A Little Bit Of Politics

We're keeping it hard-hitting and topical today, courtesy of the Golden Gate Quartet. And short, courtesy of me.

"Atom And Evil" - The Golden Gate Quartet

"Stalin Wasn't Stallin'" - The Golden Gate Quartet

Phnom Penh Pop

I think I have mentioned before that I have a historical subscription deal with eMusic which entitles me to 40 tracks a month for about 20p a pop. I treat it as an oppotunity to experiment with music I might never try otherwise - at that price it doesn't really matter if there are as many misses as hits. 

Anyway, this month I have gone big on Cambodian pop from the 1960s. Here are a couple of crackers from perky Pen Ran.

"ប្តីខ្ញុំគាត់ចាស់" - Pen Ran

"ទន្សាយរាំ Jerk" - Pen Ran

If Google Translate's mastery of Khmer can be relied on - which I guess is a big If - the title of the first translates as "My Husband Is Old" and the second as "Jerk Dancing Rabbit". 

Jerk Dancing Rabbit, meet Disco Duck.

Poetry Corner

Morning, Philistines! We have some much needed proper culture for you today. Poetry.

The 1950s brought us the Beat Poets. The 1970s brought us poets with beats, among them The Last Poets, Nikki Giovanni and today's featured poet, Sarah Webster Fabio. 

Between 1972 and 1977 Ms Fabio released a number of albums of poems from her 'Rainbow Signs' series of books. At least three of those albums are now available again thanks to the Smithsonian Folkways label.

"Glimpses" - Sarah Webster Fabio

"If We Come As Soft Rain" - Sarah Webster Fabio

The poetry revival of the 1970s was not just a phenomenon in the US, of course.

From Soweto to Cinderford

Welcome to the weekend, fellow surfers of the zeitgeist. Today we are making one of our rare forays into modern music and featuring a couple of newish records that turned up in my inbox this week.

First up is "Africans From Outer Space" by Afronaut, leading lights in the 'So Punk' movement that is sweeping Soweto. They describe their style as "an interstellar compound of cosmic folk and tropical rockabilly". 

I have no idea what that is but I like the noise they make. One review I read said they reminded the reviewer of the Violent Femmes and I can see what they mean, at least on this track.

Next we meet Garden of Live Flowers, whose "Sticky, Sweet and Dirty" came out last month. They are a "mystery band from the darkest Forest of Dean", and add to the mystery by using what I strongly suspect are not the names they were born with (unless there are Forester families called Blue-Sky and Sweetpea). 

The sound is spacey, proggy and at times a bit poppy. One might almost call it an interstellar compound. Personally I particularly like the eight minute closing track where they give themselves space to stretch out a bit, so that is what you are getting. 

You can - and should - get hold of the Garden of Live Flowers album on Bandcamp. At just £5 it is a bargain. There are three different Afronauts on Bandcamp; however, none of them are this one. But you can find "Africans From Outer Space" on Spotify, Amazon and possibly elsewhere.

"Barfight" - Afronaut

"MRI" - Garden of Live Flowers

For today's video I searched on Wikipedia for famous musicians from the Forest of Dean. Unless Edna Healey made an album that inexplicably slipped under the radar the choice seems to be between Jimmy Young, Joe Meek or EMF. Tough call, but I've opted for Joe's finest moment.

Bunny Wailer RIP

Very saddened to learn that we lost Bunny Wailer earlier this week. I was lucky enough to see him live a few years back. Majestic is the only word to describe him. RIP Mr Livingston.

"This Train" - Bunny Wailer

"Bright Soul" - Bunny Wailer

"Scheme Of Things" - Bunny Wailer

Creations Of Dub

Today we have some classic Dub tracks for you - Willis 'Dub' Dickerson that is. Here are a couple of singles he released on Capitol Records way back in 1951.

"My Gal Gertie" - Dub Dickerson

"Under The Heading Of My Business" - Dub Dickerson

Dub was apparently born in Van Zandt County, Texas, which gives us all the excuse we need for this.

The Mittoo Movement

Let's get you in the mood to face the week with two lumps of sunshine from the great Jackie Mittoo, the Keyboard King of Jamaica. 

After spending most of the 1960s in the Skatalites and various other ensembles, as well as being involved in pretty much every recording session at Studio One, he emigrated to Toronto. It was there in 1971 that he recorded the album "Wishbone", from which these two tracks come. 

That is Jackie himself singing on "Soul Bird". The singer on "Right Track" is uncredited on the album, so I'm going to claim its Pierre Trudeau, or possibly Gordon Lightfoot. Definitely one of the two.

"Soul Bird" - Jackie Mittoo

"Right Track" - Jackie Mittoo

Jackie did a bit of songwriting as well, including co-writing these old favourites.