NOVEMBER PLAYLIST

The sadly unavailable Ronnie Lane

1.  Lou Rawls – “Trouble Down Here Below” (1966)

Lou Rawls testifying from the mountaintop. Gospel music taken from the church to the dancefloor.

2.  The Turtles – “Wanderin’ Kind” (1966)

I blame/thank The Higher State for making me think to dig out the first Turtles album.

3.  Hindal Butts – “In The Pocket” (1967)

There was part of me which bought this record because it was by Hindal Butts. Not because I knew anything about him, I just like the name. Hindal Butts. Fortunately it’s a funky, snap-tight Hammond instrumental. Mr. Butts was on sticks, no idea who was letting rip on the organ, and Monkey Snr. speculates the tenor player came from Chicago. 

4.  Elli – “Never Mind” (1967)

When not working as a painter and decorator in Swinging London, Calcutta-born Elli Meyer sang in a string of middling beat combos before friends Mike Finesilver and Peter Ker wrote and recorded this intricate gem on him for Parlophone. It would be Elli’s only release until a collection of ’67-’70 recordings appeared on a Dig The Fuzz album in 1999. Well worth looking out for.

5.  Velvet Underground – “Foggy Notion” (1969)

Oh man, the Velvets really swing on this, one of my very favourites of theirs.

6.  Ebony Rhythm Band – “Soul Heart Transplant” (1969)

As the house band for Lamp Records in Indianapolis, the Ebony Rhythm Band cut a few 45s of their own including this funky-as-hell breakbeat goldmine.

7.  Ronnie Lane and Slim Chance – “Anniversary” (1975)

It seems every other week another newly packaged Small Faces collection taps on the wallet. Just how many times do people need those songs? What the world is crying out for though is a proper reissue of all Ronnie Lane’s albums. Where’s the boxset with all his Slim Chance recordings, eh? It’s a sorry state of affairs.  

8.  The See See – “Featherman” (2013)

The See See have made a couple of albums straddling the twin horses country-rock and West Coast psychedelia. This recent stand-alone 45 is the best thing they’ve done so far, with carousel organ and a great use of strings added into the mix.  

9.  Midlake – “The Old And The Young” (2013)

They’ll never match the brilliance of The Trials Of Van Occupanther but new album Antiphon takes some of their familiar themes and adds a futuristic psychedelic twist.

10.  Beachwood Sparks – “Desert Skies” (1998)

What would’ve been their debut album only now, this month, sees release. “Desert Skies” is the Bandwagonesque title track.

KONTIKI SUITE - "MUSIC MAN" (2012)

Beyond hailing from the Carlisle area I know very little about Kontiki Suite, except I’m in love with their shimmering cosmic country rock. They did sneak out an EP “Stars” in 2009 and earlier this year an epic 12 inch single “Magic Carpet Ride”, both of which I recommend. The achingly beautiful “Music Man” is their finest recording yet and taken from their forthcoming debut album On Sunset Lake. If you like Beachwood Sparks you’ll adore Kontiki Suite.  

JULY PLAYLIST

Pleased to report this month’s playlist is evenly split between the old and the new.

1.  Kenny Lynch – “Hey Girl” (1965)

This never gets mentioned in the same way as “Movin’ Away” but it has a similar feel and is almost as good. Beautiful production, string arrangement, and Lynch sounds more Chicago than Stepney.     

2.  Boogaloo Joe Jones – “Poppin’” (1970)

From Boogaloo Joe Jones’s 1970 Right On Brother LP featuring Charles Earland on organ and Pretty Purdie on drums. As funky as that sentence reads.

3.  Rodriguez – “Crucify Your Mind” (1970)

I first heard this in the new film about Rodriguez, Searching For Sugar Man, yesterday. I walked out of the cinema, straight to the record shop, and have played it twenty times since. (Listen).

4.  Howlin’ Wolf – “If I Were A Bird” (1971)

The Wolf’s second attempt to connect with the psychedelic heads came with his Message To The Young LP (“If you wanna wear short skirts, go ahead, I won’t mind”). It’s not as way out as Muddy Waters or Bo Diddley’s similar efforts but is a strong electric blues LP and in no way “dog shit” like he considered The Howlin’ Wolf Album that preceded it.

5.  Arthur Lee – “Love Jumped Through My Window” (1971)
Arthur alone with his guitar. I met him once. He wasn’t very friendly. Maybe he’d heard The Electric Fayre’s version of “My Flash On You” or our own “Arthur’s Song”. To my friend he said “get out of my face”. I’m still jealous. Love you Arthur.    

6.  Two Wounded Birds – “Together Forever” (2012)

Pitched between the Ramones and the Vaccines (but don't let that put you off), two minutes of unbridled surfin' fun, fun, fun.

7.  Beachwood Sparks – “Forget The Song” (2012)

From the opening strum, the pedal steel, the vocals, the harmonies this is heart melting stuff off album of the year contender, Tarnished Gold.

8.  Kontiki Suite – “Magic Carpet Ride” (2012)

Not the Steppenwolf song but unhurried, dandelion blowing psychedelia. Their other songs are even better which officially makes them the Monkey Picks British Band To Watch when their debut LP lands shortly.

9.  The Sufis – “Lemming Circle Dance” (2012)

The first couple of tracks on The Sufis album sound like The Piper At Their Satanic Majesties Gates of Dawn Request, which is fine, but then their own personality shines through with this far more interesting and experimental wig-out.

10.  Pussy Riot – “Holy Shit” (2012)

Having already spent five months incarcerated for performing this punk prayer protest in a Moscow cathedral, three young women from Pussy Riot are today on trial facing seven years in prison for “hooliganism motivated by religious hatred or hostility”. Holy shit.