SJDK - "There Was A Time” (Live at the Apollo)

 

This live video is just phenomenally good. Sharon Jones backed by an expanded Dap-Kings, at the Apollo. Rocking a James Brown song. Boom. Off the forthcoming live album out Oct 1st.

Daptone say "Of all the tunes played over the 3 sold-out nights at the World Famous Apollo Theater, SJDK's rendition of the James Brown classic, "There Was a Time", is a jaw-dropping example of how a band in their prime can take a classic and respectfully breathe new life into it, creating a spiritual connection with the crowd.

"It served not only as a fitting tribute to the godfather of soul and the house that put soul on the map, but also as a testament to the utter brilliance of the Baddest Band in the Land and their reigning queen, Miss Sharon Jones."

Smashing debut album from Stinky Jim

 

Well worth checking, the stonkingly spectacular, musical magnificence of the mighty Stinky Jim has landed in all it's album-length glory. Current single 'Frying symbols' is all over student radio and hit the top of BFM's Top Ten recently. Check it! Out on Bandcamp and selected digital retailers, as Jim says, "No scheming streaming whatsoever."

Version Excursion comp selected by Don Letts coming Sept

Late Night Tales has announced a compilation from Don Letts, pulling together some great reggae cover versions together, including a tidy number of exclusives.

"The history of Caribbean music owes a debt to R&B as many of the early island releases were cover versions of US 45s. Ska’s breakthrough commercially, Millie Small’s ‘My Boy Lollipop’, was originally recorded by Barbie Gaye in ’50s New York. Cover versions became quite a thing in Jamaica and Don, following in that tradition, has dug deep with a selection of interesting dubbed out covers including thirteen exclusives.

Letts:“A disciple of sound system, raised on reggae n’ bass culture my go to sound was dub. Besides being spacious and sonically adventurous at the same time, its most appealing aspect was the space it left to put yourself ‘in the mix’ underpinned by Jamaica’s gift to the world - bass. But that’s only half the story as the duality of my existence meant I was also checking what the Caucasian crew were up to not to mention the explosion of black music coming in from the States. That’s why this version excursion crosses time space and genre, from The Beach Boys to The Beatles, Nina Simone to Marvin Gaye, The Bee Gees to Kool & The Gang, The Clash to Joy Division and beyond. You’d think it impossible to draw a line between ‘em but not in my world. Fortunately, the ‘cover version’ has played an integral part in the evolution of Jamaican music and dub covers were just a natural extension.”

There’s a diverse mix of classic and new, with legendary figures like John Holt, The Tamlins and Cornell Campbell, mixed in with British veterans Mad Professor and the irrepressible Dennis Bovell, while (relatively) young striplings Kiko Bun, Emily Capell and Prince Fatty deliver the goods, with laidback Texan groovers Khruangbin also offering an exclusive bass heavy-delight.

The song choices are diverse, from French dubsters’ OBF’s renditions of ‘Sixteen Tons’, the miners’ paean popularised by Tennessee Ernie Ford in the 1950s, to Ash Walker’s refix of Omar’s ‘There’s Nothing Like This’ and ‘All I Do Is Think About You’, immortalised by the ill-fated Tammi Terrell and preserved here by Quantic (the latter two both exclusives). Being a Rebel Dread compilation, there’s a cover (by Wrongtom Meets The Rockers) of The Clash’s ‘Lost In The Supermarket’ while Don’s exclusive, naturally, is a rendition of Big Audio Dynamite’s debut hit, ‘E = MC2’.

Truth be told I’ve wanted to work with the Late Night Tales crew from the get go. We’re talking nearly two decades such was the allure of their musical aesthetic typified by curators like Nightmares on Wax, The Flaming Lips, MGMT, Trentemoller, Khruangbin and countless others. Now being as old as rock n’ roll (born in ‘56) and having nearly 20 years of Culture Clash Radio under my belt I figured I was tooled up to musically juggle with the best of ‘em. But I wanted to carve out a space that was distinctly my own - something that reflected my musical journey and the culture clash that’s made me the man I am today.”

Preorder from Late Night Tales (LP/Digital/CD). Out on 24 Sept 2021

Ring The Alarm playlist, 14 August

Sugarman 3 feat Charles Bradley - Take it as it comes

Bill Withers - Kissing my love

Cook E Jar and the Krums  -Whole new world

Gene Faith - Family man

Zilla Mayes - All I want is you

Watts 103rd St Rhythm Band - Everyday people

Speedometer - Soul safari

Clarence Wheeler and the Enforcers - Hey Jude

Ann Winley - Watchdog

Sylvia Striplin - Can't turn me away

Chaka Khan - It's my night

Taka Boom - In the middle of the night

Gwen Guthrie - Seventh heaven

Skipworth and Turner - Thinking about your love

Debbie Harry - Backfired

Nuyorican Soul - Nervous track

Brand New Heavies - Sometimes (Ummah remix feat Q-Tip)

DJ Spinna - Dillagence (one-4-Jay)

J Dilla - Body movin'

Eric B and Rakim - Relax with pep

Junkyard Band -The word

Mara TK - Bad meditation

P-Bass Expressway - Easy ride (Downtown Brown remix)

Iglese - Groovalation

Sola Rosa - You don't know (DIZZ1 remix)

Salmonella Dub - Soul love trippa (David Harrow 7" mix)

Ring The Alarm playlist, 7 August

Barbara Norris - It's heavy (Dope Beasts fierce dub)

The Equals - Black skinned blue eyed boys (Bobby Buschnach edit)

Paul Simon - Diamonds on the souls of her shoes (Scrimshire edit)

Donna Summer - State of independence (Ed Zone edit)

Chairmen of the Board - Life and death (Mr K edit)

Reuben Wilson - Got to get your own

JC Brooks and the Uptown Sound - I am trying to break your heart

Unknown Groovers - Secret agent

Billy Hawks - Oh baby (I believe I'm losing you)

Inez and Charlie Foxx -Tightrope

Dynatones - Fife piper

Jeanette Nellis - Wait

Jo Ann Garrett - Foolish me

Amanda Love - You keep calling me by her name

Johnny Nash - Love aint  nuthin'

Gene Chandler - Such a pretty thing

Mitty Collier - Pain

Jimmy Sabater - Yroco

Dave Pike - Aphrodite

Mike Nock Underground - Space bugaloo

New Loungehead - Cloth (inst)

Jonny Faith - Open my eyes

Bacao Rhythm and Steel Band - My Jamaican dub

Jazzanova feat Joe Dukie - What do you want (Don Philippe mix)

Lido Pimienta - Te queira (Chancha via Curcuito remix)

Nona Hendryx - Transformation

Ring The Alarm playlist, 31 July

Prince - Emotional pump

Cameo - Rigor mortis

Dalvanius - Who said that

Angelique Kidjo - Once in a lifetime

Gil Scott-Heron - The revolution will not be televised (Tahira Abayomy afrobeat version)

James Brown - Get on the good foot

The JBs - The grunt 

Eric B and Rakim - I know you got soul

Jurassic 5 - Quality control

Betty Wright - Clean up woman

Helene Smith - You got to be a man

Marie 'Queenie' Lyons - Your thing aint no good without my thing

Cold Blood - I'm a good woman

Dennis Mobley - Superstition

The Chi-lites  - We are neighbours

Marlena Shaw - Woman of the ghetto (live)

Keith Mansfield - Morning Broadway

Young Holt Unlimited - Wahwah man

Ramsey Lewis - Hey, Mrs Jones

Archie Bell and the Drells - There's gonna be a showdown

James and Bobby Purify - Let love come between us

The Supremes - You keep me hangin' on

Jamie and the Numbers - If this is love

Conclave - Sunny (Seven Davis Jr remix)

Sampology feat Jordan Rakei - My place

African Head Charge - Animal law (remix)

Althea - Downtown thing

Herbs - French letter dub

Double hit of Troy Kingi

 

Two slices of goodness from the very talented, very prolific Troy Kingi, check em out! Collab with The Nudge in Te Reo Maori, great funky dirty rock song, and a soundtrack tune with Diggy Dupe and choicevaughan from the 6 part tv drama about the Polynesian Panthers, screening soon.

Cool new tune from Karl Steven

"Karl Steven is a composer and producer, currently based in Pārāwai (Thames). While working mainly with music to picture, Steven's has also been a part of groups Queen Neptune, The Drab Doo-Riffs, Heart Attack Alley and Supergroove.

Today he shares Freedom Bells, the first single from All of Human Emotion on Microfiche, an album planned for release in the later months of 2021.

Steven's upcoming output is a collage of organic and electronic sources, synthesised down into an ambitious and enigmatic sound.

"My intention with 'Freedom Bells' was to make something a bit anthemic about freeing oneself from existing paradigms" says Steven. "In the process I tried to get away from the computer and plug things in, experiment, and whack stuff. I wanted to depart from using membranophones or sounds inspired by them (like kicks, snares, and toms) and try idiophones instead, so you'll hear there's lots of wood hitting wood and wool hitting metal!"

Ring The Alarm playlist, 24 July

 Tony Allen and Africa 70 - Hustler (Mad Rey remix)

Damon Locks and Black Monument Ensemble  -The colours that you bring

MAW - Zoe

Lightning Head - NPG

Ikebe Shakedown - Tujunga

Jimi Tenor - Mystery spot

Miriam Makeba -Lumumba

Manu Dibango - Big blow

Tina Turner - Whole lotta love

Betty Davis - If I'm in luck I just might get picked up

Martha High - Don't throw your love in the garbage can

James Brown - Don't tell it

Eddie Bo - The thang pt2

Betty Harris - Mean man

Lil Buck and the Top Cats - Monkey in a sack

Third Guitar - Baby don't cry

Carla Thomas  -Where do I go

Rufus Thomas - Chicken scratch

Dusty Springfield  -Every ounce of strength

Ollie Nightingale - It's a sad thing

Bacao Rhythm and Steel Band - Dirt off your shoulder

Miyiam Solomon - Pushing the tide

Kutiman - Guruji

Kamo Mphela - Nkulunkulu

DJ Format  -Strange sensations

Jeb Loy Nichols - Can't cheat the dance

Mara TK feat Troy Kingi - Every hori is a star

Fat Freddy's Drop  -Midnight marauders (DJ Vadim remix edit)

Salmonella Dub - Soul love trippa (David Harrow 7" mix)

Ring The Alarm playlist, 10 July

Mosquito Hawks - Mosquito eater pt2

Bobby Byrd - If you got a love, better hold on to it

Sugarman 3 - Soul donkey

Cook E Jar and the Krums - Whole new world

Poets of Rhythm - 50 yards of soul

Charles Wright - You gotta know whatcha doin'

Spanky Wilson - Kissing my love

The Hawk feat Little Hannah Collins - Don't judge a book by its cover

The Supremes - Nothing but heartaches

Mary Wells - Bye bye baby

Gene Chandler - If you can't be true

Dionne Warwick - You can have him

Dee Dee Warwick - Suspicious minds

Bill Coday - When you find a fool bump his head

Ann Peebles - I can't stand the rain

Little Sister - You're the one pt2

War - Corns and callouses

Poopee and the NY Squirrel - Bust that nut (downtown mix)

Skyy - No music

The Totals - Total man

The Yandall Sisters - Sweet inspiration

Dalvanius - Voodoo lady

Mara TK - Highly medicated

Sisters Underground - In the neighbourhood (pacific acoustic mix)

Ardijah - Way around U (swing gat mix)

Sola Rosa feat Troy Kingi - Star to star

Lewis McCallum feat Deva Mahal - Take a step back

Benny Tones feat Dallas - Home

Nicola Conte - Missione a Bombay

Cal Tjader - Soul sauce (rough mix)

Daptone Super Soul Revue "LIVE at the Apollo" LP coming

Daptone celebrates 20 years of soulful music with the release of The Daptone Super Soul Revue "LIVE at the Apollo".

"Performed and recorded over three nights in front of a sold-out crowd at The World Famous Theater in Harlem, NY (December 4th - 6th, 2014), this album brings the electrifying performances that helped put Daptone on the map directly to your living room! 

 

Featuring live sets from Sharon Jones and the Dap-Kings, Charles Bradley and his Extraordinaires, Naomi Shelton and the Gospel Queens, Antibalas, The Budos Band, Menahan Street Band, Saun & Starr, The Sugarman 3, as well as our em-cee, Binky Griptite. This album is lovingly dedicated to the memory of our dear friends Sharon, Charles, Naomi, and Cliff."

Pre-order now, ships late September. And check out their other 20th anniversary merch including 45 centres, and custom record boxes.

Ring The Alarm playlist, 3 July

Parlet - Pleasure principle

War - The world is a ghetto (Special US disco version)

Ann Winley - Watchdog

James Brown - Get up, get into it, get involved

Donny Hathaway - Come little children

Lyn Collins - We want to parrty parrty parrty

Taana Gardner - Heartbeat

Prince - Hot thang (dub version)

Shannon - Let the music play (12" version)

A Certain Ratio - Shack up

Steel N Skin - Afro punk reggae dub

Rhythm and Sound feat Jah Cotton - Dem never know

Lovejoys - Let me rock you now

Tubbs feat Dallas - Five day night (Fat Freddys remake)

The Dapkings - NBL

Volcanos - Gotta be a false alarm

Gene Pitney - She's a heartbreaker

Swingin' Medallions - Here it comes again

Fontella Bass - Recovery

Donnie Elbert -  A little piece of leather

Claudine Clark - Party lights

Laura Lee - If you beat me rockin' you can have my chair

B.B. King - The B.B. Jones

Betty Wright - Shoorah shoorah

Hector Plimmer - Step (Daz I Kue remix)

Ring The Alarm playlist, 26 June

 

Kokolo - Magnificent seven

Tony Allen - NEPA dance dub

Fela Kuti - Shuffering and shmiling (pt 2)

Shogun Orchestra - Bamako

Amadou and Mariam - Senegal fast food

 Hi-tones - Got to be at that party

Dennis Alcapone - Cassius Clay

Dandy Livingston and Rico - Rudy a message to you

The Chosen Few - Collie stuff

Poets of Rhythm - Augusta GA

Preston Love - Omaha bar-b-que

Charles Wright and Watts 103rd St Rhythm Band - Express yourself (alternate version)

Betty Moorer - It's my thing

Laura Lee - Crumbs off the table

Aretha Frankiln - Rocksteady (alt mix)

Chaka Khan - I feel for you

IQU - Witchcraft

Durutti Column - For Belgian friends

Soul Sugar - Never too much

Bob Marley and the Wailers - Stand up jamrock (Ashley Beedle remix)

Minyo Crusaders - Kushimoto bushi

Lido Pimienta - Te queria (Chancha via circuito remix)

Kamo Mphela - Nkulunkulu

DJ Format - Strange sensations

Jeb Loy Nichols - I just can't stop

Carla Thomas - Stop thief

Ramsey Lewis - Wade in the water

Bar-Kays - Memphis Masters doco

This short doco on the Bar-Kays looking back on making their1968 album Gotta Groove is worth a watch. Also makes me want to go back to Memphis. Visiting the Stax Museum there was incredible. 

Here's a playlist of other episodes starting with Booker T and the MGs

Ring The Alarm playlist, 19 June

 

Bacao Rhythm and Steel Band - Dirt off your shoulder

Booker T and the MGs - Bookerloo

Staple Singers - Pray on

Junior Lewis - Raise your hand

Rev Oris Mays - Don't let the devil ride

Deedee Sharp - Gravy

Della Reese - If it feels good, do it

Ann Peebles - Beware

Betty Wright -  Let me be your lovemaker

The Hueys - You aint no hippie

Jamie and the Numbers - Magic touch

Garnet Mimms - As long as I have you

Darlene Love - Too late to say you're sorry

Rita and the Tiaras - Gone with the wind is my love

Charlene and the Soul Serenaders - Can you win

Wendy Rene - Bar-B-Q

Willie Mitchell - The champion

Ike and Tina Turner - Somebody somewhere needs you

Sly and the Family Stone - Only one way out of this mess

Jeanne and the Darlings - Hang me now

Isaac Hayes - Hyperbolicsyllabicsesquidalymistic

Eddie Floyd - Baby lay your head down

Jackie Mittoo - Chicken and booze

The Marvels - Rocksteady

Manasseh - Skenga 12" mix

Solomonic Sound - Children of Israel (Blakdoktor version)

U-Roy and Francois K - Rootsman

Hirini Melbourne and Richard Nunns - Tumakokiri (Unitone Hifi remix)

Aaradhna - Keep my cool

Opensouls - Hold you close dub

Lord Echo - Molten lava

Phoenix City Allstars - White riot dub

Plumstead Radical Club - I shot the sherriff

Dr Tree - Eugino D