Continuing our spotlight series called Favourite Finds, we ask some of our favourite DJs, collectors and selectors to tell us the story behind how they came across one of their favourite records.

For the next instalment, we’ve asked former Soundway Records label manager, ‘Ayo Ke Disco’ compiler and in-demand DJ, Norsicaa to tell us the story behind how she came across one of her favourite records.

Eight years as label and general manager for the prolific and far-reaching Soundway Records, saw Alice Whittington aka Norsicaa overseeing and delivering over 110 releases in that time. Her recent compilation of rare boogie, disco-funk, synth and city pop from South East Asia on Soundway is also one of our favourites of the year, and has been taking the scene by storm. Not stopping there, Alice is a seasoned digger and fantastic DJ (currently on tour in Asia), alongside being one of the friendliest and most hard-working people in the industry.

"I first heard this song in a set from DJ Harvey when we played together at Primavera Barcelona in 2022. We had been scheduled to play in 2020 but due to lockdown it was postponed 2 years - during which time I made a deeper connection with my Malaysian-Chinese heritage.

It had been such a difficult period with Asian hate being so prominent, but it pushed me to find my fellow diaspora in the UK and I started feeling more pride in my mixed ethnicity than ever before. I had also begun Cantonese lessons in 2021 - so when I heard this version of Spacer Woman (an Italo Disco classic by Charlie from 1983) with the Cantonese vocal, it was a powerful moment."

"Of course, I couldn’t find this version anywhere online or in record stores - and for years the music community speculated that it was some lost cover holy grail record from Asia. In fact it turned out that French producer Romain FX had re-recorded the track with singer Kaona only a few years before but had had no luck in securing the rights to reissue the music so it had been circulating as a bootleg. 

Finally the guys at Sound Metaphors in Berlin were able to help him track down the licensor - and one day in September this year it suddenly popped up in my feed and I instantly lost my mind! I’d also been working with Sound Metaphors for years during my time at Soundway and will be playing one of their parties next year, so it truly felt like a serendipitous moment where different strands of my music community had converged."

Big thanks to Alice for taking the time out to tell us her story. Be sure to give her a follow on Instagram to stay up to date with her gigs and mixes and if you've not checked out the 'Ayo Ke Disco' compilation she has just put together then definitely give that a listen too.