Ibibio Sound Machine - Nyak Mien - Edge Sessions @Pickathon 2019 S06E04

This is the excellent Ibibio Sound Machine performing 'Nyak Mien' as part of Edge Sessions at Pickathon last year. You can watch their full live set from The Moroccan Lounge last July here.

Fantasy Festival number 4: The Lineup

Celeste: BBC Music's Sound of 2020 artist is going from strength to strength at the moment. In any other year, she would have been one to watch at every festival on the Introducing stage this summer but, for now, we'll have to be content with watching her from home instead.

Sarah Roston: Brazilian singer Sarah Roston is a flexible talent, as at home with samba and jazz as with reggaetron, as evidenced by her single 'Eu Incomodo (I Bother)' earlier this year. You can find out more about Sarah here.

Jade Bird: Alumni of the BBC Introducing scheme, singer/songwriter Jade Bird is a woman who knows her Stevie from her Janis. She released her debut self titled album last year. You can find out more here.

Girl Pool: Did you know that if you google the words 'Girl Pool' the first result you get will be a pink paddling pool with a mermaid's tail attached to it? The mind boggles. Girl Pool, the band comprised of Harmony Tividad and Avery Tucker, started out making semi acoustic slightly twee awkward indie pop, though their recent output suggests a grittier direction. Find out more over on their website.

Noga Erez: Were Noga not from Tel Aviv, she would be a huge popstar by now. Or maybe not. The arch tone of her lyrics (often searing critiques of social media, technology, misogyny and machismo) and unforgiving nature of her beats might make that impossible but, then, people didn't expect Billie Eilish to become a popstar either so you never know. You can find out more about Noga over on her website.

Ibibio Sound Machine: Futuristic afro funk party music at it's finest. Ibibio Sound Machine always deliver. You can find out more over on their website.

Dua Lipa: Global popstar Dua Lipa is due a festival headliner slot. She's climbed the circuit from small venues upwards from 2016 onwards and 2021 (coronavirus permitting) will see her play her first stadium tour. She has arrived and new album Future Nostalgia has sealed her reputation as a slick pop professional. You can read a recent interview with her here.

Ibibio Sound Machine "Color in Your Cheeks"

Today is the UK's fourth #clapforcarers, and while I heartily support the campaign, it is proving logistically difficult for me to join in.

This old Victorian house is converted into six flats, ie, six different households. We have shared entrances, a staircase, garden and basement. But, because we are six different households, we can't - under social distancing rules - all stand at the front door, facing out onto the main road, and clap. Because that would be the equivalent of holding a party or barbecue: Big no no. I mean, we could go outside and try and stand two feet away from each other while we clapped, but that would be logistically difficult and probably attract the attention of various neighbours who, in turn, might well call the police so, again, no.

I could clap from within my flat but, because I'm at the back of the house and my windows are high up the wall, this would involve standing on a chair, leaning out of the window, clapping in solitude. Which feels a bit weird to be honest.

As such, I haven't got very far with the actual clapping yet. People are doing it around here but I can't actually see them doing it, just hear them vaguely in the distance.

Last week I posted a video of the Florence + The Machine version of 'Take Care' because I felt it fit the spirit of #clapforcarers, and I thought I'd try and continue the video posting tradition this week as well.

Ibibio Sound Machine's 'Color in your cheeks' might seem an odd choice, but I've been struck this week by another hashtag: #YouClapForMeNow, which reflects on both the hostile environment immigrants face in the UK, and the key worker roles many immigrants are filling in the UK. As well as being on the front line, there is some statistical evidence (I think there will more research done on this soon, or already being done on this) that BAME people may have a higher mortality rate than caucasian people when infected with Covid-19. An anonymous doctor wrote about these issues much more eloquently than I am able to this morning over on HuffPost.

There has been talk, much of it surface talk, that perhaps the UK government will re-evaluate what it considers to be a key worker when drawing up immigration laws in a post Brexit, but even if that is the case, a shift in attitude on behalf of the public would also be needed. #YouClapForMeNow taps into that need.