Herb Sundays 41: Bradley Zero

The Rhythm Section label founder and DJ with "a bit of heartbreak, summer nostalgia & a continuing and undying love for The Beatles."

Herb Sundays 41: Bradley Zero

Apple / Spotify - Art by Michael Cina

The day-to-day of the best record label runners often can look like the work of a community organizer. The goal for most is to bring forth a collective spirit that more than likely arose from a club night or a micro-scene, and be careful to leave that energy in situ while conquering the world. As founder of the Rhythm Sec­tion label and community, Bradley Zero has developed a rarified space for himself in global dance and adjacent music circles.

From Peck­ham via Leeds, Bradley’s arrival on the scene reflected a movement in British dance music towards a scene increasingly informed by jazz and soul, but less reliant on genres. Hav­ing start­ed the Rhythm Sec­tion radio show back in 2009, the broad­cast nat­u­ral­ly became a fort­night­ly dance party at Canavan’s Peck­ham Pool Club, which then quick­ly became a notable worldwide location and attracting press. ‘Peckham Strong’ became a rally cry and slogan that neatly encased this world and signaled a new wave of youth energy and collaboration.

The wikipedias of London DJ legends usually include the early club nights (go peep entries for Basement Jaxx in Brixton, or Chemical Brothers in Manchester, etc.), as the steady gig is a great place to hone your craft, find your people (dancers and fellow DJs), and build a sensibility. It’s a time-honored and organic way to build community and the first step in “world-building” on a human scale. In the 00s and 10s, this local modality also included the internet radio phenomenon (London’s NTS, NYC’s The Lot, Amsterdam’s Red Light Radio, LA’s Dublab, etc.), becoming a key fixture of one’s DJ media presence as well. Seeing Zero hanging in NTS booth became a comforting fixture on Instagram.

Zero’s hour-long Herb mix is as inviting as a Zero DJ set, always effortlessly cool but not insincere. Regarding the playlist, Zero states "A bit of heartbreak, summer nostalgia & a continuing and undying love for The Beatles."

Bookended by Revolver cuts, every track has a notable sonic id, of course, the mark of a good DJ. This set also feels like London to a degree, a scene report from an insider and the outsider records they admire. The PPU quiet storm of Oakland’s Space Ghost feat. Teddy Bryant gives way to the magisterial jazz of Alabaster Deplume, the London-by-way-of Brooklyn cool of Goya Gumbani as well his regular producer collaborator Kiina. The big moment is a home-recorded version of “It Ain’t Over Til It’s Over” which cloaks the Lenny Kravitz masterpiece behind the flicker of a VHS campfire.

It’s all music for starting summer and seeing where it goes.