Single Song Sunday

This time out on Single Song Sunday we have an old standard that has been recorded by at least three million artists in the 60+ years since it was written: "You Don't Know Me".

The first recording was by country star Eddy Arnold, who co-wrote it with Cindy Walker in 1955. The first hit version was by Jerry Vale the following year, but it is terribly cheesy so I am sparing you that. The classic version - and one of my favourite records of all time - is the one by Ray Charles, which made the Top Ten in both the US and UK in 1962.

You will have heard of most if not all of the other artists featured I expect - we've not exactly gone for the obscure stuff here. The Mandatory Reggae Version comes courtesy of The Heptones.

Many of us have probably found ourselves in the same position as Eddy, Ray, Patti and all the rest at some point in our lives. I know have. I thought of dedicating this post to the oblivious lady concerned using the standard formula for anonymous dedications, "they know who they are". But of course she didn't, so that would not have made any sense. Feel free instead to dedicate it to whoever you see fit.

"You Don't Know Me" - Eddy Arnold

"You Don't Know Me" - Ray Charles

"You Don't Know Me" - Patti Page

 "You Don't Know Me" - Jackie Wilson

 "You Don't Know Me" - Emmylou Harris

"You Don't Know Me" - Willie Nelson

"You Don't Know Me" - Allen Toussaint

"You Don't Know Me" - The Heptones 

ReviewShine Round-Up

It's time for our monthly look at some of the many fine records I have received via ReviewShine. I mentioned in the previous post that we have a real treat for you this time, and so we do. It is the new album from Jimmy LaFave, "Depending on the Distance", which comes out on 18 September on Music Road Records.

I am a total sucker for Jimmy's voice, particularly on the slow numbers. He could sing one of the endless Indian take-away menus that get shoved through my letterbox and it would bring a lump to my throat (as I suspect would eating anything off those menus). His version of "Emotionally Yours" is shortlisted for the first dance when me and the next Mrs Goggins get married.

I have listened to the album two or three times now and it's a really strong set of songs. For overall consistency and quality it is up there with albums like "Texoma" and "Road Novel". It doesn't break any new ground - if you know Jimmy, it is exactly what you would expect. But then if you know Jimmy, that is exactly what you will have wanted. And if you don't know Jimmy, you should.

"Clear Blue Sky" - Jimmy LaFave

Jimmy is a hard act to follow but these next three folks - all of them new to me - give it a damn good go. First up is Bow Thayer from Vermont, who I have somehow missed over the last 15 years or so that he has been making music. Earlier this month he put out a retrospective collection of some of the highlights of his career to date. It is called "Hindsight", it is out on Tweed River Productions, and there is enough good stuff on there to encourage you to dig further. I will be. If I have understood the blurb properly, today's selection features the late, great Levon Helm - that would certainly explain the muscular groove that makes it so good.

"Stoned Kid" - Bow Thayer

Moving over the border and over to the distaff side, and picking up some twang on the way, we bring you Melissa Payne from Ontario. Her self-titled debut album comes out on Seventh Fire Records in a couple of weeks time. With a bit of blues, a bit of soul, a bit of folk - a bit of all the things I like, in other words - and the bonus of Melissa's throaty vocals, it is a very fine album indeed.

"This Feeling" - Melissa Payne

Last up we have Nicolette Good for San Antonio. Her self-released album "Monarch" came out a couple of months ago and can be found on iTunes, Amazon and no doubt elsewhere. As you know already I am useful at describing things, but even if I wasn't I would find it hard to describe this one sensibly and succinctly. The basic starting point is Americana, and there are some songs that have hints of Shawn Colvin or - in the case of today's selection - Gillian Welch. But then along comes a track like "Marathon", which sounds like Mazzy Star if they had learned to enunciate propoerly. The one common theme is that it is all good stuff. Like the other three albums we've covered today.

"Hurricane Caroline" - Nicolette Good

This isn't the greatest quality video clip we have ever featured here but if you are reading this, Future Mrs G, gird up your loins and get ready to dance. He does it a bit slower that the version on "Texoma", but it still works for me.

Eureka!

Those of you who were around back in September may recall me mentioning that I had been lucky enough to the see Eureka Birds in concert while in New York. Well now Justin Levy from the band has kindly sent me an advance copy of their new six track EP, called simply "Eureka!". Copies should be available soon from their website and elsewhere. The website also has details of Justin's short solo tour of the East Coast (of the US not the UK - he won't be playing Lowestoft), which kicks off tomorrow night with a hometown gig in Baltimore.

I really like the EP, and to me there is a warmth to it that wasn't there on their (still pretty good) self-titled debut album. Whether that comes from the additional band members, or the production, or just a bit more maturity in the writing and performing I don't know. But it works for me.

Being an old fart I don't know much about modern music, so I can't sensibly attempt to define or describe their sound. But to use a frame of reference I can understand, it seems like Eureka Birds are reinterpreting the best aspects of 1970s AOR and MOR, in the same sort of way as John Grant does on "Queen of Denmark" and Josh Rouse has done more than once. Fair to play to them, because when it was good it was very good. And for these younger folks who can filter out the worst excesses it doesn't lead to the same unpleasant flashbacks as for those of us who were just too young to be conscripted in the punk wars.

To illustrate what I mean, compare and contrast.

"We'll Get By" - Eureka Birds (from "Eureka!" EP, 2010)

"Downtown Tonight" - Racing Cars (from "Downtown Tonight", 1976)

Here is another mellow marvel from 1976. You didn't have to be attractive to have hit singles in those days. It was a simpler time.

Newness Abounds

It is time for one of our occasional round-ups of new releases, and we are bringing them to you through the exciting new medium of video. As always, many thanks to the lovely people in Promoland for alerting me to these albums.

We have four acts for you today, only one of whom I was previously familiar with although all of them have released other records before these ones. More fool me for not cottoning on to the others sooner.

The one I know is Jack M. Senff whose 2019 album "Good To Know You" was a big hit in the Goggins household. His new album "Low Spirit" came out at the beginning of June and if anything is even better. There is a bit of a Josh Rouse vibe to Jack's music which can't be a bad thing. 

Both albums can be found on Jack's Bandcamp page, along with some other goodies. This mp3 is from "Good To Know You", the video is from "Low Spirit".

"Watershed" - Jack M. Senff

Next up is Lindsay Clark, someone who has been making folk-influenced records for well over a decade. Her new album "Carpe Noctem" comes out on 24 June and very good it is too. You can pre-order it from her Bandcamp page where you can also find four earlier albums which I will certainly be checking out.

Moving on. Ben Talmi's "Berkshires" album came out in May and is a song set inspired by his experiences growing up in Berkshire County. I assume that is the one in Massachusetts not the one in England as the tales are too entertaining to have happened in Slough. 

You can find "Berkshires" on Spotify and other streaming services and you can download it from the tax dodgers and possibly others. It is not on Ben's Bandcamp page but lots of other things are so listen to them before heading off to find "Berkshires". 

Rounding things off we have "Don't Wait For A Sign" by Jeanines which came out all the way back in April. Once again you can find this album and older material on their Bandcamp page. 

The person who wrote the blurb that came with the album claimed to hear traces of Fairport and Vashti Bunyan which I don't get at all. Its good old-fashioned homemade pop of the sort made by The Chefs and Dolly Mixture - and all the better for it. 

 

The Celtic Fringes

There was great excitement in the Goggins household earlier in the week when an email from former Pipette Gwenno Saunders appeared in my inbox. I was a big fan of theirs and was always surprised and disappointed they didn't make it much bigger than they did, although the membership turmoil and long silence after "We Are The Pipettes" meant they were not in a position to capitalise on the attention they got early on.

Since the demise of the Pipettes Gwenno has gone back to singing in Welsh, and the result is a fine five-track EP that comes out on the Peski label next Monday. The title track is "Ymbelydredd", which means "Radiation", but you don't need to know what she's on about to appreciate a bloody good pop record when you hear it. My favourite tracks are probably "Ti Yw Madonna" ("You Are Madonna") and this one, the title of which probably does not need translating.



One thing I had not realised before was that Gwenno is half Cornish, speaks the language and once represented Cornwall in the Alternative Eurovision Song Contest. Being part Cornish myself that makes me love her even more. She's the new Brenda Wootton! (And if you don't know who Brenda Wootton is you should be ashamed of yourselves).

As a bonus for you, here are some more Welsh language hits of yesteryear:

"Nid Yr Hen Gwestiynau Oedd Wrth Y Llyw" - Galwad Y Mynydd

"Hedfan" - Gillian Elisa

"Heddiw Ddoe A Fory" - Meic Stevens

"Gwlad Y Rasta Gwyn" - Sobin A'r Smaeliaid

And we'll finish up with two videos featuring Gwenno, one for the new EP and one from her days with the Pipettes.

L-U-R-V-E

This being Valentine's Day, here are four love songs of different sorts. One happy ending. One unhappy ending. One fellow who needs a slap because he doesn't realise when he is well off. And one that is frankly ridiculous.

"The Tale Of Mr. Morton" - Skee-Lo

"You Don't Know Me" - Ray Charles

"She Ain't No You" - Thad Cockrell

"Old King Kong" - George Jones

In the absence of a current Mrs Goggins, and with no immediate prospect of a future Mrs Goggins, I had thought about dedicating these songs to all the girls I've loved before.



But then I changed my mind. Because there is a woman I am madly in love with and have been for ages. I know there is no realistic chance that she will ever return my love. She is young, beautiful, bubbly, supremely talented and famous. What would she ever want with a humble middle-aged blogger like me?

But if I have learnt anything from sobbing away with Ray Charles it is this - better to say something and risk having your heart broken than say nothing and guarantee you will have your heart broken. So here goes:

ICY SPICY LEONCIE, WILL YOU MARRY ME?

Ring Out The Old, Ring In The Old

It is time for the monthly round-up of goodies folks have kindly sent to me via ReviewShine, and this month we will mostly be featuring reissues.

There is a new label, Real Gone Music, which - according to the PR blurb - "aims to establish itself as the most eclectic and prolific catalog and reissue label in the country". Whether they can achieve that remains to be seen, but if they can keep up the standard of their first two releases they will be welcome round my place any time.

Coming out on 24 January is "Seductive Reasoning", the 1975 debut album by Maggie & Terre Roche. First released four years before their self-titled debut as The Roches, after having been joined by sister Suzzy, it lacks the quirky production of that album (and one-third of the harmonies) but is very good in its own right. The songs of identifiably Rochean - to invent a word - and the singing is, of course, sublime. Any fans of their later work should consider this to be a must have.

On the same day, Real Gone will also be issuing a compilation called "Complete Epic Hits" by Jody Miller which, as the title subtly suggests, features her 1970s recording on Epic Records. That inevitably means lots of Billy Sherrill productions, so if you don't like his brand of country pop this isn't for you. Fortunately I do. Judging by the selection on this album, Mr Sherrill was trying the same approach as he pursued with Barbara Mandrell during the same period, with plenty of pop and soul cover versions in amongst the originals. Some of it is a bit twee, but when Jody gets the chance to show her chops she demonstrates a real talent.

"Down The Dream" - Maggie & Terre Roche

"Kiss Away" - Jody Miller

I don't know whether there is some special significance about 24 January - is it perhaps National Reissue Day? - but our third selection is coming out then as well. This is a remastered version of Dolly Varden's 1995 debut album, "Mouthful Of Lies". As cognoscenti like you lot will already know, Dolly Varden are a "they" not a "she" - husband and wife Steve Dawson and Diane Christiansen plus pals - and must be one of the few bands named after a species of trout. 

While I have heard and liked a few of their tracks before I have never heard this album, and I have been missing out. I am not sure quite how to describe their sound - something like "fuzzy Americana", perhaps - and one track won't give you a taste of the whole album as the songs have quite a different feel depending on whether Diane or Steve take the lead, or whether they duet. A very loose comparison for the three styles would be Mazzy Star (Diane), Glossary (Steve), Buddy & Julie Miller (the duets).  

"Gone So Far" - Dolly Varden

We finish today, and this year, with the sole new album on the list - "Homefront" by The Great Unknowns. Inspired by the break-up of singer and main songwriter Becky Warren's marriage to an Iraq War veteran who returned home with post-traumatic stress disorder (dealt with most explicitly in "Long Way Home"), this is roots-rock of the highest order. There is nothing particularly original in what they do, but they do it very well indeed. There are some excellent songs, and Becky's voice has similar qualities to Lucinda Williams, which can't be a bad thing. The album comes out on 10 January and, like all the others featured this month, is well worth checking out.

"Birmingham" - The Great Unknowns

I am off to Italy tomorrow for a week's break, so I'll take this opportunity to wish everyone all the best for 2012. I'll leave you with some Italian music: this thoughtful insight into the complex subject of male/female relations from the woman they used to call "the female Umberto Eco".

More Gigs-a-Go-Go

I've just come off a run of three gigs in three nights. The likes of The Swede can take that in their stride but I can't. All these gigs-a-go-go have left Goggins a-gone-gone. But I have summoned up just enough energy to share some brief reviews.

The run started on Tuesday with Laibach at the Islington Assembly Hall. This had not originally been in the schedule but I was offered two free tickets so we decided to take advantage of this kind offer. I'm very glad we did as it was worth every penny I didn't spend. 

After 40+ years of industrial agit-prop Laibach have decided to become accessible. Their latest album "MUSICK" is basically a pop album, but being Laibach it is Pop With A Purpose. That purpose is "to celebrate and critically dissect our era of warped reality and gaudy AI copycatting", and to do so through the sneaky use of "irresistibly catchy pop songs powered by hyper-charged postmodernity".

Most of the audience were probably not pondering these philosophical conundrums, but I'm not sure it mattered. The extended Laibach - the band, two energetic dancers and assorted guest vocalists beamed onto the back screen - treated us to one banger after banger after another with a fair bit of weirdness in between. They certainly know how to put on a show. 

It was my first time seeing Laibach, but the headliner at Wednesday's gig is someone I have seen more times than I can remember and in many different guises - solo, as a member of Trembling Bells and the short-lived Wyndow, and collaborating with the likes of Bonnie Prince Billy, Mike Heron and Peter Daltrey (ex-Kaleidoscope).

I am talking of course of Lavinia Blackwall, whose turn it was to grace the stage at the What's Cookin' club night in Leytonstone. She was in excellent voice as always and the new touring band did a fine job. They suffered a power failure midway through the set which messed up the mix when they resumed but which gave them a rougher sound which I thought quite suited the livelier numbers.

Special mentions go to the bass player Amanda who is also a virtuoso on the musical saw - something we don't see enough of in my view - and to support act The Equatorial Group, all the way from tropical Eastbourne, who treated us to a pleasant set of what could be loosely described as 1970s style AOR with the occasional wigging out. 

Last night was new faces night when we turned up mob-handed to see Georgian at the Sebright Arms, one of the many decent pub venues in this part of London. They are from Manchester and they seem to be a nice bunch, even the lead guitarist whose rock 'n roll wild man antics included breaking a string on his own guitar and then clumsily pulling a knob off the replacement.

The 'Heist Or Hit' website describes Georgian's sound as "a soft bloom of sullen 60s psychedelia and folk horror peppered with Southern Gothic inclinations". I don't really know what that means but whatever you call it I like it, and a new song they featured called "Shopfront" bodes well for ongoing grooviness. They are doing some touring later in the year and if they are playing near you I would recommend checking them out.

Enough of the waffling. On with the show.

The lady looming large over Laibach in the first photo above is Mina Špiler. She joined them 'live' for "Bossanova" from their 2014 album "Spectre", and that is what leads off our audio selection. Other live highlights were "Allgorhythm" from the new album and a surprisingly sweet Mama Cass cover, both of which are in the videos.

From Lavinia we have the opening track from her most recent album "The Making" which came out last year. Georgian's debut EP "Crackled Ground" was released this June. We have something from that for you too, and in the videos we have both of their title tracks.

On a bonus I've added Chinese American Bear to the videos. I saw them up in Hackney last week and they were almost as pop-tastic as Laibach. Unlike Laibach, however, I don't think they are making a devastating critique of anything at all. They just want to make you dance, dance, dance.

Finally a quick reminder that today is Bandcamp Friday. All these good people can be found there. You know what to do.

"Bossanova" - Laibach

"Keep Me Away From The Dark" - Lavinia Blackwall

"Gardens" - Georgian

Ernie's African Odyssey Part 48 - Sudan

And we trundle on. We have crossed over the northern border of South Sudan into Sudan. When is was still a single country before the South gained independence in 2011 Sudan was the largest country in Africa. Even now it is third in size behind only Algeria and DR Congo. We are talking BIG.

Like its regional neighbours Ethiopia and Somalia, Sudan had a thriving music scene in the 1960s and 1970s which came to an end when the ruling regime banned fun and targeted musicians. In Sudan itself this process began in the early 1980s but the full effect was not felt until the introduction of Sharia law by President al-Bashir in 1989. 

Things seem to have loosened up in recent years following al-Bashir's overthrow in 2019, but it seems that the only Sudanese music recorded during that thirty year period was in exile, and we will finish off with one such example. Before that we have four tracks from the golden age and two from the groovy new scene.

We will start with a couple of selections from an excellent compilation called "Two Niles To Sing A Melody", released on the Ostinato label in 2018. It is worth having any form but the CD comes with an informative booklet which describes the history of the golden age (and how it came to an end) and includes interviews with some of the featured musicians.

First up is the man considered to be the biggest musical star Sudan ever produced, Mohammed Wardi. Born in small village near the border with Egypt in 1932, he moved to Khartoum in the mid 1950s where he began his recording and performing career. 

Mr Wardi went into exile in 1989 but returned home in 2002 where he remained until his death ten years later. This particular song, the title of which means "The Photo" in English, was recorded in 1970 and clocks in at just over nine minutes.

The other chosen track from "Two Niles To Sing A Melody" also dates from 1970. The title translates as "We Don't Know What To Say", which is appropriate as I don't know what to say about the man who performs it. I have found no information about Taj Makki, who doesn't even get a paragraph in the booklet. But the aural evidence suggests he knew how to knock out a cracking tune.

For our next two treats we move across to the ever reliable Habibi Funk label. And what treats they are. The first comes from Sharhabil Ahmed who according to the title the label has given to their collection of his vintage recordings is "The King of Sudanese Jazz". I am in no position to contradict them. Mr Ahmed was born a couple of years after Mohammed Wardi and their careers have some parallels, although Mr Ahmed never left Sudan and made his living as an illustrator during the prohibition.

Sharhabil Ahmed's wife Zakia Abu Gassim Abu Bakr played in his band and was Sudan's first professional female guitarist. I don't know whether she is any relation to Saif Abu Bakr, the singer with our next act The Scorpions. I could have asked him myself on Saturday just gone when he played up the road in Hackney. Unfortunately the first I knew about it was when I Googled him for this post on Sunday. So I just had to content myself with listening to their great 1980s album "Jazz, Jazz, Jazz".

Forward in time to the present day, but back to the excellent Ostinato label who are responsible for both the featured releases. In 2022 they brought us "Beja Power! Electric Soul & Brass from Sudan's Red Sea Coast" by Noori & His Dorpa Band, and followed it up last year with Jantra's "Synthesized Sudan: Astro​-​Nubian Electronic Jaglara Dance Sounds from the Fashaga Underground". They do like their long titles at Ostinato.

You can read all about Noori, his band and the history and culture of the Beja people here. As for Jantra he apparently "cuts a mysterious figure, a rather unknown quantity even in Sudan, outside of the select few circles which have granted him cult status to perform at their humble gatherings or at street parties far from the gaze of the wider world". But if you happen to find yourself in one of the towns near the Sudan-Ethiopia border keep your eyes peeled for a man with a blue Yamaha keyboard, that might be him.

Finally in the MAR slot we have one of the exiles I mentioned back at the start. Rasha (Rasha Sheikh Eldin to give her her full name) is a musician and actress from Omdurman who emigrated to Spain in the early 1990s. This jaunty little number comes from her album "Let Me Be", released in 2000. 

We also have some recent MAR in the final video. The first three videos hail from the golden age and what they lack in high visual quality they more than make up for in charm.

"Al Sourah" - Mohammed Wardi

"Ma Aarfeen Nagool Shino!" - Taj Makki

 "Argos Farfish" - Sharhabil Ahmed

"Forssa Saeeda" - The Scorpions & Saif Abu Bakr

"Al Amal" - Noori & His Dorpa Band

 "Gedima" - Jantra

"Afta'h Albab" - Rasha

ReviewShine Round-Up

This is catch-up month. In between all the Tsonga Disco, here is a quick plug for some of the better records to have come my way via ReviewShine over the last couple of months.

We start with a man (and band) that can rightly be described as bluegrass legends - Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver. With over 40 albums and countless Grammies and other awards to their name, they are  renowned for their superb playing and fantastic harmonies. Both of those are prominently on display on their latest album, "Roads Well Traveled", out now on Mountain Home Records. If you know anything about bluegrass you'll know that a Doyle Lawson album is as close to a guarantee of quality as you can get. If you don't know anything about bluegrass, this would be a good place to start.

"Fiddlin' Will" - Doyle Lawson & Quicksilver

A rather different take on the old mountain music comes from Isobel Anderson & Ruby Colley, both of whom hail from the foothills of the mountainous Sussex Downs. They have each made albums in the past, but have been playing together for the last couple of years. The "Sussex Sessions" EP, which is available now from their Bandcamp page, is their first release, and very good it is too. "Down in Adairsville" is my personal favourite.

As there are only three tracks on the EP I'm not going to give you a free download. If you like it - and you should - you can stump up the £3 needed for the whole thing.
 

Also available on Bandcamp is "Whisper & Holler", the debut album from Steph Casey, a singer-songwriter from Wellington, New Zealand. There is a slightly bluesy edge to both her voice and her music which I really like. Here is an alternate version of the lead off track.

"Nice To Almost Know You (Alternate)" - Steph Casey

We will finish off with what is probably my favourite of all the albums ReviewShine has sent my way over the last couple of months, "Fifty Shades of Yellow" by The Yellow Hope Project (or, as he's known by his family, Arnold Kim). Basically, it's a great Southern soul record - if, like me, you consider Hiss Golden Messenger and the good bits of Lambchop to be Southern soul. It's all about love and loss, as all great soul records are, and some of it is played fairly straight. There is a rewrite of "Mignight Train to Georgia" from the man's perspective, for example, which sticks pretty closely to the classic sound. But my favourite moments are probably when he approaches it from a slightly different angle. Like this one.

"A Final Plea To A New Prescription" - The Yellow Hope Project

You've probably guessed the clip by now.

Big Up The Pygmies

Sting would call this synchronicity. I will settle for coincidence. You might conclude it is contrivance.

Yesterday I posted some Americana from Belgium - a country that in the colonial era ruled over the Congo, where the pygmies come from. In the same post I mentioned the late lamented king of the washboard, Derek Guyler. Immediately after sending that out to you on waves of love I checked my Hotmail account, and there was an e-mail alerting me to the washboard-enhanced Americana of 17 Pygmies.

17 Pygmies are new to me but have apparently been around on and off since 1982. According to the blurb their first effort was "a surf-a-delic, Emerson Lake & Palmer inspired cover version of the theme music to David Lean's 'Lawrence of Arabia'", which can probably only be amazing or appalling - I doubt there is anywhere in between.

Their current album is called "The Outlaw J.D. Ray". It is supposedly a concept album which uses "post-Civil War folk music and pre-WWII blues as a backdrop to a story of ambition, deceit, love lost and found and redemption. With a washboard." It was the washboard that sold it to me.

I have only had a quick first listen to the album but it sounds pretty good to me, albeit not particularly post-Civil War or pre-WWII (but then being English these nuances might be lost on me). I was most immediately taken by the songs featuring the vocals of Meg Maryatt, whose voice I found vaguely reminiscent of Sally Ellyson of Hem. I don't know whether she is the same person as the Meg at Trakwerx Records who kindly sent me the album, but thanks to her (or both of them as the case may be).

Here are a couple of the tracks that struck me the first time around. But it is definitely worth another listen and definitely worth you checking them out. You can get the album from Trakwerx directly, or from eMusic and iTunes. It is also on Amazon in the UK along with several of their earlier albums.

"Atlas Shrugged Blues" - 17 Pygmies

"I Know My Train's A-Comin'" - 17 Pygmies

And here is something for all you shortarses out there:

A Rare Attack Of Newness

I have had some cracking stuff sent to me recently, including some great re-releases from the ever-reliable Tompkins Square and VP/Greensleeves labels which I will get round to soon. But we'll start with some new records.

The first two acts have both been around for a while but for one reason or another I have never heard them before. The first, Joseph Arthur, has just never appeared on my radar. My loss. He has a new double album out now called "The Ballad of Boogie Christ". The man himself says it is "a psychedelic soul record about redemption and what happens when you find it and lose it". Now, I don't know about that, but I do know it is an excellent record that all right-minded people will enjoy. On this track you can play Spot the Mott.

"Junkies and Limousines" - Joseph Arthur

By contrast, the second act is one I have been aware of through the blogosphere for some time but have consciously avoided. While their name does not offend me, yeah, as much as some others I could mention, I instinctively cringe at Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin. Which is a shame, as judging by their new album "Fly By Wire" they are a pretty good band. With a very irritating name.

"Loretta" - Someone Still Loves You Boris Yeltsin

Next up we have The Halfways, known to their mums of Daniel Fernandez and Alejandro Facusse, who released their debut album "Exit" via Bandcamp earlier this year. Daniel is originally from Honduras, not that you would guess that from their music. Like a lot of bands that have popped up since the Fleet Foxes made it big, they are clearly influenced by the old Laurel Canyon sound. But rather than the pale imitators that many of them are, Daniel and Alejandro appear to be directly channeling Crosby, Stills & Nash.

"Down You Go/ The Queen" - The Halfways

Finally, the only one of the lot I already knew. You may remember me raving about "Acid Week" by John Cathal O'Brien a year or so back. John has been in touch to let us know that his new album, "Songs on Lafayette", is now available for free (!!!) on his Bandcamp site. He describes it as "even more lo-fi" than "Acid Week" - which takes some doing - but it is also n an even stronger set of songs that last time round. And at that price you would have to be made not to give it a listen.

"Far Out Lights" - John Cathal O'Brien

John is originally from Dublin but is now living in the States. Here is another O'Brien who left her homeland to seek her fortune over there.

ReviewShine Round-Up

What with moving house, going on holiday and assorted technical problems it has been a couple of months since the last round-up of some of the albums I get sent via ReviewShine. Which means that my standard apologies - to the artists I have not been able to feature, and to you for not being able to feature them - are even more sincerely meant than usual.

Here is a taster from seven of the best. I would encourage you to check them all out further.

First up are Some Velvet Evening, a duo from Detroit better known to their friends and families as Carrie Shepard and John Holk. With a name like Some Velvet Evening they are presumably trying to evoke the spirit of Lee Hazlewood, but to me they are more of a mixture of traditional honky-tonk and a Laura Cantrell sound (particularly strong on the track I have chosen) - which makes for a pretty good combination. Their album is called "No Law Against Talking" and it is out now on Hole-Key Records.

"Springtime" - Some Velvet Evening

If you take the same formula but mix in some Neil Young to give things a draker edge, then you would not be a million miles away from the sound of Boca Chica. A Pittsburgh combo led by the clearly very talented Hallie Pritts, their third album "Get Out Of Sin City" comes out on 15 November. Independently released in the US, it will also be issued by Indiecater Records in Ireland. The Irish know a thing or two about country music and singer-songwriters, and they have picked another winner here.

"Cowboy Hat" - Boca Chica

Next up is Leslie Krafka, whose self-released "The White Cat Sessions" I am featuring for two reasons. Firstly, her sister has exactly the same name as me ("Ernie" in her case presumably being short for Ernestina). Secondly, and much more importantly, it is a bloody good record. Leslie is based in Houston and has been featured at the prestigious Kerrville Folk Festival amongst others. This is her first album, and hopefully the first of many.

"A Little White Lie" - Leslie Krafka

Now I realise that we at 27 Leggies are in no position to criticise anyone for having a silly name, but could I just say to Sinful Savage Tigers: lads, have a think about the name. I nearly passed on their album "Last Night Of The Revels" because I assumed it was going to be some dreadful "comedy country" album. Which would have been a real shame because there is some great stuff there. They describe themselves as an "art-first pop string band". I have no idea what that means, but if you like country mixed with a bit of folk and bluegrass you might well like this. The album is available from http://www.sinfulsavagetigers.com/ as well as the usual outlets

"End Of The Horse Drawn Zeppelin" - Sinful Savage Tigers

This next one is a bit of a cheat. Willie Nile is hardly a new name - his first album came out thirty years ago - and "The Innocent Ones" isn't really a new record, having first been released last year. But it is getting its first official release in the US next month and that is a good enough excuse for me. Those of you who know Willie will know what to expect - perceptive and powerful stuff from the same school as Springsteen, Steve Forbert and Graham Parker. Those of you who don't are going to like him a lot.

"Far Green Hills" - Willie Nile

This next one is also a bit of a cheat, because it is an album I got sent back in June and forgot to share with you then. It is England's own Mr. Plow with "Joyful In Song Are We" which came out on PinkBox Records way back when. It is a lazy comparison to say his sound is a mixture of Nick Cave and Johnny Cash, but it is a comparison everyone else has made so I will too. I would add that it is proper "boom-chicka-boom" era Johnny Cash here, not the American Recordings version. As you can tell from this track.

"I Am The Boss Man" - Mr Plow

Mr Plow sets us up nicely for the other big name act in this selection, Southern Culture On The Skids. If you ever get the chance to see them live you should take it. They are the only band I have ever seen that called women onto the stage and got them to hurl pieces of fried chicken into the audience while at the same time doing the shimmy (or it may have been the frug or the jerk - I was too busy dodging flying chicken to be sure).

Their new album, "Zombified", is even less new than Willie Nile or Mr Plow. Most of the tracks were originally released in Australia in 1998, but they have added some new songs and put them all out on Kudzu Records just in time for Halloween. To get you in the mood, here is the title track.

"Zombified" - Southern Culture On The Skids

SCOTS are also responsible for one of the greatest party songs ever made. This one. With the mariachi band and the Raul Malo lookalike on accordion it is everything "Dance The Night Away" should have been.

Another Macedonian Monday

Before we get to the business of the day, a brief cultural update for you. The Polymath Gina Birch (The Raincoats, artist, filmmaker etc etc) has a new exhibition on at Gallery 46 in London. I popped along for the opening afternoon on Saturday and was privileged to get a guided tour from Gina herself. As a fanboy of longstanding, I swooned.

Now I don't know much about art but I know what I like, and I like this a lot. Some works relate to Gina's early days in The Raincoats, including a room recreating their old squat and this painting called "Knitting Before Soundcheck". The exhibition runs until 3 November, and I recommend a visit if you are in the area, or even if you're not. 

Now on to the main business of the day. In the last of our short series on Macedonian music we feature a couple of albums I spent some scouring Skopje for unsuccessfully only to discover I could get them for next to nothing at home. As can you.

When preparing for these work trips to exotic locations I try to do a bit of research into local acts that sound like they might be worth checking out and then take a list with me when visiting the record shops. 

While doing this for Macedonia I came across a number of references to the two "Makedonski Dokument" compilation albums from 1994 and 1995 which brigaded together the best of the Macedonian underground from the early 1980s onwards.

I searched high and low for them there with no luck. It was only when I returned home that I discovered they were reissued in 2015 and are now available on the Bandcamp site of the Skopje-based Trot label on a very generous "name your own price" offer. 

You can click here for links to Volume 1 and Volume 2, and below for a track from each. The rumour is that the Xavier Acid track recounts the tale of a visit to the Balkans by our very own Walter (no doubt enjoying one of the good times in his life). 

"Istata Sostojba" - Padot na Vizantija

"Walter Go Brani Sarajevo" - Xavier Acid

For the video we are going back to Gina and her old pals (although you don't get to see a great deal of Gina herself). 

Different Disco

I am sure those of you who love the golden era of disco - and who doesn't - will instantly recognise all of the classic disco hits being covered in today's post. Being intoxicated by these groovy sounds I am even willing to offer some sort of prize for the first person to identify correctly the four originals. If you are in the UK I will send you a dodgy CD I no longer want; if you are elsewhere let me know where elsewhere is and I will try to come up with an appropriately themed post dedicated especially to you. Now if that doesn't tempt you, I'm not surprised.

The first two selections are from Thailand, and can be found on "Zud Rang Maa", an excellent compilation of Thai funk and disco from the 1970s and 1980s that came out last year. The other two are from India, and I nicked them from the marvellous Ponytone website, which has enormous amounts of that sort of thing.

"Rus Pu Tin" - Panadda Chayapark

"Chown Tur Ten Rum" - Pranee Thanasri

"Chupke Kaun Aya" - Usha Uthup

"Aaj Sanam Mujhe" - Usha Uthup

As a special bonus, from Ponytone but also fromThailand, here are Preechapone Bunnag and Pranee Nakarawong with their beautiful rendition of "Emotion". Not strictly disco, I know, but it was written by the Bee Gees. In my opinion, this version knocks Samantha Sang's effort into a cocked hat.

"Emotion" - Preechapone Bunnag and Pranee Nakarawong

I don't know about you, but wouldn't it be great to hear Preechaponne & Pranee take on some of the great duets of that era, like "Guilty" and "Reunited". Or, best of all, this one.

Warning - Newness!

Unusually for 27 Leggies we are making a change from the usual diet of Tsonga Disco, Thai funk, Hungarian garage bands and assorted old codgers to bring you some new music by new acts. Don't panic - this will just be a temporary aberration. Not only that, I am trying out some new technology as well - I suspect this will also prove to be temporary.

Apart from getting to know you, our wonderful readers around the world, the main benefit of running a music blog is that nice people send you free music. I have read posts by some bloggers complaining about being inundated with e-mails sending them stuff, which strikes me as churlish in the extreme. It's free music. How can that possibly be a bad thing?

27 Leggies is only a modest endeavour (although I prefer to think of it as "niche"), but despite that I receive a steady stream of links and downloads. Now most of them aren't my cup of tea, to be honest, but every so often something turns up that I really like and that I would probably never have got to hear otherwise. Last week that happened twice.

First we have the "Death" E.P. by Afterlife Parade, which was released last week and is available on iTunes and Bandcamp. Afterlife Parade is known to his Mum as Quinn Erwin, and this is his response to a series of losses in his life and the lives of those around him. He describes "Death" as "deep, dark and atmospheric", which sums it up better than I can. There is a second EP due out in April called "Rebirth" which, by contrast, will apparently be "upbeat, percussive and a bit electronic".

I have listened to the EP three times now and I like it more each time. To "deep, dark and atmospheric" I would add "emotional without ever tipping over into melodramatic". My two favourite tracks are "Simple" and this one, "Arrows Fly". The guitar, cello, drums and prairie winds work really well together and the lyrics draw you in as well - clearly a metaphor for something I can't quite put my finger on.

"Arrows Fly"



Speaking of metaphors I don't quite get but I'm happy to keep listening to until I do, next up is "Alarms Ring Out" by The Daydream Club. They are a vaguely folkie English duo - Paula Walker and Adam Pickering - whose debut album "Overgrown" was released late last year on Poco Poco Records. On first listen this is probably my favourite track. The harmonies are good throughout the album but work particularly well here. It reminds me a lot of Hem, which can't be bad.

"Alarms Ring Out"



After giving them both that build-up, let's hope I haven't buggered the technology up completely and you can actually hear them. As a back-up, here is another folkie tune built around a mystical metaphor.



They were never really the same after Adge Cutler passed on.

Ernie's African Odyssey Pt 19 - Esawtini

I'm running a bit behind on the blog this week - I had people staying over who seemed to think I needed to spend time with them instead of writing posts - so instead of the usual preparatory fluff we're heading straight to Africa. Eswatini to be precise.

It is a country I have visited a few times, although not for ages. For a few years in the mid 1970s my family lived in the north of the KwaZulu-Natal province of South Africa about 100 miles from the border with Swaziland (as it was then called), and we had a couple of enjoyable family holidays there. I also visited in the 1990s when my sister was working as a doctor in a small rural hospital 30 miles from the border, way up in the Lubombo mountains.

If you have tuned in expecting the usual perfectly curated blend of sounds then you are in for a bit of a disappointment. This episode is a real mish-mash. And it starts with a bit of cheating.

Zacks Nkosi  is widely considered to be one of the founding fathers of Southern African jazz for his work with the Jazz Maniacs, the African Swingsters and others in the 1940s and 1950s. While he was an ethnic Swazi he was actually born in KwaZula-Natal in 1918, not very far from where we used to live. It is estimated that roughly half the Swazi people are born and live in South Africa.

I decided to include Bra Zacks today because frankly we were a bit short of contenders for Eswatini, and because there is so much competition for places in the South African post that - as great as he was - he wasn't likely to make the shortlist. If you like what you hear below, you can find a reasonably priced compilation of his solo work on Bandcamp.

From smooth jazz we move to more traditional Swazi sounds featuring the makhoyan and umtshingosi, which as you know are the Swazi bow and bark flute respectively.  They are showcased on the 2014 album "Akuna'nkomo" by Gogo Mphila & Phayinaphu Mncini (also available on Bandcamp as are all today's featured albums). I hope this will satisfy George's recent demands for more flute.

I don't know what the opposite of 'seamless' is - seamful? - but whatever the word is it can be used to describe this next transition. From Gogo & Phayinaphu we go to Dusty & Stones, three times winners of Eswatini's prestigious Best Country Music Artists of the Year award and now the subjects of a much acclaimed documentary which came out last year.

Off the back of the documentary Dusty & Stones made their debut at the Grand Ol' Opry a month ago - which must be a dream come true for any country musician - and have reissued their 2009 album "Mooihoek Country Fever", from which today's selection comes.

For a long time those three were all I had. The only other music from Eswatini I could find was lots of house and amapiano which did nothing for me. I could have included some but I am incapable of judging what is good and what is bad when it comes to that sort of thing.

Fortunately I was saved by the Lubombo Community Radio station when it was in the process of saving itself. Back in 2013 the station enlisted the help of nine local acts and released an album to raise some funds to enable them to buy much needed equipment. 

I could have chosen to include pretty much any of the acts on the album as the overall standard is very good, but I opted for the Happy Sisters because we have not included any female artists yet and Plateau Roots for the Mandatory African Reggae. Enjoy!

"Zavolo" - Zacks Nkosi

"Ungadza Nimdzalakangaka" - Gogo Mphila & Phayinaphu Mncini 

"Mooihoek For Me Will Never Be The Same" - Dusty & Stones

"Zandile" - Happy Sisters

"Jah Rastafari" - Plateau Roots

Dusty & Stones are doing well, but they are not the shiniest Swazi star on the scene right now. That honour going to Uncle Waffles. She (no typo) is a DJ and record producer whose single "Tanzania" topped the South African charts last year and has since toured globally, in the process becoming the first amapiano artist to play Coachella.

We kick off the video section with her smash hit. It isn't my cup of tea really, but it is good to know she is out there smashing the avuncularchy one waffle at a time.

Pun Fun 1: The Contenders

Ladies and gentlemen, its the moment that you've all been waiting for. Voting is now open in the inaugural Pun Fun competition.

Readers were challenged to come up with a sports related pun in a song title. Ten brave souls did so, to whom many thanks. I added in one of my own to turn it up to 11 in Spinal Tap style.

Voting is open to anyone not just those of you who entered (but if you did enter please don't vote for yourself - you won't be given any points if you do). Even the bots from Singapore are free to join in as long as they don't spoil their ballots by demanding puns about dragon boat racing.

Let me know your top three in order of preference. I will then award 5 points for your first choice, 3 for second and 1 for third and we will see where we end up.

You can either submit your votes in the comments section or email them to leggies27@hotmail.co.uk if you prefer to preserve the sanctity of the secret ballot. The deadline is next Saturday (22 November) and we'll announce the results a week today.

Here are the contenders, listed alphabetically by artist. 

1. 'Walk Like A Wrestling Man' - The Bangles
2. 'Maiden Heaven' - Be Bop Deluxe
3. 'Lacrosse The Universe' - The Beatles
4. 'Sgt Pepper's Lonely Darts Club Band' - The Beatles
5. 'Scrum Love' - Bob Marler & The Wailers
6. 'Clubthumping' - Chumbawumba
7. 'Croquet Fred' - Errol Dunkley
8. 'Satan Rejected My Goal' - Morrissey
9. 'Can't Stand Luge-ing You' - The Police
10. 'The Boy With Willie Thorne In His Side' - The Smiths
11. 'I Kabaddi Anything But My Love' - The Stylistics

Good luck everyone. Dillinger, the disguised Duran Duran and I all have our fingers crossed that you will do well.

"Big Score" - Dillinger

New And New Old Releases

I don't know if it is Autumn release schedule time in Record Label Land, but for whatever reason my inbox has been flooded with fantastic freebies over the last couple of weeks. Some of them are from our reliable friends at Reviewshine, and we'll get to them later in the week (including at least one real treat). Today we have the best of the rest.

We'll start with some very welcome re-releases. I am sure many of you are fans of Swedish pop titans Acid House Kings. They celebrate twenty years of melodic marvellousness this year and to mark the event Labrador Records have today reissued three of their albums: "Advantage Acid House" (1997), "Mondays are like Tuesdays and Tuesdays are like Wednesdays" (2002) and "Sing Along With Acid House Kings" (2005). From that last album here is "This Heart Is A Stone". You'll want to get all three of them though.

"This Heart Is A Stone" - Acid House Kings

Next an even older reissue courtesy of Tompkins Square who, if I had a Label of the Year Award, would be the front-runners for the title. They have put some great stuff out this year - His Golden Messenger, the Michael Chapman tribute "Oh Michael, Look What You've Done", and now this. "This" being "Ever Changing Minstrel" by Bill Wilson, available for the first time since 1973. If you read Uncut you may have seen the review which explains the alleged circumstances in which it was made (in brief Bill turned up uninvited at Bob Johnston's house one night, played him some songs and Bob rang up the cream of Nashville session men and said "Let's do the show right here"). I am not sure I entirely believe the story but it doesn't really matter. It's a very good record.

"The Good Ship Society" - Bill Wilson

Another regular source of goodies is Noisetrade, and right now you can pick up some fine free samplers from a couple of old favourites of mine. Tift Merritt has her new album "Travelling Alone" coming out in early October, which is also when Iris Dement releases "Sing The Delta", her first album for eight years. Judging by the samplers it sounds like both albums are going to be well up to their usual standards.

"Sweet Spot" - Tift Merritt

"Go On Ahead And Go Home" - Iris Dement

We'll finish off with an act that is new to me, and fairly new to the world generally I would guess. They are from down Bristol way and they are called Tidy Street. They have recently put their first demos up on Bandcamp and they are not bad at all. Who they remind you of rather depends on what I will pompously call your cultural frame of reference. They tell me they have been compared to Willy Mason and Noah & The Whale, which means nothing to an old fart like me. This track sounds to me like the resurrection of The Chefs, which probably means nothing to young whippersnappers like them.

"Love Is A Verb" - Tidy Street

 Speaking of Bristol, here's Johnny of that ilk.

Six Soulful Barbaras

As it says in the title. Here are six soul singers called Barbara. Maybe they could form a self-help group to deal with their romantic woes. Barbara A certainly seems to have a potential solution to some of the others' dilemmas.

"I Know (You Don't Love Me No More)" - Barbara George

"I Don't Want To Lose You" - Barbara Mason

"Messin' With My Mind" - Barbara Carr

"I'll Bake Me A Man" - Barbara Acklin

"Don't Be Cruel" - Barbara Lynn

"Say You Need It" - Barbara Perry