Originality is the way of the walk for Andrew Thompson. I'm Not Likely To Change is his second full length release & I haven't heard anything quite like it. Indie Folk Electro Funk with just a dash of Hip Hop & Classic Soul, Andrew brings a whole new meaning to the phrase 'to each his own'. The key to this album is his ability to make even the most mundane of topics funny & interesting. How many songs have you heard about a man complaining that he has a fly in his soup, then twist the meaning to concur with everyday life. The songs themselves are quirkyness personified but firmly reside on the right side of an eccentric fence. How come I never heard of him until 1st post this morning. Quite where this guy draws his inspiration from is anyone's guess but apparently he has a cult following. I for one am now very much a part of it.
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Change, not likely
No disrespect but....
....at least one good thing came out of Woolworths closing. I had been looking for a copy Of Shai's Destiny Album for about 5 years. In shops it was out of print, online it was never in stock. All my usual local & not so local CD haunts didn't have it either. Then while scouring my local Woolworths store during the last few days of it's closing down sale. I see a brand new untouched copy still in it's plastic wrapping. According to the lady behind the till who had worked there for 15 years, it was delivered by mistake about 6 years ago. It had sat in the store room ever since. The man reason for wanting this so bad is my love of it's title track. Featuring a very fresh sounding KRS-One, I've got it on repeat on my Ipod. I reckon this track could still bang out in the clubs no problem. Being the nice guy that i am I have decided to share.Enjoy!
Shai - Destiny feat. KRS-One
Move Your Soul
The Soul.... Many variations have been tried, tested, used & abused in the pursuit of what defines the human soul. Why do our armed forces put themselves in the line of fire? Why do firemen go into burning buildings to save lives? Why do mountaineers climb up the most dangerous climbs on earth? And as misguided as they are, why do suicide bombers believe in there convictions enough to be willing to die in a most violent way for there cause. It's what makes these things possible that is the reason why Soul music carries it's name since that is where it is born. Hence we arrive at Slakah The Beatchild's emphatical brilliance, Soul Movement Vol. 1. Musically, I haven't been taken aback like this since Nicolay & Kay charted the human life. Think of a cocktail involving The Strange Fruit's Soul Travellin' & The Foreign Exchange's Connected and you can see where this is going. I deliberatey mentioned those two because this is an album that easily takes pride of place among such esteemed company. The guest list is a steller one for those in the know. Divine Brown, Shad (The Old Prince), Melanie Durrant, Jason Simmons & Mystic are the most notable among a cast that never miss a step over Slakah's supreme audio. At this point I would usually name a few highlights among what i've been hearing but this is way too good a longplayer for that. The 1st great album of the year is hear. BBE, you've done it again. Slakah by name but certainly not by nature.
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edit: such is this albums fence treading niceness, I decided to burn the candle at both ends & post it on both blogs.
Ramblings of a man on the street
And so to 2009. More terrorist threats, more gun crime, more knive crime, more Israeli/Palestinian tensions, more babies having babies, more politicians who are only out for themselves, more staling over what to do about Zimbabwe, more economic gloom, etc etc etc. I could go on & on with that list being that the possibilities are pretty much endless. The worldwide economy is apparently in meltdown. This is only true of the countries that didn't prepare though. I find it funny that the apparent top 2 superpowers of the world (US & UK) are feeling more than most, while the emerging powers (Brazil, China) & those that did there homework (Australia & New Zealand among them) are, in a financial sense, sailing on a steady ship. It makes me wonder why we as a nation keep on letting these old Etonians in office when they've either lost touch with the real world, or were never in touch with it in the first place. They are now upto the 50 million dollar note in Zimbabwe & the 100 million version is not far off. How can the people with the power to stop this man keep allowing this ridiculous state of affairs. People should not be carting money around in wheelbarrows (literally) to buy the bare neccessities. Israel's current flurry of military activity reminds me of the 'fights' I used to have in school. I would get a mountain of abuse from certain people. Monkey taunts & big lip taunts were the way. I would take it in lessons non stop for ages & it would continue throughout the day. finally when it came to the point where I couldn't take the abuse anymore & I would start pounding in the perpetrators with tears in my eyes (true story). It seems that israel have also come to the point where that can't take any more. As much as the Israeli's are overreacting & as much as I support the Palestinian cause, Hammas only have themselves to blame for their current predecament. This situation, along with the economy, will determine Baracks legacy. The UK government, in it;s infinite wisdom, decided to massage the violent crime rate figures when they were published a while back. This is just another example of UK society being taken for fools. If you want to win elections just tell us like it is & show us that you are genuinely trying to do something about it. The state this country is in cannot be hidden so stop wasting my money on Bureaucrats whose sole purpose is to do just that. We have one of thee worst teen pregnancy percentages in the world & our standards of education in schools is abysmal. Why are countries such as Sweden & The Netherlands so much better & handling both. I'm very luck as my daughter goes to a great school with a superb headteacher & a raft of extra curricular activities. This is not the norm in this country & it borders on insanity that this government is still not there yet after 11 years in charge. When the education & extra activity situation is handled, petty crime will go down drastically, which in turn lead lead to less violent & drug related crime. This is not rocket science, yet all over the country youth clubs/projects & playgrounds are still closing & there are less & less competitive sports being allowed in schools.
Yet amidst all the doom & gloom the human race does occasionally show flickers of greatness. On 1st of January 2009, Tom Algie wanted to spend some time with his family & away from the day to day running of his DIY shop. Now due to the current economic slump he did not want to leave the shop shut. So he decides to leave his shop open & unattended for the day, leaving only a bucket & a note asking any customers to take what they want & leave payment for the goods in the bucket. He returned to his shop at 4:15 pm the same day, to find a £187.66 profit in the bucket & NOTHING STOLEN. It may have been in a small town & it may have turned out diferently in most other places but it's nice to see a dose of humanity amongst all the barbarism.
