This Corona stuff really sucks ey! Since we might all be bound by borders for a while, we’d like to come together and share some happiness in the shape of a playlist or mix!

In the next days and weeks, check out Safe & Sounds, where we will figuratively introduce you to and put you in touch with music whizzes, featuring their selections, collections and picks from all around the globe.

Be “Safe & Sounds” and wash your hands!

Lockdown has given me the chance to come back to DJing/mixing, and so I’ve put this mix together for your ‘Safe & Sounds’ series which I’ve been enjoying so much (many of them are from my friends! :))
Just to give you a brief idea of my mix – like all my music curation, it’s hugely eclectic but the mix is really thought-through to link things like Malian disco with Caribbean Zouk, and South African acapella to UK jazz, and so on very seamlessly…I hope you enjoy.

(Julia Baker aka Lia Lua)

1. Synthia – Tonight You Might (Feat. Lady Wray) (Big Crown Records)
2. Boncana Maïga – Koyma Hondo (Hot Casa Records)
3. Kassav’, Jean-Claude Naimro – Avèou Doudou (GD PRoductions)
4. Mohamed Lamouri – Sbart Ou Tal Adabi (Almost Musique)
5. Samthing Soweto – Kwamampela (Self Release)
6. Alabaster DePlume – Whisky Story Time (International Anthem)
7. Greg Foat – Drifting (Athens of the North)
8. Rafiq Bhatia – Breaking English (Anti- Records)
9. Les Filles De Illighadad – Imigradan (Sahel Sounds)
10. Innov Gnawa – Toura Toura (Remix Culture)
11. Madalitso Band – Vina Vina Malawi (Bongo Joe Records)
12. Paracumbé, Nelie Lebron Robles – Sueño, sueño (Ashe Records)
13. Rodrigo Cuevas, Raül Refree – El Día Que Nací Yo (Aris Musica)
14. Batida apresenta IKOQWE, Ikonoklasta – VaiVai (Beating Heart)
15. Equiknoxx – Flank (DDS)
16. Childish Gambino – Algorhythm (mcDJ)

Lia Lua is a DJ/ Ethnomusicologist/ Radio Presenter and Producer of Musicophilia on SOAS Radio blending sounds from near and far, old and new. Playing a range of music mainly from the huge diverse continents of Latin America and Africa but not limited to these – from Cumbia to Grime, Morna to Zouk, Dabke to Bounce, there are no limits. Previous DJ gigs include Love Carnival @ Bussey Building, The Egg London, East London’s Folklore, Five Miles and Sheffield’s Barang @ DINA.