The gig is at the old police station in New Cross which is a DIY art space and a new exhibition also starts that night. Check their site for more info.

The mix kicks off with the full song/version of Pressure. Classic Greensleeves business Jimmy Cliff versioned by Josey Wales.

The mix continues in less rootsy style with tunes from Dennis, Gregory, Frankie Paul and Suger Minott.

All from the original twelves so expect the odd crackle!

This mix is Part One with Part Two on the way soon.

This mix starts and ends with Smiley’s two best known singles;  the sadly ironic Police Officer, and the Smiley by-name-and-nature Cockney Translation.

Other highlights are the ganja section with Barrington Levy and John Holt in full Greensleeves effect, threatening to burn down the cane fields.

Also included are personal favourites Lorna Gee’s Three Week Gone – a very Thatcher-era story of life under the bad old regime, with a healthy sense of humour – and Eastwood and Saint’s celebration of  the vegi life.

All the tunes come from original 12’s that have seen plenty of life at gigs  many moons ago, hence the somewhat scratchy nature of some of them. I still feel the tunes shine through so left them in.

Stay tuned for Part Two with a host of Greensleeves and Live & Love selections,  including plenty of Frankie Paul.

Spark up & Enjoy . . . !

It contains two tunes Purple and Yellow –  as deep and intense as ever, mixing loops, synths, brass and spoken vocals.

Purple  holds a great horn line, breaks and floating pads and has elements of hip hop, trip hop and even Dubstep without ever sounding like any specific genre.

Yellow has a more spaced sound, great percussive touches and subtle acidic synth loops. Echoes of Can, indeed.

The press is beautifully  done and the run is limited to only 300 hand numbered copies. Nice heavy vinyl that plays at 33rpm.

Get is while it’s there . . .

There are copies available at Sounds of the Universe

Mantella 0046 - A new release from Finn Peters

You can watch a film of Finn Peters playing at the Montague Arms, New Cross on the  3 Key Sound YouTube site here

Gil Scott-Heron 1949 – 2011

Gil Scott-Heron died on the afternoon of May 27, 2011, at St. Luke’s Hospital, New York City, after becoming sick upon returning from a European trip.

Despite Gil’s genius – as a writer, poet and musician – his life was one of struggle; against his past, against prejudice, and for the people on the street whom he always identified with – and spoke out for – in his books and on his records.

A sign of his good heart in the midst of a chaotic personal life was his gig at a down-at-heel music pub in South East London a few years ago.

His manager turned up at the Goldsmith’s Tavern in New Cross with Gil, who was ‘looking for something to get me sorted out’. In those days, it didn’t take long, and in the wait for the deal to be sorted, the manager was talking to the resident soundman at the the time, Bevan B.

After Bevan suggested that Gil could ‘do a spot’ down at the Goldsmiths, Gil looked around, at the punks, students, squatters and ravers, the peeling paint and the low-cloud effect of marijuana smoke hanging over the dancefloor, and declared ‘This is my sort of place !’

He played a blinding gig the next night, and all who were there will remember the genius who took his spirit from his struggle, and could turn it into the most moving, liberating music with a poetry that informed and inspired – a real star who never ‘sold his ass to The Man’.

Although he never reaped the riches from the enormous effect that he had on popular culture, his legacy will be understood, like most great artists, through the long span of history; but his humanity, intelligence, and spirit of resistance will be missed by many around the world . . . .

More information later . . .

Also check out the fiba blog . . . and also an interview with a poet from Liverpool mentored by Gil Scott-Heron, which we pinched from the BBC and uploaded to our music site – so credit to them for the original programme  [on Outlook].

Music from the ice region indeed. The latest reggae show features the mighty Misty in Roots. Kicking off with See Them a Come from Live at the Counter Eurovision perhaps the greatest live album ever; which begs the question why this album is not available in any format today. With even second-hand copies of the CD fetching silly prices surely the time is right for this be given the full heavyweight repress. Lets start a campaign – if only I had a facebook account! The mix also contains the People Unite original twelve inch mix of Poor and Needy and Economical Slavery from the Musi-O-Tunya album.

The Misty selections seemed to set the tone for the rest of this mix that contains a mix of original and repressed tunes from the rootsy end of things.

There are of course the obligatory King Tubby selections from Inna Fine Style’s twisted version of Ronnie Davis and a couple of sides from a recently released box of repressed sevens called Tubby’s Box of Dub – track it down it is a treasure trove of tunes well sorted inna seven inch style.

I was also keen to include the title track from Keith Hudson, originally on the Rasta Communication album in a purely vocal fashion only and now available on a new 12 out of New York featuring previously unavailable dub cuts.

The show ends with the full force original twelve inches of Mikey Dread’s Roots and Culture on Dread at the Controls clocking in at 18 minutes of bass heavy rockers.

So – skin up – enjoy.

LISTEN TO FELT WE FELT THE STRAIN RADIO

We will be playing the usual mix of R’nB, soul, ska, reggae, latin and anything else that seems appropriate at the time. We will of course be seeing how long we can get away with playing after midnight. (There is always one more tune you just have to play).

The gig features Polka who will be traveling considerably further than us given they are coming from Berlin. So that bus ride is not so far.

Steve Elwell‘s night is always entertaining and  in the most surreal venue in London, well worth a visit. Bring your dancing shoes !

Flyer and details shown in post below. . .

Spanglish Fly CD cover

A new show posted today on the Soul/Funk page.

It blends funk from San Francisco and latin soul and boogaloo from New York. Two sides one story. From changing guitars to latin beats – it’s all soul really.

The tunes come from vinyl compilations and ends with the sublime Some Lonely Heart by Ronnie Marks. Many thanks to Soul Boy Jim at Sounds of the Universe for turning me on to that (I was only buying a boogaloo compilation at the time!)

Anyway check it out. NEW RADIO SHOW

Stay tuned for a new reggae show soon come!

Another interesting line-up from Shopping Trolley Promotions including Pulka, all the way from Berlin on Friday June 3rd 2011. Also playing Drain Cover and Psycho Yogi, with DJ’ing from the fabulous Trip Team.