Part 1. We passed a landmark in Wednesday's post on the music of the noble nation of Paraguay. If my WIAA-approved spreadsheet is correct we have now featured over 7000 songs in the audio files that I include in posts. 7006 to be exact, at an average of roughly 400 a year.
I know 7000 isn't much of a landmark but I can't wait another eight or nine years to reach 10000, I may be completely gaga by then. So 7000 it is. Feel free to drop a number between 1 and 7006 into the comments section and if we get enough of them I'll collate them in a post.
Part 2. I went to see Rickie Lee Jones at the Barbican on Wednesday. This doesn't really qualify as news either as I have seen her umpteen times over the years.
Rickie Lee was in good form with a fine backing band providing a bit of shading to the songs using guitar, violin, piano and accordion (a special shout out to Petra Haden on violin and vocals, who has done interesting stuff in her own right).
The set was heavily weighted towards Rickie Lee's first two albums. While they are both great records personally I would like to have heard more from the rest of her extensive catalogue. The 'newest' song she played was "A Tree On Allenford" from 2003 and for me it was one of the highlights of the set.
There was some exciting news. Rickie Lee told us she currently working up new material with Brad Cook, the producer and session musician who has worked with the likes of Waxahatchee, Hiss Golden Messenger, Iron & Wine and many more. It has been ten years since Rickie Lee released an album of original songs so hopefully the new stuff will see the light of day before too long.
Rickie Lee has featured here on plenty of occasions, but if my WIAA-approved spreadsheet is correct these particular songs have not.
And we roll into Paraguay. Perhaps the most interesting fact I learned while doing what passes for research was that it is the only country in Latin America where the indigenous language is still more commonly spoken than the language of their colonisers - 90% of the population speak Guarani compared with 85% who speak Spanish. Good for them.
There is also a sizable German-speaking minority, most of them highly respectable and no relation to Nazi war criminals, the former dictator Stroessner or the failed Aryan settlement set up by Nietzche's sister in the 1880s.
We will make a couple of brief nods to Paraguay's cultural mix today. But compared to most other stops on the tour I've not been able to find out much information about many of the acts that we are featuring in the post, and there is also a bias towards more recent music as that comprises the bulk of what is on Bandcamp. So rather than attempting to construct my usual compelling narrative to accompany the music we are just going to whack through them alphabetically.
Which is why we are kicking off with some Paraguayan prog. The band is called Agharta, this track is on a demo recorded in 2015 and there has been no sign of them on social media since 2018. That's all I've got.
Next, El Brujo y Sus Cromaticos, a "tropical noise" band from Asuncion. This track is on a 2020 compilation from the Música Okápe label and they have two more on Spotify where you can join their 12 monthly listeners. I quite like their Arabian and jazz influenced take on cumbia music.
I have just spotted that the line-ups of both bands include a Marcelo Fonseca. Is he the same person or are they ten a penny in Paraguay? Who knows.
My favourite act of those we are featuring today is Jodi, two brothers of German descent who studied under Stockhausen and who made all sorts of weird and occasionally wonderful noises in the 1970s in a homemade studio in their parent's basement.
None of these recordings were released outside Paraguay and Argentina at the time, many of them were never released at all until 2016 when the Guerssen label started putting out a series of releases. This track comes from "Pops De Vanguardia", originally released in 1971, but all the albums are worth a listen.
As with El Brujo, you can thank the Música Okápe label for our next selection. Las Hijas De La Alquimia released an EP titled "Ánga Mestiza" (Mestizo Soul) in 2022 According to the sisters: "We chose the name because the soul is our primary source of inspiration when composing, and "mestiza" (mixed) because of our Guarani heritage—because we are from everywhere and part of the whole". So now you know.
Los 3 Sudamericanos were a sort of Paraguayan Peter, Paul & Mary who formed in 1959 and who enjoyed a lot of success internationally after relocating to Spain in the mid 1960s. This track comes from a 1969 EP released on the magnificently but misleadingly named Belter label.
From the Paraguayan PP&M we move to a sound that can perhaps best be described as Joe Meek does polka. Los Electrónicos Disonantes were apparently very popular domestically in the 1960s and 1970s. And why wouldn't they be? This track appears to be a medley of Guarani folk tunes and comes from their album "Un Domingo En Buenos Aires".
Bringing us much more up to date is Sandy Pylos. No, not the ancient seat of King Nestor that features in Homer's work but the Paraguayan artist of the same name (although I could tell you a good deal more about the ancient seat of King Nestor than I can about her). Her real name is Ana Belén, she is now based in Portland Oregon, and this was the lead single from her 2023 album "Notas de Voz".
We end, as all things must, with some MAR. This skanking little number is provided by Tempranos and appears on their self-titled album from 2014. All the blurb tells us is that they play rocksteady and reggae but you could probably work that out for yourself.
You were challenged to insert a reference to herbs or spices into a popular song title, and you have come up with a veritable potpourri of puns. Thanks to everyone who submitted an entry.
Unfortunately the anonymous commentator who suggested "Cumin Feel The Noize" never got in touch to submit that as an official entry, so you can't vote for it. But there are plenty more ace aromatic puns to choose from. Will it be a herb or a spice that carries off the crown? Will the chive, dill, mace and bay leaf votes get split letting other contenders surge past? That's all down to you lot.
Voting is open to all readers not just those who entered. Let me know your top five in order of preference. I'll award 7 points for every first choice, 5 for second and then 3, 2 and 1 for the rest.
You can either submit your votes in the comments section below or by email to leggies27@hotmail.co.uk if you would rather preserve the sanctity of the ballot.
The deadline is next Sunday (31 May). We will announce the results a week today.
Here are the contenders, listed alphabetically by artist.
Stand Down Marjoram - The Beat
Chive Talking - The Bee Gees
Turmeric! Turmeric! Turmeric! (To Everything There Is A Seasoning) - The Byrds
Bay Leaf Christina - Chicory Tip
What A Fool Bay Leaves - The Doobie Brothers
Sexy Chives - Dr Hook
Oregano Flow – Enya
The Bitterest Dill (I Ever Had To Swallow) - The Jam
Love Dill Tear Us Apart – Joy Division
Saffron And On - Longpigs
Parsley Dutchie - Musical Youth
Don't Kala Namak in Anger - Oasis
Rose Of Cinnamon – Poco
The First Time Ever I Saw Your Mace – Roberta Flack
Thyme Is On My Side - The Rolling Stones
It Mustard Been Love - Roxette
Thank You (Falettinme Be Mace Elf Agin) - Sly & the Family Stone
William It Was Really Nutmeg - The Smiths
If you want to sing along with the missing hit mentioned above now's your chance.
Me and Swiss Adam (of Bagging Area fame) have been having a friendly competition to see who can come up with the most Japanese psych bands. At the start of the month he posted a track by The Boredoms; this is my delayed response.
Kuunatic are an all-female trio from Tokyo who describe their sound as "tribal dreamy tale music". The blurb from Glitterbeat, the label which has released both their albums, expands on this, calling it: "a mix of psychedelic garage and prog rock, ritual drumming, chanting female vocals, lush keyboard textures and Japanese folk instruments".
I saw them live in London in 2022. It was quite an experience. Dressed in white robes they hopped about doing all of the above but turned up to 11.
Kuunatic's two albums to date are "Gates Of Kluna" (2021) and "Wheels Of Odom" (2025). You can find both albums and other bits and pieces on their Bandcamp page. Here is a track from each.
I've recently returned from a trip to Tanzania - a couple of days work followed by a week's holiday. I had a great time. It is a beautiful country and the locals are very friendly. I would love to go back and see more of it if I get the chance.
In the time I had available I limited myself to Fumba in Zanzibar - with a side trip to Stone Town - and Arusha on the mainland, with a side trip to the Ngorongoro crater and conservation area. The crater, formed when a volcano imploded a couple of million years ago, is one of the most stunning places it has ever been my privilege to visit. In the unlikely event you are interested you can find photos of the views and wildlife along with my other holiday snaps on Flickr.
The only disappointing bit of the trip was the inability to track down any live or recorded music, but I did visit a couple of music-related sites in Stone Town. The first was the Freddie Mercury Museum, housed in one of his childhood homes.
The other was the Dhow Countries Music Academy, located up a rickety staircase in an alley near Jaws Corner and dedicated to music education and preserving Zanzibar's musical traditions. One such tradition is the genre known as taarab, and the Academy had a display devoted to the pioneering taarab singer Siti Binti Saad.
Siti was born in about 1880 in Fumba, not far from where I was staying, and became the pre-eminent taarab performer of her time (arguably of all time). In 1928 she became the first East African artist to be recorded for those new-fangled phonographs and she went on to record over 250 songs before her death in 1950.
I don't know that Arusha can claim anyone quite that iconic but Arusha Jazz, formed there by the Kiyonga brothers in 1970, went on to bestride the East African music scene like a colossus for the best part of 20 years after changing their name to Simba Wanyika.
Interesting fact: tying your mother down during religious festivals was a longstanding tradition among the Zoroastrian community in Zanzibar of which the Bulsara family were part. Hence this song.
After a short break we return with the sixth instalment of Pun Fun. The theme is inspired by my recent visit to Zanzibar, referred to as the Spice Islands back in the days when it was a major trading hub and the world's leading producer of cloves. It is:
HERBS AND SPICES
You know the rules by now - one entry only, all entries to be sent to leggies27@hotmail.co.uk by Sunday 24 May. Voting opens next Monday.
If you need some inspiration this list of herbs and spices might help. And if that doesn't do the trick, here is another Herb and several Spices.
Things are going to be fairly quiet around for the next couple of weeks. On Sunday I am off on my travels - a few days' work followed by a few days' holiday.
Given the alleged nature of my work it would not be appropriate for me to reveal where I'm going. There is no point for looking for clues about my itinerary in the songs selected for this post, you won't find any. They are as random as one of Charity Chic's Saturday Shuffles.
And before you ask, yes it is that Mike Harding. Coming soon, Richard Digance sings hits from the golden age of Khmer Soul.
So we've made it down to Panama. At first I thought about recreating the playlist the US used to get General Noreiga to leave the sanctity of the Vatican Embassy and surrender back in 1989 but having now read it I think that might be classified as a war crime (if only because it includes Lee Greenwood).
We'll get to the actual music shortly but first a few quick random facts. Panama's border with Colombia is where the two American continents meet. Scotland briefly had a colony there that proved so financially ruinous it is considered to have contributed to the Act of Union. The hats don't come from there. Their football team will be playing England in the World Cup in June. And I believe there is some sort of canal.
When it comes to Panamanian music there is really nowhere you can start except with Rubén Blades. He made his first album in 1970 and apart from a five year stint as the Minister of Tourism in the 2000s has been recording and performing regularly ever since. In that time he has won 12 Grammys and a further 12 Latin Grammys. He also had a pretty successful acting career in parallel.
The song that I've chosen is from his 1977 album "Metiendo Mano" and it addresses the treatment of the native population in Latin America's colonial times. The album is a collaboration with Willie Colon and their follow-up "Siembra" is apparently still the biggest selling salsa album of all time.
The next biggest name on the Panamanian salsa scene was Francisco Buckley, known as Bush for reasons unclear. He was most prominent in the 1970s and 1980s when he fronted groups known variously as Su Nuevo Sonido, Sus Magnificos or simply Su Orquesta. It was under the latter name that he released this track in 1989 and it was a smash hit despite its lyrical complexity. You can find it on the album "¡Ahora O Nunca!".
The global centre for salsa music is New York City, and that was where Ralph Weeks found himself back in the late 1960s. Ralph was more of a Latin soul man and while in NYC gigged regularly with his band as Ralph & The Telecasters. Their most popular number was "Something Deep Inside". Back in Panama in 1972 he cut a Spanish version, which is the one I have gone with.
The Names You Can Trust label reissued both of them a few years back, and also teamed Ralph up with Combo Lulo in 2019 to make new reggae-tinged versions of both songs. Ralph's voice sounds as good on them as it does on the originals nearly 50 years before.
The soca comes from The Beachers who are celebrating 50 years in the business this year. Their 2019 album "Cincuenta" is packed with fun soca and calypso tunes.
Los Timidos were a pioneering Panamanian punk band formed in 1987. In 1995 they recorded an album called "Crónicas de Lujurias" (Chronicles of Lust), some tracks of which are randomly available as free downloads on Bandcamp. This tribute to salted cod is one of them. Other than that I know nothing about them.
I know a good deal more about Yejo Cedeño and his (literally) banging tunes thanks to a highly informative article in El Ciglo Panama, the title of which Google rashly claims can be translated as "the man who sings and performs traditional songs under the awnings".
Yejo is a traditional musician who is following in the footsteps of his late father. He performs in the saloma style, described as "characterized by high-pitched, melodic shouts", as you shortly be able to confirm. Today's track is from his 2017 album "Ya Amaneció".
Finally we come to the MAR slot. Pureza Natural are doing the honours this time out. They've been putting the R in Panama-r since 2005 and appear as guests on one track on The Beachers album that I was raving about earlier. Today's pick comes from their own album "Larga Distancia" that came out in 2015.
Our extremely irregular series returns for the first time this year. Unlike your Rols and Charity Chics I am constitutionally incapable of keeping several series running in parallel. With Ernie's El Dorado - returning next post - and now Pun Fun on the go Single Song Sunday has rather fallen by the wayside.
But we are belatedly back with a song that became an instant standard when the first version to be released came out in late 1967. Second Hand Songs lists over 40 cover versions during 1968 and 1969 alone and there are now nearly 2000 known recordings. We're talking about Joni Mitchell's "Both Sides Now".
Joni wrote "Both Sides Now" in 1966 but she was not the first person to record the song. That was Judy Collins, who included it on her 1967 "Wildflowers". It was released as a single the following year and was a top ten hit in the US and Canada.
It was the Judy Collins version that prompted the early rush of cover versions. Joni herself did not get around to releasing it until her second album "Clouds" in mid 1969 by which time the bandwagon was well and truly rolling. I'm sure you are all familiar with that version so instead you're getting a 1972 live recording that can be found on "Joni Mitchell Archives Vol. 3".
Many of the cover versions are dreadful - take a bow Carly Rae Jepsen, Mel C, John Barrowman, Paul Young and Clannad (together), Leonard Nimoy and an endless stream of TV talent show wannabes - and many others are nice enough but are straight takes that don't add anything to the song. But there are some decent and/or interesting versions hidden in the haystack.
This post was prompted by hearing a very early unreleased demo by Fairport Convention on an album of Joni covers that comes with the current edition of Mojo, so they make the cut. After them we have: their fellow 1960s folk moderniser Davy Graham, Dion in his "Abraham, Martin & John" period...
(deep breath)
...The Tokens in 1971 keen to remind listeners of their big hit of 1961, some smooth South African jazz, a rather good French version, a grungy pop take from the 1990s and finally an MRV from the early 1970s.
As for the videos I particularly enjoy the one by Dexys as it was shot in my manor and all the locations are very familiar to me. I lived a few hundred yards from Blackman's shoes on Cheshire St for about 15 years and I know at least one reader will recognise the interior of Pellicci's cafe and the ever cheerful Nev behind the counter.
According to my spreadsheet Tom Rush has never featured here in all the long years we've been going, which is a good enough reason to have him now (that and the fact that I really like his voice which has a touch of the Gordon Lightfoots about it). Tom is 85 now and I'm pleased to say is still going strong. His first record was released in 1962 and his most recent in 2024.
Way back in the late 1960s Tom developed a reputation for helping to raise the profile of emerging singer-songwriters by covering their songs on his albums. The prime example is his "The Circle Game" album from 1968 which included songs by Joni Mitchell (including the title track), James Taylor and Jackson Browne (see below) before any of them had released an album themselves.
Tom only wrote two songs on that album himself but one of them is not just the best song on the record but one of the best songs ever. You will probably know it from the Walker Brothers version, or maybe Midge Ure.
Last week was a busy week for gigs - three in five days.
It started on the Sunday with a visit to Theatreship, an excellent little bar and venue on a converted small cargo ship in Canary Wharf. I first went there last year to see Angeline Morrison and was very taken with the place.
The line-up on Sunday was Beth Jones (below), Binti Red and Albertine. They were all perfectly pleasant but I don't think any of them will live long in the memory.
The same can't be said for the artist we went to see on Wednesday, the mighty Ms Suzi Quatro at the London Palladium.
As a close personal friend of Suzi I had been expecting an invitation to the VIP area but it must have got lost in the post so we were way up in the Grand Circle. Or at least I was for the first set. In contrast to the comfy former cinema seats at the Theatreship there is no legroom at all for anyone above about 5 foot 8, and by the interval I was in physical pain. So for the second set I stood at the back of the Royal Circle, one level down, where I could leap around to my heart's (and legs') content.
As for the show itself, Suzi was magnificent. Two sets of over an hour each, her voice was sounding as good as ever at 75 and she had loads of chunky basslines and a fine band behind her. We got treated to all the hits and more including an unexpected (and unexpectedly good) cover of Neil's "Rockin' In The Free World". All in all a great night.
After a brief trip home to change my socks it was off to the Shacklewell Arms in Dalston - a venue that gets mentioned here on as regular basis -to see Umut Adan & Zebânis on Thursday night.
Umut is a Turkish singer-songwriter who was heavily influenced by the psychedelic Anatolian rock scene of the 1960s and 1970s (the likes of Erkin Koray and Cem Karaca). Now based in Italy he teamed up with the Turin trio Zebânis to record the "Başka Bahar" album which came out in March. Overall I enjoyed the gig but it was a bit of an odd one.
The first half of the set was fairly straightforward heads down Anatolian boogie. Umut then left the stage for a bit while the Italian lads indulged in overlong glitchy noise experiments I could have managed without.
When he returned Umut told us that "danceable dissent" was his thing and then proceeded to play a series of numbers that were pretty much impossible to dance to, starting with one that sounded like a highlife guitarist attempting to escape from a cement mixer.
That was followed by one that had five distinct parts. According to the note I scribbled on the bus home they were: "Back Of My Hand" by The Jags; Husker Du play "La Bamba"; Steve Hillage on mogadon; feedback; and a lively Turkish jig. Even the woman next to me who until then had been frugging like a frantic ostrich struggled with that lot.
On Friday I went for a lie down.
For the music we have what appears to be Beth Jones' only recording to date, on a compilation from the Slow Dance label that just came out in March, another unexpected cover from Suzi and two tracks from Umut - one from the new album and one from "Bahar" from 2019.
Ladies and gentlemen, we have another winner! Topping the 'Down On The Farm' chart is...
The Swede with "Manure In Love With A Beautiful Woman".
It was a very close run thing with just a couple of points between the top three. Here is the Top 5 in full:
1.Manure in Love
With a Beautiful Woman - Dr Hook (The Swede)
2.Grow Your Own
Whey - Fleetwood Mac (Dave)
3.There's A Goat In
My House - R Dean Taylor (George)
4.You Can't Slurry
Love - The Supremes (Steve)
5.Love Is A
Cattlefield - (Cow) Pat Benatar (Rol)
Many congratulations to The Swede, whose punning power has clearly been improved by the apparent recent removal of his beard. Well done also to Dave (a.k.a. Chuck) and Steve who make their first appearances in the Top 5. And to Rol, Parsley and Anita of course.
You may have noticed that three of the top five puns contain references to excrement. After the prodigious penis voting in Pun Fun 4 I'm starting to worry about what sort of crowd I attract here.
As for my own entry, I still maintain that "like a battery hen I'll be gone when the morning comes" is a great line when sung out loud. Sadly very few of you agreed with me. With hindsight maybe I should have gone for my second choice, "Cropduster" by Sweet. Or something with poo in it.
Thanks to all of you who submitted a pun and/or voted, your enthusiasm is much appreciated. We will be back with Pun Fun 6 at some point in the second half of May. Until then, we will hand over to Dr. Hook to see us out.
Swiss Adam and I are currently engaged in a sort of 'duelling banjos' exercise but substituting Japanese psych bands for banjos, the main purpose of which seems to be to help George refine his list of favourite Japanese bands.
Last time out Adam went big on every respect, treating us all to a 15 minute slab of the mighty Bo Ningen. At the time it felt like a knockout blow but I managed to stagger to my feet on a count of eight. Having taken some time to unscramble my brain I am fit to fight my corner.
After some thought I narrowed my options down to two bands, both of which have been featured here before (although not recently) and both beginning with K. The other one might appear next if we continue with this thing, but for now I've gone for Kikagaku Moyo.
Originally from Tokyo but latterly based in Amsterdam, Kikagaku Moyo released five albums and assorted odds and sods over the course of a decade before going their separate ways in 2022. Three of the members - Go Kurosawa, Tomo Katsurada and Popal Daoud Akira - have since gone on to release solo albums.
Today's selections come from "Masana Temples" (2018) and their self-titled album from 2017. In an attempt to compete with Adam on both quantity and quality I have added an 18-minute long collaboration with Ryley Walker from 2021. All these and much more can be found on their Bandcamp page.
The blurb for their final album "Kumoyo Island" says that "while their decade-long career can be summarized as a series of kaleidoscopic explorations through lands and dimensions far and near, there’s a strong intention in each of their works to take the listener to a particular place, however real or abstract they may be". Have a listen, let me know where you end up.
You were challenged to insert a pun related to farming into a popular song title. You have clearly been toiling in fertile soil as you've produced a fine harvest between you.
Thanks to everyone who submitted an entry and particularly welcome to Chris who is making his punning debut and joins us just in time to help with the bale-hauling.
Voting is open to all readers not just those who entered. Let me know your top five in order of preference. I'll award 7 points for every first choice, 5 for second and then 3, 2 and 1 for the rest.
You can either submit your votes in the comments section below or by email to leggies27@hotmail.co.uk if you would rather preserve the sanctity of the secret ballot.
The deadline is next Sunday (19 April). We will announce the results a week today.
Here are the contenders, listed alphabetically by artist.
1.While My
Deutz-Fahr Gently Reaps - The Beatles
2.As Long As We Got
Each Udder - BJ Thomas and Jennifer Warnes
3.Barn In The USA –
Bruce Springsteen
4.Sow it Hoes -
"Chick" Lowe
5.Love Is A
Cattlefield - (Cow) Pat Benatar
6.Wheat Wheat Wheat
- The Damned
7.Cracked Tractor -
David Bowie
8.Manure in Love
With a Beautiful Woman - Dr Hook
9.Drake, Cattle
& Foal - (Duck) Bill Haley & His Comets
10.Swede Dreams Are Made Of This - Eurhythmics
11.Grow Your Own Whey - Fleetwood Mac
12.With Weed On Our Side - Half Man Half Biscuit
13.Battery Hen - Meat Loaf
14.There's A Goat In My House - R Dean Taylor
15.Top Of The Crops - The Rezillos
16.You Can't Slurry Love - The Supremes
17.You And Your Harvester – This Mortal Coil
18. Anyway Any Plough Anywhere - The Who
A number of you have said nice things about this series but I can't take the credit. You are the ones who come up with the puns, I just put them all together. Now...
We have now made it two-thirds of the way through our musical tour of continental America and we have arrived in Nicaragua.
The political history of the country is pretty much the same as all the other Central American countries that have featured in the series and sadly the noble Sandinistas of our youth have turned out to be no better than the dynasties before them. Daniel Ortega is now in the 19th year of his reign and passes the time jailing opponents, closing media outlets, fiddling elections and doing the whole despot thing.
So lets instead praise Nicaragua's scenery, architecture, folklore and people, all of which I had the pleasure of encountering when I went there on holiday in 2014. There are photos of my visit over on Flickr if you are interested. There are lots of bright colours, fine buildings and smiling faces and a fair old dollop of weirdness as well, like so...
That's enough of me, let's get on with the show. We'll start with a couple of bands from among the small pile of mp3 discs I chose pretty much at random when I was there.
The cumbia funsters Fuzion 4 are still going strong and are active on Facebook and probably other places as well. The same can be said forLos Nuevos Panzer's (their apostrophe not mine) who are not to be confused with the original Los Panzer's, whose heyday was in the 1970s. I have not yet been able to establish what if any connection there is between them. Perhaps our many Nicaraguan readers can help.
Speaking of the 1970s as we were, that's where we are heading next for some soulful Latin sounds. I have not been able to find out anything at all about Grupo Africans but this 1974 single is decidedly funky. You can find it on the "Sonidos Perdidos de Centroamérica" compilation that has featured a few times in this series.
By contrast I am positively awash with information about Poder Del Alma, a local supergroup originally put together for a benefit concert following an earthquake that hit Managua in 1972. They enjoyed it so much they went on to release a couple of albums in 1974 and 1975. The first, from which this track comes, is mainly cool Latin rock and soul. The second goes a bit more jazz-funk with liberal splashes of mini-Moog, but they are both worth a listen.
Speaking of the 1970s and jazz-funk as we were, Alfonso Lovo has an interesting tale to tell. The son of a government minister in the Somoza regime, he was shot by Sandinista hijackers on a flight from the US to Nicaragua in 1971 and got his dodgy dad to finance his music career.
So far so bad you may think, but he was no dilettante and in 1976 he recorded some really far out psychedelic jazz sessions for an album that was to be called "La Gigantora", named for the giant lady who features in street festivals around the country (like this one that I met in León, standing next to a moustachioed Frank Sidebottom). For one reason and another it was never released at the time, only finally seeing the light of day in 2015 thanks to the Numero Group.
In the interests of balance we probably should have some music from old school Sandinista supporters now. It was a toss up between Carlos Meija Godoy andGrupo Pancasanand for the mp3s I have opted for the latter, specifically the self-titled song from their 1978 debut. Carlos can be found in the video clips (when the cameraman can tear himself away from the ladies in the audience).
Grupo Pancasan wound up in 1990 when the first Sandinista government lost the election. Carlos is still going strong at 83 and unlike Ortega has stayed true to his principles, including taking part in the 2018 protests than resulted in multiple deaths and the banning of political marches.
For the last couple of tunes we are off to Caribbean coast where we encounter the Miskito people (you may remember meeting them when we were in Costa Rica). There is a lively music scene in the main city of Bluefields and the Bluefields Sound System label does a great job in capturing it on record. From their catalogue I have chosen this track from "Palo De Mayo", the 2012 album by Barbaros Del Ritmo.
If you head about 50 miles north from Bluefields you'll find the small town of Tasbapauni, birthplace of Philip Montalbán, provider of this episode's MAR. You can read all about him in this article if you are so inclined You can find today's track is on a 2023 album called "Viva La Vida" although the song itself has been available on YouTube since 2009.
Mr. Montalbán's solo work is pretty good but his old band Soul Vibrations were a bit special. I couldn't track down any of their records but I think the first clip below from 1989 will explain their appeal.
Me and that Swiss Adam bloke are currently engaged in a fiercely fought game of Japanese psych band tag (although he may not know that yet).
I opened with Nagisa Ni Te. He raised the stakes with Yura Yura Teikoku. It requires a strong response so I'm going with Barbican Estate, originally from Tokyo but now based in London, much closer to the brutalist block from which they took their name (and where I used to work many years ago).
To make sure they were the right choice I went to watch them live in the hipster haven of Hackney last week. My friend Mr F saw them last year and has been raving about them ever since. He was right to do so, they were great. Their records don't fully prepare you for the storm of sound they conjure up live.
Barbican Estate are Miri on vocals, bass, flute and mellotron and Kazuki Toneri on guitar and songwriting. Koh Hamada has drummed on all their records to date but he's back in Japan so for gigs they have a rotating cast of drummers (probably because the poor buggers need to go for a lie down after a few sets). Go and see them if they come to your town.
You can find their back catalogue on Bandcamp. I have picked a track from each of their two most recent EPs, "Viscum" (2024) and "The Fall" (2022).
Hello, Pun People! We are back with a fifth instalment of this feast of fun, timed to help those of you who celebrate Easter to retrieve your minds from a chocolate haze.
Our themes are chosen with the aim of providing food for thought. So this time round we are paying our respects to the people who literally help to put food on your table, including our most recent winner George and his goats-to-peanuts agricultural empire. The theme is:
DOWN ON THE FARM
Animals, crops, workforce, buildings, equipment, anything to do with running a farm is in scope. The only things I might rule out are repeats of entries received when we did fruit and vegetables back in Pun Fun 2.
You are all familiar with the rules by now - one entry only, to be sent to leggies27@hotmail.co.uk by Sunday 12 April. Voting will open next Monday.
I hope to get a bumper crop of cringeworthy puns. Maybe these hordes of horny-handed sons of the soil from the 1980s can help inspire you.
I was leafing through the latest issue of Uncut the other day. When I reached the last page there was Ziggy Marley telling us all about his favourite records. Obviously his Dad featured, and we learned that the album that means most to Ziggy is "Survival" (1979).
It is also my favourite of Bob's albums, but its not the album by one of the founding members of The Wailers that I listen to most often. That would be Bunny Wailer's "Protest" (1977) followed by Peter Tosh's "Bush Doctor" (1978).
Here's one from each of them, then one from them all together.
My live music experiences this month have been mostly Brazilian. After Nyron Higor and the gang in Brussels in the middle of the month, last Friday Mr F and I went to see Lucas Santtana nearer to home at the 229 in London's groovy Great Portland Street.
Mr Santtana was in town to promote his new album "Brasiliano", the tenth of his career that now stretches back a quarter of a century. It features eight different language and a long list of collaborators from Brrazil and elsewhere of which Gilberto Gil is the best known.
According to the blurb, on the album Lucas "questions cultural heritage, identity, colonial memory, and the possibility of a shared language" - something he evidently feels strongly about as he had a bit of a rant in response to a comment from an audience member that I didn't catch. The gist of the rant was that Brazilian culture and language was much richer than just its colonial inheritance.
On first listen I quite like the new album and I think it will be a grower, but it is a lot mellower than the only other album of his that I have - "3 Sessions In A Greenhouse", described by Mojo on its release in 2006 as a "futuristic splicing of samba with Black Ark-style dub". Maybe that is just the effect of time passing.
As for the show itself, I enjoyed it. Lucas was fronting a four piece band so had to manage without some of the nuance and enhancements you can get in the studio, but they got all our toes tapping and our hands clapping. I particularly enjoyed the louder and more up tempo numbers on which they were almost able to drown out the idiots talking.
For your delectation and delight here is a track apiece from the new album and "3 Sessions In A Greenhouse". The latter features an American journalist reading extracts from Virginia Woolf - because you can - and clocks in nearly nine minutes for you long Monday fans.
On Wednesday evening I was inside the Japanese Embassy in London's swinging Piccadilly. I can't say why but hopefully the Cadbury's Milk Tray reached the intended recipient.
More importantly for the purposes of this post my visit prompted me to dig out some albums by my favourite Japanese band, Nagisa Ni Te. It is only a few months since they were last featured here but it is never too soon to have them back.
This time out we have a couple of tracks from their most recent album "Newocean", released in 2022. Between them the two songs clock in at 15 minutes so purists may want to wait until Monday before listening to them.
Thank you once again to the Random Adjective/ Noun Generator which I used last time The Nagisas joined us for the title of the post. It seemed suitable for the album title. Two of the other options that the generator offered up were "fanatical words" and "oily allegiance". Its randomness appears to be in sync with the randomness of the so-called real world.
According to my search function it is 13 years since Elyse Weinberg last appeared on these pages. As many of you weren't even born then it is time for a long overdue comeback. Her debut - and for many years only - album "Elyse" has long been a favourite of mine.
Elyse was a Canadian singer-songwriter who hung out with the likes of Neil and Joni in Toronto in the mid-1960s. In 1968 she followed them down to L.A. where she was signed up by the Tetragrammaton label, best known (if at all) as being the label that released all the early Deep Purple albums in the US.
"Elyse" came out to moderate acclaim the following year. Produced by Don Gallucci, the former keyboard player with The Kingsmen (thats him playing the opening riff on "Louie Louie") and later the producer of The Stooge's "Fun House", backing was provided by a band called Touch and allegedly an uncredited Neil on some tracks.
Neil was definitely involved in the planned follow up LP "Greasepaint Smile", produced by David Briggs and also involving the likes of Nils Lofgren and J.D. Souther. Unfortunately the label went bust before it could be released. It finally saw the light of day in 2015, after Elyse had been rediscovered by hipsters and lured back into music from her steady job selling insurance in Oregon.
Sadly Elyse died of lung cancer in 2020 aged 74. She never really got the recognition I think she deserved in her lifetime but she left us with one great record, which is more than can be said for most of us.
I have not been able to find any clips of Elyse or even of Cher doing her version of "Band Of Thieves" (renamed "Chastity's Song" for the purposes of a terrible film). But here are Courtney Barnett and Waxahatchee a few years back covering "Houses" from the second album. There is also a very poor quality clip on YouTube of Jeff Tweedy having a go at the same song last year.
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.
