Playback: Funky Bollywood

This is a mix I done a couple of years ago, mainly culled from a massive stack of bollywood soundtracks I found on the bootmarket.

Latta Mangeshkar – Othon Men Aisi Baat
Kishore Kumar – Rafta Rafta
Asha Bhosle – Too Yar Mera
Asha Bhosle - Sundar Hoob Aesi Main
Mohammed Rafi – Sundar Ho Aesi Main
Asha Bhosle, Mubarak Begum & Chorus – Jab Ishq Kahin Ho Jata Hai
Mohammed Rafi – Jaan Pahechan Ho
Asha Bhosle & Mahendra Kapoor – One Two Three Baby
Lata Mangeshkar, Asha Bhosle & Mahendra Kapoor – Pyar Zindagi Hai
Asha Bhosle – Yeh Mera Dil Yaar Ka Diwana

here

Toots & The Maytals - Do The Boogaloo / Bim Today, Bam Tomorrow

Already changing hands for daft money on the day of release, Trojan's offering for 2011's Record Store Day is a heavyweight 7" with two alternate takes on a couple of Toots' best loved tracks: the A side Do The Boogaloo is a version of the genre naming Do the Reggae, and the flip is a slightly funkier cut of follow up single Bim Today, Bam Tomorrow.

to avoid having to pay ruinous ebay prices, here they are.

Do the Boogaloo

Bim Today, Bam Tomorrow

get 'em while they're hot!

Freestyle!

A fairly random new selection: from 1920s country through ska, ragga & hip hop. and Grace, of course.

The tracklist:

Reeves White County Ramblers – Rattler Treed a Possum
Ralph Stanley & the Clinch Mountain Boys – Shouting on the Hills of Glory
Ray Charles – Blue Moon of Kentucky
Goofers – Flip Flop Fly
Sly Stone – I Ain’t Got Nobody
Cimarons – Time Passage
Derrick Morgan – Conquering Ruler
Nora Dean – Night Food Reggae
Taxi Gang – Maxi Taxi
Aswad – Warrior Recharge
Home T, Cocoa Tea, Cutty Ranks – The Going is Rough
Cutty Ranks – Stick it Up
Shabba Ranks & KRS1 – The Jam
London Posse – Pass the Rizla
Del tha Funkee Homosapien – Burnt
Gangstarr – Now you’re Mine
Electrocute – I Need a Freak
Nona Hendryx – Living on the Border
Skritti Polliti – Boom! There She Was (dub)
Grace Jones – Nipple to the Bottle

link here

Afrominimal 2 - It's more than just Nigeria

Here's a second mix of African funk: the mood is somewhat different from the previous mix, and is less Nigeria-centred - Mali, Zimbabwe, South Africa and Ghana are all represented, and Nana Vasconcelos is from Brazil... same deal though - the mood is repetitive, driving and groovy throughout. enjoy.

Nana Vasconcelos – Paleto
King Sunny Ade & His African Beats – Synchro System
The Super Rail Band of the Buffet Hotel de la gare de Bamako - Foliba
The Real Sounds – Ozweli Ngai Mbanda
Assagai – Barazinbar
Orchestra Jazira – Love
Bunny Mack – Love You For Ever
Hugh Masakela – U-Dwi
Manu dibango – Abele Dance

here

North by North West - Re-Up

As requested, the North by Northwest comp has been re-upped.

here

Lovers & Rockers: A Reggae Selection

I'd intended this to be an all-British Lovers Rock, Roots & Dub mix, but for whatever reason it didn't work out like that - a few interlopers crept in. Still, I don't like to be a purist for the sake of it, and the results are pretty fucking classy. And it's still mostly British.

All from original 12s, except where stated. I've given the record label, and the year it was released if it was on the label too!

Janet Kay – Silly Games (Pressure 12” 1984)
Winsome – Home Breaker (Fine Style 12” 1986)
Charmain Burnett – So I Can Love You (Hawkeye 12”)
Cornell Campbell – Talk About My Baby (Third World 12”)
Blood Sisters – Ring My Bell: One Blood Dub (Ballistic 12” 1979)
U-Roy – Trenchtown Rock (from Virgin LP ‘Dread in a Babylon’)
Bob Marley & The Wailers – Natural Mystic (Daddy Kool 12”)
Session in Session – Bad Things (Hawkeye 12” 1981)
Dennis Brown – No More Will I Rome (Time 12”)
Jah Screw – Dance Dub (Time 12”)
Jammy – Jah Love Rockers Dub (from Blood & Fire LP ‘dub gone crazy’)
D-Roy Band – Trenchtown Skank (D-Roy 12” 1978)
Cultural Roots – Mr Boss Man Version (Germain 12”)
U- Brown – River John Mountain (Virgin 12” 1978)
Jah Shaka – Very, Very Good Dub (from Shaka LP ‘Commandments of Dub 5’)
Aswad – Warrior Charge (from Island LP ‘Showcase’ 1981)
Natural Ites – Jah Works Mamma (CSA 12” 1983)

Can't get enough of that Blood Sisters dub. It's about as good as a song can be...

get it here

AfroMinimal

A recent haul of African (mainly Nigerian) funk from oxfam reminded me how groovy a lot of this stuff is: they get a riff going, and then play variations on it for 15 minutes, building a minimal hypnotic groove over the course of the song. I've been listening to this shit non-stop ever since, so thought a short mix was in order... So I present for your listening pleasure, AfroMinimal: funky, percussive & repetitive music from west Africa. I hope you like it.

The tracks are:

1: Gasper Lawal - Abio'sun ni

2: King Sunny Ade - The Message

3: Dele Abiodun - Alalo Moko

4: Dele Abiodun - Alalo Moko (Adawa Super Dub)

5: Tunde Williams & Africa 70 - Mr Big Mouth

6: Joe Mensah - Africa is Home

7: TP Orchestra Poly-Rhythmo De Cotonou Dahomey - Minsato Le, Mi Dayihome

linky

re-up here

nice & easy

I've got a difficult relationship with obscurity when it comes to music: songs I think no-one's ever heard of turn out to be massive anthems, and songs I assume are household staples rarely are. Some of the songs here will be familiar, and some not. probably the other way round than I expected... but they all sound great in the sunshine. yup.

Starts in a psychedelic soul kind of flavour, moves on to (I guess) psychedelic rock/folk, reggae and then some Grace.

tracks are:

1. Jan Hammer - Don't You Know
2. 24 Carat Black - Theme
3. James Last - Inner City Blues
4. Odetta - Hit or Miss
5. Psychic TV - cold steel
6. Menehan Street Band - Make The Road by Walking
7. Scott Walker - The Old Man's Back Again
8. D.R Hooker - Forge Your Own Chains
9. Cinematic Orchestra - All Things
10. Electrelane - The Valleys
11. The Tamlins - Smiling Faces Sometimes
12. Sir Collins - Exodus
13. Susan Cadogan - Nice and Easy
14. Camille Yardborough - Take Yo' Praise
15. Grace Jones - La Vie En Rose

you can find it here

System 7 - Alpha Wave (Plastikman Acid House Mix)

System 7 are generally shit, but Hillage has chosen good people to remix him on occasion... the high watermark for both S7 and Richie Hawtin is contained within this nigh-on 20 minute acid techno freakout - Hawtin's remix (in his Plastikman alter-ego) of the rather lame trance plodder Alpha Wave. Everyone should have it in their lives. and now you do.

Beloved by techno djs everywhere who need a shit/beer/blowjob.

here

The People of House - Chicago House Mix

A 16 minute megamix of early chicago house music... starts with Mr Fingers' peerless Can U Feel It, then off into uncharted territories (at least as far as I go - I've got quite a few 87 chi-town classics, but I only know the first track).

minimal, percussive and dark, just like chicago should be. Strangely, it seems to be available fairly cheap - discogs marketplace has it for only a quid, so snap one up...

I'd be delighted if anyone can identify any of the tracks...

download

Various Artists - North by North-west

I spotted this on the carboot, in a box of fairly unremarkable LPs: a white label compilation with the words 'rave1' and 'rave2' scrawled in biro on the two sides. Having never heard of any of the artists represented, I guessed it was worth a 50p punt on the off-chance of it being ok (or brilliant, although that's far rarer).

Normally on these occasions, the internet is my friend for finding out about the artists - but there's nothing - no mention of the album anywhere, and only two of the artists had any presence online at all: Manc rap crew Stylus Control released the song included here as a 12", and Cola Nile's voice is familiar to millions who've enjoyed Voodoo Ray (I think - even this is pretty vague). But that's it - there's no info on any of the other artists on the compilation anywhere... I think I've dated it to 1990, but can't be completely sure...

Info on any of these artists would be awesome, so please comment if you know 'em - the tracklisting is:

rave1
Nikki Jackson: Awesome
Antonio: Paradiso
Random Numbers: No Ego
The Menace Orchestra: Saxophrenia
Stylus Control: Bring the Horns Back

rave2
Cola Nile: Call Me
Tough Company: Nowhere to Run
Billy Boy Junior: Infatuation
Asay: Sunburst
0898: Hotline
DKBS: Sequence

For me, standout tracks are Random Numbers - No Ego (an expansive end-of-night instrumental), Stylus Control - Bring the Horns Back (big & beaty hip-hop dancefloor fodder - finishes with a fine manc accented lad saying 'nice one, that's sweet that is') Asay - Sunburst (rave stacks vs squidgy acid) and DKBS - Sequence (burbling Detroit synth, unexpected electro break + piano stabs = win). It's all worth a listen though, and strikes me as a fascinating document of underground electronic music in the north west after the acid house boom... but don't take my word for it.

RE-UPPED AGAIN: