Today is transfer deadline day and so I thought I should find something football related for us to listen to as we watch the now traditonal sight of Harry Redknapp steering another club towards administration.
I thought about sharing with you the highlights of my collection of Franz Beckenbauer singles, but we'll save that for another time (unless you ask nicely). Instead I have gone for a Congolese album from last year which I picked up while in Brussels last week.
The album is "Amour Amour" and it is by a gentleman called Fabregas. I rather suspect that is not the name he was given at birth, but that he has named himself after the former Arsenal star who is now plying his trade for some obscure team on the Continent. Here is the title track and one of the other highlights.
"Amour Amour" - Fabregas
"Moyene" - Fabregas
Thursday, 31 January 2013
Tuesday, 29 January 2013
Soft Rock Space Race Special
You can blame Aimee Mann for this one. Towards the end of a very enjoyable show at the Festival Hall last night she name checked Poco and the Starland Vocal Band, and when the house lights came up not long afterwards the PA blasted out "Jackie Blue" by the Ozark Mountain Daredevils.
I have always had a soft spot for all three bands ever since, as a lad in South Africa in the mid-1970s, I spent hours adjusting my shortwave radio to pick up the likes of the American Top 40 show on Voice of America - as a result of which I have a deep-rooted sentimental attachment to "Jackie Blue", "Afternoon Delight" and "Rose of Cimarron" (and also, less explicably, Freddy Fender's version of "Secret Love").
A year or two after all these marvellous songs were hits, the likes of Mister F came along with their punk wars and spoiled everything. The punks and the ex-hippies did not have very much in common apart, perhaps, from one thing: to quote the Only Ones, space travel was in their blood.
We start with the Starland Vocal Band's star rockets in flight. Poco then encourage you to shoot for the moon, before the Daredevils warn you that the other life form's planet is not always greener.
"Afternoon Delight" - Starland Vocal Band
"Shoot For The Moon" - Poco
"Spaceship Orion" - The Ozark Mountain Daredevils
I have always had a soft spot for all three bands ever since, as a lad in South Africa in the mid-1970s, I spent hours adjusting my shortwave radio to pick up the likes of the American Top 40 show on Voice of America - as a result of which I have a deep-rooted sentimental attachment to "Jackie Blue", "Afternoon Delight" and "Rose of Cimarron" (and also, less explicably, Freddy Fender's version of "Secret Love").
A year or two after all these marvellous songs were hits, the likes of Mister F came along with their punk wars and spoiled everything. The punks and the ex-hippies did not have very much in common apart, perhaps, from one thing: to quote the Only Ones, space travel was in their blood.
We start with the Starland Vocal Band's star rockets in flight. Poco then encourage you to shoot for the moon, before the Daredevils warn you that the other life form's planet is not always greener.
"Afternoon Delight" - Starland Vocal Band
"Shoot For The Moon" - Poco
"Spaceship Orion" - The Ozark Mountain Daredevils
Sunday, 27 January 2013
Single Song Sunday
In the latest edition of our (very) occasional series, we bring you a song that goes by several different names. Usually called "Wild Mountain Thyme", it is quite often called "Will Ye Go, Lassie, Go" (or variations on that), and once in a while "Purple Heather".
I have known the song since I was a child and for many years assumed it was traditional. While the tune probably is, and while the lyrics are loosely based on a poem by 18th century Scots poet Robert Tannahill, the song as we know it was written by Francis McPeake of Belfast and first published in 1957. Which means it became a standard pretty much straight away.
There are thousands of versions of the song out there - lots by Scots and Irish folkies, of course, but also the likes of the Byrds, Rod Stewart, and the artists featured below. I have given one of them a very obvious pseudonym in a possibly doomed attempt to put his lawyers (with whom I have had a run in once before) off the scent. You will probably recognise him without any further clues, but if you need one think of the name of a motor vehicle that is bigger than a car but smaller than a truck and that rhymes with "man".
"Wild Mountain Thyme" - Fotheringay
"Wild Mountain Thyme" - Bert Jansch
"Wild Mountain Thyme" - Lucy Wainwright Roche
"Wild Mountain Thyme" - Marianne Faithfull
"Wild Mountain Thyme" - Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians
"Will You Go" - Strawbs
"Go Lassie Go" - Aoife Clancy
"Purple Heather" - Mr. Person
Aoife Clancy is the daughter of Bobby Clancy. Here are his brothers and Tommy Makem with their take on the song. Call me a sentimental old fool, but it gets me right there.
I have known the song since I was a child and for many years assumed it was traditional. While the tune probably is, and while the lyrics are loosely based on a poem by 18th century Scots poet Robert Tannahill, the song as we know it was written by Francis McPeake of Belfast and first published in 1957. Which means it became a standard pretty much straight away.
There are thousands of versions of the song out there - lots by Scots and Irish folkies, of course, but also the likes of the Byrds, Rod Stewart, and the artists featured below. I have given one of them a very obvious pseudonym in a possibly doomed attempt to put his lawyers (with whom I have had a run in once before) off the scent. You will probably recognise him without any further clues, but if you need one think of the name of a motor vehicle that is bigger than a car but smaller than a truck and that rhymes with "man".
"Wild Mountain Thyme" - Fotheringay
"Wild Mountain Thyme" - Bert Jansch
"Wild Mountain Thyme" - Lucy Wainwright Roche
"Wild Mountain Thyme" - Marianne Faithfull
"Wild Mountain Thyme" - Robyn Hitchcock & The Egyptians
"Will You Go" - Strawbs
"Go Lassie Go" - Aoife Clancy
"Purple Heather" - Mr. Person
Aoife Clancy is the daughter of Bobby Clancy. Here are his brothers and Tommy Makem with their take on the song. Call me a sentimental old fool, but it gets me right there.
Saturday, 26 January 2013
Annies and Amys
Today we start with an appeal for your money. Not for me, I hasten to add, but for a much more worthy cause.
Annie Dressner is a singer-songwriter from New York who is now based in the UK, lured over here by the lovely weather I imagine. You can read all about her on her website. The reviews posted there are unable to agree who she sounds like - amongst the names mentioned are Kimya Dawson, Jenny Lewis, Gillian Welch, Jessica Lea Mayfield, Camera Obscura, Belle & Sebastian and Mazzy Star - a total confusion which suggests that the person she really sounds like is herself.
Annie's first album, "Strangers Who Knew Each Other's Names", came out in 2011 and is a bit of a gem. It is available from Bandcamp and all the usual places and I have posted a couple of her videos for the album below. Adding to the list of comparisons, it has the same sort of feel to it as her fellow New Yorkers Amy Allison and Amy Rigby - Brooklyn hipsters storming the Brill Building, that sort of thing.
Annie is planning to release a new EP in a couple of months, and has kindly sent me an advance mix. It is not as poppy and perky as the album, which is not surprising as most songs seem to deal with loss of one form or another, but it is just as good in its own way. And this is where the appeal comes in. In these straitened times, Annie could do with some help to get the project finished. She has set up a Pledge page - if you like what you have heard so far, go over there and do your bit.
I mentioned Amy Allison and Amy Rigby. Here is a song from each of them. As a bonus I have added one from the differently spelt Aimee Mann, who we are off to see at the Festival Hall next week. Should be good.
"Why Must It Be" - Amy Allison
"Breakup Boots" - Amy Rigby
"You Do" - Aimee Mann
Annie Dressner is a singer-songwriter from New York who is now based in the UK, lured over here by the lovely weather I imagine. You can read all about her on her website. The reviews posted there are unable to agree who she sounds like - amongst the names mentioned are Kimya Dawson, Jenny Lewis, Gillian Welch, Jessica Lea Mayfield, Camera Obscura, Belle & Sebastian and Mazzy Star - a total confusion which suggests that the person she really sounds like is herself.
Annie's first album, "Strangers Who Knew Each Other's Names", came out in 2011 and is a bit of a gem. It is available from Bandcamp and all the usual places and I have posted a couple of her videos for the album below. Adding to the list of comparisons, it has the same sort of feel to it as her fellow New Yorkers Amy Allison and Amy Rigby - Brooklyn hipsters storming the Brill Building, that sort of thing.
Annie is planning to release a new EP in a couple of months, and has kindly sent me an advance mix. It is not as poppy and perky as the album, which is not surprising as most songs seem to deal with loss of one form or another, but it is just as good in its own way. And this is where the appeal comes in. In these straitened times, Annie could do with some help to get the project finished. She has set up a Pledge page - if you like what you have heard so far, go over there and do your bit.
I mentioned Amy Allison and Amy Rigby. Here is a song from each of them. As a bonus I have added one from the differently spelt Aimee Mann, who we are off to see at the Festival Hall next week. Should be good.
"Why Must It Be" - Amy Allison
"Breakup Boots" - Amy Rigby
"You Do" - Aimee Mann
Tuesday, 22 January 2013
Jolly Nina
We are going upmarket a bit today, with Ms Nina Simone.
In 1982 she released "Fodder On My Wings", an album recorded in Paris with a three-piece band comprising Sydney Thiam (congas, bells and woodblock), Paco Sery (percussion and tympani) and Sylvain Marc (electric bass). I bought a vinyl copy some time in the mid 1980s and fell in love with it. The near title track "Fodder In Her Wings" and "I Was Just A Stupid Dog To Them" are prime examples of moody and angry Nina respectively, and there is a beautiful French version of "Balm In Gilead". But she also gets uncharacteristically jolly at times, as today's tasters demonstrate.
My vinyl copy sadly went the way of all flesh. For a long time the album was not available on CD, but that was put right a few years ago and you can now download the album for £7.49 on Amazon. You should go and do that right away.
"I Sing Just To Know That I Am Alive" - Nina Simone
"Heaven Belongs To You" - Nina Simone
In 1982 she released "Fodder On My Wings", an album recorded in Paris with a three-piece band comprising Sydney Thiam (congas, bells and woodblock), Paco Sery (percussion and tympani) and Sylvain Marc (electric bass). I bought a vinyl copy some time in the mid 1980s and fell in love with it. The near title track "Fodder In Her Wings" and "I Was Just A Stupid Dog To Them" are prime examples of moody and angry Nina respectively, and there is a beautiful French version of "Balm In Gilead". But she also gets uncharacteristically jolly at times, as today's tasters demonstrate.
My vinyl copy sadly went the way of all flesh. For a long time the album was not available on CD, but that was put right a few years ago and you can now download the album for £7.49 on Amazon. You should go and do that right away.
"I Sing Just To Know That I Am Alive" - Nina Simone
"Heaven Belongs To You" - Nina Simone
Sunday, 20 January 2013
Tsonga on Sunday
As promised in my last post, I have fought my way back from Cornwall through the snowy wastes of Southern England to bring you some long overdue Tsonga music from Doctor Sithole. Although he has been making music since 1993 I have only two of his albums - "Avukatini A Zimbabwe" (2005) and "Nghoma Ya Mundawu". Here are a couple of tracks from each.
"Vinyl Mali" - Doctor Sithole (2005)
"Naha Hleketa (Remix)" - Doctor Sithole (2005)
"Nghoma Ya Mundawu" - Doctor Sithole (2006)
"Mini Byela Hiku Niba" - Doctor Sithole (2006)
And here is another doctor to keep you dancing. Danish viewers may already be familiar with the work of Dr. Phil (and, as a result, will probably be logging off in their droves). The rest of you - watch and wonder!
"Vinyl Mali" - Doctor Sithole (2005)
"Naha Hleketa (Remix)" - Doctor Sithole (2005)
"Nghoma Ya Mundawu" - Doctor Sithole (2006)
"Mini Byela Hiku Niba" - Doctor Sithole (2006)
And here is another doctor to keep you dancing. Danish viewers may already be familiar with the work of Dr. Phil (and, as a result, will probably be logging off in their droves). The rest of you - watch and wonder!
Tuesday, 15 January 2013
Happy Anniversary
This Thursday will be our fourth anniversary here at Leggiesland. I won't be able to post on the day - British Rail and the wrong sort of snow permitting I'll be in Cornwall - so I thought I should mark the occasion today instead. I'm doing that by re-posting some of the tracks that were first posted in the early months, when our readership was one man and a dog that had jumped up at the desk and hit the keyboard randomly. Although I say so myself, we had some good stuff up in those days. How things have changed.
"Khala My Friend" - Amanaz
"I'm Not The Loving Kind" - John Cale
"Electrick Gypsies" - Steve Hillage
"Choctaw Bingo" - James McMurtry
"Queen Of The Slipstream" - Son Seals
"Blind Date" - Vivian Stanshall
And it's been ages since we had any new Tsonga Disco, the original reason why the blog got started. Apologies. Stocks are running low until I get to South Africa at Easter, but we'll plug the gap post Cornwall next week with some tunes from Doctor Sithole.
To tide you over to then, here are a couple of clips featuring some fellow Cornishmen - first, Mick Fleetwood of Redruth, and then Lostwithiel's very own Andy Mackay.
"Khala My Friend" - Amanaz
"I'm Not The Loving Kind" - John Cale
"Electrick Gypsies" - Steve Hillage
"Choctaw Bingo" - James McMurtry
"Queen Of The Slipstream" - Son Seals
"Blind Date" - Vivian Stanshall
And it's been ages since we had any new Tsonga Disco, the original reason why the blog got started. Apologies. Stocks are running low until I get to South Africa at Easter, but we'll plug the gap post Cornwall next week with some tunes from Doctor Sithole.
To tide you over to then, here are a couple of clips featuring some fellow Cornishmen - first, Mick Fleetwood of Redruth, and then Lostwithiel's very own Andy Mackay.
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