Saturday 26 November 2011

Betty Harris - In the Saddle (1980)



Here's a Saturday morning treat for y'all! Forty minutes of fierce and funky R&B from the Queen of New Orleans Deep Soul. These songs are raw and heartfelt and Betty's incredible voice are perfectly complimented by Allen Toussaint's gritty production.




Tracklist:

01 Ride Your Pony
02 Show It
03 What A Sad Feeling
04 Take Care Of Your Love
05 I'm Gonna Git Ya
06 Nearer To You
07 What'd I Do Wrong
08 Trouble With My Lover
09 Twelve Red Roses
10 I'm Evil Tonight
11 Cry To Me
12 I'll Be A Liar
13 There's A Break In The Road
14 All I Want Is You
15 I Can't Last Much Longer
16 Mean Man

Get it HERE.

Wednesday 23 November 2011

Street Sounds Crucial Electro - Various Artists


This is a really classy collection of hot electro-funk tunes from 1984. Should bring back some sweet memories for all you folks old enough to remember Afrika Bambaataa, polyester tracksuits and body popping.

This music sounds so fresh, futuristic and progressive its easy to forget that these tracks were produced in some of America's most impoverished ghettos - the Bronx, Detroit, Washington D.C. - at a time when the Reagan's brutal individualism and predatory capitalism were deepening the divisions between communities and between the haves and have-nots. Fortunately, people find ways to express themselves even in the most desperate of times and this music is a testament to that; as Twilight 22 put it:
Huh, deep in the city people live in the streets
You got to be careful of everyone you meet
There’s lootin and shootin’, people stabbin’ and grabbin’
The innocent bystander the police are grabbin’

Ain’t it a pity ‘cause you hate the city
But the way you feel ain’t no big deal
You’ve got to survive and that the real nitty gritty
You go uptown, downtown, you’ve got to turn your life around (Huh)

Back in the jungle a man is free
Free from the street, from captivity
Break out, break in, it doesn’t matter where you’ve been
Snake pit, lion’s den, you need someone to be your friend
My first exposure to this stuff came when I was a schoolboy in 1984 when Channel 4 (I think) showed this fabulous documentary:



Tracklist:

01 Tyrone - Brunson The Smurf
02 Warp 9 - Light Years Away
03 Warp 9 - Nunk (New Wave Funk)
04 Man Parrish - Hip Hop, Be Bop (Don't Stop)
05 Herbie Hancock - Rockit
06 Twilight 22 - Electric Kingdom
07 Cybotron - Clear
08 Hashim - Al-Naafiysh (The Soul)
09 Captain Rock - Return Of Captain Rock
10 Time Zone - Wild Style

Get it HERE.

Monday 7 November 2011

An Evening with Snap Crackle & Pop Volume 1



It's strange how elastic time has become, or maybe has always been. I've been posting here at Snap, Crackle and Pop for just over three years now so I thought it was HIGH TIME for a little mix - around my musical world in 75 minutes or so.








Here is the tracklist, and you'll find that clicking on the artist's name will take you to the original post. Handy eh?

Tracklist:

01 Nico Pourvu & His Romanian Orchestra - Doina de la Titu (Romania)
02 Manitas de Plata - Maure Eglise (Spain)
03 Unknown Artist - Mahjoula (Morocco)
04 Sabah - Dakhlak Tell ou Hakina (Lebanon)
05 Archie Shepp - Blase (USA)
06 Stock, Hausen & Walkman - Gruel (UK)
07 Erkin Koray - Cemalim (Turkey)
08 Simon Jurad - Ambiance Nous (Martinique)
09 R.D. Burman - Dum Maro Dum (India)
10 M'Pongo Love - Ede (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
11 Tabu Ley - Dialogue (Democratic Republic of the Congo)
12 Ann Peebles - Do I Need You? (USA)
13 The Peddlers - On a Clear Day (UK)
14 King Sunny Ade - Akura Nile (Nigeria)
15 Tony Tuff - Jah Almighty (Jamaica)
16 Marehemu George Mukabi - Bibi Mama Ngani Mzuri (Kenya)
17 Los Guaraguao - Juventud Adelante (Mexico)
18 Conjunto Sol Del Peru - Paras Shayan (Peru)
19 Bongwater - One So Black (USA)
20 Maalem El Mansoum - Uled Bambara (Morocco)

Get it HERE.