BLANCHE CARTER

Great, great, great!

DOLLY PARTON

Possessive Parton.

CHRIS RAINBOW

Glaswegian jingle man and sometime Alan Parsons Project member knows how to write a catchy tune. He also knows how to pick a nice shirt.

WINGS

There's nothing I could say about McCartney or Wings that Mojo magazine hasn't said over and over again for thousands of years. But I'm a fan of Paul's craft and this song in particular.  

SHAKE KEANE

Cold, wet Sunday night. Better get your bossa on.

ROBERT SCHROEDER

When I listen to this music the first thing that enters my mind is a keyboard rising into a purple sky. Incidentally that very image features heavily in the accompanying video. Robert Schroeder released some very good music in the early eighties. Like a slightly more playful Klaus Schulze.

TOTI SOLER

Lovely Leonard Cohen cover by Catalan songsmith, Toti Soler. This track is from his solo debut when he was recording under his birth name, Jordi. The album artwork features mischievous sprites dancing with (or goading) a man in a top hat. 

ALEX NORTH

Love theme to end all love themes

ENDGAMES

Slick mothers.

JAHMIGA

I've never been a fan of the Doors but I'm a big fan of the Doors as covered by Jahmiga. 8-BIT dub.

PRINCE JAZZBO

Fun to dance to. Heavy dub.

ROLAND BOCQUET

Found out about Roland Bocquet via Alexis Le Tan's amazing Space Oddities 1 & 2 compilations. Easily two of the best compilations of the past five years. Space Oddities 1 introduced me to 'Sons of the Snake' by Alan Shearer which is probably my favourite electro library jam. And there are lots of great electro library jams. It is Bocquet's intriguing and thoughtful tracks that I return to most.

MADELEINE CHARTRAND

Totem funk par excellence. 

KIM DOO SOO

A reflective Korean acid-folk beauty.

FIKRET KIZILOK

Ominous outing from a Turkish legend.

DRAGON

This gets into a groove at the 1.10 mark after a short spell of Wakeman-style keyboard fingers and quite sensibly the group stick with it for the rest of the track. And it goes up and up...

LAURIE SPIEGEL

Laurie Spiegel's 1980 record 'The Expanding Universe' has just been re-released. If you have any interest in electronic music I would recommend giving it a listen. Laurie has been involved in pioneering electronic and computer music since the 1970s, working with Buchla and Bell laboratories amongst many. I first heard her on OHM: The Early Gurus of Electronic Music compilation (a great tasting menu for anyone wanting to tune in to the pioneers) a few years ago - it is music best listened to extremely loudly. Additional info: Her music was used on the Voyager in 1977 and in the Hunger Games in 2012. Therefore her music straddles the ages.

NICO FIDENCO

Initially a singer, Nico Fidenco branched out into writing music for films. Like many Italian composers of the time he was enormously prolific. Most of what he created is great and worth checking out, some of it is not so great, but all of it is saucy. And that is some solace.

RADIOHEAD

 Extremely effective nightmare exotica.

HIROSHI SATO

Slicker than your average.

PEKKA POHJOLA

As sampled on Endtroducing. The rest of the record is so prog it is a genuine relief when this tune appears at track six. It features a nice Peter Green at dusk style guitar solo as well. 

OS BORGES

Brazilian musician Lo Borges never seems to hit a duff note. He's a master of the major chord/minor chord key change. I'm a big fan of his Os Borges record from 1980; each track is beautifully realised. Also check out Clube de Esquina which he wrote in collaboration with Milton Nascimento, and his self titled debut which were both released in 1972.

ELBEE BAD

As heard on the new Rush Hour retrospective. No flab.

WALLY BADAROU

Seriously on-point Badarou track from 1980.

THE THE

Heard this in full at Moor Places last night. Emotional moment.

MISSUS BEASTLY

I don't really know much about Missus Beastly but as far as I can gather from their German Wikipedia page they operated between the years 1968-1973 and played music in the Jazz-Rock idiom. The track above is great.

MONGO SANTAMARIA

I wish every day was a Latin Dance Party day.

ITHACA

If you're in any way interested in psych folk I recommend checking out Ithaca's 'A Game For All Who Know.' Not only does it have great William Blake meets David Shrigley style cover art, the music is gently intriguing. Quite a number of similar groups from the late 60s tapped more knowingly into folk traditions and idioms which can become a bit oppressive at times both in sound (penny whistles) and content. Ithaca are a far subtler beast. Not to say I don't like a good tale about a cauldron or a wily reynard, but...y'know. That said, when it's done well it's foolish to complain; see 'The Hangman's Beautiful Daughter' or 'Sir John Alot of Merrie Englandes Musyk Thyng.' I digress. The band features Peter Howe who went on to work with the BBC Radiophonic Workshop; on this recording there are a number of electronic flourishes which call to mind White Noise or the United States of America. Dig.

JEAN LUC PONTY

 Jean Luc Ponty deserves a far larger post than I'm giving him here. More will come. This is a beautiful sunlit number where his violin plucks sync beautifully with the kora playing in this tribute to Mali.

SIX SED RED

Cabaret Voltaire on production duties and in so doing, concocting a wholesome brew.

MOOR PLACES

Be sure to head to Moor Places this Friday. The drinks come cheap and the music's likely to be very much off the chain. 

KASHIF

Leisure man.

DURUTTI COLUMN

Vini Reilly doing it best.

CAL TJADER

Slick number from the enormously prolific vibesman. 

VIRGINIA ASTLEY

Taken from Virginia's 1983 cult favourite 'From Gardens Where We Feel Secure.' 

GABBY PAHINUI

Only found out about Gabby Pahinui yesterday but I'm already becoming very attached to his music. Gabby played guitar in the slack-key tuning; an open tuning used widely in Hawaiian music. He was born in 1921 and was lifelong musician although it's the albums he made in the 70s during the "Hawaiian Renaissance" that are really worth seeking out. He's also one of the few musicians who could make singing with a slight falsetto seem somewhat gravelly.

CLIFFORD WHITE

Clifford White: Relaxation King; New Age Baron; Duke of Vibes.

DIRECT DRIVE

Slick boogie handled by Paul Hardcastle.

FRANCA FENATI

Thanks to M.E.H for the tip! Bacardi pardy!

PREFAB SPROUT

Heavenly larks with Prefab.

GURU GURU SUNBAND

These former Krautrock chuggers (check Guru Guru's stoned and droned 1970 classic, 'UFO') adopted a far more disco friendly name, and released a number of slick dazzlers like the one below. Straddles 'New Thing!' jazz and Ashra like no other.

SENSATIONS' FIX

I have really been enjoying listening to the Sensations' Fix compilation recently released on RVNG Intl.  Sensations' Fix were a psych-rock group fronted by Franco Falsini and active in the mid-1970s. Their music, from the relatively slim selection I have heard so far, has a sweet introspection and feels very elemental. They seemed to operate in a kraut-ier, electronic-ier realm than many of their proggier peers, and there seems to be a bubbling creativity at play which doesn't become overly indulgent or self-conscious. Worth checkin'.

CREATION REBEL

Adrian Sherwood's finest (in my opinion). A real head-spinner.

PEBBLES

Fun track from Mrs L.A Reid.

DONALD FAGEN

I believe I just got the goodbye look.

SUPER BITON DE SEGOU

Afro Jazz Du Mali!

THE HEAVEN & HELL ORCHESTRA

Classic Tom Moulton groove.

PAUL LANSKY

Can't help thinking of Sparky's Magic Piano when I listen to this one.

ZAZOU BIKAYE

Here are two tracks that French producer Hector Zazou recorded with Congolese vocalist Bony Bikaye. The first is akin to Cabaret Voltaire, the second is out and out Afro-acid.

SWITCH

Keepin' secrets.

KASSAV'

Not really sure what is being referred to in this one. Jaunty little number.

PIERO UMILIANI (MOGGI/ROVI)

Piero Umiliani made many fine soundtracks in his lifetime, and his fun and slightly smutty song 'Mah Na Mah Na' is instantly recognizable thanks to those renowned taste-makers, the Muppets. He also made great futuristic, library electronics in the late 1970s under the guise, Moggi; much in the same vein as Raymond Scott or John Baker.

And here under another alias, Rovi:

IVAN LINS

Quincy Jones covered this on 'Back On The Block', one of the slightly more understated numbers on a quite OTT album. Anyway, the original is very nice and if Quincy digs it then it's gotta be pretty on-point. Nice to see Ivan with his chest out as well.

FRANCIS RIMBERT & FREDERICK ROUSSEAU

Great library electronics from 1982. As found on the compilation 'Cosmic Future Groove Vol 1.'

LABRADFORD

This ambient reverie lulled me into a deep and pleasant nap on the night bus the other evening. 

PLUNKY AND ONENESS OF JUJU

Heard a track by Plunky & Oneness on a Beautiful Swimmers mix a while back and have been trying to find more. This is one of the best I've come across. Martini music.

SAKHILE

Jazz-ambience from South Africa.

IRMA THOMAS

Couldn't be more poignant.

DADAWAH

Ras Michael's DAADAAWAAH.

CHICO BUARQUE

It's about time I posted a few tracks by the man that got me into Brazilian music. I borrowed a compilation from my university library and ever since...

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