Me and my friend Mr Perfect - I've mentioned him here before - have been bonding over Bobby Womack lately. I thought you might want to join us, so here are a couple of tracks from Bobby's 1975 album "Safety Zone".
The best known track on "Safety Zone" is probably "Daylight". Being an old fart I am normally a bit sniffy about attempts by modern so-called pop stars to update old soul classics, but I have to concede that Kelly Rowland of That Destiny's Child made a decent fist of "Daylight". Not sure about the fellow's headgear though.
I heard earlier this week the sad news that Bobby Digital passed away in late May. Bobby was one of the most influential reggae producers of the last 30 years or so, working with the likes of Shabba Ranks, Garnett Silk, Sizzla and many more.
If you want a good introduction to his work I can recommend two 2-CD compilations released on VP Records in 2018. The first is called "X-Tra Wicked" and the second "Serious Time" (although confusingly the song "Serious Time" appears "X-Tra Wicked").
Here are a few selections from the extra album, we'll add some from the serious one next time.
Stage 16 of the Grand Tour, and the first of two consecutive stops in the beautiful Baltics. But before we land, a public service announcement.
Stages 18 and 19 will take us to Luxembourg and Malta, and I am really struggling to find decent music to feature. I have no doubt it exists, but it isn't easy to track down. If any of you lovely readers are able to help that would be greatly appreciated.
No such problems in Latvia, fortunately, which is awash with wonder by comparison. I was lucky enough to visit Riga a few years ago. It's a top town, and I only wish I had been able to stay longer to see a bit more of the country. Anyway, on with the show.
If you listened to all of those you may have drawn the conclusion that the Latvians are an earnest bunch. Let's correct that misapprehension immediately with this first video, featuring what I believe is the only Eurovision entry ever covered by one of the leading lights of Scotland's thriving pirate metal scene (Alestorm - but you knew that).
I recently acquired a great compilation of 1970s Peruvian psychedelia and Latin Soul called "Cumbias Psicodelicas: Volume 1 Ayahuasca". You can find it on the Bandcamp site of the thoroughly excellent Repsychled label, and at a mere €7 it's an absolute bargain. Here are a couple of cracking tunes from the album to get you in the mood for the weekend.
The lovely people in Promoland have been back in touch, sending me goodies to share with you. And this week's goodies are extra good.
"The Joy of Forgetting" is the new album by Allegra Krieger, a Florida-born Brooklyn-based singer-songwriter, and its a cracking good listen. I'm not very good at describing why I like a record, as regular readers know, so let's just say she has a distinctive voice, strong songs and interesting arrangements that sound slightly off-kilter - making the album ideal listening for the off-kilter world we're living in at the moment.
"The Joy of Forgetting" itself isn't out until 7 August but the latest single "Welcome" came out last week, and here it is. Have a listen then head straight over to Allegra's Bandcamp page to pre-order the album. If you do that you'll get "Welcome" and the two earlier singles from the album for free straight away. Her earlier stuff is well worth a listen as well.
According to the promo materials, Allegra is RIYL ("Recommended if you like" for those of you not up with tastemaker jargon) Sharon van Etten and Liz Phair. That's probably true, but for some reason the singer she reminds me of most is Devon Sproule. So here's a little bit of Devon as a bonus.
Links stay up for a month or so. If you are an artist or copyright holder and want me to remove the link, or if you want to get in touch for any other reason, e-mail me on leggies27@hotmail.co.uk.
