E238: Kodwo Eshun on Afrofuturism + Jeff Mills + More Brilliant than the Sun

In this episode we welcome the (more) brilliant Kodwo Eshun to west London and ask him about – among other things – his polemical 1998 book More Brilliant than the Sun.

In a wide-ranging conversation, we commence with our guest's memories of his north London childhood as the son of a Ghanaian diplomat. He is candid about his improbable teenage passion for Hawkwind and Yes, to both of whom he remained loyal even after becoming smitten with the Smiths, New Order and Cocteau Twins in the '80s.

From there we jump to Kodwo's immersion in literary theory at Oxford and his earliest writing on music for i-D, where he became part of a cabal of pop-culture intellectuals that included the late Mark (k-punk) Fisher.

Conversation turns to our guest's incipient awareness of so-called "Afrofuturism" via the influence of writers such as Greg Tate and Mark Sinker. The germination of the neologism-strewn More Brilliant – subtitled "Adventures in Sonic Fiction" – is addressed, along with our guest's thoughts on the UK's '90s jungle scene and today's "generative AI" music proliferation.

Clips from Frank Broughton's 2005 audio interview with Detroit techno legend Jeff Mills prompt a conversation about Underground Resistance and the Motor City electronica of the '90s.

After William quotes from a 1980 Unicorn Times piece about James Brown, Jasper talks us out by reading his wonderfully idiosyncratic review of a recent live show by the bizarre and (more) brilliant Angine de Poitrine.

Many thanks to special guest Kodwo Eshun.

Pieces discussed:

• Public Enemy Number 1 (rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/public-enem…),

• Outing the In-Crowd (rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/outing-the-…),

• Drum & Bass: Sonic Youth (rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/drum--bass-…),

• Kodwo Eshun: More Brilliant Than The Sun – Adventures in Sonic Fiction (Quartet) (rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/kodwo-eshun…),

• Jeff Mills (2005) (rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/jeff-mills-…),

• James Brown: Live and Lowdown at the Apollo, Vol. I Solid Smoke (rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/james-brown…), and

• Angine de Poitrine: Troxy, London (rocksbackpages.com/Library/Article/angine-de-p…).