Oct 22, 2008
This strange voice is getting past a joke. It's seven weeks now …
and counting. I've had a few suggestions including chest rub,
applied to the soles of the feet and encased in thick socks. How
totally romantic!
The first respectable frost of the autumn looked good on the meadow this morning.
Struttin' my stuff - Elvin Bishop (California, USA)
From his new album The Blues Rolls On which harks back to Elvin Bishop's roots, paying tribute to the musicians who inspired him and who also helped give him his start. Supported by an all-star cast of blues royalty featuring B.B. King, Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks.
Bishop is a slide guitar great with 45-years of blues under his belt. Rolling Stone has tagged Bishop's music as "raucous," praising his "careening slide and razor-edged bursts, all delivered with unflagging enthusiasm and wit."
www.elvinbishopmusic.com/
www.myspace.com/elvinbishopmusic
I know it couldn't be endorsed in the USA or in the British political establishment right now but something happened yesterday that cheers me to the cockles of my heart. Lots of other things are in a bad shape in our society but it is heartening to see that it is possible for someone have an idea (albeit a witty one), put it into action and strike a chord with far more people than was anticipated.
I noticed a blog post at around 8 o'clock yesterday morning. A campaign had been started to raise £5,500 ($9,250 US) which, when matched by author Richard Dawkins, would be enough money to put adverts onto the side of 30 buses in London for four weeks bearing the slogan "There"s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."
It was hoped that the money would be raised in time for the campaign to run in January. The total was reached two hours later at 10:06 yesterday morning, by 6pm, individual donations, mostly of amounts less than £10, stood at £30,186.71. If you want to see how it is doing now, take a look at www.justgiving.com/atheistbus
The same line - Scott Brunger (Maidstone, UK)
I played another track (What a life) by Scott way back on show 53 in Feb 2007. The sheer restrained eloquence of the song blew me away. This guy needs encouragement and a wider audience - then he can get away from playing covers.
www.myspace.com/scottbrunger
Half asleep - School of Seven Bells (Brooklyn, NY, USA)
I was half asleep last night catching up on some listening and a track came on the Electrical Language podcast (www.electricallanguage.co.uk) that had me out of bed and searching the web for the School of Seven Bells.
When my daughters were young they used to sing in the back of the car using those apparently instinctive "blood” harmonies that siblings seem to find so natural. School of Seven Bells, apart from being named after a mythical South American school for pickpockets comprises guitarist Benjamin Curtis, formerly of Secret Machines with twin sisters Alejandra and Claudia Deheza (formerly with On-Air Library!) The band gets booming beats from laptops, echoing chords from the guitar and the most amazing lilting harmony vocals.
If you liked that you should be able to download it from the link in the shownotes and they have a couple of dates in London next week. Due to a very fortunate co-incidence, and a few urgent calls early this morning, I'll be at the show on Wed 29th at The Social - just off Oxford Street in central London. They are supported by Daniel Land and the Modern Painters.
School of Seven Bells
"Half
Asleep" (mp3)
from "Alpinisms"
(Ghostly International)
Buy at iTunes Pre-Release
Buy at iTunes Music Store
More On This Album
Bouba - Ablaye Cissoko, Volker Goetze (New York and Senegal)
The mutual admiration society that is Volker Goetze and Ablaye Cissoko owes itself to a serendipitous meeting that took place in 2001 at the African-European Jazz Orchestra rehearsals in Saint-Louis, Senegal, where they"d been invited to open for Senegalese legend Youssou N'Dour. Despite any cultural barriers that separated them, the German-born trumpeter and the Senegalese kora player and singer discovered they had much in common, both musically and personally. Their commonalities can be heard on Sira, which is an album that reaffirms the maxim that music is the universal language. The album releases in October 2008 on ObliqSound.
www.ablayecissoko.com
Ablaye Cissoko, Volker
Goetze
"Bouba" (mp3)
from "Sira"
(ObliqSound)
Buy at iTunes Music Store
More On This Album
Glass Corners - Night Artery (Melbourne, Australia)
Despite what your ears tell you, Night Artery is entirely a solo project. Manning all the instruments, Ross Arundale delivers off-kilter, unconventional arrangements laced with cryptic lyrics and dynamic vocals on his debut EP release Capsize your Surroundings.
www.myspace.com/nightartery
www.cdbaby.com/nightartery
Ugly Faces - Ruth Theodore (London, UK)
It has been a while since I've played another track from Worm Food, Ruth Theodore's debut album. 13 tracks of beautifully twisted, political and personal mayhem. Her style of delivery makes you really listen and the effort is well worthwhile. You can get the album as MP3 from Jamendo but do yourself a favour and go to her site and get it in gleaming CD quality for just £9.99
www.ruththeodore.com
www.jamendo.com/en/album/17052
Gabor Kovaks, over at the Electrical Language podcast (www.electricallanguage.co.uk) was complaining on his show 144 that podcasts should be timed to fit with his journey to work which normally takes 40 minutes. But I don't want him to make his to fit my communte (20 seconds max).
Never say never - The Itals (USA)
Going back a bit for the final track. Originally released in 1985 by The Itals, a reggae vocal group formed in 1976 by Alvin "Keith" Porter, Ronnie Davis, and Lloyd Ricketts. Their following release, "Rasta Philosophy," was nominated for a Grammy Award as Best Reggae Album.
The Itals
"Never Say
Never" (mp3)
from "Easy To Catch"
(Rhythm Safari Pty Ltd)
Buy at Rhapsody
More On This Album
The first respectable frost of the autumn looked good on the meadow this morning.
Struttin' my stuff - Elvin Bishop (California, USA)
From his new album The Blues Rolls On which harks back to Elvin Bishop's roots, paying tribute to the musicians who inspired him and who also helped give him his start. Supported by an all-star cast of blues royalty featuring B.B. King, Warren Haynes, Derek Trucks.
Bishop is a slide guitar great with 45-years of blues under his belt. Rolling Stone has tagged Bishop's music as "raucous," praising his "careening slide and razor-edged bursts, all delivered with unflagging enthusiasm and wit."
www.elvinbishopmusic.com/
www.myspace.com/elvinbishopmusic
I know it couldn't be endorsed in the USA or in the British political establishment right now but something happened yesterday that cheers me to the cockles of my heart. Lots of other things are in a bad shape in our society but it is heartening to see that it is possible for someone have an idea (albeit a witty one), put it into action and strike a chord with far more people than was anticipated.
I noticed a blog post at around 8 o'clock yesterday morning. A campaign had been started to raise £5,500 ($9,250 US) which, when matched by author Richard Dawkins, would be enough money to put adverts onto the side of 30 buses in London for four weeks bearing the slogan "There"s probably no God. Now stop worrying and enjoy your life."
It was hoped that the money would be raised in time for the campaign to run in January. The total was reached two hours later at 10:06 yesterday morning, by 6pm, individual donations, mostly of amounts less than £10, stood at £30,186.71. If you want to see how it is doing now, take a look at www.justgiving.com/atheistbus
The same line - Scott Brunger (Maidstone, UK)
I played another track (What a life) by Scott way back on show 53 in Feb 2007. The sheer restrained eloquence of the song blew me away. This guy needs encouragement and a wider audience - then he can get away from playing covers.
www.myspace.com/scottbrunger
Half asleep - School of Seven Bells (Brooklyn, NY, USA)
I was half asleep last night catching up on some listening and a track came on the Electrical Language podcast (www.electricallanguage.co.uk) that had me out of bed and searching the web for the School of Seven Bells.
When my daughters were young they used to sing in the back of the car using those apparently instinctive "blood” harmonies that siblings seem to find so natural. School of Seven Bells, apart from being named after a mythical South American school for pickpockets comprises guitarist Benjamin Curtis, formerly of Secret Machines with twin sisters Alejandra and Claudia Deheza (formerly with On-Air Library!) The band gets booming beats from laptops, echoing chords from the guitar and the most amazing lilting harmony vocals.
If you liked that you should be able to download it from the link in the shownotes and they have a couple of dates in London next week. Due to a very fortunate co-incidence, and a few urgent calls early this morning, I'll be at the show on Wed 29th at The Social - just off Oxford Street in central London. They are supported by Daniel Land and the Modern Painters.
School of Seven Bells "Half
Asleep" (mp3)from "Alpinisms"
(Ghostly International)
Buy at iTunes Pre-Release
Buy at iTunes Music Store
More On This AlbumBouba - Ablaye Cissoko, Volker Goetze (New York and Senegal)
The mutual admiration society that is Volker Goetze and Ablaye Cissoko owes itself to a serendipitous meeting that took place in 2001 at the African-European Jazz Orchestra rehearsals in Saint-Louis, Senegal, where they"d been invited to open for Senegalese legend Youssou N'Dour. Despite any cultural barriers that separated them, the German-born trumpeter and the Senegalese kora player and singer discovered they had much in common, both musically and personally. Their commonalities can be heard on Sira, which is an album that reaffirms the maxim that music is the universal language. The album releases in October 2008 on ObliqSound.
www.ablayecissoko.com
Ablaye Cissoko, Volker
Goetze
"Bouba" (mp3)from "Sira"
(ObliqSound)
Buy at iTunes Music Store
More On This AlbumGlass Corners - Night Artery (Melbourne, Australia)
Despite what your ears tell you, Night Artery is entirely a solo project. Manning all the instruments, Ross Arundale delivers off-kilter, unconventional arrangements laced with cryptic lyrics and dynamic vocals on his debut EP release Capsize your Surroundings.
www.myspace.com/nightartery
www.cdbaby.com/nightartery
Ugly Faces - Ruth Theodore (London, UK)
It has been a while since I've played another track from Worm Food, Ruth Theodore's debut album. 13 tracks of beautifully twisted, political and personal mayhem. Her style of delivery makes you really listen and the effort is well worthwhile. You can get the album as MP3 from Jamendo but do yourself a favour and go to her site and get it in gleaming CD quality for just £9.99
www.ruththeodore.com
www.jamendo.com/en/album/17052
Gabor Kovaks, over at the Electrical Language podcast (www.electricallanguage.co.uk) was complaining on his show 144 that podcasts should be timed to fit with his journey to work which normally takes 40 minutes. But I don't want him to make his to fit my communte (20 seconds max).
Never say never - The Itals (USA)
Going back a bit for the final track. Originally released in 1985 by The Itals, a reggae vocal group formed in 1976 by Alvin "Keith" Porter, Ronnie Davis, and Lloyd Ricketts. Their following release, "Rasta Philosophy," was nominated for a Grammy Award as Best Reggae Album.
The Itals "Never Say
Never" (mp3)from "Easy To Catch"
(Rhythm Safari Pty Ltd)
Buy at Rhapsody
More On This Album