Art Ensemble of Chicago: A Jackson in Your House/Message to Our Folks/Reese and the Smooth Ones
Sandie Shaw: Sandie/Me/Love Me Please Love Me
You really don't need the context on this, do you? Event album, comeback, cheesy title, blah blah – it's all there splattered all over the internet if you really want it. I'll just cut to the chase and say: I love Justin Timberlake's music, and I'm very, very relieved to say I love this album, for a number of reasons. And rather than try and analyse anything too much, I'll just list them.
Del Shannon: The Complete UK Singles and More (1961-1966)
There's a lot about stoner culture that smacks of earnestness, and The Dark Side of the Moon has been at the heart of a good deal of that. The number of long, dreary, late-night conversations that must have taken place over “doobs” and “munchies” about its themes of life, death, madness, desperation and all the rest doesn't even bear thinking about.
Robyn Hitchcock has mustered some of the most bizarre song titles ever. Solo and with long defunct bands The Soft Boys and The Egyptians he’s come up with corkers such as “Sandra’s Having Her Brain Out”, “The Man With the Lightbulb Head” and “Wading Through a Ventilator”. None of the titles on his latest album quite match these for weirdness, but his penchant for jolly psychedelic tunery and lyrical dementedness remains intact, if mellowed with age.
We're extremely proud to be able to present this charming exclusive video by the London multi-instrumentalist singer-songwriter (and animator) BJ Smith - a ray of sunshine in the winter greyness. It comes from the forthcoming Dedication to the Greats release on the Nu Northern Soul label, which features Smith's acoustic covers of tracks by hip hop artists: The Pharcyde's "Runnin'", and the track featured here, Mos Def's "Umi Says".
