Check Yourself

Roots time, with a cool Horace Andy tune and a wicked deejay version thereof by wildman Jah Woosh. Check out that wonderful deep bass, my brethren. To be found on an amazing collection of Keith Hudson productions called Studio Kinda Cloudy.

Horace Andy - Don't Think About Me
Jah Woosh - I'm Alright

Bag Or Trainload

"It's so sweet, yeah, yeah, I can't stop smokin' yeah..." Presenting a rootsy six pack. Have a toke of collie herb, why don't you. It's cool. Light that chalice.

Tommy McCook - One Trainload Of Collie
Hopeton Lewis - Cool Collie
Sly & The Revolutionaries - Collie
Horace Andy - Collie Herb
Dillinger - One Bag Of Collie
King Tubby & The Aggrovators - Collie Dub

Alright Now

Just another six pack for the weekend then, ok? With a little something for everybody: gospel, blues, swamp blues, roots reggae, two-tone and trash rock. Alright? Alright.

Laura Rivers - That's Alright

Houston Stackhouse & Carey 'Ditty' Mason - That's Alright
Slim Harpo - That's Alright Baby

Horace Andy & Earl Flute - Don't Think About Me (I'm Alright)
The Specials - Doesn't Make It Alright

Pussy Galore - Alright

Darkest Light

Presenting an illuminating ten pack. Let it shine over you.

Shirley Ann Lee - There's A Light MP3

Todd Rundgren - I Saw The Light MP3

Horace Andy - Love Is The Light MP3

Television - Guiding Light MP3

Common - The Light MP3

The Smiths - There Is A Light That Never Goes Out MP3

The Lafayette Afro Rock Band - Darkest Light MP3

Holopaw - Losing Light MP3

The Winkies - Put Out The Light MP3

Little Walter & His Jukes - Boom, Boom, Out Goes The Light MP3

Wild Weekend Vol. 56

Another Wild Weekend has started on the good foot, as I just bought me a ticket to see Patti Smith play an acoustic gig in an Amsterdam church in June. I'm cool, so on to the music posthaste. Edition #56 brings you brand new sounds by the Futurebirds and Yuck, and oldies to treasure courtesy of Son House and Vera Hall. Have a wild one.

Let's warm up with a track from one of the finest roots reggae albums known to man: In The Light ('77) by Horace Andy. What a voice. Even the nightingales and the skylarks are green with envy. If you don't own it already, be sure to buy the reissue on the Blood & Fire label, as that one throws in the equally sharp dub version as cooked up by King Jammy. Pioneering field recorder John Lomax, who recorded her for the Library Of Congress, once said that Vera Hall (1902-1964) had the loveliest voice he ever put on tape. Got your attention now? Then check out this short and very sweet rendition of I Been Drinkin'. "Going down to 5th Street and 29 Main, looking for that woman that sells cocaine..."

Horace Andy - Problems MP3

Vera Hall - I Been Drinkin' MP3

"Summer sun says get out more, I need you..." Or is that "Someone says..."? Prefer the former, so it's probably the latter. Doesn't matter really, as somewhere between Pavement and Nirvana, London four piece Yuck rules supreme. Recently released on what I thought was a blues label only: Fat Possum records. Check it out, pop kids, while we play some heavy heavy blues next. "I got a letter this mornin', I say how do you reckon it read? You know it said hurry, hurry, how come the gal you love is dead..." That's the legendary Son House, taking no prisoners just after his early sixties rediscovery. "So I grabbed up my suitcase and took off down the road, when I got there she was layin' on a coolin' board..." Still chilling after all these years.

Yuck - Get Away MP3

Son House - Death Letter MP3

More fresh sounds? Ok, make way for the Futurebirds from Athens, Georgia, who've just released a new ep on the Autumntone label. Laidback Crazy Horse vibes never go out of style I guess, and that's cool with me. Their understated Dirty D is a typical example of a song that grows on you. And to top off another Wild Weekend, here's a country duo from hell: Jello Biafra and Mojo Nixon. They don't care if it rains or freezes, as their plastic Jesus is firmly glued upon the dashboard of their car. Here they come now. Toot toot!

Futurebirds - Dirty D MP3

Jello Biafra & Mojo Nixon - Plastic Jesus MP3

Wild Weekend Vol. 7

Wild Weekend is here again, featuring the iPod as the rebellious jukebox of modern times. The shuffle mode decides which sixpack of songs you´re gonna get. Variety´s the name of the game. Check it out, y´all.

First we go back to 1958, with a rockabilly scorcher by Sammy Gowans. Sammy finds himself rockin´ all alone, "wigglin´ like a wigglin´ dove", until he finds somebody new... Some really wild guitar work here. Want more? Get Cat Talk, a dynamite compilation of obscure sides from the great Imperial label. Fast forward now to 1991, and the triphop gospel according to Massive Attack. One Love stems from the still stunning Blue Lines album and features Jamaican nightingale Horace Andy on vocals. A classic.

Sammy Gowans - Rockin´ By Myself MP3

Massive Attack - One Love MP3

"That token draw on your cigarette, that well-known face in the fire..." That´s Peter Hammill, one of the few prog rockers I can stand. For a good overview of his post Van Der Graaf Generator work, the Love Songs compilation is a wonderful place to start. Next up: Monk. Need I say more? There were many amazing piano players in jazz, but no one is as special in my book as the man called Thelonious. Here he´s doing his thing alone in San Francisco. Do I hear jaws drop? Good.

Peter Hammill - Ophelia MP3

Thelonious Monk - Blue Monk MP3

The Deal sisters travel a country road in this melancholy Breeders gem from Last Splash. Carrie Bradley shines on fiddle. Drivin´ On 9 is a cover of ultra-obscure Youngstown, Ohio band Ed's Redeeming Qualities. I´ve never heard the original, so if anyone can help out I´d be much obliged. And as a grand finale, here´s the black & white pride of Coventry. I read somewhere that the Specials are touring again at the moment, but I´m glad I caught the 2 Tone experience back when Jerry Dammers & co. were still in their prime. Those where the days, rude boys and girls.

The Breeders - Drivin´ On 9 MP3

The Specials - Blank Expression MP3