Everything’s bigger in Dubai, even me. Er, by that, I refer you to this profile that was published in Dubai Time Out, covering Ja, No, Man! and some aspects of the work in progress.

I recently experienced a thrill that probably only resonates with South Africans who received the 702 AM frequency, beamed in from charming Bophuthatswana (a Bantustan/Banana Republic invented by the Powers-that-were) during the 80s. John Berks, who anchored the morning show on 702, a man I listened to on my way to school for many of my teenage years, has relocated to West Jerusalem. Issy Kirsh, who set up 702 as an alternative voice to the line-toeing SABC, is trying to do something similar with RAM 93.6 - the ‘official English voice of Ramallah’. Berks had me on the show and grilled me, old-skool style, for 30 minutes, no breaks - a throwback to days of yore when talk radio wasn’t a bit of chatter interrupted by throws to commercial. Always a bit of a thrill coming mic to mic with an icon from one’s past.

I’m currently in East Jerusalem, flitting between Ramallah and the rest of the West Bank. The music scene in the territories is surprisingly vibrant - no genre more so than hip-hop (the West Bank is basically one large ‘hood). But I did come across an electronic act who use found sound - recorded moments of life at the checkpoints - and build some interesting minimal techno from those foundations. Check out Checkpoint303 here.