CORNER OF THE EYE, MOMO:TEMPO SPECIAL

WRITER, BROADCASTER, PERFORMER AND MUSO, LEE RAWLINGS, CURATES A MORE LEFTFIELD TWO-HOUR SELECTION OF MR PEACH’S MUSICAL WORK FOR HIS ECLECTIC LATE-NIGHT RADIO SHOW.

Known to Phonic devotees as one half of The Phonic Screwdriver with Simon Brett, one third of Sound & Vision with Dan and David Barratt, the dad from Glitch and simply Lee from the Spitting Feathers Radio Show, Mr Rawlings is an instigator and encourager of many creative things – and his show Corner of the Eye is, as he puts it himself, his most self indulgent forum to play with the music he loves most.

And to sign off his special short series of shows and indeed his creative time at Phonic, Lee chose to use his last ever Corner Of The Eye to showcase Momo:tempo.

LISTEN TO THE CORNER OF THE EYE MOMO:TEMPO SPECIAL ON MIXCLOUD

As Mr Peach put it, when asked to do it, the proposition seemed an unwarranted honour to be put alongside some of the names Mr Rawlings had given his two hour show over to before.

“A retrospective showcase of the work of someone the world has essentially not heard of feels kind of weird” he said. “But Lee was really keen to do it. If I had to buy a mate like that, I couldn’t afford him.”

The special show features mostly music that is a step aside from the favourites of Momo’s fans.

“You won’t hear Undo, Nudge, Conspiracy, All That Love Could Be, Paris Breakfast, Metrophilia, Disfunction, Sweetseeker… many of those big headline tunes I still love so much,” Timo says, “but the pieces Lee selected, including many things not ever heard before even on the Soundcloud pages, are pieces I really enjoy in some slighty different ways, and I’m just so chuffed to have them highlighted.”

AN ALTERNATIVE RADIO SHOW FOR THE NIGHT OWL.

With pieces from Momo’s scores and commissions, as well as a few oddities, Corner Of The Eye: Momo:tempo is a deliberately late-night flow of sounds, tunes and Mr Peach’s own voice explaining much of his approach to the work, but not much of Mr Rawlings’.

“With COTE, it’s so nice not to talk” says Lee. “I love talking – but it becomes a focussed show without the chat and the choices need to feel right after each other.”

“Lee is a quiet legend to me” says Timo. “Whether he’s talking eloquently or just curating fantastic segues of things I’ve not heard before. His ability to make things happen, his broad understanding of the arts, his wide range of talents and perhaps above all, his instinctive immersion in things with deep enthusiasm while keeping a practical awareness of how to deliver projects and ideas – he is an engine of creative encouragement, bringing people together again and again in different combinations to help them realise crazy plans and colourful little adventures. He is a humble powerhouse of creativity and inexhaustably great company. The night we had in the studio doing this felt simply like fun. Though I think he’s pretty exhausted now, poor bloke…”

“What an honour to be his last show for Phonic.”

Lee will be turning his creative energies to new projects in 2016 and reports are that, as well as looking forward to further fiction to publish and one or two events in mind, along with his regular appearances on The Blue Box Podcast, he is working on a new podcast format with creative wife Simon Brett.

“My time at Phonic will always have been a very special time indeed for me. I must thank so many mates who’ve supported me in all the shows and who’ve worked with me on so many brilliant things. But it won’t be the end of course. I can’t wait to start revealing the new stuff and yes, Simon and I have something rather special in mind that we’re working on.”

“For me,” concludes Mr Peach, “I can’t think of a better, prouder way to sum up the first proper five years of Momo:tempo than with this anthology of pieces. A wonderful encouragement to me to crack on with the exciting things I also have in mind to do next.”

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Listen to the Momo:tempo special on Mixcloud.