A Pottinger Potpourri

I started off last week by badgering you all to go out and buy a reggae compilation album and I'm doing the same this week.

The album is called "Can't Stop The Dread" and it is a collection of 35 Sonia Pottinger productions from the mid to late 1970s, including some wicked 12" mixes. It was released in 2020 on Doctor Bird, Cherry Red's reggae subsidiary, and at £12 for the CD it is an absolute bargain. There are some even cheaper download versions out there as well. 

As with "Foundation Come Again" last week there is barely a duff track on there so I was spoilt for choice when deciding which tracks to share. I have opted to pass over the bigger names like I Roy, Delroy Wilson and Jackie Edwards - although you really need to check out the 12" version of Jackie's "Get Up" - and instead shine a light on some of the less well known artistes.

"Sufferer's Child" - Delroy Denton & The Silvertones

"King Of Kings" - Mind, Body & Soul

"Badness (No Pay)" - Ken Quatty

One of the many highlights is Delroy Wilson's version of The Chi-Lites' wonderful "There Will Never Be Any Peace (Until God Is Seated At The Conference Table)" - although even God would have has work cut out at the moment, sad to say. I could not find any clips of The Chi-Lites but the Blind Boys of Alabama aren't a bad substitute.

Donner Und Blitzen

Here's the Blitzen (Trapper). Both tracks come from their self-released 2004 album "Field Rexx".

"Asleep For Days" - Blitzen Trapper

"40 Stripes" - Blitzen Trapper

And here's the Donner. Well, sort of. I had intended to stick a live clip of Ral Donner here but there don't seem to be any on YouTube, so here are a few Donnas for you instead.

Today's Sounds Today

We mostly do oldies on here, but every now and then I try to point you in the direction of things that are shiny and new. That's what we'll be doing today. 

Some of these albums I bought, the others are just a few of the great freebies I get sent in my capacity as a tastemaker and surfer of the zeitgeist, Many thanks to all the lovely people out there in Promoland for keeping me in touch with what is going on in the world.

I had planned to use only the medium of video in this post, but one of the artists I want to tip you off to doesn't appear to have any videos out, so audio it will have to be. 

The gent in question is Kyle Morgan and his album is called "Younger At Most Everything". It comes out on Friday but you can pre-order it on Bandcamp now if you are too impatient to wait a whole two days. To paraphrase Donny & Marie Osmond, its a little bit country and a little bit chamber pop, and very good too.

"Deer In The Pines" - Kyle Morgan

On to the videos. We will start with the wonderful Erin Rae, whose new album "Lighten Up" came out a few weeks ago. You can download it for a bargain $7 on Bandcamp although I would encourage you to splash out on a physical copy. Sonically the album is more varied than her earlier records - there is even a track on which it sounds like she's being backed by Chicory Tip - but her voice is as pure and clean as ever.

I have been lucky enough to see Erin play in the Slaughtered Lamb pub in London, a venue where I have also seen Serafina Steer play with just her harp for accompaniment. She has now set the harp aside for a bit and formed a band, Bas Jan, who I'm off to see next month. Their new album "Baby U Know" is out now and is a cracker. It reminds me a bit of the Raincoats of yore. Needless to say you can find that on Bandcamp as well.

While you are on Bandcamp you should also check out "Multiverse" by Reptaliens, out now, and "Precious Things" by Allegra Krieger, out on 4 March but available for pre-order. Both of them are well worth a listen.

Last but not least is "Impermanence", the new album by the Sheffield-based post-rock powerhouse that is Gilmore Trail. It is not a style of music I normally listen to, to be honest, but I saw them play live last weekend and they were very good. Judging by the crowd's response, people who like this sort of thing like them a lot. Also on Bandcamp of course. 

Now take it away, YouTube!

Several Slices Of Toast

Over the last few days I have been listening almost continuously to a fantastic album that came out in 2013 but which I have only recently discovered.

The album is called "Foundation Come Again" and you can pick up a copy at the Dub Club label Bandcamp page. They got Tippa Lee, himself a top notch DJ back in the day, to round up all the old Jamaican toasters from the 1970s and 1980s he could find and record new material with them. A Buena Vista Social Club of the DJ scene if you like.

There are twenty tracks on the album and not a duff one amongst them. The line-up reads like a Who's Who of toasters with the likes of I Roy, King Stitt, Dillinger, Trinity and Prince Jazzbo pitching up and taking a turn. There are also a few names that were entirely new to me, like Robert Mystic. 

In "Ride Riddim" it also includes what I think may probably be the final recording of Errol Scorcher, who passed away in 2012. He has a special place in my heart as it was through him I discovered the Jamaican DJ sound. 

I was an impressionably teenager back in 1980 when I found the 12" of his classic "Roach In De Corner" on a market stall. Intrigued by the name I bought it, took it home and put it straight on the turntable. 

It was like nothing I had ever heard before and opened my mind to all sorts of magical sounds. I've played it here a couple of times before but you can't have too much of a good thing.

"Satta" - Robert Mystic

"Hear Me Now Star" - Papa Kojak 

"Ride Riddim" - Errol Scorcher

"Roach In De Corner" - Errol Scorcher

Here are a few more of the fellows who answered the "Foundation Come Again" call.

Solid Silva

Some mellow 1980s pop from Angola to round off the week, courtesy of Mário Rui Silva. 

If his name sounds familiar it may because I included a track of his in a post a couple of years ago containing highlights of  "Angola Saudade 60-70", a box set I acquired on a visit to Aviero (I believe stalwart reader George knows the shop). 

Or it could be because you have already picked up your copy of  "Stories From Another Time 1982-1988", a compilation of his 1980s work released last year on Time Capsule Records. If you haven't then you might want to head over to Bandcamp and do so now.

Today's selections both come from "Stories From Another Time". Take it away, Mário, but gently.

"Kazum-Zum-Zum" - Mário Rui Silva

"Mgeni" - Mário Rui Silva

Here's a clip of Mário live in London last year. Unfortunately I did not know at the time that this gig was taking place otherwise I would have been down there like a shot. Maybe next time.

The Ayes Have It

Yeah Yeah Noh, eh? Whatever happened to them?

All together now: "Never swallow spit off another person less you know them pretty well. Bias Binding!" 

"Bias Binding" - Yeah Yeah Noh

"Beware The Weakling Lines" - Yeah Yeah Noh

For those of you interested in the answer to my rhetorical question, this is what happened to them...

Mine Eyes Can See The Glory

I had cataract surgery last week. It is a bit of a rite of passage for us old farts. I have effectively been blind in one eye for the last twelve months so it is good to be able to see properly again.

Today's selection of songs start with where I was and end where I am now. This post is dedicated to all the lovely folks at Moorfields Eye Hospital for looking after me so well - especially the poor nurse who politely tolerated me making racing car noises while she wheeled me round to the recovery ward.

The Maripool track came out last year and I would encourage you to go to her Bandcamp page and buy a copy. While you're there why not also get her appropriately named EP "I See Everything I Know Nothing".

"Blindness" - Maripool

"Doctor My Eyes" - The Jackson 5

"I Saw The Light" - The Blind Boys of Alabama

"Triple Vision" - Doctors of Madness