The Listening Room at 180 Studios

The Vinyl Factory
  • 4.5 (2)
  • MUSIC COMMENTARY

Recorded inside Devon Turnbull’s custom hi-fi installation at 180 Studios, The Listening Room is a new podcast from The Vinyl Factory and 180 Studios about how records tell stories. Throughout Season One, DJs, musicians, writers, and record collectors gather around Turnbull’s system to play the records that have shaped them, tracing how sound moves through time, place, and community. From the basements of London to the film studios of Lahore, the series unfolds as an oral history of vinyl, exploring its social, cultural, and personal significance: how people use records to make meaning, find belonging, and imagine new ways of living. Each episode is taken from a live session at 180 Studios, recorded in the intimate warmth of Turnbull’s space built for deep listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Episodes

  1. Disques Debs: Guadeloupe's Most Prolific Label with Poly-Ritmo

    25 MAR

    Disques Debs: Guadeloupe's Most Prolific Label with Poly-Ritmo

    From a backroom studio in Guadeloupe to dancefloors across the Caribbean and beyond, Disques Debs became the heartbeat of the island’s sound. In this episode, recorded at Devon Turnbull’s Listening Room at 180 Studios, DJ and archivist Poly-Ritmo explores how one small label reshaped the musical landscape of the Antilles. Founded by Henri Debs in the late 1950s, Disques Debs released more than 500 records, spanning Gwoka, Biguine, Cadence-Lypso, and Zouk, and became a bridge between local traditions and diasporic innovation.  Across five decades of releases, Poly-Ritmo reveals how Debs’ DIY spirit turned constraint into creativity by recording orchestras in a converted cinema, hand-printing sleeves, and mixing each track himself.  From a backroom studio in Guadeloupe to dancefloors across the Caribbean and beyond, Disques Debs became the heartbeat of an island’s sound. In this episode, recorded at Devon Turnbull’s Listening Room at 180 Studios, DJ and archivist Poly-Ritmo explores how one small label reshaped the musical landscape of the Antilles. Founded by Henri Debs in the late 1950s, Disques Debs released more than 500 records, spanning Gwoka, Biguine, Cadence-Lypso, and Zouk, and became a bridge between local traditions and diasporic innovation.  Across five decades of releases, Poly-Ritmo reveals how Debs’ DIY spirit turned constraint into creativity by recording orchestras in a converted cinema, hand-printing sleeves, and mixing each track himself. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    36 min
  2. How ‘90s Hip Hop Shaped London with Charlie Dark

    4 FEB

    How ‘90s Hip Hop Shaped London with Charlie Dark

    In the latest episode of The Listening Room, writer, DJ, and Run Dem Crew founder Charlie Dark explores the records that made 1990s hip-hop a lifeline for young Londoners. Recorded inside Devon Turnbull’s Listening Room at 180 Studios, the session maps how a sound born in New York rewired the capital’s streets, clubs and imaginations. Moving from Public Enemy’s Def Jam tour shockwaves to pirate tapes, Live to London broadcasts and coveted Soho import shops, Charlie traces the ecosystem that raised a generation.  Through 12"s by A Tribe Called Quest, Brand Nubian, Gang Starr, Mobb Deep, Rawkus-era Mos Def and more, he unpacks how basslines, samples and storytelling shaped language, style and aspiration in Black British London. A love letter to hip hop’s golden era, told through a London lens. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    1hr 8min
  3. The Lost Sounds of Pakistani Cinema with Haseeb Iqbal

    22/12/2025

    The Lost Sounds of Pakistani Cinema with Haseeb Iqbal

    In our first episode, recorded at Devon Turnbull’s Listening Room at 180 Studios, broadcaster and collector Haseeb Iqbal revives the long-overlooked soundtracks of Lollywood: Pakistan’s once-thriving film industry. Drawing from rare vinyl unearthed on a recent trip to Karachi, Iqbal plays music that shaped the golden age of Pakistani cinema in the 1950s, ’60s, and ’70s. From the cinematic ballads of Noor Jehan and Nahid Akhtar to the psychedelic orchestrations of the Tafo Brothers and Sohail Rana, Haseeb tells a story of artistic freedom and cultural pride before the country’s creative industries were silenced under military rule. Between records, Iqbal reflects on his own journey growing up in North London, learning about his heritage through music, and finding connection in the sounds history nearly erased. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

    43 min
  • 3 Episodes

Ratings & Reviews

4.5
out of 5
2 Ratings

About

Recorded inside Devon Turnbull’s custom hi-fi installation at 180 Studios, The Listening Room is a new podcast from The Vinyl Factory and 180 Studios about how records tell stories. Throughout Season One, DJs, musicians, writers, and record collectors gather around Turnbull’s system to play the records that have shaped them, tracing how sound moves through time, place, and community. From the basements of London to the film studios of Lahore, the series unfolds as an oral history of vinyl, exploring its social, cultural, and personal significance: how people use records to make meaning, find belonging, and imagine new ways of living. Each episode is taken from a live session at 180 Studios, recorded in the intimate warmth of Turnbull’s space built for deep listening. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Information