It was only when leafing through the obituaries in the latest edition of Uncut at the weekend that I learned Keith Dobson left us back in July.
Keith first hit the scene as drummer with hippie collective Here & Now using the nom de plume Kif-Kif Le Batteur. Fortunately he packed that nonsense in after a while and started making proper music under his own name, most notably as the CEO of World Domination Enterprises, creators of "Asbestos Lead Asbestos" and other hits.
On reading the news I headed straight over to Bandcamp and picked up an expanded edition of their 1988 album "Let's Play Domination". It is a splendid racket as these samples demonstrate.
World Domination Enterprises are of course far from the only example of evil big business trying to persuade the kids to part with their pocket money. Let's name and shame a few of the other culprits. Watch out for DLT speaking German.
My recent holiday was spent in Bosnia and Herzegovina - primarily in Sarajevo and Mostar but with side trips to Jajce, Travnik and Blagaj.
I had a great time and would heartily recommend it as a destination to anyone who enjoys one or more of stunning scenery, history (recent and older), art (street and gallery), burek or beer.
Described (by myself admittedly) as "a dazzling mix of ancient and modern, of urban grit and rural charm", my holiday snaps are on Flickr. You probably won't want to wade through all of them so here is a small selection: a view of Mostar, the 16th century dervish house in Blagaj, and the bobsleigh track for the 1984 Winter Olympics that was part of the frontline during the siege of Sarajevo.
I found a few record shops while I was there but none had bargain bins so I restricted myself to a small number of purchases. Some were of the traditional sevdah music which will feature in a separate post. And then there were these two.
Zoster are a band from Mostar who got their name after the singer had a nasty bout of shingles. They describe their style as rock-reggae but I can detect no signs of any reggae on their 2014 album "Srce Uzavrelo". Maybe it is a more recent direction.
I have selected the opening track "Gavrilo" which may or may not be about Gavrilo Princip, the man who kick-started World War I when he assassinated Archduke Franz Ferdinand in Sarajevo. The deed was done just outside the pink building in the photo below.
I was on the look out from music by Laka, a man whose performance with his sister Mirela at the 2008 Eurovision remains one of the most delightfully bonkers things I have ever seen, and managed to find his 2011 album "Stvorenje". It is better than I was expecting to be honest.
From the album I have picked "Pametniji" which Google Translate claims means smarter, although it may just have been the AI boasting.
I'm back from my hols. I had a very good time and will be boring you all with the details later in the week. But first some unfinished business.
In one of my last posts before my break I mentioned that I would be popping along to the Clerkenwell Festival to see P.P. Arnold and The Rockingbirds do their thing. This attracted envious comments from a few of you so I thought I should report back.
Here is my detailed review: They were both great.
One of the fun things to do at the Clerkenwell Festival is spotting the musicians in the crowd who were moderately successful at some point in the late 1970s to late 1980s. No Gaye Advert this year but Spizz was present (and making sure everyone knew it) and we also had a sighting of Helen McCookeryBook. I subsequently learned through social media that Mari Wilson and the bloke from S Express were also there.
Here is a track each from the two headliners, both highlights of their respective sets, plus something from Ms McCookeyBook back in the days when she was the Head Chef. The other celebs have been relegated to the videos.
We have reached stop #5 on our American tour and its another biggie - Canada.
For my travel series I usually spend a lot of time carefully curating the playlist and then researching and drafting the liner notes of each post for the benefit of our esteemed audience. I haven't done that this time though, for two reasons. One is that I'm off on my holidays tomorrow and there is a lot to get done before I go. The other is that there was simply too much good Canadian music to choose from. It made the selection process for the previous post on Brazil seem straightforward by comparison.
In the end I just picked out some personal favourites. I have tried not to choose too many big names, so there is no Joni, Neil or Smiling Len for example. Not even any Carly Rae Jepsen, Loverboy or Bare Naked Ladies (some choices were easier than others). But I had to start with Gordon Lightfoot because he is Mr. Canada as far as I'm concerned.
I won't go through all the tracks individually but will note that a third of them are by immigrants to Canada, proving once again the wisdom of Blue Mink's words. Kiran Ahluwalia, MAR MVP Noel Ellis (son of Alton) and Drew Gonsalves of Kobo Town all arrived in Toronto as children from India, Jamaica and Trinidad respectively. Mr Jo Jo Bennett was already a musician when he also moved from Jamaica but The Fugitives were formed and performed in Canada.
Where the album the track comes from is on Bandcamp I have added a link in the artist's name. That covers half of them. For the rest you are on your own.
For the videos we start things off with the father of Canadian country music and his grandson after which things get a little more random.
That's it from me for now. Stay groovy, see you in a couple of weeks.
The August Bank Holiday weekend has arrived, which here in London means the Notting Hill Carnival.
I won't be going to Carnival. I used to enjoy it in my youth but these days I can't be doing with all the crowds. Instead I will be spending Sunday afternoon at the smaller and more sedate Clerkenwell Festival (this year's headliners: P.P. Arnold and The Rockingbirds).
Wherever you are heading for your fun this weekend there is nothing like some soca to get you in the mood. Today's tracks come from one of Antigua's finest sons, the late Sir Rupert Philo (aka Mighty Swallow), a man who was clearly up for a party any time, any place, anywhere.
I was wondering what to do for my midweek post this week when a thought struck me: why not feature one of the CDs that I have recently bought from a charity shop. It seems such an obvious idea I'm surprised nobody has thought of it before frankly.
The CD I picked out of the pile is "Bengali Bantam Youth Experience!", the second and last album by the Leeds-based outfit Black Star Liner.
The album came out in 1999 and was sufficiently well regarded that it was shortlisted for the Mercury Prize. That was when Talvin Singh won the prize, so it was a big year for the Asian Underground (and also for Stereophonics who were inexplicably shortlisted as well).
More recently Uncut ranked it as the 465th best album of the 1990s. Based on a couple of listens and having reviewed the list I believe it deserves to be at least in the 300s. Here are a couple of my favourite tracks from the album. That's Jah Woosh guesting on "Pink Rupee".
The album that appears right at the bottom of Uncut's list of the 500 best albums of the 1990s also came out in 1999. I'll hand over to your friend and mine Conan O'Brien to introduce the performers.
Word reached me at the end of last week that folk-popster Photo Ops (or Terry Price as his friends know him) has a covers album coming out next month. Called "Opening Up To Strangers", it is a selection of songs mostly from the 1960s and 1980s and mostly fairly well known.
This encouraged me to dig out his 2023 album "Burns Bright", which I enjoyed when it came out but haven't listened to since. It definitely rewards further listening. There is a bit of a Jimmy Webb influence in some of the melodies and arrangements - no bad thing if you can pull it off - and maybe a hint of Camera Obscura, with whom Mr Opportunities had toured shortly before making the album.
You can find "Burns Bright" on Photo's Bandcamp page along with the rest of his back catalogue. "Opening Up To Strangers" doesn't seem to be available for pre-order at time of writing, but to give you a rough idea of what is in store all the videos feature songs covered on the album.
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.
