in the midst of life we are in debt, etc.

There are three interesting Irish releases up for discussion in todays post as well as some views on the new digital radio service from RTE. Alongside both of these we'll look at some of the recent vinyl purchases from my good self.

First up is the latest release from D1 Records here in Dublin. I just happened to be in Road Records when a chap came in armed with some CD's and looking to have them stocked. I laughed a little as Dave kept calling him Roger when his name was in fact Robert. Robert Doyle to be precise. I kept earwigging as he and Dave hammered out minutiae of the deal and approached the CD's that he left with great interest. I picked up the CD to see that it was in fact the latest release from D1 Records. Peculiarly the tracks were titled in Irish. That's not altogether strange as I remember David Donohoe had a 12" release on D1 that also had an Irish title. I asked Dave to put it on the speakers and he obligingly did (because he's so nice) and it turns out that the track is not the usual techno from the D1 stable. Instead its a traditional release of some acoustic tunes that are sung through the medium of the Irish language. This was quite a departure from the usual fare on the D1 label so I'm now wondering if Robert Doyle is in fact related to label owner, Eamonn Doyle. Answers on a postcard please.

The second release is from the Trensmat Label and features not one but two new seven inches due for global consumption this coming January. This time the releases are by Expo'70 and Black to Comm. These are now available for pre-order and are, of course, limited edition lovely 7" vinyls in full colour picture sleeves. Check out their website for previous drone magic.

The third release come just in time for Christmas and is yet another release on the Indiecater label run by MP3Hugger. This time its a novel approach to the Christmas album. Kev has collected 17 original compositions that will provide a nice alternative to the usual shite that gets repackaged and rereleased at Christmas. Amongst the more well known featured artists are Nina Hynes and Jape but there's also a United Nations of Musicians making up the other 15 artists. Check out the website for more information.

I was interested to see that the DAB service from RTE has finally got going. Today saw the six new digital radio stations go live. Amongst the six stations is RTE Pulse which is a dedicated dance music station. I was interested to check out the full schedule and did so today. It's reads like a Who's Who of people I've never heard of before. That might be a good or a bad thing, i'm not sure yet. I thought that they'd have some of the more well known DJ's that the Irish clubber would be familiar with. Instead it looks like they've gone for the option of drafting in fresh faces. Some of the pictures of the DJ's are pretty funny. It's nice to know that some people are more contrived in their photos than I am. Check em.

Finally, I picked up an album of note by LA based sloppy beat maker Ras G & The Afrikan Space Program. It's more of the sloppy beat hip hop that I've slowly become accustomed to. Olan in All City Records is a fan of this kind of stuff and has released some of it in his 7X7 series, most notably the last seven inch by Mike Slott. You can check out the MySpace of Ras G and do some background reading on Mike Slott in his interview over on the Cheebah site.

welcome in

The assembled cast in The Welcome Inn last night were quite a bunch. I had the Galafari to my left. He was still partying from the night before and the wear and tear was beginning to show. Seated to his left was Barry Delta who had also been partying the previous night but obviously values life's simpler pleasures such as sleeping. Galafari and Barry had of course been celebrating the Reach 2nd Birthday Bash in The Twisted Pepper. Happy second birthday to them. To their left again was the Don of Irish Junglism, the man himself, Naphta. I forgot to tell him last night that I'd only been listening to his 'Long Time Burning' album during the week. Although released last December I only listened to it a couple of times since. During the week I decided that I'd dig it out for another listen and it truly is the finest junglism to have come out of this town. To Naphta's left was another lover and maker of beats, hailing from the UK, weighing in at 13 stone it was the one, the only, Equinox. Moving left again the Mullet took his place between Equinox on one side and Dublin's legendary techno pusher Eamonn Doyle of D1 Records (check him out below with the lovely Welcome Inn behind him). The cameo appearances were put in by myself and the Don Rosco. There was one reason and one reason only for this musical meeting of minds. We were all off to see Rollers Sparkers in the Joy Gallery on Rutland Place.

Rutland Place itself holds a few memories from my distant past. There was a party gaff at the end of it that saw many rave casualties pass both in and out its doors. Fond memories indeed from a time when most of the week would be spent recuperating from the weekends exertions. They were simpler times back then.

Myself and Rosco were eager to move the assembled crew around to the gallery but they're a fairly lethargic lot. We did make it in time to see the last tune by Children Under Hoof. I'm glad we made it because although they were a bit frayed around the edges I enjoyed the buzz about them. I guess that they are in their early twenties at most as they had an affectation about them that was somewhat innocent. The tune was a krautrock/psychedelic prog effort but most bands forget that this type of thing is actually really hard to pull off. To maintain the driving rhythm required for this type of music the heartbeat of the band needs to be spot on. At times during their last tune they could have done with a pacemaker. The bass player and drummer didn't seem to be playing in the same time. The guitarist, who looked a little bit like Catweazel, went a bit wonky at the end and in Mark E Smith fashion went over and started belting away at the cymbals. This was the last thing the drummer needed given the difficulties he was already experiencing. The keyboard player kept looking at the drummer and bassist trying to give thenm the nod to end the song but they were ignoring him. In the midst of all this sat the only female member of the band and it looked like she was playing a Nintendo DS. It seems she has other musical abilities as there was a range of instruments adorning the table in front of her, however any such abilities were kept under cover as she completed the next level of Donkey Kong. Song finished, there was a ramshackle attempt at a Von Trapp family bow. To be fair this was their finale tune so they may have just decided to go apeshit. Next up, Rollers Sparkers.

Knowing the members of Rollers Sparkers, my critical faculties are somewhat skewed. I think that they're great and have done since the first time I saw them a few years ago. That said, they were pretty ramshackle the first time I heard them so the kids from Children Under Hoof can take hope. After what seemed like a long time of fixing gear and fiddling with knobs, they were off. Not that most people noticed. The crowd kept chatting away until a few minutes into the first tune. I'm not sure how the band describe their music but suffice to say its slightly leftfield. They make great use of the array of effects on both their voices and instruments. Their tunes build from a basic rhythm into swathes of driving bass, vocal harmonies and electronic effects and pull the listener along with them. It's not the type of stuff you dance to. Those hearing it are usually more inclined to nod their heads a little. In fact much more time is spent focussing on the contributions from the trio and trying to distinguish exactly who is making what sound. I could only hang around for the first three tunes but it was great. Apparently it was their last live show for a while as they go back to write and rehearse material for a new album. I for one will be looking forward to it.

It was great to see a space like the Joy Gallery being used for stuff like this. It was my first time there but I reckon they could be on to something in using it as a venue. They've held a few such gigs there since it opened earlier this year. I can imagine this kind of thing is de riguer in places like Berlin but it was refreshing to see it happen here in Dublin. There were sixty or seventy people packed into a tight space and buzzing off a couple of bands. Having no licence to sell alcohol the attendees were invited to bring their own booze along if they felt like it. The basic ingredients for a successful recipe are there for them. I wish them every success if their venture continues in this vein.

On other fronts I picked up an album on Grand Royal called New York State of Mind. It features a whole load of Beastie Boy tunes that have been reworked by Green Lantern. These tunes have seen the light of day before on earlier 12inch release and on various Green Lantern mixtapes but I think this album is the first time its been put together on vinyl. One reason for thinking that is that I've been googling it and I can find it mentioned in fuck all places. I think it only got a release at the end of October but its been slow to appear in shops. I was over the the Beastie Boys site trying to get some info when I came across this page. Right in the top middle of the photo is a Saba McDisc just like mine. Nice one.

I also picked up the vinyl release of 'Peeek - an earful of Irish Underground' which has been given a limited free issue on vinyl by the nice Analogue people. I got the CD a few weeks ago but to be honest I never play CD's in the house, or the car, or anywhere else for that matter. I'm not much of a CD guy I guess. As such i was most pleased to get the tunes on vinyl including the contributions by Ugly Megan and Katie Kim. It's only as I write that I realise that there's a tune by Children Under Hoof on it too. I'll have to listen to that later.

I also picked up a limited release seven inch that's from earlier this year. It's a tune called Id Engager and it's by Of Montreal. It's on Polyvinyl Records and its got a nice electro groove to it. It's not what I expected at all. I'm not really familiar with Of Montreal and it was a blind buy but I'm liking it.

Right so. I'm off to cry about Arsenal's unfulfilled potential so far this season. You can catch me playing live on www.powerfm.org on Monday night between 11pm and 1am GMT. Drop in and have a listen to me talk shite in between the good music. Later

I got five on it

I've been getting pretty crap at writing about the bits and pieces that I've picked up about the place. Maybe I'm just getting fussier but there really isn't as much to pick up this weather. I've also been spending less time on the internet and this means less internet record shopping. That said I've been kept pretty busy both at work and at home so I've not had the time to indulge my penchant for the circles of vinyl of late. I've been able to right this to some extent as over the past seven days I have picked up the following five pieces of vinyl.

Just writing that reminds me of an old pirate radio show, see here for a previous reference. Anyhow the latest batch are a range of new and old, four seven inches and an album. Let's kick off with the long player. Quite recently I picked up an album by United Future Organisation that I'd wanted for an age. Like buses, you wait for ages and then two come along at once. I was in Oxfam on Parliament St the other day and I came across 'Bon Voyage', another album by the same band. I haven't really had a chance to listen to it but I expect it will be something similar to 3rd Perspective, the last one that I picked up.

I chanced upon a seven inch of the by now infamous release from Electric Six, Gay Bar. I must admit that every time I listen to it a smile breaks out on my face. Its so ridiculous that its sublime. I constantly wonder when its novelty value will wear off but I'm not sure that it ever will. Little amuses the simple.

Another oldie that I picked up on seven inch is a repress of the tune 'I believe in Miracles' by The Jackson Sisters. The tune has appeared on any number of funk and breaks compilations but this seven comes with a different twist. Issued by Street Beat Records it contains the instrumental of the tune on the a-side and on the flip it just has the drum track.

The third tune is one that I missed or else just didn't bother buying before now. It's the second seven inch release from the In Rainbows album by Radiohead. The track in question is 'Nude' and its one of the slow burners from that album. Here they are doing a live version of it on VH1

Last but by no means least is the seven inch of 'Paper Planes' by MIA. It features a DFA remix on the flip side that's quite tasty.

After all that talk of Sweettalk recently, I bumped into Maser in town today and was bigging up his appearance. He was saying that he wasn't sure if he was going to do the talk but then changed his mind. He didn't mention whether it was the aul nerves that got to him or anything else for that matter. What he did say was that he was delighted that he did do it. So am I.

I found this interview with Jape on on RTE 'youth' show. Its an exercise in awkwardness but its absolutely brilliant.

get down on it!

Following receipt of the RSAG album, Organic Sampler, and having listened to it a number of times, I can now tell you what I initially suspected about it. It’s brilliant. It has the same edginess to it that the live shows do. It’s the bee’s knees and the dog’s bollocks all mixed in together and appearing as one giant mutated organic form. It reminds me of Talking Heads in places, Was Not Was in other places and like stuff I’ve never heard at all, in other places.

In terms of new vinyl coming my way it’s been a slow few days. I picked up a couple of things in the last while but never got round to writing about them.

There have been very rich pickings on the second hand vinyl front. There was a deluge of second-hand stuff into Oxfam on Georges Street today. At one point myself and about five others were acting like some humanitarian packages had been dropped in to the shop. There was a bit of pushing and shoving between us in order to get what we need to survive. As it turns out the crush between people need not have happened. We were all after very different stuff. It truly is the case that one man’s meat is another man’s poison. Or one man’s Prefab Sprout is another man’s James Last. I was looking at the shit records other people were picking and sniggering to myself. I imagine that they were doing the same when they saw I had the following:

Fables of the Reconstruction – REM
This is the third studio album from REM and was released in 1985 on IRS Records. Along with Murmur and Reckoning this charts the earlier sound of REM. It certainly bears little resemblance to the most of the albums that followed. I like it exactly because of that. I’m a big fan of the first three albums but that said I also like most of the stuff that followed. Actually that’s a bit of a fib, the only ones after this that I like are Document and Green.

Love and Dancing – The Human League
This is the famed collection of 12” remix instrumental versions of the Dare album. I already have it a couple of times so I gave this copy to a mate. It turns out he already has it so he’s giving it to someone else. It’s a gift that just keeps giving. Super.

Steve Mc Queen – Prefab Sprout
I had this on vinyl and then it disappeared. Thankfully I now have it again. This is without doubt the best Prefab Sprout album ever, which in real terms isn’t actually saying much because all their other ones are pretty bad (except maybe ‘Swoon’). It includes some of their best ever tunes such as ‘When love breaks down’ and ‘Faron Young’.

Duel – Propaganda
This is taken from their album ‘A Secret Wish’ released on Trevor Horn’s ZTT label in 1985. The band themselves hailed from Dusseldorf in Germany and included amongst them an ex-member of Die Krupps. This was their only tune worth talking about and I bought it today in a fit of nostalgia. As it turns out, it’s not as good as I remembered it. Oh well.

Sidewalking – The Jesus & Mary Chain
This little seven inch was hidden amongst a load of albums. I always took JAMC with a pinch of salt and never bought into the wall of sound shit that they peddled. This same marketing technique is currently being used by Glasvegas. Put simply, some Phil Spector style production and some whining Scottish vocals does not equal great music. It usually equals something bad. This wasn’t always the case with JAMC. They did release some good tunes in the course of their early years but these truly were few and far between. ‘Sidewalking’ which featured on the ‘Barbed Wire Kisses’ album is one of the few that’s good.

The Story of Tron – Readalong adventure
This seven-inch was released by Walt Disney Productions in conjunction with Buena Vista Records back in 1982. It is a seven-inch piece of vinyl with an accompanying 24-page illustrated booklet. It’s a reminder of the type of merchandise that would be released in conjunction with movies back in those days. The wonderful innocence of a record and story that you would read along to is probably not something that today’s kids would be interested in. I have a passion for this kind of tat so I’m delighted with it.

I also bought a new seven inch release from an Icelandic songstress, Emiliana Torrini, which happens to be very nice. The b-side has a remix by Manasseh.

I hit the bargain basements in some record stores and unearthed the following seven inch gems for minimal cash. 'Out come the Freaks' by Was Not Was was the first up. It's an old eighties tune by a bunch of mad dudes led by the Was brothers. Next out was Quadrophonia by Quadrophonia. This brought back memories of a dance off between myself and a bloke called Stef years ago. It's fair to say that Stef won the dance off but he also introduced me to a lots of rave and breakbeat music. Another find was 'America: What Time is Love' by The KLF. The last two were for the wedding collection of seven inches that I'm building. Two dancefloor classics in 'Tainted Love' by Soft Cell and 'Get Down On It' by Kool & The Gang.

Out & About at Lunchtime

Mrs Vinyl, the babby and myself decided to head to the lunchtime, in-store gig by Lisa Hannigan in Road Records today. I’d assumed that it would just be Lisa and her guitar so it’s doubtless that I was surprised when her whole band turned up. The skill involved in setting such a number up in such cramped surroundings was akin to being a Tetris master. We had Lisa perched on the counter top, the bass player by the stair case, the guitarist behind the counter, the drummer just below the seven inch singles and the trumpet/melodica player sandwiched between the crowd and the turntable. Backing vocals, shouts and gurgles were ably provided by my little fella Paddy. We were treated to five of the tunes from the album, all of them delivered with poise and grace. I have to admit that the gig was a very close-up and personal affair. Mrs Vinyl and myself were discussing the very alluring qualities of Lisa and also the fact that she has a very fine voice. Her new album ‘Sea Sew’ remains on constant rotation in Chez Vinyl and it is fast becoming one of those growers. It’s not natural for a man like myself to be singing lines like ‘I spoon you into my coffee cup, spin you through a delicate wash, I wear you all day’ but somehow that’s what I found myself doing walking down the street today. I’ll get a name for myself if I keep this up.

The gig was also notable for the fact that I bumped into Keith Downey. Keith and myself go back a few years, both of us used to DJ on Power FM way back when camera phones had yet to be invented and wireless broadband was just a dream. Keith has moved on to bigger and greater things and you can catch his Psychonavigation show every Sunday on Spin 103.8 FM. Joining him in presenting the show every week is another old pirate radio colleague, ThinkToy. As well as being a radio presenter, Keith also runs the Psychonavigation record label. He’s been ploughing a productive furrow for a number of years now but his latest release is one that I’m truly excited about. It features my man of the moment R.S.A.G (Rarely Seen Above Ground) and I’m looking forward to getting a good listen to it over the next couple of days. There’s a launch party for the album in Whelans on October 17th (or at least that’s what I think he said) and you’d be mad in the head to miss it. RSAG has to be seen live to be believed. Admittedly there are people who could take that leap of faith without actually seeing him but I recommend a live viewing in any case. I’ll see you there.

During a quick swoop on All City Records I stumbled upon a repressing of a Eugene McDaniels album, Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse, which was originally released in 1971. It was the follow up album to the brilliant ‘Outlaw’ album from the previous year. Both of these albums were released on Atlantic Records and originals of both albums are still quite sought after. The album is a mixture of soul and funk and contains the originals of lots of samples and breaks that you will have heard in a number of rap or hip-hop albums down through the years. It also contains a nice little sleeve note thanking Roberta Flack which states ‘special thanks to ms Roberta Flack for not being afraid to help a brother, she, in my opinion, is a lady of quality, grace, humanity and talent of the highest order’. What a charmer!

Speaking of sleeve notes I also picked up the new album by the best thing to come out of Dunshaughlin since the bus home from the County Club. I refer of course to the songstress Lisa Hannigan. I met Lisa a little over a year ago and asked her what her plans were. She told me she was going to make beautiful music. It turns out that the lady is as good as her word. Various music journalists, bloggers and scene-setters, are lauding her new album ‘Sea Sew’. In an effort to be associated, albeit somewhat tenuously, with the aforementioned groupings, I’m going to row in with them and give my tuppence worth on her offering. Unfortunately I’ve had to listen to it at a very low level on my computer during work. As such even though I listened through I hardly heard any of it. Which means I can’t objectively review it. As such I’ll have to be non-objective, which suits me fine. Lisa Hannigan’s new album is brilliant. It’s a tour de force, whatever that is. The new album got me thinking about that time we were talking to one another. She was in the company of a young lady called Una. I actually mistook that Una for Una Rocks, the blogger. It appears that I got the complete wrong end of the stick. The Una that I met was actually another Una altogether, an Una that has been in constant cahoots with Lisa for the last number of years. Apologies to all the Una’s for the misunderstanding. (Update: I’ve listened to the album, I’m loving it but at the back of my mind it really reminds me of something else. I'll have to think about what that is though.)

I finally got my hands on the new Roots Manuva album, Slime & Reason, after waiting bleeding weeks for it to arrive in Dublin record stores. I’d already heard a couple of the tracks and liked the dancehall influences on them. I’ve been a big fan of all things Roots Manuva and Big Dada for a good time now and once again he’s hit the nail on the head with his latest long player. It’ll fit in nicely beside Brand New Second Hand and Run Come Save Me, two other excellent albums by the same artist.

In other vinyl news, I’ve managed to get my hands on a slew of seven inches this week. Some are good and some are absolute muck. Either way you’re going to hear about them in the next few lines. I’ll start with something good and see how it goes from there.

David Holmes – I heard Wonders
Ever since the album ‘This Films Crap Lets Slash the Seats’ I reckoned Homer was on the downward slide. I checked him out in a few of his incarnations until I eventually gave up on him. All has changed. Well at least for this single. Quite simply put, its great. Better still, it even has an interesting Andrew Weatherall remix on the b-side to get the blood racing. Buy it or get someone to buy it for you.

The Undertones – Teenage Kicks
Keeping it Northern Ireland, you all know this tune. It was John Peel’s favourite tune, which doesn’t really say much, because although he always championed diverse sounds a lot of those sounds were shite. This, however, is pretty rocking and it still stands the test of time. This seven inch four track EP was originally released thirty years ago and it gets a re-release to celebrate its birthday. Along with the famous title track you also get three others and a copy of the original poster booklet that quite ironically has a picture of some graffiti that reads ‘The Undertones are Shit’. Great stuff. Buy it. It’s limited to about five million copies or something like that.

Jazmine Sullivan – Need U Bad
This here tune caught my eye because Missy Elliott is down as a producer. The artist herself, Jazmine, is a 21-year-old R&B singer from Philadelphia (via Jamaica). The tune is based around an old reggae riddim first used by Cornell Campbell. The b-side features a Moody Boyz remix that takes it to another level again. Jazmine’s voice is not dissimilar to Jill Scott or Lauryn Hill and there’s even a guest appearance on the intro by Pepa (of Salt n Pepa fame). All in all I think it’s a lovely piece of work.

Glasvegas – Daddy’s Gone
I’m not sure what to make of this band. The lead singers thick Scottish brogue hangs heavy over the tune and much of the time spent listening to it makes me feel like an elocution teacher. His diction isn’t the best and once the lyrics are deciphered it turns out that I’m not too interested in them. People are bigging this band up at the moment but it would be unfair of me to judge them on this record alone. That said, since it’s all I’ve got to go on, I won’t be making too many efforts to hear any more by them.

King Creosote – Admiral
Another Scottish single up for review and if you know my previous form you’ll know that I like King Creosote. The a-side is staple stuff from the man but it’s the b-side that I’m more interested this time around. It’s a remix of a tune called ‘Leslie’ by another Scottish outfit, Found. They describe themselves as a DIY folk quintet and that is a very apt description. They appear to have two MySpace pages. You can check out the King Creosote remix on this one.

Le N?ko – Akedam
This is the fifth and latest release on the All City Records label. This time around it sees a French producer with an unpronounceable name to take care of business. It’s another winner in what has become a fascinating series of seven inches. It tours the periphery of hip-hop and selects the finest and freakiest beats from all over the place. This one is no different. Respect.

Fred Wesley & The JB’s – Blow your Head
This one was originally released in 1973 but has lost nothing since then. It’s a classic slice of funk with another fine cut on the b-side. There’s not much more to say about it except that its great.

Finally, I did some blind shopping, as is my way. I picked up two seven inches that had nice looking covers. As they always say, never judge a record by its cover. The first one is Underground by Belgian pop/rock act Das Pop. It’s not the worst tune ever and would not seem out of place on daytime radio. It also has very nice production on it but that’s where my praise for it stops. Mind you it’s nowhere near as shit as the next tune. I bought ‘The Spike’ by UK band The Music because Paul Hartnoll of Orbital produced it. It’s stadium pop rock at its worst. It’s a bag of mickeys.

Right, that’s it, I’m off to the Spiegeltent to see the best of Ireland’s breakdancers do their thing today. Big up to the Choice Cuts Crew for managing to put on great events on a regular basis. I’m really looking forward to it. I’m bringing my two lads along so that they might follow in their fathers breaking foot steps. Hopefully they’ll be better at it than I was.

half empty? half full?

A promise is a promise. I said to my virtual friend, Mr Hugger, that I’d try and review his latest Indiecater Volume 2. Once again he’s gone and compiled a few tunes that have been submitted to him by various bands from around the globe. I’ve got to admire his capability for getting these together. What started as an idea on his blog has quickly borne fruit. At only €4 to download it you’re not going to get a better bargain this side of TK Maxx. I should warn that this is only half a review. I’ve only managed to listen to five tunes from the album because when I downloaded it the file corrupted. To heck with it, lets review the five that I’ve got.


Montag – Going Places.
Lo-fi drum machine action. Even more lo-fi than the first David Kitt album. It picks up the pace as new and interesting things start appearing in the mix. It’s a bit of a stop start affair but that doesn’t offend my musical sensibilities at all. I kept thinking it had ended and then it would start again. It’s actually the kind of tune that makes me think I should drag out the old Roland and start recording my own stuff. Then I remembered that I had none of my own stuff to record. Ah well.

Mumblin deaf Ro – What’s to be done with El Salvador.
It just so happens that unbeknownst to Mr Def Ro we’ve spent a bit of time exchanging chat at the counter of Road Records here in Dublin. He seems like a very decent chap and he was well dressed to boot. First impressions last. On listening to this song he hasn’t got the strongest singing voice, but fuck it, neither do most singers. Also it’s not a very long tune but on the basis of it I’ll definitely check his other stuff out.

Ned Colette – The country with a smile
The singers voice reminds me of someone but I can’t make out whom. The whole thing is a very modest understated affair but its very well put together. There’s even a little bit of noodly saxophone about one third of the way through and some keyboards near the end that remind me of the soundtrack to ‘War of the Worlds’. I kept singing that line ‘the chances of anyone coming from Mars are a million to one she said’. It’s worth listening to for that bit alone. I wonder if its there on purpose?

The Ruby Suns – There are birds
This one has the sound of sleigh bells all the way through it but it doesn’t sound like a Christmas tune. In fact it transports me back to about 15 or 20 years ago to some of the music that was coming out of the indie scene in England. As such I like it. I liked it even more when at the end of it the tune tails off into something else altogether. I’ve always admired the element of surprise. If you want to be surprised you can see them play in Crawdaddy on November 1st.

The Spook of the Thirteenth Lock – In Country Dark
Half-country, half-skiffle and with a bit of an eastern feel thrown in. I’m loving it. If I’m not mistaken the 13th Lock from which the band/person get their name is somewhere near Lyons Hill in Co. Kildare. I remember fishing there years ago. I probably caught some manky old pike. The tune is a nicely honed affair, nice melodies and a touch of brass to bulk up the backing track. At times it begins to sound like kraut-rock but once again that’s a good thing in my book. There’s a nice little echo/delay fade out at the end. It’s got everything.

Some people scorn compilations but I think they’re a wonderful thing. There have been some very dodgy comps released by major labels with millions of tunes at their disposal. In this instance all of that shit is bypassed, the compiler has gone straight to source. It’s more reminiscent of old folk recordings in the way that it’s put together. It’s not that everything on it is going to float your boat but it does offer a diversity of compositions that you might not otherwise hear or even know about. For that reason alone it’s worth spending a small sum on. I’ve gotten full value already and I’ve only half the album.

UPDATE: Hugger was kind enough to sort me out with the rest of the album. I'll get around to telling you all about it shortly.

wha' g'waan bredren

It feels like ages since I last posted but I guess it's not really. I had great intentions and planned on posting loads but then I didn't have the time to do it. That's enough excuses anyway, let's have a round up of what's been happening in the vinyl world and also review and preview some events in Matt Vinyl's life.

I should mention the buzz that was the Festival of World Culture. Held in various parts of Dun Laoghaire, we decided to bring the kids along on Sunday afternoon. And what a belter of a day it turned out to be. It actually felt like summer for the first time this summer. I don't even know the names of the acts that I managed to see but the first was three heavy-boned African women doing some singing and some leisurely dancing. They were great craic altogether. Next up was a peculiar hybrid band of bagpipers and samba drummers. It was weird shit but once again it was great. Not the usual thing I'd go and listen to so all the more reason to check it out. The North Strand Klezmer Band were up next and were pretty deadly. They sound a bit like how I imagine a Jewish wedding band might sound. The next lot were another peculiar lot. I think they were from the Ukraine and they appeared to have a sizeable following who'd come to see them. There were three ladies, two on drums and one on what looked like a cello. There was a bloke with them who'd sing every so often into a small loudspeaker (a la Michael Stipe). They were making music that could best be described as Ukrainian Folk Techno. I loved the first few tunes but then it just started to grate on my skull. I'm at a loss to remember who came next. I was pretty drunk at that stage. I was also wondering where the world culture was in the crowd. It started to resemble a festival of middle classes. I'd had enough, the kids were tired, I was in bits. There was no time to hang around to hear Lisa Hannigan so I guess I'll have to check her out this weekend.

Which leads me nicely to the forthcoming Electric Picnic. I'm heading down this Friday morning but I'll unfortunately have to cut the weekend short and come home on Sunday evening. As such I'm going to miss the one band that I really wanted to see, My Bloody Valentine. I'm a bit snapping about that but what can I do. Another of the kids has their first day at school on Monday and I just can't miss it. I'm not sure why, cos I missed the other two starting school but lets not dwell on my past misdemeanours. I can console myself somewhat because at least I managed to catch them play a couple of times when they were in their prime. They were gigs that I remeber well and really enjoyed so I hope its the same for everyone else on Sunday night. I'll play a few of their tunes before bed on Sunday night. That should send the kids off to sleep. I'll update you on the events upon my return.

In terms of vinyl procurement it's been a so-so few days. I picked up two seven inches that are so shite that they're really not worth mentioning. However I have mentioned them so I may as well tell you what they are. The first is by The Shortwave Set and its called 'Now til '69'. I bought it because its produced by Dangermouse but all he's managed to produce is a load of hairy arse. It sounds like a really bad David Bowie tune. Think Absolute Beginners. Or it sounds like any Golden Horde tune! The other piece of shit that I bought is called 'Steve Mc Queen' and its by The Automatic. Avoid it at all costs.

Some quality control was imposed for the next few purchases thank Jaysus. It's the third single that I've bought from the Lykke Li album and its another cracker. Its called 'Breaking it Up' and it's one of my favourite tunes on the album. The b-side features a remix of 'Everybody but Me' by Norwegian producer Disk Jokke. Its a nice low key rhythmic affair that builds from start to finish. It's great. It sounds nothing like it but it somehow manages to remind me of 'State of Independence' by Donna Summer. Maybe Disk Jokke is the new Quincy Jones. Maybe not.

The new Beck seven inch 'Chemtrails' sounds like he got stuck in a room with a load of British shoegazers from the late eighties and a bunch of prog-folkers from the late sixties. The result is a pretty charming affair. Lots of rolling drums and phased vocals. Just what the doctor ordered. Even the freaky guitar wank-off at the end fits in nicely and its abrupt ending is timed extremely well. It stops just before you get annoyed with it.

The final three mentions go to the albums that I picked up in All City Records the other day. The lads got a load of new second-hand stock in and amongst it was a load of funk and jazz. The three gems that I uncovered are all ones that I've meant to buy before. Well now I have them. They are 'Sketches of Spain' by Miles Davis, 'Feelin Alright' by Mongo Santamaria and 'Lets take it to the stage' by Funkadelic. They've a bucket load of great stuff down there at the moment. Tell them I sent you. They'll probably throw you out.

And finally.........he's been at it again. That MP3Hugger never rests on his laurels. He's put together the second Indiecater compilation and it once again features a load of bands from around the globe. I only downloaded it tonight so I'll look forward to listening to it over the next few days. I might even review this one rather than give it the few half-arsed sentences like I did with the last one. The again I might not because I'm becoming a lazy bastard and my reviews never extend beyond two sentences. It might be best for all if I leave it to the professionals. Buy it here.

long players galore

I came into possession of three albums over the last couple of days. All shiny and new in their sleeves and waiting for a rinse out on the turntable. Two of them came courtesy of the shindig I had in the back garden the other night. In order to guard against the inclement weather, a friend offered a gazebo that was in their house. Rather than it being one of those fold-up crappy jobs it turned out to be a full blown marquee about 10 metres long. It was a bit of a bollix to put up in the rain but the resulting structure was the business. It fully covered the garden shed housing the sounds as played by Galafari, The Mullet and grandpa Naphta. It was a roaring success by my unexacting standards. Anyhow, I was gifted two sweet albums on the night. The first is by Mulatu Astatke and is called Ethio Jazz. Astatke has also featured in the Ethiopiques series of albums released on the Buda Musique label. If you haven't checked out a bit of Ethiopian Jazz from the 1960's and 1970's then you simply haven't lived. These dudes know how to funk it up big styles. I was going to tell you to go and check Ethiopiques out this weekend at the Festival of World Cultures in Dun Laoghaire but the gig is sold out. Ah well!

The other album that I was gifted is by Innocent Youths and is called 'Earth, Roots & Water'. As you might guess by the name of both the album and the band, it's a reggae album. Not just any reggae album though. It was released in 1977 on the Toronto based Summer Records. The original pressing is as rare as hens teeth so luckily they went and repressed it earlier this year. Its available once more, courtesy of the people in Light in the Attic. Its reminiscent of The Lovejoys in parts and is dub-space-tastic in others. Once again its a rare sonic treat.

The last album for today is one that I've been meaning to get for bleedin ages. I picked up the Neon Neon 'I lust you' seven inch ages ago and I meant to go and buy the album, Stainless Style. It was only when I saw that they're playing in Tripod on the 4th of November that I thought I'd better follow up on my earlier plans. It's a nicely packaged piece of vinyl and although I've only listened to it once, it reeks of eighties synthesiser pop. To some people that might be a bad thing but to me that's just great. I'm loving it. I might just have to go and see them play.

Finally, I bumped into Exile Eye yesterday and Sie Milligan today and both told me about a short tour they're embarking on to promote Exile's new Melodica Deathship project. They're playing the Bierhaus in Galway on the 21st August, the Pavillion in Cork the following night, The Trinity Rooms in Limerick the night after and wind their way back to Anseo here in Dublin on the 25th August. And they're doing the whole journey on miniature bicycles. Actually that's a lie.

towers of dublin

The running theme for this week has been football. Last Saturday saw this years Ronty Cup being held in Dalymount Park. After last years famous victory in Bristol there was obviously going to be a backlash from this years visitors. The game was a war of attrition with no real highlights in normal time. The game went to penalties where Bristol ran out the winners. There was much celebration afterwards in the stadium bar where both the winners, losers and assembled crowd were entertained by Cian Loughnane and Cousin Elias. You can check out Cousin Elias in the Body & Soul area of the forthcoming Electric Picnic.

On Wednesday evening there was more football. This time it was a weekly kickaround organised by the proprietor of one of Dublins premier independent music stores, Dave afrom Road Records. He assembled quite a motley crew of renegades, blackguards and wastrels all willing to have a football buzz. Amongst the assembly were John and Vinnie from The Jimmy Cake who have a new album in all good record stores as you read this. It's called Spectre & Crown and its getting great reviews. I'm quite remiss in that I've yet to listen to it but I'll sort that out in the coming days.

Amongst this weeks purchases are: The latest seven inch cut from Sharon Jones & The Dap Kings called '100 days, 100 nights'. Its another rhythm and blues belter from the Daptone label and it also features on the Dap Kings recent album. Elsewhere I picked up the seven inch of Kraftwerks 'Tour de France' which also features the instrumental on the b-side. Myself and the kids have been body-popping all morning listening to it. On the vinyl album front I purchased some second-hand stuff that I'd had previously but let go. First up is the 'Strange Free World' album by Kitchens of Distinction. It's by far their best album and it featutes the likes of 'Railwayed' and 'Quick as Rainbows'. It evokes memories of their McGonagles gig here in Dublin years ago. Great stuff. The other album that I got was the limited edition version of 'U.F.Orb.' by The Orb. It's just brilliant. It was worth the price for the intro to 'Towers of Dub' by Victor Lewis Smith, one of Britains greatest comedic talents. My favourite story about Lewis Smith concerns the time he rang the UK's Monopolis and Mergers Commission and asked why there was only one such organisation. Other tracks on the album include 'Blue Room' and the title track 'U.F.Orb'.

Speaking of The Orb, some of you may remember a tune on the 1997 Orblivion album called 'S.A.L.T'. Its fairly memorable as it samples a David Thewliss monologue from the Mike Leigh's 1993 movie 'Naked'. For any Mike Leigh fans or anyone who hasn't seen this brilliant but slightly disturbing movie it gets a DVD release this coming Monday. It also gets the Matt Vinyl seal of approval. Check this interview with Thewliss and Leigh in The Guardian.

Finally, There's a revival-introductory meeting of DOCOMOMO on Tuesday 19th August 2008 at 6.30pm in RIAI rooms, 8 Merrion Square. For the uninitiated DOCOMOMO stands for documentation.conservation.modern.movement and it's the only body concerned with the preservation of 20th Century buildings. A number of architecturally signifiicant buildings are facing an unsure future, amongst them are Liberty Hall and the Bank of Ireland HQ. Anyone interested can attend and its hoped to resurrect the Irish chapter of DOCOMOMO...

The meeting will be an hour-long, and Shane O'Toole will present an overview history of DOCOMOMO and its relationship within/to Ireland thus far. The discussion will also involve original members such as Tallon, Rothery, Graby and others who now hope to pass the reins to the next generation. The meeting is an introductory one and the hopes are that DOCOMOMO will meet again in late October 2008. If this is your bag then get down to Merrion Square on Tuesday next.

beats and pieces

Right so. I've picked up a few bits and pieces so its actually worth writing something. So let's get busy with this weeks round-up of vinyl gems.

First up is a seven inch from the Jack to Phono label. It's by Tombee, a DJ, producer and film-maker from Newcastle in the UK and its entitled 'Sticky Rhythm'. The b-side has a Phase 5 Stereo remix thats also the business. The samples used and the way that its stuck together make the a-side somewhat reminiscent of the early sampling techniques used by the likes of The Prodigy. There's an almost childlike feel to the creation of the tune. I think that's what I like about it.

The next tune I picked up was for €1 in Oxfam. It's by Dream Warriors and it's called 'Wash your face in my sink'. These guys hailed from Toronto in Canada. The group comprised of King Lou, Capital Q, Spek and a DJ, L.A. Luv. This tune was the follow up to their more famous "My Definition of a Boombastic Jazz Style" which featured the widely known sample from "Soul Bossa Nova" by Quincy Jones.


Another old piece of vinyl that I got is the Fall EP by Ride. It was released in 1990 on Creation records and comes with a nice piece of artwork on the cover. It was swiftly followed by their debut album 'Nowhere' which managed to achieve some acclaim. I saw them a couple of times back then and I always liked them. This EP features 'Dreams burn down' which was always a favorite of mine. Get busy gazing at your shoes for this.


Next up is Rockers Hi-Fi with their 1996 album 'Mish Mash'. It comes on triple vinyl to fit all the goodness in. These guys came from Birmingham and by the mid 90's were becoming widely recognised for fusing dub, hip-hop, a bit of jungle and whatever you're having yourself. They released a clatter of albums and also mixed and compiled an album for the now infamous K7 DJ-Kicks series. One of the members, Glyn "Bigga" Bush, continues to produce music as BiggaBush and Lightning Head and he released a great album a few years back called Studio Don.

an unseasonal series of events

This time of the year is usually a quiet time. People in work head off on their holidays. Schoolkids head off to the gaeltacht or whatever summer stuff they get up to these days. Musicians stop releasing music. Well things appear to have changed around here.

Dublin band Rollers/Sparkers released their new album 'Hames' last Friday night in the Boom Boom Room on O'Connell Street. I'd love to tell you all about it but I was tooling around down in Bellinter House, the fancy pants hotel in Co Meath. I did manage to pick up a copy of the album prior to heading off but I've not had much of a chance to listen to it. I attempted to play it in the car on the way down but my missus was having none of it. Instead we listened to Lykke Li. Anyway, I just know that 'Hames' is great so go and buy it in your local record store place. As a result of my jaunt down to Bellinter I also managed to miss the launch of the Underground Exhibition in Road Records on Friday evening. I popped in on Saturday afternoon and it was great. It's a real trip down memory lane. When you're visiting the exhibition in Road Records you can buy a copy of Hames when you're there.

Top music blogger mp3hugger, has compiled a bunch of music for a new release, Indiecater Volume 1, and it's available for download for the meagre sum of €4.50 from the Indiecater Website. I'm listening to it as I type and I'm digging the vibe. I've listened to Beaten Awake, Burning Codes, Call to Mind and Cymbals eat Guitars. It's a very diverse and wonderful range of music and I have to commend the Hugger for bringing such a simple idea to life. I always think of great ideas but I'm far too half-arsed to put them into practice. If there's anyone out there who is short on ideas but good on organisation and planning then I could be your ideal business partner. Leave your CV in the comments if you fit the bill.

the squat pen rests, snug as a gun

I picked up a Gilles Peterson compilation in All City Records the other day. Digs America II is made up of a load of tracks from Peterson's Brownswood Basement and includes lots of tunes that he bought in the US. The pictures of him on the front and back cover were taken in Village Music, a California record store that closed in September 2007. As someone who loves to dig in the crates, I firstly envy Gilles his numerous opportunities to fly around the world record shopping and secondly feel a pang when I hear a record store such as Village Music closes it doors. I'm sure that there were many reasons for its closure but I can only suppose that amongst them was the modern way of sourcing music, the internet. Why spend a day rooting around a dusty record store when you can download it or order it online.? On a personal level I find it's a more satisfying experience when you discover a piece of vinyl in a record store, charity shop, jumble sale or wherever else. But I would say that.

Speaking of turning up some old gems, I picked up a second-hand copy of the 2002 album, Point, by Cornelius. It was released on Matador Records and it truly is the business. I've mentioned Cornelius here before but for those who forget, he hails from Japan and has a great knack for composing electronic gems. The album cover itself is fairly humdrum but when I went to put the record back into it I noticed that the inside of the sleeve has pictures on it. It looks like a Japanese streetscape but its a a bit hard to be sure. Check out Point of View Point and Drop on his myspace as both tunes feature on the album.

I picked up another Lee Fields tune on seven inch from 2007 called 'My World' which features another killer tune, Love Comes and Goes, on the flip. The stuff that he's putting out sounds like Gilles Peterson dug it out of a record store like Village Music. After doing a little research (i.e. googling) I found that Lee released his first seven inch in 1973 but for some reason dropped off the radar around 1984 and then resurfaced with a release on the DapTone label in 2000. I for one am glad he's back. If you think you'd like to sample some of Mr Fields magic then you should get his soon to be released album 'The Many Moods Of Lee Fields' on Truth & Soul Records.

Finally, I bought a seven inch from 2007 on the Morr Music label by a band called Seavault. A quick visit to their MySpace showed that Seavault are no other than Antony Ryan from ISAN and Simon Scott from Slowdive. Slowdive were a bunch of shoegazers who were on the Creation label from 1989 to the mid-nineties. This might explain why Seavault have chosen to cover a tune from 1988 by Ultra Vivid Scene called Mercy Seat. I was in a band at the same time and we would all have been listening to UVS and digging them. UVS are really a bloke called Kurt Ralske. After I bought the seven inch I got to thinking about what happened to Kurt Ralske? A quick google brought me up to speed on his whereabouts and his current occupation. It turns out that he was a bit interested in audio-visual installations and related programming matters. So much so that he developed a piece of video software called Auvi , that's used by lots of people who move in those kind of circles. He's created installations and exhibited his work in places like the Guggenheim in Bilbao, the Los Angeles Museum of Contemporary Art the Montreal Museum of Contemporary Art and has a permanent display in the Museum of Modern Art in New York. What a guy! Here's the original Mercy Seat interspersed with an interview with the man himself.

UPDATE: I was over on MP3hugger's site and knew that he'd have been digging Ultra Vivid Scene back in the day. I found this post about what happened to all the members of Slowdive. Check it.

90% x 2

I'm a huge fan of the tune '90% of me is you'. I first came across it in London in 1997 when I was over visiting my mate Hamid. The same weekend saw Billy Scurry play a gig in a club that Hamid ran. It was only proper that we hooked up for a drink and for some reason the lot of us ended up watching an outdoor movie in one of the parks in London. There were about 6 of us and at some stage we ended up back in one of Billy's mates house somewhere near Brixton. In order for us all to get there we had to put my mate Brian in the boot of a car. My memory of the specifics aren't great but I'm sure he didn't go in to the boot without a struggle. Thankfully he made it in one piece and we we sitting around listening to an album that Billy had just bought. The album was called 'Strange Games and Things' and was the first in a series of such compilations on the BBE label. Shortly after this I got the album on vinyl and its been a favourite on the turntable ever since. Anyhow that's all a rather long winded way of introducing the following. I picked up two cover versions of the tune on seven inch vinyl in recent days. The first version I picked up is by Amrals Trinidad Cavaliers, and its a West Indian steel drum version from 1976. It's the business. I also picked up a reggae version by The Dynamics. These boys seem to be making a living from reggae cover versions of popular tunes. In any case they have a good stab at it. I still prefer the original though.

On other fronts, i got a copy of a greatest hits by Common that was released late last year. It features a load of tunes from his first three albums. Many will be familiar with his 2005 album 'Be' which seemed to do well for him but he has a moxy load of albums prior to that one including my favourite, but the critics hated it, 'Electric Circus'. What the fuck do critics know?

I also picked up a second hand copy of 'Right On Vol 4' which is one of those compilations that raids the archives of Atlantic and Warner for some old funk and soul gems to sell to saps like me who couldn't be arsed paying a million quid on eBay for them. It's a smashing album. It includes amongst other tunes the fabulous Cherrystones from Eugene McDaniels Outlaw album.

For some insane reason I had to buy a record that I found in a secondhand shop the other day. It's by the owner of the long established Borderline Records in Temple Bar, a gentleman by the name of Derek Larkin. Copies of this album are as rare as hen's teeth and if you heard it you'd know why. It's crap. Funnily enough the name of the album is also 'Crap'. It features an obviously drunk Mr Larkin and a merry band of cohorts murdering such popular favourites as Like a Virgin and Stand by your Man. I'm going to give it to him for Christmas.

Ending the post on sadder note, it appears that once again Sinéad Gleeson bows out from writing her Sigla blog. She's done so before and returned. Hell knows what might happen. It's a lady's prerogative to change her mind. In her post she speaks of readers expecting and deserving posts of a certain quality. If you're that type of reader then you might want to stop reading this blog, unless the sort of quality you desire is the ramshackle variety. Good luck Sinéad.

And finally, Esbjorn Svensson RIP

not one, not two, but three. yes, three things of note!

Tomorrow sees the official release of the new album 'Ritual' by Jape. Now before I get into the music I'll disclose that I think Richie Egan is a top bloke. Not only is he a top bloke but he's got a good buzz about himself and all things related to his music. One of the tunes, 'I was a man' has been getting a decent bit of airplay on the likes of Phantom FM. However there are some other real gems on this album that runs to just over 40 minutes. The album cover is another job by M&E and I should also point out that Mattie from M&E is another top bloke. Mattie and his good lady Emelie made the last video for Richie, the one where he's pelted with fruit. They've got a great buzz going on too. They've been at it again and they've made a video for 'Graveyard' another of the tunes from the new album. They play the song live in what appears to be Mount Jerome cemetery (you can see the chimney for the cremations behind them). Anyhow I've listened to the album once this evening and my favourite so far is number 6. It's playing in another room so I couldn't be arsed getting up to look at the CD cover. Rock on Richie Jape and to the staff member of the record store that sold it to me before he was supposed to. Stick it to the man and all that! It's out tomorrow. Buy it.

As if one new album by an Irish artist wasn't enough to fill a post, I just recently received an e-mail from my old pals Rollers/Sparkers. These chaps released the 'Geography for the Leaving' album in 2004 and have just gotten around to following it up with their new album entitled 'Hames'. Once again I'll declare an interest. These boys are also some of the nicest chaps you'll come across and along with their bookish looks and rapier wit they also manage to create some great sounds. I've been lucky enough to see them twice. I'm also lucky enough to regularly meet one of the band members cycling down Capel St in the morning. Cycling two abreast can be quite a thrill. His cycling wets leave a lot to be desired though, he tends to opt for those garish yellow jackets.

*EDIT: It appears that they have had an intervening album and that Geography for the Leaving was actually an EP. Ooops.

Anyhow, their album release is coming up on Friday 27th June on Lazybird Records. The launch gig will be in the Boom Boom Room, which is now located downstairs in Murray's of O'Connell Street. They'd love it if you came down, immersed yourselves in the gently undulating soundwash and bought their new CD. As if that wasn't enough of an attraction the support act will be Dara O'Brien in a tabla and sitar duo that will question everything you've ever held dear about the Occident. They'll also have Neil Donovan (whose Dad I used to work with and who incidentally is another top human being, his Dad that is, although Neil's very nice too) and Paul Watts spinning some tunes. Sound!

And finally, I bumped into the best hugger that the southside of Dublin has produced. He is the multi-talented musician, clown and generally good vibes guy Bryan Quinn. Some of you might know him from his trumpet playing, others might have seen his clowning and acting efforts with either of the Doherty brothers, David or Mark. As it happens BQ is directing a childrens play that's on in the Project Arts Centre over the next couple of days. Its stars David O'Doherty and Maeve Higgins and is called 'I can't sleep'. I told BQ I wouldn't make it but then I promised the kids that I'd bring them.

Here's Jape singing in a graveyard with Mattie:

JAPE 'Graveyard' : Live from the grave
Uploaded by MatthewANDemelie

news from the frontline

All City are back with the third instalment of their 7x7 series. The latest seven inch in the Beatstrumental series sees them take a trip across the water to enlist the services of French beatmaker, Fulgeance. It's a much more low key affair than the previous releases. The a-side Revenge of The Nerds rips a sample from a movie character in American Splendor, a movie about little known comic book writer, Harvey Pekar. The b-side is a very laid back affair and I was sure that I had it on the wrong speed. I had to check on Fulgeances MySpace to make sure that it sounded like it sounded. All City also bids farewell to another bloke who liked to hang around the shop a bit over the last few months. The guy in question was Steve Powers, a graff artist who was over here on a Fulbright scholarship. Rather than go over old ground Cheebah have covered it here.

I finally got my hands on The Notwist album, 'The Devil, You and Me', that I've been reading reviews of for weeks. I'm liking it on first listen but I expect its going to be one of the growers that I'll like even more in a few weeks time. Hailing from Germany, The Notwist released one of the album highlights in 2002, Neon Golden. The band members have been knocking around for years and have turned up in other musical projects such as the brilliant Lali Puna

Whilst on the subject of new music purchases it behoves me to tell you about the album Silent Movie by Quiet Village. Quiet Village happen to be two blokes called Joel Martin and Matt Edwards. Joel is apparently fairly fond of digging in the crates , a bit like myself. Matt is somewhat handy in the studio so the two of them decided to doff their hat to past musical glories and create an album full of new old sounds. They've reworked older stuff by the likes of The Chi-Lites and Alan Parsons and created a new soundscape for it. In truth its not a million miles away from the likes of Air, Lemon Jelly or The Avalanches.

News on the seven inch front includes the new release from Swedish songbird Lykke Li which is called 'I'm Good I'm Gone'. It's got a great piano hook that reminds of some other tune from some time back. It's a pretty upfront pop tune with a nice melodic chorus. It's bloody great. The remix on the b-side is by UK band Metronomy. It's great too.

Another newish release on seven inch on the Kitsuné label comes from German electro popsters Digitalism. It's called Pogo and its more pop. It's a little bit of indie, a little bit of electronica. Just enough to appeal to both audiences. Check out the video here. As if that wasn't pop enough to satisfy the kids they've put a remix by Brazilian band CSS. You can catch Digitalism at the Electric Picnic later this year.

I picked up a couple of other sevens including 'Do you Love Me' by Lee Fields & The Expressions on Truth & Soul Records. It was released in 2004 but its a bit of a timeless classic. The flip side 'Honey Dove' is another slice of soul funk. In keeping with the soul funk theme I also picked up an old seven from 1969 by The Johnny Otis Show called 'Country Girl'. It features a guitar solo by the son of Johnny Otis, Shuggie. Shuggie's dad was a pretty versatile entertainer and is very famous in his own right, and rightly so. This copy of the tune is the original on the Kent Records label but it was reissued on the Modern Oldies label fairly recently. The last seven inch i picked up is another oldie, this time from 1972. It's called Git it All and it's by those funksters Mandrill. It really is funky but the guitar riff also has a touch of the Led Zeppelin about it. It's best described as tough funk. It's the business.

Also picked up on vinyl in Oxfam were the following, but I'm not arsed writing about any of them. Sugar is Sweeter by CJ Bolland, Break from the Old Routine by Oui 3 (check this video of them being interviewed by Dave Dorrell on BPM. Interestingly, Dave Dorrell sold my mate a gold Mercedes.), No Government by Nicolette (which has a great Plaid Remix on it) and the album Please by Pet Shop Boys which includes their really good early stuff like West End Girls.

shut up and dance again

There's been a recurring theme in my recent acquisitions. Yet again I picked up a release on the Shut Up and Dance label. This early nineties dance label started out as a rap vehicle for Pj and Smiley but it soon turned into much more than that. There's a great article in the last edition of Woofah magazine with the guys from SUAD. Anyhow the one I got my hands on today was SUAD 11 which has remixes of Derek Went Mad and This Town Needs A Sheriff. The originals of both are on the 'Dance Before the Police Come' album. Old school!!!

In the same Oxfam shop I also managed to come across a tune by Top Cat and DJ Rap called Ruffest Gun Ark. It's a slice of jump-up ruffneck jungle from 1995 when the scene was probably at its peak. It was all downhill from there really. There was also a copy of the 12" of Creation by Stereo MC'S. I'd forgotten how good the tune was.

Whilst in Spindizzy records I came across the brilliant Inspiration Information album by Shuggie Otis for a ridiculously cheap sum of €7. It's in tip-top condition and is guaranteed to put a smile on anyones face when played.

I also buzzed back into Tower records to see if they'd thrown anything into the cheapo seven inch selection. Much to my surprise there was loads of good stuff in it. If anyone is about there in the next day or two I'd recommend picking up a copy of Gum by Cornelius for a measly 99c. I have it already but I was tempted to buy more copies. Instead I bought Move Me by Gudrun Gut which came out on the EarSugar label. It cost 10c. I also picked up A Brighter Beat by Malcolm Middleton for 99c. Another one for 99c was 'If that's the case, then I don't know' by The Electric Soft Parade. Check out the video they look like a real bunch of freaks. Yet another 99c job was 'The Siren's Call' by Jazzanova on the Sonar Kollektiv label. It's a lovely little ditty and I'm definitely most pleased with it.

In terms of new releases I also picked up 'Soul on Fire' by Spiritualized. I've always been a fan of Spiritualized and have been fortunate enough to see them play a few times. Glad to see them back.

Here's Tenor Fly and Top Cat getting busy in the studios of Origin FM in London fairly recently:

a hard station

I met Billy Lyons in Road Records the other day and he was playing me the new album by US band Russian Circles. If you’re into a bit of guitar rock without any vocals then you’re just going to love their shit. It manages to combine some metal style power chords with an underlying melodic soundtrack. Its urgent sounding and I’d say these guys would do a great live gig. Their new album ‘Station’ is out on the Suicide Squeeze label on May 6th. Check it.

another perspective

I've been on extended hiatus from record shopping. OK I haven't been shopping in about a week. That's a long time in my book. I've no idea what new stuff is out but I did chance upon an album from 1996 that I always meant to pick up and by the time I looked for it it wasn't to be had. All is now resolved.

3rd Perspective was released by United Future Organisation, a Japanese jazz and funk band that included Raphael Sebbag, Toshio Matsuura & Tadashi Yabe. The album came out on the Talkin Loud label and it must be said that its a blinder. Here's a video of Planet Plan one of the tunes from the album. It gives a good taste of what the rest of the album is like. For any discerning drum and bass lovers, DJ Die did a great remix of it that also came out on a Talkin Loud 12 inch.

I'm not sure if UFO are even together anymore. I know that one of the original members, Toshio Matssura, left the band in 2002. The last thing I heard was that they'd released some of their new stuff in 2003. I also know that they did some remix work as recently as 2007 but after that I couldn't tell you what they're up to these days. It's a pity really. They were doing great stuff. Another of their great releases was Brownswood Workshop - Multidirection which also came out on the Talkin Loud label. I saw a copy of it in an Oxfam shop about six months ago but they were looking for €40 for it so I left it where it was. I must try to get it online one of these days.

all quiet on this front

Little to report over the last few days and so it continues. I picked up the new double viny; a;bum release from SoulJazz Records. It's titled 'Mojo Rocksteady Beat' and its by Sound Dimension. For those of you not versed in the way of the reggae music, Sound Dimension , were the Studio 1 backing band and featured some of reggaes heavyweights of the period. Amongst its ranks were Jackie Mittoo (can't believe he has a MySpace) and Ernest Ranglin (or this guy). Between the lot of them they produced some of reggaes' most famous riddims, a lot of which are still being used today. Upon listening to the album its surprising how many of them I have as versions by other reggae artists. The album is great, perfect rocksteady reggae that everyone can enjoy except for those people who 'don't get' reggae. Well those people can bugger off if they're not getting it. They're probably busy buying tickets for Eric Clapton and talking about tracker mortgages. If on the other hand you have even the slightest leaning towards reggae music then you should take the leap and buy this. If you don't own any reggae you could do much worse than to buy this as your sonic equivalent of the 'Lonely Planet Guide to Jamaica'.

I also found a peculiar 10" on the 'Funky Forty Fives' label. That's a stupid name if they're doing releases on 10" but that's another topic altogether. It features 'Soul Bossa Nova' the hugely recognisable Quincy Jones (winner of no less than 27 Grammys, nearly as many as The Chiefatins ;0) tune that's been sampled to death. You might not know what its called but you've heard this record before. On the b-side is Green Onions by Booker T & The MG's (1 Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award) who like Sound Dimension above were actually a studio band. In their case they used to do a lot of the backing recordings for the Stax label. This version doesn't sound exactly like the original version and it doesn't say that its actually by Booker T on the vinyl so I'm a little suspect about that. Anyhow, they're both top tunes and it throws in Peggy Lee's version of 'Dock of the Bay' for good measure.