Bring On The Nubians

Short but sweet today. Here are a couple of ace tracks from Ali Hassan Kuban, the late Godfather of Nubian music. Born near Aswan in 1929, he found fame and fortune after his family moved to Cairo. These selections come from an album called "Walk Like a Nubian", released in 1994. He died seven years later.

"Habibi" - Ali Hassan Kuban

"Tamin Qalbak Ya Habibi" - Ali Hassan Kuban

The Nubians are an ethnic group from southern Egypt and northern Sudan. Other prominent Nubians include the Mahdi, Anwar Sadat and this fellow.

The Keanes of Caherlistrane

I have just come back from a few days in Westport, County Mayo (on the west coast of Ireland). While there I picked up a copy of "The Home Place", the recently released debut album by Orlaith Keane.

Orlaith is the latest addition to the Keanes of Caherlistrane. The Keanes are the Irish equivalent of the Carter family, or the Copper and Waterson families in England, spawning several generations of gifted singers. Orlaith is the niece of Dolores and Sean. Here is one apiece from the three of them. You can immediately tell that Orlaith and Dolores are related. Uncle Sean guests on the pipes on "Florence". His own contribution today is, of course, a Gillian Welch cover.

"Florence" - Orlaith Keane

"Teddy O'Neill" - Dolores Keane

"Barroom Girls" - Sean Keane

Caherlistrane is in County Galway, just a couple of miles from the border with Mayo. About six miles away over the border is the town of Tuam. When I first went to Mayo in the late 1980s I fell madly in love with a cassette single by a band from Tuam that was only available locally. A year or so later a remade version of the song got a wider release and set them off on a career that endures today. This was that song.

"I Useta Lover" - The Saw Doctors

While driving over to Mayo we stopped in Mullingar, County Westmeath, to pay homage at the statue of the late, great Joe Dolan. I had expected it to be on a plinth but I was wrong - and quite rightly as Joe was never one to put himself above his fans. Of course it does mean that all sorts of eejits pose next to him.

Here is Joe at his finest.

Time For Mr Shine

Tomorrow I'm off to the west of Ireland for a long weekend. What better way to get myself in the mood than by listening to Brendan Shine, a man renowned for his social and political commentary and poignant insights into the lives of Ireland's rural population.

"Murphy's Dancing Pig" is clearly a savage indictment of the system of Irish political patronage, while "Are You Diggin' Them, Dillon?" exposes the fact that the wealth of Dublin (the "great big ugly goat") was built largely on the labours of the rural poor.

And if all that is a bit heavy for you, you might enjoy listening to Brendan rocking out on "Bold O'Donoghue" - it could be Thin Lizzy!

"Murphy's Dancing Pig" - Brendan Shine

"Are You Diggin' Them, Dillon?" - Brendan Shine

"Bold O'Donoghue" - Brendan Shine

"Catch Me If You Can" - Brendan Shine

And here a younger Brendan tackles the perennial scourge of alcoholism head on in his usual sensitive way.

Bad Lux Story

I went to Luxembourg for a day's work yesterday. There was a bit of free time in my schedule, which I intended to use to track down some examples of the no doubt vibrant Luxembourg music scene to share with you today.

Unfortunately my Luxair flight was four and a half hours late setting off, which meant that I arrived there early afternoon, went to a meeting, then turned round and came home again.

To add to my frustration, it turns out that large chunks of the no doubt vibrant Luxembourg music scene were playing pretty much on my doorstep a few weeks ago - more details are available from the self-explanatory "Music from Luxembourg Live in Britain" website.

I am sure you must be as frustrated as I am. Let's try to work our way through it with some excellent funky soul from the 1970s.

"Ape Is High" - Mandrill

"House Of Wood" - Mandrill

You may not be aware that plucky Luxembourg has won the Eurovision Song Contest four times, including successive victories in 1972 and 1973. However it must be said that the home-grown content was somewhat limited. Three of the four winning singers were French and the other, Vicky Leandros, was Greek. And this rather groovy winning entry from 1965 was written by that legendary Luxembourger Serge Gainsbourg.

ReviewShine Round-Up

Before we get to the music, a brief public service announcement. It has been brought to my attention that there has been a bit of a hoo-hah about some bloggers turning out not to be who they claimed they were. In the interests of transparency, I feel I should reveal that my real name is not Ernie Goggins and that is not a picture of me in the top right corner (that is actually Penny Penny, the Tsonga disco king). I won't go so far as to reveal my true identify but suffice to say I am a Syrian lesbian and feel the need for some discretion.

Now back to business. It is time for one of our irregular round-ups of some of the many fine artists whose latest albums have made their way to me courtesy of ReviewShine. As before I feel I should apologise to those I feature, and even more those I don't feature, for not doing them justice. There is simply too much good stuff out there to cope with.

First up is the charming Kathryn Caine from Charlottesville, Virginia. A former Shakespearean scholar and London busker, Kathryn now devotes her time to making really good music in a broadly bluegrass and country style. Her current album, "Down Home Girl", is available via Bandcamp as well as all the usual outlets. This track, currently my favourite, is all about the Caine family farm in North Carolina. Listening to it is the next best thing to being there.

"Honeyhill" - Kathryn Caine

In a similar style, although with the folk influences perhaps a bit more prominent, is "These Open Roads", the debut album from Haroula Rose. Originally from Chicago but now based in LA, Haroula deserted both cities and headed off to Athens, Georgia to record the album. It features members of the Drive By Truckers, Neutral Milk Hotel and others, and her songs and singing are very worthy of the cast list.

"Free To Be Me" - Haroula Rose

Sean Hunting Morse is originally from Denver and that was where he recorded "Lines From Someplace", which I suppose you would classify as a mini-album (there are only seven tracks). Apart from a couple of jazz-tinged numbers which I was less keen on, not being a great one for the jazz, it is a good strong set of folk/blues songs. "Malibu" is a particular highlight.

"Malibu" - Sean Hunting Morse

Moving on to something slighter rougher-edged now, you ought to check out "Beyond The Ark" by Mike McGuire. I know nothing at all about Mike, but judging by the sound and subject matter of his songs I would guess he has been going for awhile, has maybe had a few ups and downs along the way, but will keep on going to the end of the road. For me the overall feel is very reminiscent of Otis Gibbs (a very good thing) but without the extravagent beard (maybe not such a good thing, it depends on your views on beards).

"Military Time" - Mike McGuire

And finally, something I can only describe as indescribable - "Dead Dog on a Highway" by The Dad Horse Experience. Dad Horse Ottn (which I very much doubt is the name his poor parents gave him) is a German musician who mixes up country, polka and other oom-pah-pah noises with a bit of the punk spirit, and sings them all in a voice that hints ever so slightly at his German origins. It doesn't always work - there are one or two tracks on the album that I struggled to get through - but when it does it is strangely beguiling. Apparently the album's producer has previously worked with the Holmes Brothers, and you can see a certain similarity in the overall sound. I found the religious numbers the most enjoyable, like his take on Hank's "I Saw The Light" and this next one. See what you think.

"Kingdom It Will Come" - The Dad Horse Experience

To finish, let's go back to where we started. Here's Kathryn Caine and friends with a very lively take on the old Tom Paxton standard, "The Last Thing On My Mind".

Guinea Gold

I have a copy of a compilation album of music from Guinea, released on SonoAfrica last year. The version I have is called "Guinee Compil: Rendezvous", and the sleeve notes etc are all in French. When you stick it into the Gracenotes thingy it comes up as "Guinea Vibrations", but the track listing is the same. Presumably it was issued under different names in different territories.

Whatever it is called it is well worth checking out. There are some familiar names on there, the likes of Mory Kante and Fode Baro. But most of them were new to me, and a very high proportion of them are very good indeed. Here are a couple of examples.

"Sokho" - Fode Kouyate

"Nnakaman" - Mory Djeli

Here is Mory Djeli and his mates in action near what appears to be a hotel swimming pool.



And here is Fode Kouyate in the gardens of a different hotel with some lovely ladies. When they get together with the lads in Mory's video it must be party time.

Tsonga Disco: Maile

We're back with some long overdue Tsonga Disco. Today we bring you someone new to 27 Leggies - Maile and his 1998 album, "Vat En Sit". "Vat En Sit" is an Afrikaans expression used colloquially to mean what the dictionaries would call "cohabitation" (or, as we used to call it in the old days, "living in sin").

I know nothing about Maile beyond what I have been able to work out from the details on the sleeve. His full name appears to be Maile Mokhwati and he is/ was a protege of the late great Peta Teanet. The album was issued by EMI under licence from Mac-Villa Music (Peta's old production company), and includes a cover version of Peta's "Tsontsokile". The final track is called "Teanet", and is presumably a tribute to Peta who had died in 1996. I have no idea whether he made any other records.

Production duties are handled by Lefty Rhikoto, leader of Mordillo, a band that first came to prominence backing Peta's predecessor as the King of Tsonga/ Shangaan Disco, the equally late if not quite equally great Paul Ndlovu. The sound is mostly fairly conventional 1990s Tsonga Disco, although there is a bit of a kwaito influence on a couple of tracks.

Here are my personal favourites from "Vat En Sit". "Damarisa" in particular is a real stomper.

"Damarisa" - Maile

 "Bomba" - Maile

There is no Maile on YouTube. But there is Mai Tai.