James Leyland Kirby aka The Caretaker aka V/VM has been my favorite new discovery of the past twelve months. Few artists on my radar have so challenged my conception of a song and a song's connection to memory as Kirby has done across a staggering number of releases and re-issues over the last year: "An Empty Bliss Beyond This World," "Eager To Tear Apart The Stars," three volumes of "Intrigue & Stuff," "Patience (After Sebald)," and "Persistent Repetition of Phrases" (et al, probably).

For this week's Worth The Wax tape, I used the first half to mix my favorite songs from the few Kirby/Caretaker records I own as a tribute to how often I've listened to his music this year. Then Cambo plays some R&B. Listen to it here.

If you're not familiar with the manifesto behind the Caretaker releases: the music concerns our emotional attachment to memory and reaction to its decay over time. Kirby seduces corroded ballroom 78s back to life through heavy effect processing, or - as on his latest release, "Patience (After Sebald)" - whisking Schubert recordings circa 1927 out of the grandpa bins and into a the crates of a new generation. The results are consistently haunting and cold, like dreaming about a stroll through an abandoned hospital ward.

Dive in to the Caretaker mix and enjoy what dreams Kirby has put to tape. Then go support him directly via his label, History Always Favours The Winners.

Percussion Lab's Praveen Sharma caught up with Roska on the important questions of the day: money vs. women, the state of UK Funky, and plans to tour the US.  Check Roska's Feature MIx here. 

Percussion Lab: For the Stateside Listeners - what's your current Rinse FM schedule?

Roska: My set time on Rinse is 7-9pm GMT every Tuesday

PL: If you had to choose - Money or Women?

R: Money as the latter comes naturally. haha.

PL: Who are a few producers riding under the radar right now you'd like to shout out?

R: MA1, T Williams, DJ Champion, Shox & Funkystepz

PL: You ever miss MCing as Mentor?

R: Nope

PL: Whats going on with Kicks & Snares? Any upcoming releases we should keep an eye out for?

R: We got 9 releases this year. We started with Dj Naughty's - Bass in your face EP. I have a small team to help with the smooth running of the label as it was me for the last 2 and a half years. Still pushing the sound of funky and 130 bpm styled beats.

PL: There was an article recently in the Guardian about musicians needing to get out of their bedroom and off the internet.  Do you think its important to get out a bit during the day so clear your mind? If so what do you do?

R: LOL. The guardian obviously doesnt know that some of us have studios.  When Im in the studio i love to tweet see what else is going down in the rest of the world too. So its more like a small break. Plus it brings everyone closer. 

PL: Do you see yourself being as successful today without things like twitter and facebook, or do you think maybe you'd be more productive thus making more of an impact?

R: I think I would. Social networks are a bonus. I started with using Myspace to promote my music which was okay but you still needed to call DJ's and go to the record shops. Now I have the Facebook, Soundcloud and Twitter which has made it a little more easier. For me its a bonus and helps me to run my label and continue to help my own career still work without being drowned in being strictly a label boss.

PL: In your opinion, whats the current state of the Funky / House scene over in the UK?

R: Funky is still here its not going to dissapear its just the 'hype' is not fucking it up. There is still a good amount of followers and producer/djs making it and pushing it. It's funny how some people walked away from it when certain aspects changed.

PL: What should we expect from your upcoming album?

R: I'm excited about this project. It will be my best work to date. More vocal based music and loads of bass driven styles. This is like a vast improvement on the first one which was nearly 2 years ago.

PL: Any plans to hit the states any time soon?

R: YES! I'm still working on some dates with Carter (carter@windishagency.com) I should be over at least twice this year.

Two recent Guardian articles led me to write this post: Alex Macpherson's plea for musicians to lead a more active - and less internet addicted - lifestyle, and Tom Cox's personal essay on his past 12 months without Facebook. Both articles stake the same claim, more or less, that one's life can be more fruitful and less dreary if they turn off the damn screen every now and then. Macpherson urges bedroom producers to resist the pull of www.'s wormhole and enjoy a bit of sunshine to quell the influx of despondent, hazy, and downright emo electonica of the past four years. Cox describes all that he's achieved since locking himself out of social media, like write a book, see some ducks, discover vitamin C, etc. Both are admirable suggestions for new year resolutions, no?

(consider this post with a healthy dose of wax)

I am active on certain social media sites and enjoy spending my time engaged on such spaces, so you won't find me proselytizing an anti-social media lifestyle (though at this point everyone I speak to wishes they spent less time checking them). It has its ups and downs, like any method of time consumption. However, reading both articles back to back led me to consider another consequence of social media and its affect on artistic endeavors, specifically electronic music. A problem I have seen more and more of - as well as suffer myself almost every time - is the need to share a new track/demo/jam/loop as immediately and without hesitation as one shares a new thought/link/blogpost/gif.

We have grown accustomed to sharing our most fleeting thoughts with potentially billions of people, and that reach does little to dissuade us from posting. The same holds true for our creative output and that is not a good thing. Uploading more and more of your latest tunes will not get you "discovered" faster, nor booked for gigs, nor land that private jet. It only presents more opportunities for people to dislike your work and get sick of you. Creative work is inherently doomed because of its subjective and highly personal nature, leaving you with more chances to fail than succeed.

Will turning off social media help your creative output? Maybe. Will it make your music less gloom and doom? Can't say. But I do think the habit-forming consequence of 24/7 networking can weaken your judgement of what should - and should not - be shared. If you're skilled enough at finishing a tune, let someone else help determine whether or not it's worth a tweet.