listening2… is a new series of regular posts on what I’ve been listening to over the past week or so. Tracks from my travels. New songs and music to explore further. Half forgotten tracks from my digital collection. Roadtrip gems.
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May 25th 2024: I’ve been listening to… #03
In this week’s listening2… New Ghanaian Afrobeat from Afla Sackey; a rediscovery of Josephine’s amazing 2012 single, What a Day; a track from Nadine Shah’s bid for album of the year so far; the title track of the Civil Wars first album; a new track from Post-punk veterans ACL and a classic Drum and Bass Coldcut mix - plus Taylor and ACL bonuses…
1. Afla Sackey & Afrik Bawantu - It's Not Easy
Afrik Bawantu is the band led by Ghanaian vocalist and djembe drummer Afla Sackey, and this is their new single. I found this on Bandcamp a couple of weeks ago and it’s such an infectious groove. The track comes from the band’s new album Destination, coming out in the summer of 2024. Find more vids from their Afrobeat history HERE.
2. Josephine – What a Day
I came across Manchester singer, Josephine’s 2012 album, Portrait a decade or so ago, and stumbled back across this track again recently. The whole album is brilliant. Her second album, Kindred, came out in 2022 under her full name Josephine Oniyama.
3. Nadine Shah - Greatest Dancer
Question: is Nadine Shah producing some of the best music out there at the moment? Answer: Yup! This is one the best tracks from Filthy Underneath, one of the best albums of the year so far…
Fun fact: Nadine Shah is from Whitburn nr. Sunderland, the village next to the one I lived in as a kid.
4. The Civil Wars – Barton Hollow
When The Civil Wars exploded onto the scene with the songwriting talents, chemistry and impossible harmonies of Joy Williams and John Paul White, I wasn't the only person blown away by the intensity of their musical collaboration. They imploded only a couple of years later as the band fell apart in recriminations and puzzled questions of “WTF happened there?”. They were magnificent while they lasted though. This is the title track from their 2011 debut album, Barton Hollow.1
Miles and miles in my bare feet Still can't lay me down to sleep If I die before I wake I know the Lord my soul won't take
5. A Certain Ratio - Keep it Real
Another track from a new album, It All Comes Down To This, by post-punk veterans A Certain Ratio. They started out in 1977. That’s quite a long time ago. It sounds amazing though, doesn’t it? See the footnote for an ACR bonus video!2
6. Coldcut with the Qemists - Everything is Under Control (Qemists remix)
A classic from back in the day from the bonus disc on Coldcut’s 2006 album, Sound Mirrors. Possibly one of the greatest albums ever made. Is it rock? Is it drum and bass? Who cares!? 3
Notes
Fun fact and today’s bonus Listening2 vid: The Civil Wars were featured on Taylor Swift’s Hunger Games song, Safe and Sound in 2012. Beautiful.
A Swiftie muso in-joke from comments on Youtube:
folklore: who are you? Safe & Sound: I'm your mother
Bonus Listening2 vid number two: It All Comes Down To... ACR, described as: “An absurdist view of the recording process for musicians A Certain Ratio, collaborating with Speedy Wunderground’s Dan Carey. Occurring 45 years after the release of their first album, this view offers everything and nothing. It All Comes Down to This, and the pursuit of such.”
From https://ninjatune.net/artist/the-qemists:
“Sometimes, it’s easier to describe The Qemists by saying what we’re not,” laughs Liam Black. “We’re not a ‘standard’ Rock band, we’re not ‘standard’ Drum & Bass producers, and we don’t try to be those things. But describing what we are, that’s more tricky...” The Qemists are, in many ways, something of a Qonundrum. They’re Rock kids seduced by the dancefloor, Dance kids equally happy playing live instruments or building tracks on the computer, Drum & Bass aficionados who believe their hurtling breakbeats sound best under muscular metallic riffs.