Good morning from blustery South London. The results of last week’s poll are in and, for now at least, I’m going to persist with publishing these missives on a Monday. I’m also going to carry on adding an archive write-up, this week in the shape of John Martyn’s Solid Air. There was a neat bit of synchronicity with that post as it echoed some of the thoughts I had about the Bob Marley record. In the relentless search for the perfect beat it’s important to make time for the classics, especially when times are turbulent and the audio equivalent of a comfort blanket is what we need.
I loved checking the Mystic Brew compilation and reminding myself of a formative time in my life; I need to check the Central Heating and Counterculture comps from that period as I’m sure they’re full of forgotten treats. It’s my birthday this weekend and I’m hoping to make time for some record shopping - fingers crossed I’ll have some new discoveries to share with you next week.
March 10th • Various Artists - Mystic Brew
Earlier this week a tune randomly popped into my head. I find this happens often; a track I've not thought about for years nudges it's way out of my subconscious and sets up shop for a few hours. I tend to instantly search for the track on my phone, returning to it when I'm in front of my laptop to add to playlists for future radio shows or mixes.
This week it was Loop Dreams by Aim. Aim was part of the Fat City / Grand Central crew that are a bit of a forgotten corner of British music. When I was first going to clubs they were huge and acts like Aim, Rae & Christian and Fingathing plus affiliates Mr Scruff and Andy Votel were mainstays of the nights I used to go to in Leeds, Sheffield and Manchester.
Listening to the track on YouTube I realised that it didn't match up with how I remembered it, so I reached for this compilation that features the track. It was this version that fit with my memories - a tweaked Grand Central remix from Rae & Christian.
Naturally the whole album was soon on the turntable and it took me back to my early days of DJing at the turn of the millennium in an instant. Comps like these, the Stop, Look and Listen series and Strange Games & Funky Things were so important back then. Before Serato and later CDJs made transportation of thousands of tracks to DJ sets a matter of course, records really had to justify their place in your bag. Setting off for a 4-hour bar gig without breaking your back gave you something to think about, and a comp with 3 or 4 killer tunes was invaluable. Even so, looking at my battered copy I can see that I've added a thicker inner sleeve for one of the records, something I used to do when I only wanted to take 1 record of a double LP to a gig to save space. I've also got a sticker (from a blank tape) to mark the opening drum break of Sunshine Of Your Love which I used to (badly) rock doubles of back in the day.
It's a great listen, taking me back to grimy northern clubs with average sound systems; night drives back across the M62, mixtapes passed around in car parks and scrawled notes on receipts to remind you of the tunes you heard. A Mystic Brew indeed.
March 11th • Ramsey Lewis - Upendo Ni Pamoja
Record shopping is not an exact science; sometimes you'll pick something out that looks like it's going to be great, only to be disappointed when the needle hits the grooves. Over the years though, you develop certain criteria to help you decide which LPs to pull out for listening and which to leave in the crates.
I came across this on my recent trip to the Bay Area in the excellent Stranded Records. In the pro column: it's Ramsey Lewis, features Cleveland Eaton, and has versions of Slipping Into Darkness and People Make The World Go Round. On the con side, it's not on Chess and consequently doesn't have Charles Stepney involved. Also the cover is kind of weird - which can be a good or a bad thing depending on your point of view.
Anyway, I persisted and I'm glad I did. The versions of the tracks mentioned above are fantastic as is the rework of Michael Jackson's Got To Be There. It's perhaps not in the top tier of Lewis' work, but that's a high bar and I'm glad to have this one on the shelf.
Reading up a little more on the LP, one thing leapt out at me: none of the tracks on here are written by Lewis himself. Eaton penned a trilogy on the B-side, and violinist Eddie Green has two compositions, despite not actually playing on the record. Digging into Ramsey's back catalogue I realised this is far from unusual. Of his most famous tracks, only Sun Goddess was written by him - of course he did write a lot of fantastic music, but it reminded me of the journey that jazz music has taken over the past 70 years.
I sometimes marvel at the prolific output of some of my favourite artists in the genre, but often-times their LPs were like this one: records needed to be delivered so they put a few arrangements together and got it done. It's such a different mind-set to jazz in 2023: not better or worse, just different, and perhaps is a consequence of how jazz has gone from being 'popular' music to a niche genre. I'd be interested in some of today's artists getting some modern standards on record - there's magic in re-imagining the familiar and I hope it's an approach that might come back around.
March 13th • Bob Marley & The Wailers - Exodus
Writing about what you listen to can, sometimes, change what you listen to. I suppose this is a variation on what we all experience on social media; by recording a 'special' moment for online posterity we are infringing on the purity of that moment. So we go on holiday and think about the best place for a selfie, or eye up a record shop for the angle that captures the vibe most succinctly.
For me, this means that I sometimes pick records that allow me a way into a discussion about music that I want to have. Or maybe I want to show off a new 'rare' purchase to let you all know how deep my knowledge is. I'm not writing about anything that I genuinely haven't listened to that week, but of course I have plenty of other familiar favourites that I go back to time and time again, especially when hanging out with my family. They won't appreciate me blaring out free jazz all day, so the likes of Curtis Mayfield, Fleetwood Mac and The Beatles get more plays than you might imagine from my writing here.
I have written about all three of those artists, but I realised this weekend that I've never written about Bob Marley, an artist who I've played pretty consistently since picking up a cassette of Legend over 30 years ago. Whilst Exodus isn't a best-of compilation, it has more all-timers on it than most artists would manage in a lengthy career. The title track, Jamming, Three Little Birds and One Love occupy that rare space in music where they have a universal and international appeal. These are songs that defy genre, language and age in a way that few artists have ever achieved.
So whilst today I might not be introducing you to a new and innovative artist, or uncovering a forgotten gem, I do think there's something to be said for remembering and revisiting the classics. This is a record that genuinely changed music, and that can't be underestimated. If you haven't played this in a while, stick it on the stereo - it's guaranteed to put a smile on your face, and a spring in your step.
March 8th 2021 • John Martyn - Solid Air
How many albums that you own do you know the exact date that you first listened to them? Thanks to social media and pointless sharing of my day-to-day activities I know the date I first listened to this masterpiece from John Martyn. It was 10.13am on 16th August 2010 when I tweeted ‘Listening to John Martyn’s Solid Air for the first time today. Two tracks in and I know I’m gonna love it’. I wasn’t wrong. I’d say this is up there with my most listened to records in the intervening decade.
Another question - do you have any pieces of art, be it movies, albums, TV shows that you feel you should have seen but haven’t? I have this with films all the time - things I know that a ‘cultured’ person such as myself really should have an opinion on. But then it gets to Saturday night and you’re wondering what to watch and you think that, much as it’d be soul enriching to watch a Fellini film you’d probably rather re-watch Spaced for the 100th time. And by Spaced I mean Foyle’s War.
Comfort viewing and listening has been a big part of the last year for me (Chloe and I are currently re-watching The West Wing for the 4th time) and this album definitely occupies that space. It’s ironic that it started as something I felt I had to listen to as a music fan out of a sense of duty or cultural completeness and has become an easy option when I want something familiar and warm.
The lesson is that sometimes classics are classics for a reason. This record is flawless, to the point where I never really listen to other John Martyn albums as it seems silly when I have Solid Air. It’s astonishingly good though - May You Never is the first song I played to my son so will always be precious to me, but the whole record is the sound of a generational talent at his peak. If you haven’t listened to it already, go seek it out, and don’t forget to mark the date in your diary.