STRIKERS

Hittin' the West End.

MELBA MOORE

Picked up this beauty for 99 pence!

JEFFERSON AIRPLANE

Right, time for an afternoon nap.

ALAIN DELON

If Steve Arrington doesn't meet your approval you could always make your way up to the penthouse and try your luck with Alain.

STEVE ARRINGTON

Steve is notoriously picky so congratulations to whoever the lucky lady is. He'll make you very happy.

DAFT PUNK

 

I've yet to give the new Daft Punk record a good listen. This bonus track ticks all the right boxes.

TAVARES

 

It's a bank holiday - allow me some Tavares.

OPA

 

Probably a fairly comprehensive tour of Uruguay's capital city, and dare I say it, probably the world's most jazz-rock oriented nation. Although this is based on no evidence.

FAR CRY

 

Fixin' up the yacht in preparation for a lonesome journey to AOR.

MEDICINE

Eddie Ruscha's (Secret Circuit) old band on Creation! Fringe 'N' FX.

THE AWAY TEAM

Extremely close and heavy, the tabla makes it even more unnerving.

NARA LEAO

 

 Sweet number from a lady dubbed 'the muse of bossa nova.'

MAGIC MUSHROOM BAND

It's not too hard to imagine what sort of musick the Magic Mushroom Band make.

DAVID SANBORN

Live video of David Sanborn/Marcus Miller causing a commotion in 1986.

GEORGE CALMA

I came upon this completely by accident. It reminds me of Sir Richard Bishop/Sun City Girls.

A WINGED VICTORY FOR THE SULLEN

A Winged Victory for the Sullen are a side project for Stars of the Lid's Adam Wiltzie. Rich, cinematic stuff as ever. Makes you hover just above land.

CULTURE CLUB & CAPTAIN CRUCIAL

Captain Crucial takes the lead here. You get the impression that things don't seem to be totally irie with the Boy and his hawaiian shirted band. They've driven into the wrong part of town in a lilac VW Golf.

BERNARD LAVILLIERS

 

This is a nice bossa excursion from this highly sensual French singer-songwriter; a man who has stood by the gold hooped earring through the decades. I can't seem to find any evidence online to suggest he had a Wotsit-coloured afro in 1974, so I'm assuming the 'Le Stephanois' album artwork has been subject to some artistic freedom.

JOHNNY MATHIS

Never has heartache sounded so roller-disco appealing.

OMAR SOSA & PAOLO FRESU

 This is like Paul Simon's 'Graceland' condensed into one spiritual jazz smoothie.

YAMBU

Evokes a sauntering conga-line.

SANDY BARBER

Sandy was discovered at the 'Talent Night' held at the Apollo Theatre in Harlem. Subtle vocal - not too shouty. I often find the higher registers on Salsoul tunes often make my fellow commuters feel uneasy, even at low aural volume. On this track she's laying down the ground rules. She's ridin' solo. As found on the new John Morales compilation!

MAX BERLIN

Thanks to Fisk for hooking me up with this one!

JESSICA PRATT

 Laurel Canyon, 2012. Jessica Pratt channels Wendy & Bonnie & Stevie Nicks like a trooper.

ARIK EINSTEIN

Arik Einstein is an Israeli singer/actor who was voted 22nd greatest Israeli ever in a 2005 poll. Check out this piano led instrumental from 1970. Melancholic/optimistic. Some nice whispering going on on the album cover as well.

XAVIER GERNET

Fantastic Gallic revery courtesy of the Growing Bin's YouTube channel. Wonderful stuff!

LE MACCHINE

Out on Bosconi records. Really rather good.

HUDSON-FORD

 

John Ford and Richard Hudson left the Strawbs in 1973 and formed Hudson-Ford.

DWIGHT SYKES

Lo-fi, care worn soul made on a four track in Michigan. Had to pick this one up as soon as I saw it. Reminds me of the excellent 'Personal Space' compilation released last year which also championed lo-fidelity bedroom soul and funk.

UBERTRAGER

Here's a sprightly piece of modern day motorik courtesy of the Deep Distance label. Can be found on the scorching 'Grasshopper Mind' EP.

CERRONE

This is fairly low-key synth work for Cerrone, a man who I like to think spent most of 1977-1986 tipping people off sun loungers into swimming pools and buying everyone mojitos. He's in slightly ominous, John Carpenter territory here.

WORKING WEEK

Here's a largely faithful cover of Marvin Gaye's beautifully subtle commentary on inequality and strife.

RICHARD TORRANCE & EUREKA

Nice number penned by Lindsay Buckingham. Definitely has an FMAC, high jinx on the tour-bus feel to it. Been trying to track down a copy of his 'Bareback' LP for a while now (which has a very similar cover to Nicks & Buckingham's 'Buckingham Nicks' LP).

BENGT BERGER

Bengt is a Swedish jazz drummer and this is taken from his 1981 album for ECM. The track is in collaboration with Don Cherry (usually a signifier of heady treats). It swirls round and round, pierced by trumpet parps as the thumb piano orchestra builds and builds.

COS/MES

I've mentioned COS/MES a couple of times before - they are makers of truly idiosyncratic dance music. It's almost impossible to slot them into genre. Thank the lord for that. The track below is a glittering boulder hurtling down a mountainside, lighter than air.

PINK PROJECT

Like making love to a super computer.

THE DOLPHIN BROTHERS

The Dolphin Bros are Steve Jansen and Richard Barbieri of Japan. This is taken from their 1987 album 'Catch the Fall' which has decidedly similar feel to their compadre David Sylvian's output of the time. And a bit of Scritti Politti. Great for poolside BBQs, but only if your pool is full of leaves and bits of scrap metal.