I do so love a nice sitar and a cup of tea.
More homeboy music with Wonders of the World. Totally Long Beach and a worthy successor to the sublime Sublime.
Now, where's the sun?
Groove Armada's latest is pretty eclectic, from the Hendriks-inspired "Purple Haze" to the hiphoppy, Neenha Cherry vocalled "Groove is On", to the grrriindin' "Final Shakedown" and the soulful, chilled out "Hands of Time". "Remember" is classic down-beat, though a bit derivitive for my taste.
A good mix, though - very enjoyable...
A collection of great soul and motown hits in their short radio versions.
Aqua Bassino - a mixed bag of allsorts from jass fusion to African dub to electronica. Nice.
The Sublime Archive is an mp3 collection chock full of Sublime's live and bootleg recordings. What's more it all seems completely legit.
Total politically-incorrect yummy goodness. oh yes.
Elv1s - 30 No.1 HitsUrban Funk Breaks Vol.3 is, hmmm... OK, I guess. Very electronica, ravey sort of stuff. OK to drown out the sound of silence in my office, but not much else.
Trip Do Brasil Vol.1 Compilation.
Pretty cool Latin Electronica. Nothing spectacular, but definitely worth a fiver at Fopp.
Santana's follow-up to Supernatural has received rather a lot of criticism and when I first listened to it, I admit to have been somewhat disappointed. But now I find myself playing it over and over.
Santana's distinctive guitar underlays a variety of vocal styles and rather than pointing out the album's inconsistency, seems rather to pull it together. I love it.
Sublime's first album, 40oz to Freedom is such a classic and really shows their Long Beach roots. I figure they hung out in the Seal Beach reggae club (whose name I can't remember) when they weren't playing the barbeque circuit on the peninsula and Belmont Shore in the late 80s.
5446/Ball and Chain is such a great track.
Apparently they were responsible for the July 4th "riot" on the peninsula in 1988. The 4th used to be huge - maybe still is - 'cause you could sit on the peninsula and watch the fireworks across the bay over the Queen Mary. It was completely packed - wall to wall people and coolers, 'though normally that beach was pretty quiet.
I lived on the other side, facing the canal and so spent that 4th partying away from all the madness and never saw them. Figures...
Classic Blow-Up from Blow-Up and Sanctuary Records. This is actually a solo voyage from Nasser Bouzida of Big Boss Man who wrote, performed and recorded all the material himself and very fab it is too. Da Boss Man plays bass guitar, bells, bongos (obviously), clavinet, congas, cowbells (moo), drums, farfisa, flute, guiro (huh?), guitar, organ, piano, synth, tambourine, timbales and vibes. Holy, flippin christ on a bike!
Now here's a guy I want to meet - Big Boss Man at the Metro just got even more appealling...
I actually bought this album for it's cover - don't laugh - this is the second time it's worked for me! Wacky, downbeat yet uplifting, Lemonjelly.ky is great to listen to at work, though sometimes I wonder what kind of subliminal messages I'm recieving. Some people may find some of it a bit too sweet, especially the baby-rap in "Homage to Patagonia".
I can't tell you how much I love this "compendium of retro grooves". A totally spot-on mix of funk and northern soul. Some obscure tunes from well known people like an amazing "B" side from a 1966 Bowie, and the funky title tune from Donovan (yes, really - another "B" side) and some well-known tunes like All Along the Watchtower done by the Brothers and Sisters, a great version of Sunshine of your Love by Long John Baldry or a totally hip take on The Mighty Quinn by Bob Miller and the Millermen. It also features Dancing in the Moonlight and that tune from the Levi's "Twisted" advert.
Very, very funky and loads of Hammond organ. What more could a hippy chick want?
Groovy, man.
Zero 7. Dead sexy and completely gorgeous. What else can I say?
We haven't heard from Talvin Singh for a while, which is a shame, because I like this Indian bhangra/drum'n'bass fusion thing he's got going on with Soundz of the Asian Underground.
Boozoo Bajou. Total mellow, dubby goodness. Night over Manaus is a great mix of bossa nova and a gorgeous hot and humid jungle vibe. Satta means Relax in Jamaican patois. Love it.
Blur's Damon Albarn's virtual band Gorillaz offers up a mixed bag on G-Sides. I love the familiar tracks "19-2000" and "Clint Eastwood" but I can't say I was all that taken by any of the others.
The CD features videos for Clint Eastwood and Rock the House. It annoys me that they auto-load, though.
A good collection of new Latin mixes, most with a mix of samba, house and traditional Latin. Interesting and upbeat. Play it at your next Carnival party.
A nice collection of digitally remastered blues guitar pieces, many of which I wasn't previously familiar with. Any blues compilation that includes Jimi Hendrix is pretty alright in my book, though.
A lovely and breathy experience, punctuated by sweet acoustic guitar. India.Arie reminds me of Erica Badau. Very relaxing, very sexy.
A couple of older albums for a mellow Sunday afternoon. Fugees' The Score is an old favourite, especially the last, multi-lingual version of Fugee-la.
"I don't give a fuck, not a single fuck, not a single solitary fuck, 'cause I don't give a fuck, mother-fucker."
Could lyrics be better than that?
Upbeat California thrashy. Heaven is a Halfpipe is the best known track, but Dealerman and Undercover Freak are worthy of being classics, in my opinion. Brighter Side and Better Daze are both pretty and mainstream. Such a great album.
Some forgettable tracks, but some fab ones as well. Think Shaft with sitar music.
Not every track is great, but there're some real gems including Mundian to Bach Ke by Panjabi MC and Agoraki Mou by Angi Samiou. I'm jealous that my friends Napes and Suz went to the Buddha Bar last time they were in Paris...
Chilled out 2 cd compilation. Mine came with a nice wooden keyring.
Incomparable Cuban soul from Ry Cooder and Ibrahim Ferrer, Compay Segundo, Eliades Ochoa and Ruben Gonzalez. Truly inspriring, especially the touching Dos Gardenas and the sexy El Cuarto de Tula.
