Snuff, London, December 19, 2009

Ten days ago the newly re-branded venue The Garage (now the Relentless Garage - pesky sponsorship, eh) in Islington played host to the legendary Snuff, a band that I had not seen do a gig since August 1991 when the band played a "farewell show" at the National in Kilburn. The story of this band is too long to go in to, so read all about it here. But in short Duncan Redmonds (vocals/drums) is the only founding member.

Disappointingly the venue was barely half full, but regardless, Snuff played a barrage of old classics including "Not Listening", "Somehow", "Martin", "Caught In Session" and "Nick Northern" and of course obligatory cover versions such as "Soul Limbo" aka the BBC Cricket Theme, "Whatever Happened To The Likely Lads" and The Specials' "Do Nothing".

A lot of people including myself have got a bit older now so there wasn't quite as much stage diving as you would have got back in the early 90's but still a highly enjoyable night to rekindle my younger days. Almost.

I didn't get any pictures of the gig and, so I don't have much in the way of visuals. So here is a clip of the current incarnation of Snuff playing earlier this year at the Shepherds Bush Empire.

Manasseh Back In Fine Style

Top UK reggae producer Nick Manasseh returns in mighty fine style with four killer cuts of the "People" rhythm on the Roots Garden label.

The three vocal cuts come from new talent Dark Angel with "People Come To", from veteran soundman Kenny Knots we have "Unbreakable" and from the little-recorded Bob Skeng, a message to all rip-off producers with "Tek Caution". Topped off with a dub cut from Manasseh himself, the rhythm has a mid-80s digital feel to it in the tradition of labels such as Unity and Jah Tubbys.

The four cuts can be picked up on two 7" 45s or you can do what I did and download all four from Boomkat for £2.95. Click here to purchase and for sound samples.

On the subject of Manasseh, Emiliana Torrini's new single "Me and Armini" has got the Nick treatment and it sounds good to me. This isn't the first time the pair have worked together. Who can forget the remix of "Sunny Road" from a couple of years ago. In case you don't know what I am talking about, I have posted an udio clip below along with "Me and Armini"

That Time Of The Year

Indeed it's that time of the year again. Eat, drink, be merry and get "Fairytale Of New York" shoved down your throat at every given opportunity. It must be great to have a Christmas hit. You would never have to work again. Think of all that annual revenue from compilations and radio play. In fact wasn't Hugh Grant's character in the Nick Hornby book and film "About a Boy" living off his late dad's earnings.

"Fairytale of New York" was penned by Shane MacGowan and Jem Finer, so I am quite confident that they are OK for a few bob, so it's the other members I feel sorry for. For this time of the year for the Pogues pantomime to be wheeled out once again.

The Pogues split in 1991 when Shane was already long gone (in all senses of the word)and then ten years later that got back together to be perform a series of concerts that proved very successful that they have been doing it pretty much every year since. Not actually existing as a band, so not writing or recording any new music, but just doing a few dates here and there, usually in December and playing the same old songs. Ching ching!

I have seen the Pogues a number of times over the years, notably at the National Kilburn, London 1986, "Picnic In The Park" in a tent in Finsbury Park, London 1987 which were exciting, chaotic, drunken and violent. They were two of the most memorable gigs that I ever attended

I did see a couple of the reunion gigs a few years ago and they were not a patch on those heady dates and seemed to be just going through the motions which was to be expected, but sill extremely talented musicians and songwriters, especially MacGowan who is surprisingly still with us.

They have left an arsenal of classic tunes. Some of my favourites are "Dark Streets Of London", "The Sick Bed of Cuchulainn", "The Body Of An American", "Thousands Are Sailing", "Turkish Song Of The Dammed", "Lullaby Of London". The list goes on. The first three albums - "Red Roses For Me", "Rum Sodomy and the Lash" and "If I Should Fall From Grace With God - are essential

The Pogues are currently finishing a 12 date tour.

Some classic clips for you:

Back With Jah Vengeance

Well it's been a while since I last "blogged", what with moving house and just general happening's preventing me from doing so. What with so much upheaval, it's been difficult to settle and listen to any music. And when I do get around to it I'm not really feeling it, what with trying to fend off thoughts about DIY.

In the meantime, enjoy one of many killer tunes by roots reggae legend Yabby You. This one features Trinity and is entitled "Jah Vengeance"

The Sound Of Silence

A mixture of current happenings such as moving house, the prospect of being off-line for two weeks whilst AOL re-connect me and worse still, the unintentional deletion of all files on my MP3 player (goodbye Sony Sonic Stage) means I won't be blogging for a while. I'm sure I won't be missed that much, if at all. But just in case, there's no need to call the Missing Persons Hotline.

Adios for now, amigos.

Misha Alperin - Her First Dance

"Her First Night" on the ever-reliable ECM label is a highly enjoyable album from the Ukrainian musician and pianist Misha Alperin. This, his latest album released in 2008 is a beautiful piano-led mixture of instrumentals which effortlessly combine haunting with melancholic, dramatic with melodic, and some jaunty faster pieces complement the variations in style. Some of the more melodic pieces here are not a million miles away from "The Promise" by Vassilis Tsabropoulos', an amazing album which I raved about here, but that would only be a lazy comparison.

Alperin is joined by Arkady Shilkloper on French horn, flugelhorn and on violincello Anja Lechner. The latter I am fast becoming a big fan of through albums such as "Chants, Hymns and Dances" and "Melos" with Vassilis Tsabropoulos and "Ojos Negros" with Dino Saluzzi and various recordings with Rosamunde Quartett with whom she is a member.

I don't know if it's anything with getting older, but lately I find my musical preferences leaning towards to the more slower paced and mellow side of the musical spectrum. Not a bad thing I would say, for sometimes we need to take a step back from the chaos of daily life. Saying that, I am not a pipe and Horlicks man. Yet.

Key tracks for me include the title track "Her First Dance", "Tiflis" and "April In February", to name just three.

The best place to source sound clips is here.

Staff Benda Bilili - Barbican, London 10/11/09

Support on this show came from Muntu Valdo, a singer songwriter from Cameroon. A very able guitar player to say the least, who, as well some very competent warbling, also plays the harmonica. What more could you want? Perhaps add some fancy effect pedals enabling some impressive looping in order to confuse the less technically minded in the audience who probably thought he was miming, add some audience participation and hey presto! After 20 minutes, boredom sets in and I wonder why artists like this can get away with selling CD's at gigs for 15 pounds. This is straight from the label or artist direct to the public without the need for the distributors cut. Something not quite right there. Of course the artist needs some bread, but there is no reason why a CD selling at a gig should cost anymore than a tenner. Simple. Curiously the Staff Benda Bilili CD was being sold for 12 pound and there are eight people needing bread and lots of it too, because by the look of the energy they use up on stage, these guys need their carbs by the lorry load.

There were high expectations for this band tonight, their "Très Très Fort" album has been higly acclaimed worldwide and this, to my knowledge would be their first concert outside of their homeland.

OK, so let's get the important bit out of they way first. Staff Benda Bilili are a group of disabled Congolese street musicians move around in customized tricycles. They also who live in the grounds of a zoo. I say that this is the important bit only because this is the main marketing angle on the group. Take that away and you are left with the music. A very energetic mix of Congolese rhythms and Cuban rumba, with a combination of six vocalists of varying degrees of quality and my favourite bit, a customised hand made one string guitar which on the CD quite sounds manic and naturally is difficult to play in tune, but live it sounded even wilder and the sound gets very, very distorted and the frequency seemed to cause problems for some of the assembled audience. Great! This was very danceable stuff but looking at the stiff Barbican crowd seated as if, quite frankly, that it were a freak show (some looked positively horrified when one of the wheel-chaired musicians leapt from his wheelchair. I half expected someone to go to his aid). I would go as far as to say some of this audience have never experienced anything remotely resembling fun throughout their entire lives. There was a break-off rebel splinter group of dancers of fifteen people or so who were getting some evil stares from the stiff stuck-up posse. For the record, I didn't dance, but I shook my legs a bit.

So to round off, not exactly mind blowing but a very enjoyable evening which reminds me how lucky I am to be living in London (or at least in a few days, quite close to London) where there is such a wide variety of things to do musically and otherwise that is virtually on your door step.

Here is a live clip of the band from a recent TV appearance.

The Cramps - Can Your Pussy Do The Dog?

Here is a great clip of The Cramps on The Tube from around 1986 with the curious little ditty - "Can Your Pussy Do The Dog?", a great track from the "A Date With Elvis", one of my favourite albums from that era.

Frontman Lux Interior sadly died earlier this year at the age of 62. This clip shows what a great performer and showman he was, but doesn't come near to what an exciting live experience by The Cramps was like, having being lucky enough to have seen them in concert twice.

The Biggest Reggae One Drop Anthems 2009

This is one of two fairly representative compilations on Greensleeves Records of the current reggae music trends currently popular in Jamaica. That is, good, bad and very ugly. The other compilation is "Biggest Reggae Dancehall Anthems 2009". But more about that in few days.

A few years ago the term "One Drop" seemed to refer to the more cultural end of the reggae spectrum. Nowadays it the term is bit looser, seemingly describing everything that is not "dancehall". Although you could describe some of these tracks as "dancehall". Confused? Good. Bear in mind these guys just make music and it's only the record labels that insist on having to lump everything into a genre to help sell records, which is understandable I suppose.

So to "The Biggest Reggae One Drop Anthems 2009". To start off on a positive note, the tracks here that tick some of the right boxes are: Mr. Wiliamz - "No Cigarette", which follows a recent trend by Alborosie of re-licking 80s dancehall rhythms. The tune on this occasion is Triston Palma's "Joker Smoker". Nice vibes on this one, but the subject matter is as old as dinosaurs, while Peetah (Ex Morgan Heritage) & Assassin's "Hot A Road" is a big tune for sure. I haven't heard any new Capleton for yonks so it was enjoyable to hear "Acres". But guess what it is about? Ganja! There's a surprise. Queen Ifrica with "Dem Nah Lear" holds its own. Lukie D could read out a menu and it would still sound good. Even his reading of Jordin Sparks and Chris Brown's "No Air" would be acceptable, if it hadn't been spoiled by the one called M'lonie, who sounds like a drunk teenager on karaoke for the first time. Beres just does what he does best with "Can't Say I Never Tried", while Luciano, Junior Kelly and Lutan Fyah go through the motions.

On the bottom of the pile is Gappy Ranks - "Heaven In Her Eyes". Da'ville - "Missing You Right Now", Marcia Griffiths & Busy Signal - "Automatic (Keeping It Real)" and Glen Washington - "Vibes". All of which are so lightweight they could induce sea sickness and acute nausea even if one was miles away from sea. Romain Virgo's self explanatory "Alton's Medley" is quite frankly just pointless. There are also tracks by Alborose and Sizzla, who have tracks lifted off recent albums.

So enter at your peril. One for the download massive methinks, choice your tracks and then job done. If there is anyone could could sit through this compilation more than once, I salute you and recommend you seek medical advice.

Rabih Abou-Khalil - Arabian Waltz

Rabih Abou-Khalil has a new compilation out at the moment entitled "Selection" and it is essential. I will go into more details when time allows. But in the meantime, move the furniture out of the way and and feel this one: "Arabian Waltz".

Radical Dance Faction (RDF) / Military Surplus

Radical Dance Faction always used to get tossed on the dodgy "crusty dub" pile. This is true to a certain extent considering they used to attract a hell of a lot of crusties to their gigs (what ever happened to crusties?) and their music certainly could be described as dubby. I saw them live many times during the early 90s. I particularly remember one gig at the Electric Ballroom in Camden and still sticks in my mind as one of the best gigs that I ever attended. I recall that I spent a lot of time on stage that night and I'm not too sure why.

Founded by Chris Bowsher in Hungerford, Berkshire and starting out as Military Surplus in 1986 before becoming Radical Dance Faction. The band had many line up changes before splitting up in the late 1990s. Their music mixed elements of reggae, dub and punk. Chris Bowsher, more than a poet than a singer, spoke rather than singing his lyrics. He was often joined on record and on stage by the more accessible and melodic sensibilities of Linda Goodman.

Bowsher wrote about such topics as the Tiananmen Square protests of 1989 in the song "Chinese Poem". He witnessed the Hungerford Massacre and wrote about this harrowing experience in "Hot On The Wire" and in the poem "Hungerford Poem".

They released two essential albums: "Borderline Cases" and "Wasteland". both currently unavailable. The latter set featuring hot shot reggae drummer Style Scott, a former member of Roots Radics and Dub Syndicate. A third album "Raggamuffin Statement" followed, but that was a dodgy clumsy hotpoch of recordings of live material and demo-quality material.

The band reformed a couple of years ago as Military Surplus/RDF and played a handful of gigs. One of which was in Hitchin early in 2008, which included Murph from the Rhythmites on guitar, and old time Military Surplus member Steve Swann (Dub The Earth and Revolutionary Dub Warriors) on vocals. Below are some of the pictures I took on the night

A new album was planned for last year but nothing has yet emerged..

Here are three audio clips. "Chinese Poem" and "Hot On The Wire" - both mentioned above, and are on the "Borderline Cases" album. The third clip is of "Babylon" which is on the album "Wasteland"

Kroke - Out of Sight

I first became aware of Kroke's music through the album "East Meets East" a superb timeless set released in 2003 in which they collaborated with mockney violinist Nigel Kennedy, The album was for me is an absolute triumph and introduced to me this extremely talented Polish group.

Formed in Krakow, Poland in the early 90s, originally a trio, consisting of double bass, accordion, violin, before expanded to a quartet by adding a drummer/percussionist. Originally a Klezmer band, performing "standards" but also writing and performing original compositions, you can almost smell and feel the vibes of being in Kazimierz, the old Jewish distinct of Krakow. I once got very lost there in the fog, but due to my excellent navigational skills found my way out and back to my hotel unscathed.

Anyways, "Out Of Sight" is Kroke's seventh album - not including two live albums "Live At The Pit" and "Quartet - Live At Home". In truth, anyone who has albums like "Eden" and or "Trio" will not have any real need for this. Kroke's sound has changed over the years, but this album is not a good example of it - for that you should check out "The Sounds Of The Vanishing World" or "Ten Pieces To Save The World". For me. this set borders on tedious and some tracks are just plain annoying. I just can't put my finger on it. It's a combination of too much vocals/wailing and unnecessary whistling and musically, in part, it's almost like a bad parody of themselves. Without breaking down each tracks, there are three or four good ones on here, but not enough to recommend because there is nothing new or remotely inspiring on this album.

Criticisms aside, Kroke are still truly remarkable musicians and I urge you to seek out their music and catch them live if you can.

For sound clips from "Out Of Time". Check Kroke's website here.

Pop Classics Part 8 - Styx - Babe

Nope, I will not hang my head in shame. You should know by now I don't do "guilty pleasures". There is always something I have always loved about this song. there is a simple quality about it, something that lacks in most of today's' efforts in the "hit parade", where over-the-top production values rule.

Styx originally released "Babe" in 1979, and I picked up the 7" of this in a charity shop in Harrow a few years later and, have since helped it to reach a natural progression back into the charity shop cycle.

A pop classic for real. Lighters at the ready.

Bad Lieutenant - Never Cry Another Tear & Live At Heaven 21/10/09

For those at the back of the class Bad Lieutenant are New Order's Bernard Sumner and Phil Cunningham's new project along with Jake Evans. Bad Lieutenant's sound, with a casual listen does come across like latter day New Order, but closer examination reveals there is a lot more going on. Judge for yourself.

On the album "Never Cry Another Tear" they are joined by Blur's Alex James and New Order/Joy Division drummer Stephen Morris, who both appear strictly as guests only. However, Morris has been playing live shows with the group. But more about that shortly.

I have discussed Bad Lieutenant here before and I was quite dismissive about them, to say the least. However, time is a healer, or something, the single "Sink Or Swim" is real grower, and the vast majority of the album is well listenable and as good as any of New Orders 1990s and beyond output.

The key tracks for me are "Twist Of Fate", "Summer Days", "This Is Home". "Shine Like The Sun", "Runaway" and the title track. Vocal duties are shared by Sumner and Evans. The latter has a slight Noel Gallagher sound about his voice, not such a bad thing, if given the choice between Noel and his ghastly brother Liam.

The live show at the famous London gay club Heaven was a triumph, with the core trio joined by Stephen Morris on drums and an unnamed gentleman on bass, yet despite playing tracks by New Order - "Crystal", "Temptation" and acoustic version of one of the best dance tracks songs ever committed to vinyl - "Bizarre Love Triangle", Joy Division's "Transmission", "Love Will Tear Us Apart" - all great but I have heard them hundreds of times before - along with a Electronic track and a Bernard Sumner guested Chemical Brothers track - I was left wanted to hear more Bad Lieutenant material, which for me spoke volumes.

Some pics I took at the show below, and then some audio clips.

Le Trio Joubran - Masar

Check out this killer clip of the Palestinian three piece group Le Trio Joubran, with some great three-way oud action, with a live version of the track "Masar" which is featured on the excellent album "Majaz". Hypnotic stuff.

Saturday Night Jamboree

Saturday night reggae vibrations with three killer and classic tunes: Dennis Brown & Big Youth - "In Their Own Way", Mutumbi - "Music In The Air" and Jimmy Riley - "Give Thanks & Praise", all dating from circa late 1970s and are all favourites of mine.

Nothing else to be said. Run it!

The Durutti Column - A Paean To Wilson, Kings Place, London 9/10/09

Two weeks ago my old favourites The Durutti Column played at Kings Place, one of the newest and plushest venues to open in the capital for some time. Tucked away around the back of Kings Cross on York Way, this is one more nod towards the ongoing and eventual regeneration of the Kings Cross area. From grotty to snotty, if you like.

This was no normal gig for DC. Previewed in Manchester back in July over three nights, "A Paean To Wilson", Vini Reilly's personal tribute to his late friend Tony Wilson, who died in 2007. Wilson managed DC for many years, and yet Reilly claims the only payment his manager ever took for the job was an old car stereo and a raincoat.

Along with Reilly and Bruce Mitchell and current Durutti regulars - Poppy Morgan on Fender Rhodes and Keir Stewart - keyboards and bass, they were complemented by two members of DC's mid 80s lineup, namely violinist and arranger John Metcalfe and trumpet player and former member of Simply Red and Olive - Tim Kellett. Together they played an hours worth of - for me, of very captivating and moving pieces of music. The only familiar tunes to my ears were a keyboard/guitar duet between Poppy and Vini which sounded very much like "Royal Infirmary" from "Circuses and Bread" album from 1986 and the encore which consisted of a wild loud feedback-drenched instrumental version of "Requiem For a Mother" from the 2003 album "Someone Else's Party". The keyword in that last sentence was "instrumental", because Tony Wilson was never a fan of Vini's vocal talents and did everything he could to stop him from singing, so it was a fitting tribute that this this tribute is vocal free.

An album has been recorded and a "A Paean To Wilson" will be released early 2010 on Kooky Records. However, copies were available in advance at the Kings Place concert and I have to say the album is a corker, and to my reckoning the first album without any vocals from Vini since the 1979 debut "The Return Of The Durutti Column".

Above are some low quality pictures I took on the night of the concert in London two weeks ago.

Also, to give you a taster, here is a clip from the London gig, below that, a clip from one the aforementioned gigs in Manchester from September and for a very interesting interview with Vini Reilly click here.

Vassilis Tsabropoulos & Anja Lechner

This is a wonderful piece of music from the Greek composer and pianist Vassilis Tsabropoulos and the German celloist Anja Lechner with a track from the excellent album "Chants, Hymns and Dances" (ECM) with the catchy title "Trois Morceaux Apres Hymnes Byzantins".

Curiously on this clip, the audio is accompanied with pictorial images of Istanbul. Always a good thing, as it is one of my favourite cities.

Lately the music of Vassilis Tsabropoulos has become the soundtrack to my daily commuting life. I urge you to investigate the recordings of this very talented musician.

Augustus Pablo - Three The Hard Way

This is one of the heaviest reggae rhythms of all time from one of my favourite producers - Augustus Pablo. Recorded in the mid 70s, below are audio clips of three versions of this killer and classic rhythm. First up, a vocal cut by Jacob Miller - "Baby I Love You So", followed by the awesome dub cut mixed by King Tubby - "King Tubbys Meet The Rockers Uptown" and then the instrumental cut "Cassava Piece" featuring Pablo himself on the melodica.

Augustus Pablo, Jacob Miller and King Tubby are all no longer with us. All three died somewhat prematurely. A common theme with many artists and producers in the reggae world.

Strictly rockers style. Enjoy!

Anouar Brahem - The Astounding Eyes of Rita

The work of the Tunisian oud player and composer Anouar Brahem was first brought to my attention a couple of years ago by my good friend Abdel Halim El Hachimi over at Tales From Bradistan. The album recommended to me was "Voyage de Sahar" (2005). A truly beautiful recording and a revelation to me. It's simple but effective arrangements were based around the oud, piano and accordion. To me that album was, and still is one of the most atmospheric and enchanting albums I have ever heard. For me a desert island disc, no doubt. Not far behind that was "Le Pas du Chat Noir" (2001) featuring the same musicians and instrumentation. Exploring Brahem's work further on his previous recordings, I discovered that this artist is not one who sticks to the same formula. Most of his albums will of course feature the oud as lead instrument which lends itself to a middle eastern sound, but that sound with different musicians can be interweaved easily with anything from clarinet, violin, soprano saxophone, double-bass or more traditional middle eastern instruments such as the nay to create a different feel and vibe on each album, but still underpinned with a very distinctive sound, with almost a brooding haunting feel. Don't expect to be able to dance to any of Anouar Brahem's music, but expect to be moved.

This album "The Astounding Eyes of Rita" - like the recordings mentioned above, are on the ECM label. There have been some wonderful releases on this label recently such as Vassilis Tsabropoulos - "The Promise" and Jon Balke & Amina Alaoui - "Siwan". The musicians on this disc work with Brahem for the first time and they are: Klaus Gesing - bass clarinet, Björn Meyer - bass and Khaled Yassine on darbuka and bendir. The album is not as immediate as "Voyage de Sahar" or "Le Pas du Chat Noir", but much more accesaible than earlier albums like "Conte de L'incroyable Amour" or "Barzakh". "...Rita" begins to make sense after two or three plays and it is definitely one of the best new albums that I have encountered in recent months, and there has been a lot of good stuff around.

It's hard to pick highlights on this, but my current favourites are "The Lover Of Beirut", "Al Birwa", "Galilee Mon Amour" and the album's amazing title track, which there is a clip of below.

Richard Hawley - Shepherds Bush Empire, London 8/10/09

Sometimes I wonder why I bother going to certain gigs. You know the ones where you just stand there staring at the back of someones head and then people keep pushing past, and then they come back and push past again. The man next you has decided to keep his rucksack attached to his back during the show and keeps slamming it into you. The people behind you keep talking during the quiet bits and you wish they would sod off and go home. And you think to yourself, that you paid 18 pounds for this and you should be enjoying it, but you are trying to, but only as far as enjoying the muffled audio "pumping" out of the nearest speakers that are 50 yards way. For the record I am not that short, it's just that most of Richard Hawley's fans seem to be over 6 feet tall and with high hair.

Of course this is no reflection of the music on the night. Richard Hawley is an engaging, warm and witty performer and this is the third time that I have seen him in concert. He played a blinding set, comprising mostly of tracks from his new album "Truelove's Gutter" and a small sprinkling of tracks from earlier works including "The Ocean", "Hotel Room" (from "Coles Corner"), "Lady Solitude" (from "Lady's Bridge") and "Run for Me" (from "Lowedges"). Amazingly there were no room from the likes of "Tonight the Streets Are Ours", "Serious", "Valentine", "Coles Corner", "Just Like the Rain" or "Born Under a Bad Sign". So Mr. Hawley must have some serious faith in his newer material and so he should have. The highlight for me was "For Your Lover, Give Some Time", the current single.

As I mentioned before in a previous review, "Truelove's Gutter" is a great body of work, but most of the content is "armchair business", so after 90 minutes or so of this gig (it stretched to two hours) I noticed a lot of clock watching going on and lots of bored partners of the female variety, harassing their other halves's to make a hasty exit.

For the encore a surprise guest Lisa Marie Presley was introduced on stage. It turns out that Elvis' offspring and the late Jacko's ex-wife has been working with Hawley on some tracks. It enjoyable enough stuff all round, but of course I saw more of my friend's earlobe than of Ms Presley.

Above is a picture that I managed to take from the bar during the brief few minutes that I managed to see anything on stage. It's not a great photo, but it's better than nothing.

Below is a clip from youtube of "Soldier On" from the gig.

Who Say Me Done

A week is a long time in Blogland and I haven't updated in almost a week. This is due to being extremely busy with other tasks. However, I have been listening to lots of new music, such as new albums by Anoaur Brahem, Yasmin Levy, Bad Lieutenant and Invisible System. New releases on the Pressure Sounds label - King Tubby & The Clancy Eccles All Stars - "Sound System International", a new compilation on Greensleeves - "The Biggest Reggae One Drop Anthems 2009" as well as attending gigs by Richard Hawley and The Durutti Column. Full reports and review to follow over the few next weeks, so watch out.

The Durutti Column...again

It's been about a month since my last Durutti Column post, so here goes.

Here are two fantastic clips. The first is from the Cambridge Theatre, London in 1988. Two songs are featured - "Day Is Over" aka "Finding The Sea" and "Red Shoes". The second clip is from 2006 and is taken from a session at the XFM studios Manchester. The song featured is "Alive" fearing Helen Farley Jones on vocals.

Vini and friends play Kings Place, London this Friday, so expect more on this subject. OK!

Richard Hawley - Truelove's Gutter

Traditionally on rock/pop albums you get all the fast tracks first and then come track 5 you get a lull with a slower track, and then the pace is picked up again until track 9 and 10 when the pace can drop back down again. Richard Hawley's album tracks are usually the other way around, with a snail-paced ballad at the beginning ("Valentine" from "Lady's Bridge" and the title track from "Coles Corner", for example) and then a couple of fast/faster tracks appearing later on. Hawley doesn't do "fast" very often. His last album "Lady's Bridge", contained the most speedier tracks Richard ever released - "Serious", "Tonight The Streets Are Ours" and "I'm Looking For Someone To Find Me". It's all relative though, because after the first track on this album, "As The Dawn Breaks", anything else sounds speedy in comparison.

So in a way, "Truelove's Gutter" is a bit like all the more boring tracks I sometimes skip past on Hawley's previous albums because there isn't one track on here that will get you doing the twist. But really, they are not really boring at all, they are just not as immediate as say "Born Under a Bad Sign", "Just Like The Rain" or "Valentine". So it's a brave move on Hawley's part to release this album. He could have easily taken another route and made more radio friendly foot-tapping material and turn into a modern day Alvin Shardust, or perhaps a Shakin' Stevens. Perhaps not. Instead he has released eight tracks - some of epic proportions, of varying degrees of moodiness and texture which makes for a more than pleasant experience. One for listening to walking along the Thames on a cold winters day. That's one way I will be enjoying this album

Richard Hawley is a serious talent, a natural songwriter and a borderline geniue. In years to come his albums will be regarded as all time classics. Mark my words, people.

As a foot note, if you are a fan of the man you will no doubt have investigated last years release by old time crooner Tony Christie with the album "Made In Sheffield" that Hawley co-produced, if you haven't, then check it out because it's brilliant.

Richard comes to the Shepherds Bush Empire, London on Thursday next week. I will be attending and will be sure to mention it here.

Here are two clips. The audio to "Open Up Your Door" and the video to the current single "For Your Lover, Give Some Time".

Rodrigo Leao and Cinema Ensemble - A Mãe

This is the great new album from the Portuguese musician and composer Rodrigo Leao. Fans will know what to expect and will be well satisfied. Newcomers can expect lots of sweeping strings, Parisian accordion, melodic piano and heaps of great vocals from guests including Ana Vieira, a regular with Rodrigo, Stuart Staples and Neil Hannon, respectively frontmen with Tindersticks and The Divine Comedy. Not being a fan of either of these two bands, I enjoyed their contributions here immensely.

"A Mãe" is a well balanced mix of vocal pieces and instrumentals and like Rodrigo's previous work - solo or with his previous band Madredeus, will been described as "modern classical orchestral" or "cinematic pop". Whatever you want to call it, it certainly makes my world seem like a better place.

Here are some clips. The first two being from live performances.

Josh Rouse - Quiet Town

This is such a great song by the American singer/songwriter Josh Rouse. I first heard it on the Robert Elms show on BBC Radio London when it was released in 2006. Then recently I heard it by chance and remembered how much I loved it, but more now because of the sentiment of the song. Because after living in London all of my life, the time has almost arrived for me to leave the city of my birthplace and move a mere 33 miles away to a quiet town. At least, certainly a quieter town.

"This is the life, I want to live in a quite town"

Joel Rubin - Beregovski's Khasene

"Beregovski's Khasene" is a lovely selection of what is subtitled:"Forgotten instrumental treasures from the Ukraine" - from Joel Rubin and his band, made up of players of accordion, trumpet, violin and with Rubin leading proceedings on clarinet.

This is a worthwhile CD of re-recordings of vintage Klezmer which is more than a decade old, but I recently picked it up by chance in bargain bin and has provided me with much upliftment today, a day of dental trauma..

I can't find any clips online for this album, so you will have to take my word for it's worthy-ness, but if you like Kroke, you can't go far wrong.

Bad Lieutenant - Sink or Swim

What with the much needed demise of New Order last year, Bernard Sumner has a new project in the shape of Bad Lieutenant, who are basically Bernard, Phil Cunningham - latter day New Order member, and some other bloke. On this, their debut single "Sink Or Swim", they are joined by Stephen Morris, the fantastic drummer from New Order/Joy Division. So what it all boils down to is, that this is basically New Order without Peter Hook. The result is New Order late period/album track type-stuff. Meaning, that it's quite good and very much how you would expect it to sound. Quite good.

A debut album is due in October, but meanwhile here is the video for the single. I wouldn't get too excited.

Johnny Osbourne - Trickster

Gussie Clarke was one of the most prolific reggae producers during the 1980s, pioneering a heavy digital sound during the latter part of that decade. With Johnny Osbourne - one of the finest voices and one of the most consistent in the genre, they made "Trickster" penned by Hopeton Lindo. This is one serious slab of "hard riddim" With Steven Stanley on the mixing desk at Anchor Studios, Kingston, Jamaica, the end result in 12inch form is no less than crucial.

Konkani Songs (Music From Goa - Made In Bombay)

Now for something completely different..

This is a fantastic compilation from the excellent German label Trikont featuring obscure and fascinating recordings of Konkami songs from the East coast of India - Goa to be exact, recorded in Bombay between the 1950's and 1970's with a bewildering mixture of Cuban and Latin rhythms, Mexican trumpets, "western" instruments, more than a hint of jazz and not one sitar in sight. Some of these strange influences can be traced back to the presence of the Portuguese in the region during the 16th century. But this is not the time for a history lesson.

With an impressive 22 glorious songs by such artists as Alfred Rose, Lorna, Robin Vaz, Mohammed Rafi, Jacinto Vaz, Annette Pinto and many more, lovingly complied and packaged, this is such a compelling listen and one of the reasons I continue on my mission to find searching for different and exciting

For sound clips go here

Rhythmites - Trowbridge Folk Festival 2009

Most of you won't care much for this clip. The quality is so-so and the sound isn't all that great. But for those who know, this is a very rare clip of the Rhythm-ites, one of my favourite reggae bands, performing at the Trowbridge Village Pump Festival during the summer. I have written here before about the classic "Integration" album which I'm been informed there is a possibility of getting a release on CD for the first time in the near future and on top of that, a brand new album from a great underrated group that have been together in some shape or form for over 20 years.

Culture Musical Club - Shime!

I first encountered Taraab music, specifically Taraab music from Zanzibar a couple of years ago when Buda Musique released two fantastic albums: "Zanzibara Vol. 1 - A Hundred Years of Tarab in Zanzibar" by Ikhwani Safaa Musical Club, a set of new recordings and "Zanzibara Vol. 2 - Golden Years of Mombasa Taarab", a collection of classic recordings from 1965-1975 and then delved more into the music, by back-tracking and obtaining earlier releases. I also watched a great film about the "Queen of Taraab" - Bi Kidude entitled "As Old As My Tongue: The Myth and Life of Bi Kidude".

The Indian, African and Arabic influences in Taraab are irresistible with sweeping strings and the lush orchestral arrangements are hypnotic. The players are usually untrained and they play straight from the heart.

Culture Music Club are one of Zanzibar's oldest Taraab outfits, haivng been around for around fifty years. "Shime!" is more of what you would expect, so there are no surprises here. All nine tracks are great and are a great introduction to the music. But I would still direct you towards the two releases mentioned at the beginning of this review.

For clips of the album go here

Here's a clip of Culture Music Club in action.

Delroy Wilson - Dub Plate Style

Criminally, I have never had much Delroy Wilson material in my collection due to my leaning towards more roots orientated reggae over the years, with Delroy's songs being a bit too light or standard for me, but the tunes on this set are excellent and now I know what I was missing. Of course I already know "Better Must Come" and "I'm Still Waiting". Also, I had previously heard both "Find Yourself Another Girl" and "Joe Ligea" as dub versions from the album "King Tubby's Special 1973-1976" on Trojan.

The tracks on this album are dubplate mixes by Prince Jammy of what were Bunny Lee-produced material dating from the 1970s. Not having the originals myself, this is lost on me, but I imagine that the original cuts are more straight mixes than some of the tracks here that boast quite dubby and are harsher mixes than you would expect. Maybe that's why they appeal to me so much.

Full marks to Pressure Sounds for this. One of the few labels left releasing quality reggae reissues.

Not very interesting I know, but I worked with the late Delroy Wilson's cousin, an ex-Jamaican police officer at an oriental rug warehouse in north west London during the latter half of the 1990's. Now you know.

Anyway, for sound clips click here.

Annoying Music From TV Adverts Part 3

Yet another tedious-as-hell piece of twee female vocal garbage to be used on a television commercial. This time it's an advert for the Apple ipod "Nano" and the band responsible are Brooklyn based Chairlift with a song called "Bruises".

If you can listen to it all the way through without punching something or somebody I salute you and recommend that you get professional help.

Junior Byles and Rupert Reid - Remember Me

One of the heaviest roots reggae records ever made. This is a typically dread affair with great vocals from Junior "Fade Away" Byles and the lesser spotted Rupert Reid.

Produced by Dudley "Swaby" Manzie and originally released on the Ja-Man label in Jamaica in the late 1970s, this is the full length "discomix" cut with apocalyptic dub version in full effect.

Available on the Blood and Fire label on the album "129 Beat Street: Ja-Man Special 1975-1978".

The Return Of..........My Obsession WIth The Durutti Column

All is very busy at Overground Sounds HQ at the moment, so for now, here is an audio clip of The Durutti Column's "Ananda" from the 2008 album "Sunlight to Blue...Blue to Blackness". Those regular readers with an interest in my recent recommendation "The Promise" by Vassilis Tsabropoulos should lend a keen ear to this track.

Crass - Big A Little A

This has to be one of my favourite punk songs of all time. Coming on the b-side of "Nagasaki Nightmare" (1980), There's nothing I can say about Crass that hasn't been written about before by many others. But for me, personally I was first exposed to Crass in around 1985 and since then have always come back to handful of songs that I rate and can still enjoy and listen to as well as "Big A Little A" such as: "Working Class Rip Off", "I Ain't Thick, It's Just a Trick", "Banned From The Roxy", "Reality Whitewash", "Rival Tribal Rebel Revel", "How Does It Feel", and maybe one or two others. The rest I can live without.

Here are the crucial lyrics and two clips. The first is the audio of the original track and the second clip is a great live clip of Steve Ignorant from Crass on stage with Conflict at the infamous "Gathering Of The 500" gig at the Brixton Academy in 1987.

Eleni Karaindrou - The Weeping Meadow

Eleni Karaindrou is a Greek composer who has scored many films by her countryman and filmmaker Theo Angelopoulos. I recently encountered her work and was quite intrigued by it, as I have, in recent years become very fond of music of with a cinematic slant by artists such as Rodrigo Leao, Yann Tiersen and Michael Nyman.

I haven't seen the film `The Weeping Meadow' - or indeed any film by Angelopoulos, but judging by this soundtrack I can't imagine it would be a barrel of laughs.

This soundtrack from 2004 consists of pretty much one theme and a few variations, with the instrumentation predominantly consisting of a string orchestra, accordion, double bass, harp and piano. The result is that of a mournful nature, but there are a few moments where the sound elevates into something more joyous.

This is very effecting music and and I am already investigating further recordings by this artist.

Here is an excerpt.

Tarrus Riley - Contagious

What is with reggae artists having to see their face on the front of sleeve? Usually in some kind of righteous pose with fingers glued together, or sitting on a throne? I personally think it's 50% vanity and 50% laziness on both the artist and the record label's part. I mean, how tedious and predictable.

Tedious and predictable are words that can be used to describe most of the content of `Contagious' . If I hear another female backing singer going "ooh ooh" I won't be responsible for my actions. Is it always the same female singers? Do they keep them in the studio in a cupboard along with the triangles and the tambourines? In fact a lot of these songs would sound by far, so much better without any backing singer.

OK, so maybe I am exaggerating a bit. `Stop Watch' is a killer roots tune, but that's the best it gets. `Young Heart' rides a vintage Treasure Isle rhythm and is more than acceptable, the cover of MJ's `Human Nature' is curiously satisfying. A handful of other tunes are OK, but just go through the motions, including combinations with Vybes Kartel, Demarco and Duane Stephenson. But it's the Etana tune with Tarrus `Let Peace Reign' that had me reaching for the sick bucket. Just think of `We Are The World' meets and aforementioned Michael Jackson's `Heal The World'. Nice sentiments but please, no.

Maybe I am just looking for something within the current reggae scene that isn't there, like something to actually get excited about. But it sll seems to have gone a bit static and stale and anything but "Contagious".

Also, 18 tracks is way too much. I know record labels have to make a product worth buying and more appealing to the consumer, but I miss the days of 10 track albums weighing in at under 45 minutes.

Here is some audio from the album out now on VP Records.