Crackers From Conakry

Here are a couple of tunes from an album I picked up in Paris a year or two back. It goes by the name of "Guinée 40ème Anniversaire Syliphone Vol. 1" and it was originally released in 1998 to mark forty years of independence (you probably worked that bit for yourself). The Syliphone label was most active in the 1970s, and I am guessing that is when these tracks date from.

"So I Si Sa" - Super Boiro Band 

"Lalaba" - Kaloum Star

Internationally, Mory Kante is probably the biggest musical star to come from Guinea. Here is a clip of him gigging earlier this year to promote his new album.

S-A-T-U-R-D-A-Y Night

It's Saturday night and you have so many options. Personally I'm off down the pub with Lord Snooty and his Pals, but whatever you are doing have a good one.

"Let's Kill Saturday Night" - Robbie Fulks

"Saturday Night" - Pacific Express

"Saturday Night" - Suede

"Dancin' On A Saturday Night" - Barry Blue

"Saturday Night At The Movies" - The Drifters

"Tennessee Saturday Night" - Ella Mae Morse

"Lookin' For The Heart Of Saturday Night" - Dion

"One More Saturday Night" - Nils Lofgren

Message From Ethiopia

It is time for another CD from the bumper bag of goodies I brought back with me from Ethiopia. This time out it is "Alhedima", the brand new album by Messengers.

Messengers are Abiy Yilma Tokichaw and Mulalem Shiferaw. Apart from that I know nothing about them. They produce shiny modern Ethiopian pop. I am not generally a fan of shiny modern pop on its own, but if you have a good strong Ethiopian element in the mix then it works for me, and these lads do exactly that.

Here are two of the stronger tracks from the album plus, as a bonus, one featuring their old mate MC Jacko. While I'm not sure I would want a whole album's worth of MC Jacko he is OK in small doses. But the real reason for posting this track is to ask whether you can confirm that, about three and a half minutes in, he does indeed claim that "Lincolnshire a be the place to be".

 "Robulo" - Messengers

"Tey Tey" - Messengers

"Tamagn Yetal" - Messengers (featuring MC Jacko)

One of the many famous people to hail from Lincolnshire is Rod Temperton. This proud son of Cleethorpes made his fortune working with another, slightly more famous Jacko - writing "Thriller" and "Rock With You" amongst others - but first made his name with this. That's our Rod on the keyboards.

This one goes out to the Spalding Crew and the Skegness Massive!

Mr Brown Gets Down

I have just finished reading "White Rooms & Imaginary Westerns", the autobiography of Pete Brown, which first came out a couple of years back.

It is a bit of a mixed bag. The first part of the book is pretty entertaining, particularly his tales of the beat and poetry scene in the late 1950s and early 1960s. But towards the end, as we approach the present day, there are a series of chapters each dedicated to a calendar year which read rather like those round robin letters you get at Christmas - a list of things the sender has done that year that are usually of more interest to them than they are to you. 

Pete's music, by contrast, is always interesting and always worth a listen. Here are some selections from his various collaborations (no Cream or Jack Bruce - these are the collaborations where he is singing, not just writing).

"Twisted Track" - Pete Brown & His Battered Ornaments (1968)

"Station Song Platform Two" - Pete Brown & Piblokto! (1970)

"Lost Tribe" - Bond & Brown (1972)

"Dark City" - Pete Brown & Phil Ryan (1993)

"Union Street" - T Mandrake (2009)

Here's another Mr Brown getting down.

ReviewShine Time

I expect this will be the last round-up this year of goodies that have come my way courtesy of the good folks at ReviewShine. That will upset some of you, I know. And the purists among you might be even more upset when I tell you the first act up have nothing to do with ReviewShine. They came to me via a nice man called Bryan and are just too good not to include.

"They" are Birds of Chicago, a duo made up Allison Russell of Po' Girl and JT Nero of, well, himself I suppose. Their self-titled debut album came out in October and is a bit of a gem. They turn their hands to all sorts of things - there's some soul, some torch songs, and a funky French number as well as the rootsy stuff - and it works very well when they put it all together. Favourite tracks after a couple of listens include "Cannonball", which has a sort of Delaney & Bonnie feel about it, and this one, which reminds me a bit of "Traffic From Paradise" era Rickie Lee Jones.

"The Wide Sea" - Birds of Chicago

Musically, Birds of Chicago bear some resemblance to our old friends Dolly Varden, who are up next (and who are themselves from Chicago, fact fans). The Dollies have always had a bit more of a pop element in the mix though, and its present and correct in this track from their new album. "For A While" is their first album for five years and comes out next month on Mid Fi Records. If you liked their previous albums - and any right-minded person would - you will definitely want to get the new one.  Other stand-out tracks include "Saskatchewan to Chicago" and "Thank You".

"Walking The Chalkline Again" - Dolly Varden

Next we have a couple of female singer-songwriter. I had never heard of either of them before. My loss.  Rebekah Pulley's fifth album "Tralala" came out last month. Jesse Lafser is only on her second. It is called "Land In Sight" and it came out in October. Both albums are well worth checking out. While you are doing that, I'll be looking into their back catalogues.

"The Drug Song" - Rebekah Pulley

"Pale Afternoon" - Jesse Lafser

We finish up with an old favourite of mine, Mr. Junior Brown. "Volume Ten" is a six-track EP and his first new music in absolute ages. Fans will be pleased to know that the twang and swing are there in good measure. There is also some blues and this rather endearing number about faded glory.

"The Phantom of the Opry" - Junior Brown

Here's some bonus Brown, from 1998's "Long Walk Back". The lyrics make more sense when you know it is an old Connie Francis hit.

"Lookin' For Love" - Junior Brown

Speaking of Connie...

That's Mah Girl

Some midweek mellowness from Mali, courtesy of Mah Damba.

"Djeli Baba" - Mah Damba

"Doudiya" - Mah Damba

Apparently whenever the locals hear a bad cover version of either of those tunes, they turn to her and say "What have they done to your song, Mah?".

Soul Brothers

It's my baby brother's birthday tomorrow so, as a tribute to him and a treat for the rest of you, here are nine sets of soul brothers, and the Soul Brothers.

"Throw Away The Key" - The Bell Brothers

"Can't Change My Heart" - The Cate Brothers

"Love, Peace And Happiness" - The Chambers Brothers

"You Got Me On A String" - The Freeman Brothers

"To Make A Love Story Short" - The Holmes Brothers

"Behind A Painted Smile" - The Isley Brothers

"Ouch! Oh Baby" - The Kelly Brothers

"You Are Funny" - The Soul Brothers

"Sweetest Thing In The World" - The Turner Brothers

"I Need Someone" - The Wallace Brothers