Top 10 fave second hand vinyl finds for 2020

This time of year I'm often scanning all those 'best of'' lists from various music sources, seeing what I heard and what I missed. I discovered Little Dragon dropped a new album back in March, that flew past me, but we were going into lockdown so, yeah...Anyways, here's an idea I borrowed from Mauri (thanks): my top 10 second hand scores for this year. (links go to youtube audio)

Coati Mundi - Me No Pop I 7"

Been after this for a while. There's a fun Bigga Bush remix of it too out there somewhere in digitaland.

 

Jackie Wilson And Count Basie - Funky Broadway 7"

Big, brassy take on this gem.

Chaka Khan - What Cha' Gonna Do For Me LP

I own a ton of Chaka singles, a cool 5 CD box set of her first handful of albums (that retails for $20, grab it) but no LPs. Fixed that this year.

 

Dee Dee Warwick - Suspicious Minds 7" 

Great soul take on the Elvis classic. Found this at Dingbats (above Real Groovy) for three bucks.

 

Miltown Stowaways - Tension Melee LP 

Auckland outfit from early 1980s, best known for the song Strong and True, included this LP. There's some cool angular post-punk funk biz on here that's aged surprisingly well. A lot of NZ recordings of this era have aged horribly.

Mr. Bloe - Groovin' With Mr. Bloe 7"

This was on a Northern soul DJ set I heard somewhere online this year, made a note of the name, and it turned up at the record fair last month for a dollar.

 

Manny Corchado ‎– Chicken And Booze 7"

I've had this tune on digital for a while and picked up this reissue at The Other Crate record fair off Geezer Guy, who also sold me a very cool Fulgeance remix of Doug Carn on 7, thanks! 

 

Ardijah - Way around U 12"

I didn't even know this existed til a few years ago, when Andy Morton told me about the remix he and Maunuel Bundy did for it. Also has two great remixes by Soane on it. Came out in 1999. Another record fair score.

War - The world is a ghetto LP

Because you always need more War records. 

 

Celia Cruz Con La Sonora Matancera - La Dinamica! LP

The wonderfully lively sound of Celia Cruz. Totally worth a tenner.

Two Syllables Volume Seventeen drops

From First Word: "If you’re reading this, you made it. You got through this year and right now, that’s enough. There are far more eloquent people than me who have dissected the ins and outs, rights and wrongs and ups and downs of this year. My feeling is that 2020 put everything under the microscope: the good, the bad, and very definitely the ugly too. Relationships were tested, our normal ways of existing were discarded and for many, their very survival was pushed to the limit. It’s tough to get through years like this on your own, which is why I remain ever grateful for the musical family we’ve built at First Word. That all of our artists managed to create, write and just get through the damn day over these last 12 months is worth celebrating.

So, to the music on this compilation - there’s selections from every artist who released something with us this year, including newcomers Werkha, Allysha Joy, Takuya Kuroda and Olivier St.Louis. There’s a couple of exclusives from our extended family in Mo Fingaz and Jake Milliner. There’s a festive favourite from Tawiah and a sneak peek at the next record from the one and only Kaidi Tatham. We’ve included three tracks that reflect this year in a very specific way: our good friends at CoOp Presents leant us Reginald Omas Mamode IV’s ‘400 Years’ which sits alongside Essa’s ‘Justice’ as reminders of how far we still have to go in finding justice and peace for people of colour.

I also had to remember those we’ve lost this year, and foremost in my mind was Ty. He was a relentless supporter of ours, encouraging us from the early days of the label and also as massive inspiration to us through his music, particularly 2004’s ‘Upwards’. We never released a track featuring Ty rapping or producing, but we do have an interlude from Homecut’s ‘No Freedom Without Sacrifice’ album, recorded on a club in a boat in Paris in 2008. Listening to it makes me smile - I can still picture him stood by the bar of an empty venue, glancing at us over his glasses before delivering exactly what we wanted in one take. We miss you Ty, Rest in Peace.

This album is free to download, a Christmas gift. If you do want to pay for it, all proceeds will be donated to Southwark Food Bank (part of the Trussell Trust) www.trusselltrust.org/get-help/find-a-foodbank/southwark/  

Ring The Alarm playlist, 19 December

Sault - Bow

Guy One - Estre

Y-Bayani  -We are the band of enlightenment

Sun Ra - That's how I feel

IG Culture - Girl you need a change of mind

Erykah Badu  - Bag lady (Cheebah sac mix)

Elivs Costello and The Roots - Come the meantimes

Dreamcast Moe - Up 2 U

Clarence Reid - I get my kicks

The Meters - Soul machine

Jody Gayle - You gotta push

Patti Jo - Make me believe in you (Black Science Orchestra edit)

Society's Bag - Let it crawl

Rasputin's Stash - Mr cool

Macondo - Almendra

Larry Morris - Who do we think we're fooling

Collision - You can dance

Manuel Bundy - Jazzy bizz

Che Fu - Without a doubt (DLT remix)

James Brown - Let's make Christmas mean something this year

Bill Withers - Let us love

Fulgeance  -Tribute to Masekela

Kutiman - Elimi Tut

Tony Allen - NEPA dance dub

Dele Sosimi x Medlar -Gudu gudu kan (Daz I Kue remix)

Ring The Alarm playlist, 12 December

Kahil El Zabar - Express yourself

Godtet - Cactus dance

Pigalle Connection - Church and casino

Tracey Thorn - Sister (Andrew Weatherall remix)

SOS Band - Just be good to me

Janet Jackson - Say you do

Ardijah - Way around u (All City remix feat Tha Feelstyle)

Brand New Heavies - Sometimes (Ummah remix)

Lole - Just wanna

Sola Rosa - Shine on

The Roughness - Cold cold cold

Quantic - Get a move on

Rufus Thomas - Itch and scratch pt1

Booker T and the MGs - Tic tac toe

Jeanne and the Darlings - Hang me now

Otis Redding - Loving by the pound (take 2)

Bacao Rhythm and Steel Band - My Jamaican dub (Peter Mac edit)

Cal Tjader - Soul sauce

Mike Nock Underground - Wax planet

Philip Cohran and the Artistic Heritage Ensemble - Malcolm X

Bobbi Humphrey - Blacks and blues

Doug Carn - Suratal Ihklas (Fulgeance smartbangin' remix)

Keith Le Blanc - Einstein (extended mix)

Godtet album out now

Wonderfully wonky vibes... "With ‘III’, guitarist and bandleader Godriguez signs off the final LP in this GODTET trilogy, marking his 2nd LP release in 6 months.

Praise for GODTET’s LPs ‘I’ and ‘II’ spanned all across BBC Radio, his music has been included in a BBC Radio 1 Guest Mix from Ross From Friends, supported by Jamz Supernova on BBC Radio 1XTRA, Radio 3’s Late Junction, plus Gilles Peterson, Huey Morgan, Tom Ravenscroft all are enthusiasts over at BBC Radio 6 Music. 

 

Here on GODTET ‘III’, producer of Sampa the Great's ‘The Great Mixtape’, Godriguez has marshalled together some of the best musicians of Sydney’s new generation: A head priest of the Cuban Ifa religion, the step-son of Australia’s greatest ever funk and soul musician, Australia's leading drummer in this new era plus a highly gifted pianist from New Zealand [Andrew Bruce]. These disparate backgrounds culminate with incredibly sensitive musical and emotional connections to form this final chapter of the GODTET trilogy." 

 

Out now on digital/LP

Ring The Alarm playlist, 5 December

Sharon Jones and the Dapkings - Aint no chimneys in the projects

Menahan St Band - Karina

Hank Ballard and the Midnighters - It's love baby (24 hours of the day)

The C.O.D.'s - Michael

Dusty Springfield - Stay a while

Aretha Franklin - Jump

Curtis Mayfield - We got to have peace

Major Lance - Little young lover

Baby Huey and the babysitters - Hard times

James Brown - Funky drummer

Nuyorican Soul - Nautilus (Mawtilus)

Yosi Horikawa - Wandering (Rough Fileds remix)

Souleance - Sulette

Dele Sosimi and Medlar - Gudu gudu kan (Daz I Kue remix)

DNA feat Suzanne Vega - Tom's diner remix

Roberto Roena - Take five (Nicola Conte remix)

Bobby Valentin - Use it before you lose it

La Lupe - Fever

Jack Costanzo - Green onions

Eddie Palmieri and Cal Tjader - Picadillo

Mark de Clive Lowe - El dia perfecto

Unitone Hifi - Lucky strike (Rockers Hifi remix)

Overproof Sound System - Kingstep (Unitone Hifi dub)

Salmonella Dub - Problems (Zion Train remix)