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.