

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Episodes

LITM Extra - No UNESCO: Detroit Techno [excerpt]

April 25, 2024 13:16 - 7 minutes - 10.9 MB

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the whole thing and much more besides, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod Earlier this month UNESCO added Berlin techno to its List of Intangible Cultural Heritage, a register to recoginize and safeguard important traditions, practices and expressions. This news was met with consternation from music fans over how this honour completely overlooked the birthplace of techno, Detroit. For this patrons-only episode, Jeremy and Tim react to th...

Punk pt.2

April 11, 2024 07:37 - 57 minutes - 53.5 MB

In this episode we continue our trio of episodes on Punk by examining some crucial mid-70s proto-Punk antecedents. Via the lean funkiness of Dr Feelgood Jeremy and Tim explore the interesting British formation of pub rock, with its R’n’B roots and distinct danceability. This leads to a discussion on the slipperiness of Rock’n’Roll as a term and its tensions with ‘rock’ proper. We also hear an early influence on Post-Punk and meet the influential Stiff Records at its foundation. In the secon...

LITM Extra - What We're Listening To, March '24 [excerpt]

March 28, 2024 08:11 - 8 minutes - 11.9 MB

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the whole thing and a huge number of other conversations, head to Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod. In this patrons episode Jem and Tim once again share what’s been on their turntables recently. We hear two tracks - one contemporary and one not - from the UK Asian Underground, along with a consideration of the cosmopolitan aesthetic of artists like Bally Sagoo and Nitin Sawhney. Tim reflects on trips to the WOMAD festival and digs into trip ...

New York City 1977: Welcome to Series 6. Punk pt.1

March 14, 2024 06:57 - 56 minutes - 52.3 MB

Welcome to Series 6 of Love is the Message! We hope you enjoyed the series of conversations with writers and academics that comprised Series 5, but now we are returning to our usual format to examine a watershed year: 1977.  In this first episode we are unpacking Punk. What is it? A musical style, a subgenre of rock, a fashion sensibility, an attitude, a structure of feeling? In the first of three shows on Punk, Jeremy and Tim unfurl a general genealogy of the term as we build towards the r...

LITM Extra - Killer Queens: Glam pt.3 [excerpt]

March 07, 2024 08:04 - 3 minutes - 3.6 MB

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the whole thing and a lot more besides, head to Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod. In this patrons’ episode we conclude our trio of episodes on Glam Rock. Tim and Jeremy pick up where they left off with a walk on the wild side. This leads to a discussion of the relationship between Lou Reed, Bowie and Iggy Pop in the early 70s. They discuss the undisputed glam anthem Cum on Feel the Noize from Birmingham’s finest Slade, replete with its foo...

LITM Extra - Screwed-Up Eyes and Screwed-Down Hairdo: Glam pt.2 [excerpt]

February 29, 2024 08:02 - 5 minutes - 4.82 MB

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the whole show, and a whole lot more besides, head to Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod to sign up. In this patrons’ episode we move into the second of three episodes on Glam. The third part of this trilogy will be dropping in your feed sooner than our normal schedule so hold tight for that. Tim and Jeremy discuss that big beast of British rock, Roxy Music. They consider Brian Ferry’s cultivation of a White British vocal style, the effects o...

'Divine Decadence Darling!': The 70s with Simon Reynolds

February 15, 2024 09:00 - 55 minutes - 76.6 MB

In this episode Jeremy and Tim are joined by writer, historian, and friend of the show Simon Reynolds to discuss British musical trends of the 1970s and his life as a music journalist. Simon is arguably the most important music critic writing today, having penned seminal books on post-punk, electronic dance music, feminist rock and much more. In this interview he mostly talks about his most recent book, ‘Shock and Awe: Glam Rock and Its Legacy, from the Seventies to the Twenty-First Century’...

[UNLOCKED] The Great Kosmische Musik: Krautrock

February 12, 2024 10:17 - 1 hour - 146 MB

UNLOCKED - We've made public this previously patrons-only episode following the death of Can singer Damo Suzuki. If you'd like to become a patron, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod. W do you call it? Krautrock, space rock, the Great Komische Music? It’s all German to me. In a little under two hours the guys cover the history of post-WW2 Germany (East and West), anti-Communist geopolitics, what you want to hear when you’re tripping, Pop Art, post-rock and playfulness, all in reference to the ...

LITM Extra - School's Out! Glam Rock pt.1

February 01, 2024 09:00 - 8 minutes - 8.14 MB

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the whole thing, plus dozens of hours more discussion and conversation, head to patreon.com/LoveMessagePod. In this patrons’ episode we continue our look at musical currents of the 1970s by pulling on our platform boots, pasting on some eyeliner and getting ready for Glam Rock. In the first of two episodes, Tim and Jeremy excavate the pre-history of this strange trans-Atlantic phenomenon, which expresses both fascinating cultural insig...

'Fear City': Kim Phillips-Fein on the NYC Fiscal Crisis

January 18, 2024 12:11 - 1 hour - 95.5 MB

To hear an extended version of this conversation, become a patron at Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod. In this episode Jeremy and Tim are joined by historian and New Yorker Kim Phillips-Fein to discuss a crucial event in the Love is the Message story: the 1975 New York City fiscal crisis. Kim’s book ‘Fear City: New York’s Fiscal Crisis and the Rise of Austerity Politics’ is widely regarded as the definitive text on the matter, so she was the perfect person to talk to, and she brought some great m...

LITM Extra - WWLT, Dec '23 [excerpt]

December 21, 2023 09:00 - 7 minutes - 10.1 MB

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the whole show, plus much more, head to Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod. On this festive edition of What We’re Listening To, Jeremy and Tim share selections from their turntables alongside thoughts on religion, atheism, death - and Blondie. We hear psychedelic jazz from north India and northern England, a brace of uplifting Gospel anthems from Pastor T.L Barrett, and some free-wheeling spiritual jazz from the Bronx via Puerto Rico. A smatte...

LITM Extra - The Great Kosmische Musik: Krautrock [excerpt]

December 14, 2023 10:33 - 10 minutes - 13.7 MB

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the full show, and much more, head to Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod. In this episode Tim and Jeremy begin a series of shows for patrons that flesh out some of the other musical currents of the UK and Europe in the late 60s and early 70s, beginning with… well, what do you call it? Krautrock, space rock, the Great Komische Music? It’s all German to me. In a little under two hours the guys cover the history of post-WW2 Germany (East and West...

LITM Extra - Northern Soul's Haunted Ballrooms [excerpt]

December 14, 2023 09:00 - 8 minutes - 12.2 MB

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the full show, plus much more, sign up at Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod. In this patrons episode, Tim and Jeremy continue their investigation into the musical cultures of Europe and the UK of the 1970s. For this show, pull on your wide-leg jeans, pop a dexy and talc the floor, because we’re talking Northern Soul. We hear about Mod culture, subcultural theory, Quadraphenia, and clubs like the Twisted Wheel, the Wigan Casino and the Blackpo...

'Getting Togetherness': Emily J. Lordi on Soul

December 12, 2023 19:38 - 1 hour - 89.5 MB

In this week’s episode, Tim and Jeremy are joined by writer, critic and academic Emily J. Lordi to discuss her 2020 book The Meaning of Soul (and much more besides). Emily talks about how she got into writing about Black music and the particular status Soul held in academia at the start of her career. The three consider changing historiographies of Black culture, talk over some key canonical texts, and contrast Soul with scholarship on Blues and Jazz. Emily explains how her analysis looks b...

Black Popular Music and Black Public Culture with Mark Anthony Neal

November 09, 2023 01:00 - 1 hour - 86.6 MB

In this week’s episode, Tim and Jeremy are joined by writer and scholar Mark Anthony Neal. Mark’s 1999 book ‘What the Music Said: Black Popular Music and Black Public Culture’ is a crucial text for us here at Love is the Message, so it was fantastic to have him join the show to discuss his life and work in music. We discuss how the Black popular music of the past 60 years provides an insight into black socio-political life, via Gospel, Soul, Hip Hop and more. Mark explores how his upbringing...

LITM Extra - WWLT, War and Peace Special [excerpt]

October 26, 2023 14:11 - 7 minutes - 10.8 MB

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the full show, plus many more hours of conversation, become a patron at Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod. In this patrons episode Tim and Jeremy offer music on the theme of war and peace. They reflect on the ongoing conflict in Palestine, discussing the current unfolding crisis and taking a longer view on Israeli history. We hear about the ecstatic peace of John Coltrane, a lesser-known companion to Edwin Starr’s ‘War’, why Tim loves the Hum...

'Swing in her Spirituals': Gayle Wald on Sister Rosetta Tharpe

October 12, 2023 08:00 - 1 hour - 108 MB

In this week’s episode, Tim and Jeremy welcome writer and academic Gayle Wald to the show to tell us about the life and times of Sister Rosetta Tharpe. Christened on social media ‘the queer black woman who invented rock’n’roll’, yet derided in 1970 as ‘a blacked up Elvis in drag’, Sister Rosetta’s story disrupts the received narrative of rock history. We hear about her religious upbringing, hitting the road with her evangelist mother; playing in the Cotton Club, the Decca Records studios, an...

LITM Extra - The Great Kosmische Musik: Krautrock

September 28, 2023 08:07 - 10 minutes - 13.7 MB

In this episode Tim and Jeremy begin a series of shows for patrons that flesh out some of the other musical currents of the UK and Europe in the late 60s and early 70s, beginning with… well, what do you call it? Krautrock, space rock, the Great Komische Music? It’s all German to me. In a little under two hours the guys cover the history of post-WW2 Germany (East and West), anti-Communist geopolitics, what you want to hear when you’re tripping, Pop Art, post-rock and playfulness, all in refer...

Welcome to Series 5; What We're Listening To

September 19, 2023 12:54 - 57 minutes - 79.2 MB

Love is the Message is back for Series 5! After a few weeks off for the summer holidays, Tim and Jeremy return to the show for more music, dancing, sound systems and counterculture. This time round, we’re changing things up. As you’ll hear, we’re taking a break from our chronological narrative to bring in scholars and writers for a series of guest interviews, allowing us to both deepen our understanding of the late 60s and early 70s, and move around a bit more to histories we haven’t got to ...

'Watch Me Now, Feel The Groove' - Breaking and Bambaataa in the Bronx

July 20, 2023 08:00 - 1 hour - 87.2 MB

This is it - the final episode of series 4, New York City 1975-76. For this show Jeremy and Tim are staying in the Bronx for more discussion around the links between Downtown party culture and the port hip-hop scene. We hear about the very first B Boys, what their moves looked like, and what sort of music they were breaking to. We explore how important performing or being watched was to these dancers, and the similarities and differences with losing yourself on a disco dance floor. Tim and ...

Proto Hip-Hop

July 13, 2023 09:01 - 46 minutes - 63.4 MB

In the penultimate episode of our current series, Tim and Jeremy explore the earlier incarnations of what would become Hip-Hop. They begin by asking where the term comes from and interrogating the problematic historiography of the genre. The show then moves on to a detailed profile of the legendary DJ Cool Herc and his nascent rec room parties, alongside the contemporaneous mobile DJ culture, the Jazz poetry of Gil Scott-Heron and the Last Poets, the ‘merry-go-round’ mixing technique, and th...

'We Don't Have Steps': History of Social Dance pt.2

July 07, 2023 08:53 - 1 hour - 64.6 MB

For this episode, Tim and Jeremy pull on their dancing shoes to explore why the Downtown dance floors of the early 1970s were such historically unique places. Situating the forms of dancing found at the Loft and the Sanctuary as part of a turn away from the forms of partner dancing covered in our previous episode, we hear how these new forms of dance deconstructed how people experienced their bodies socio-sexually and conceived of themselves as part of a newly self-conscious audience. Tim a...

LITM Extra - 'Rather be a Cyborg than a Goddess': Feminist Perspectives on Music pt.1

June 29, 2023 14:21 - 8 minutes - 7.43 MB

This is an excerpt from a patrons episode. To hear the full show, and much more like this, head to Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod. In this patrons-only bonus episode, Jeremy explores what it means to analyse music from a feminist perspective. Beginning with a literature review of both the various forms of feminism theorised in the 1970s, and the body of feminist music writing from the late 80s to the early 2000s, we hear about the work of important thinkers like Susan McClary, Simon Reynolds, A...

LITM Extra - 'Rather be a Cyborg than a Goddess': Feminist Perspectives on Music pt.1 [excerpt]

June 29, 2023 14:21 - 8 minutes - 7.43 MB

This is an excerpt from a patrons episode. To hear the full show, and much more like this, head to Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod. In this patrons-only bonus episode, Jeremy explores what it means to analyse music from a feminist perspective. Beginning with a literature review of both the various forms of feminism theorised in the 1970s, and the body of feminist music writing from the late 80s to the early 2000s, we hear about the work of important thinkers like Susan McClary, Simon Reynolds, A...

Dancing with Finesse: History of Social Dance pt.1

June 22, 2023 08:20 - 1 hour - 61.9 MB

We say that LITM is a podcast about music, the dance floor, sound systems and counterculture, but we realise that we haven’t dedicated a show to dance floor practices for some time. So in this episode, Tim is in the hot seat to give us a quick primer on the history of social dance in the USA and beyond. With reference to the prevailing gender, class and power relations of their time, we learn about the surprising sensuousness of the Waltz, James P Johnson and the Charlston, the Lindy Hop, th...

LITM Extra - The Prelude [excerpt]

June 15, 2023 08:23 - 5 minutes - 8.09 MB

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear this and much much more, become a patron at Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod. In this patrons-only bonus episode, Tim draws on some recent research into David Mancuso’s record collection to share some tracks that might have been played during what he called ‘the prelude’ -  the introductory portion of the night’s musical entertainment. Taking into account the different settings at both the Broadway and Prince Street Lofts, and David’s never-...

Larry Levan

June 08, 2023 10:49 - 59 minutes - 81.7 MB

In this episode Jeremy is reunited with Tim to explore the early life and times of the legendary DJ Larry Levan. We hear about his youthful friendship with fellow DJ (and future leading light of House) Frankie Knuckles as they embed themselves deep in early 70s dance floor culture, taking us not just to discos but to rent parties, drag balls and The Continental Baths.  Naturally, we look at the role David Mancuso played both in inspiring Larry and in advancing his career, and shout out one ...

LITM Extra - Deleuze and Guattari on Music [excerpt]

June 01, 2023 08:00 - 10 minutes - 15 MB

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear more, become a patron at patreon.com/LoveMessagePod In this patrons-only episode Jeremy is once again flying solo on the podcast to explore the lives, ideas, and uses of the French philosophers Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari. Starting in the intellectual hotbed of late-60s Paris, Jeremy explains who the pair were, how they met, what their shared - somewhat heterodox - philosophical canon was, and how this was expressed in their two-...

LITM Extra - Deleuze and Guattari on Music

June 01, 2023 08:00 - 10 minutes - 15 MB

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear more, become a patron at patreon.com/LoveMessagePod In this patrons-only episode Jeremy is once again flying solo on the podcast to explore the lives, ideas, and uses of the French philosophers Gilles Deleuze and Felix Guattari. Starting in the intellectual hotbed of late-60s Paris, Jeremy explains who the pair were, how they met, what their shared - somewhat heterodox - philosophical canon was, and how this was expressed in their two-...

The New Left pt.2

May 25, 2023 07:56 - 1 hour - 111 MB

In this episode Jeremy takes to the lectern for a two-hour mega-episode on the New Left in the second half of the Twentieth Century (and beyond). Picking up in the 1950s, where our previous episode concluded, we chart the full emergence of the New Left in various locations on both sides of the Atlantic, including the Students for a Democratic Society, the Campaign for Nuclear Disarmament, the anti-Vietnam war movement and more. Jeremy spends time explaining the pivotal year of 1968, with its...

LITM Extra - What We're Listening To, May '23 [excerpt]

May 18, 2023 16:20 - 8 minutes - 11.2 MB

This is a patrons episode. To become a patron, head to Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod. In this patrons-only bonus episode, Jeremy and Tim have a conversation about what music has been on their turntables recently. Tim kicks things off with a bang - sigh - with a field recording of a thunderstorm and a lengthy conversation about New Age, David Mancuso’s wind machines, Frankie Knuckles and the -8 pitch control. Jeremy brings Deep House and Welsh Jazz harp, along with memories of the trials and t...

The New Left pt.1

May 11, 2023 08:02 - 1 hour - 66 MB

Following our last episode on the state of psychedelic culture in the 1970s, we wanted to expand the historical setting in which our series is situated. In that spirit, in this episode Jeremy goes solo, taking it all the way back to the 1790s for a historical primer on the New Left: a political tendency to emerge from the decline and split of the hegemonic left forces of the early and mid-century left tradition. In order to accurately explain who the New Left were - and to challenge a prevai...

LITM Extra - The Schizo-Culture Conference pt.3 [excerpt]

May 04, 2023 10:16 - 7 minutes - 6.85 MB

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the full podcast, plus much much more, become a patron at Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod. Jeremy and Tim conclude this mini-series on the 1975 Schizo-Culture conference with a look at some of the other contributors to the event. They explore the rhizomatic theories of Gilles Deleuze and discuss desire with Felix Guattari, taking in the Steppe nomads, molecular revolution, and explaining why trees are bad as they go. We also hear about the ...

The State of 70s Psychedelia with Jesse Jarnow

April 27, 2023 09:12 - 1 hour - 63 MB

In this episode we were extremely happy to welcome to the show the writer, podcaster and historian Jesse Jarnow to discuss the state of psychedelic culture in 1975. Jesse is the author of several books, including Heads: A Biography of Psychedelic America, as well as the host of the official Grateful Dead podcast, so he is the perfect guide through the bardos of American drug history. Jeremy and Jesse cover the history of modern urban psychedelic use through the Twentieth Century, including ...

LITM Extra - The 1975 Schizo-Culture Conference, pt.2 [excerpt]

April 20, 2023 08:39 - 12 minutes - 11.3 MB

This is a patrons episode. To become a patron, visit www.patreon.com/LoveMessagePod In this patrons-only episode, Tim and Jeremy continue our mini-series on the 1975 Schizo-Culture Conference. They discuss the demographic makeup of the two thousand attendees - from philosophers and writers to theatre makers, Black Panthers, radicals and prisoners - and consider what this interdisciplinary assemblage represented. We hear about the intellectual scenes of France and America, ask what they each...

Declaration of Intent: The Loft moves to Prince Steet

April 13, 2023 10:42 - 1 hour - 57.2 MB

In this episode we return to our home turf of the Loft, as David Mancuso moves his venue (and his home) from 647 Broadway to Prince Street. Tim and Jeremy detail the shutdown of the first Loft space, how David found the new location, and the battle he had with the art scene residents of Soho to stay there. The Prince Street Loft was a much larger space, set over two floors, so we hear about the different configuration of the sound system, and how across all Loft settings a collection of prin...

LITM Extra - The 1975 Schizo-Culture Conference, pt.1 [excerpt]

March 30, 2023 08:51 - 10 minutes - 9.75 MB

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode of LITM. Become a patron for just £3 at Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod In this patrons-only episode, Jeremy and Tim begin the first of a mini-series on the 1975 Schizo-Culture Conference, held at Columbia University in NYC and convened by the writer and editor Sylvere Lotringer. Lotringer wanted to bring the ideas of Continental Philosophy to the US, so we hear about the intellectual culture and key thinkers of post-'68 France, including Derrida, F...

[UNLOCKED] LITM Extra - Interview with Nicky Siano

March 23, 2023 10:21 - 1 hour - 80.6 MB

We've unlocked this patrons-only episode of Love is the Message Extra, on which we welcome the legendary Nicky Siano to the show. Nicky is a central character in the story of the NYC underground party scene and disco, as well as a frequent interviewee for Tim's books. Nicky discusses his recent book, 'I, DJ: Stonewall to Studio 54', which tells the story of his life behind the decks in New York in the early 70s. We talk about Nicky's early life, how he got his first DJing break, what New Yor...

LITM Extra - Night and Day: Early Evening Partying [excerpt]

March 16, 2023 11:36 - 6 minutes - 5.65 MB

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To become a patron, head to Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod. In this patrons-only episode, Jeremy and Tim respond to an article in the New York Times about early evening partying for which Tim was interviewed - and misrepresented! This precipitates a wider conversation about the history of daytime partying and how partying at night became normalised. Tim and Jeremy recount their experiences of dancing in the day at Lazy Dog and Body and Soul, expl...

The Gallery

March 14, 2023 13:23 - 1 hour - 61.8 MB

In this episode Jeremy and Tim are checking in to Nicky Siano’s downtown spot The Gallery, a legendary party space often uttered in the same breath as the Loft, the Paradise Garage and the Warehouse. Nicky was a highly influential and original DJ who had as much as influence on Larry Levan and Frankie Knuckles as David Mancuso. We hear a history of the Gallery, setting it within the complex web of 70s Soho, including the temporary closure of the space and its triumphant reopening. The show c...

LITM Extra - Interview with Nicky Siano [excerpt]

March 03, 2023 16:44 - 5 minutes - 4.84 MB

This is a patrons episode. To hear the full thing, become a patron at Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod. On this patrons-only episode of Love is the Message we are excited to welcome the legendary Nicky Siano onto the show. Nicky is a central character in story of the NYC underground party scene and disco, as well as a frequent interviewee for Tim's books. Nicky discusses his recent book, 'I, DJ: Stonewall to Studio 54', which tells the story of his life behind the decks in New York in the early ...

10th Floor, 12 West, The Flamingo: Queering the New York Dance Floor pt.4

February 23, 2023 14:55 - 1 hour - 71.6 MB

We conclude our mini-series on the Downtown gay scene by taking a visit to three important parties of mid-70s New York: the 10th Floor, the Flamingo and 12 West. Jeremy and Tim explore the different musics, DJ styles and demographics found in each venue, along with the issues of race, exclusivity, consumer culture and sex that to different extents inform them. Naturally, they also contrast all of these spaces to the Loft, from which they are all drawing in one way or another. In addition, T...

LITM Extra - What We're Listening To, Feb '23

February 16, 2023 08:15 - 8 minutes - 7.86 MB

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To become a patron, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod In this patrons-only bonus episode, Jeremy and Tim have a conversation about what music has been on their turntables recently.   True to form, Jeremy brings psychedelic jazz and ambient selections both modern and classic. The legacy of Alice Coltrane is discussed around two excellent releases from the Spiritmuse label alongside some beguiling flute playing from Tenderlonious. Tim asks: whe...

LITM Extra - What We're Listening To, Feb '23 [excerpt]

February 16, 2023 08:15 - 8 minutes - 7.86 MB

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To become a patron, visit Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod In this patrons-only bonus episode, Jeremy and Tim have a conversation about what music has been on their turntables recently.   True to form, Jeremy brings psychedelic jazz and ambient selections both modern and classic. The legacy of Alice Coltrane is discussed around two excellent releases from the Spiritmuse label alongside some beguiling flute playing from Tenderlonious. Tim asks: whe...

The Bathhouse: Queering The New York Dance Floor pt.3

February 09, 2023 09:04 - 59 minutes - 55.3 MB

Our mini-series on the Downtown gay scene continues in earnest, so grab your towel because we're visiting the iconic Continental Baths. Tim and Jeremy give the history of this seminal space, charting the various forms of bathhouse culture since Antiquity, and exploring the role of promiscuous, anonymous and/or public gay sex through time. They also discuss 'queerness' as a radical act, heternormativity, the decriminalisation of gay sex and the utopian aspirations for radical changes to ways...

LITM Extra - Interview with Sharon Zukin [excerpt]

February 02, 2023 10:00 - 6 minutes - 6.28 MB

This is a patrons-only episode. To hear the full interview, and many more episodes like it, go to Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod. In this patrons-only episode Jeremy and Tim talk about New York City in the 1970s with writer and academic Sharon Zukin. Sharon is a Professor of Sociology, teaching at Brooklyn College and the Graduate Center, City University of New York, and the author of books including Loft Living: Culture and Capital in Urban Change, Landscapes of Power: From Detroit to Disney W...

Stonewall and Beyond: Queering the New York Dance Floor pt.2

January 27, 2023 14:53 - 1 hour - 70 MB

Tim and Jeremy return from a mini winter break with a second episode looking at the music and politics of the Downtown queer dance floors of the early 70s. They interrogate the position of the Stonewall Riot in the history of queer culture, exploring many of the historiographical problems latent in the received accounts of this period and recontextualising the gay liberation movement of the time within a broader set of radical, anti-imperial demands. Tim and Jeremy also return to one of the...

LITM Extra - Walter Gibbons pt.2 [excerpt]

January 12, 2023 09:43 - 12 minutes - 12 MB

This is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear the whole thing, plus lectures on music and Marxism, Afrofuturism, Louis Vuitton, Fordism and more, become a patron by visiting Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod. In this patrons-only episode Tim continues to read from and discuss his essay Disco Madness: Walter Gibbons and the Legacy of Turntablism and Remixology. We hear about developments in DJ technique in both the uptown Bronx and Downtown discotheque party scenes, including the many key...

LITM Extra - Christmas Special [excerpt]

December 22, 2022 09:04 - 14 minutes - 13.2 MB

The is an excerpt from a patrons-only episode. To hear more, as well as many more episodes on Fordism, Afrofuturism, Walter Gibbons, Marx and more, become a patron by visiting Patreon.com/LoveMessagePod. As we're in the dog days of December, we're happy to share with you: the LITM Christmas Special 2022. Tim and Jeremy have selected 9 records to form the basis of your alternative festive listening. We hear from show staples like the Salsoul Orchestra, Arthur Russell and Lee 'Scratch' Perry,...

Over The Rainbow: Queering The New York Dance Floor pt.1

December 15, 2022 08:32 - 1 hour - 68.8 MB

In this week's episode Tim and Jeremy begin a three-part investigation into the music, politics and social practices of the downtown gay party scene in mid-70s New York City. The guys review the historiography of homosexual sexual activities, beginning with a refresher on Michel Foucault's analysis found in his History of Sexuality. Jeremy and Tim also cover Freud and the psychoanalytic account of sexuality (heavily critiqued by Foucault), broader questions around the creation of homosexual ...