James Cotton "best of the Verve years" 1967-1968(rec) 1995(c)****

Like so many other original bluesmen's, James Cotton's story sounds like a novel: born in Mississippi and growing up in the cotton fields, the youngest of 8 children he was orphaned at the age of 9. He had already shown some talent on harmonica, so one of his uncles took him to wandering musician Sonny Boy Williamson II to learn the trade. {Of course Sonny Boy acquired the numerical II only later, by blues scholars. He was, you see, actually an impostor previously known as Rice Miller. During the 30's there was a famous harp player with the name John Lee "Sonny Boy" Williamson, and Miller had found out he'd make more money if he just appeared at a bar/tavern/party and impersonate Sonny Boy - and, more importantly, that he could get away with it. By the time of our story (late 40's) the original Sonny Boy was dead and Miller had made a name for himself as a live attraction - always with the name Sonny Boy Williamson.} In any case, the man was among the best harmonica players of his time and taught Cotton well, probably also introducing him to his brother-in-law Howlin' Wolf who took Cotton in his band when he moved to Chicago. It wasn't long before he was offered a spot in the best blues band of the time, that of Muddy Waters. Muddy's downhome blues style allowed a lot of space for harmonica and his previous harp players (Little Walter, Junior Wells) were legendary, so Cotton had big shoes to fill - which he did very well. He stayed with Muddy's band for 12 years but, like his predecessors, he wasn't content with just being a sideman and soon fronted his own band who quickly became a live sensation, thanks to his energetic playing and flair for entertainment. It didn't hurt to have powerful supporters, from Albert Grossman (also manager of Bob Dylan, Janis Joplin etc) to guitarist/producer Michael Bloomfield. This compilation features some of the best blues musicians of Chicago, both black and white, and includes all of his debut LP (1967's "The James Cotton Blues Band") plus excerpts from 1968's "Pure Cotton" and "Cotton In Your Ear". The style is quite different from Waters' downhome style, with lots of upbeat R&B/Soul numbers delivered by a big band with lots of horns. His harmonica playing is, as expected, phenomenal and best showcased on instrumentals like the slow "Blues In My Sleep", "The Creeper", "Coach's Better Days" and signature Little Walter tune "Off The Wall", as well as his mentor Sonny Boy Williamson's "Don't Start Me Talkin'". His singing throughout is great, strong and soulful, often reminiscent of Bobby "Blue" Bland. The album opens with R&B dynamite "Good Time Charlie" and features many more soul numbers like "Turn On Your Lovelight", "Knock On Wood" and "Lovin' Cup". "Feelin' Good" is a wild rewrite of John Lee Hooker's "Boogie Chillun", "Sweet Sixteen" a faithful B.B. King cover. Guitarist Luther Tucker really shines on this one, though truth be told his work all over the CD is great. I'm surprised I hadn't heard of him before. There's more B.B.King/Bobby Bland-like R&B with the upbeat "Oh Why" and slow "Something on Your Mind", "Jelly Jelly". Good as the brass section is, though, I prefer the songs with the smaller band because you can listen Cotton's harp and Tucker's guitar more clearly. The Chicago Blues sound manifests itself in tunes like "She's Murder" (similar to Muddy's "Got My Mojo Workin'"), "Soul Survivor" (like Howlin' Wolf's "Built For Comfort"). Lastly, there are some slower blues numbers with a downhome sound ("Fallin' Rain", "Heart Attack", "Down At You Buryin" "Back To St. Louis") to showcase the band's late night jazz side, with atmospheric piano and emotive vocals and weeping harmonica. This CD may at first turn off blues purists who came to know Cotton by way of Muddy Waters, but I think it's really entertaining, achieves a balance between downhome blues and commercial R&B and includes some great performances by top musicians. For those of you who enjoy the high energy R&B of The Blues Brothers, this is the missing link between them and the "real thing".

***** for Don't Start Me Talkin', Turn On Your Lovelight, She's Murder (AKA "Murder in the First Degree")

**** for Good Time Charlie, Off The Wall, Jelly Jelly, Feelin' Good, Sweet Sixteen, Knock On Wood, Oh Why?, Soul Survivor, Lovin' Cup

*** for Something On Your Mind, Blues In My Sleep, Fallin' Rain, Heart Attack, The Creeper, Down At You Buryin', Back To St. Louis, The Coach's Better Days

Baaba Maal and Mansour Seck "Djam Leelii" 1984(recorded) 1989(released)****

Musicians play an important role in West African culture, so it's no wonder that that region of the world has produced some of the so-called world music superstars. Since the Middle Ages, hereditary troubadours called griots are much more than entertainers, also playing the role of historian/storyteller, educator and political commentator. Rarely does someone born outside the musician's caste assume this role. Blind singer/guitarist Mansour Seck was a griot born and raised, but his friend and (subsequently) more famous counterpart Baaba Maal was born into the fisherman's caste. Maal's family wanted on him to transcend his humble beginnings and helped him enrol in Law School, but he'd never graduate. His love for music won out and he eventually struck a partnership with his friend Mansour that in 1984 took them as far as Paris where they entered a recording studio to make a record -actually a cassette- album that would become a hit with the African diaspora. 

5 years later it was released internationally on CD and vinyl under the title "Djam Leelii", gaining wide critical recognition. Maal would go on to become a world/pop crossover star, experiment with reggae, pop, soul and electronic sounds and collaborate with Western musicians. But "Djam Leelii" is strictly traditional music, two voices and acoustic guitars with discrete backing by percussion, electric guitar, kora and balafon. It's an album of gentle, hypnotic music, fluid guitars and mourning vocals. Among my favourite songs are the slow and melancholic "Djam Leelii" and "Lam Tooro". Very emotional and wistful playing and singing - I'm told the latter deals with the sorrow of forced migration, being forced by the harsh weather and political conditions to leave everything and everyone you know behind and travel to strange and unwelcoming destinations. The lyrics are all written in the Pulaar language, and there are no English translations on the web, but it seems that exile and immigration is the central theme to the album, ergo the English title appended to later reissues "Djam Leelii: The Adventurers". Somehow we Europeans think that these people very naturally and gladly exchange their homeland, friends and family for the "luxurious" living in the ghettos of the grey and cloudy cities of the North. Even more absurdly, we think that closing our borders to them will render us safer and more affluent. But anyway, don't let me give you the impression it's a depressing record. Next to the spiritual and sorrowful tunes there are enough uplifting, rumba-like, pieces which provide some of the album highlights ("Maacina Tooro", "Salminanam", "Kettodee"). If you like African sounds, acoustic guitars or just atmospheric music, this is an album you're sure to enjoy...

***** for Lam Tooro, Salminanam, Maacina Tooro, Djam Leelii

**** for Loodo, Sehilam, Kettodee

*** for Muudo Hormo, Bibbe Leydy

Emerson Lake and Palmer "Pictures At An Exhibition" 1971***

Last year unfortunately saw the demise of both Keith Emerson and Greg Lake, two giants of progressive rock. They had come to personify the whole genre through EL&P, the group they had led together with drummer Carl Palmer. Displaying all the virtues and (perceived) vices of prog rock to the extreme, EL&P were worshipped (especially by young male rock fans) and reviled (by rock critics and, later, punks) in equal measure. Of all their albums "Pictures At An Exhibition" best exemplifies the traits that made them (in)famous: They've been lauded as serious musicians and denounced as pretentious fakes for their flirtation with classical music: what more proof do you need than their adaptation of a "difficult" classical work (Mussorgsky's "Pictures At An Exhibition") for a live rock performance? Likewise, they've been accused for instrumental wankering and posturing, or praised for their (especially Emerson's) pyrotechnic playing and wild onstage behaviour. Here he gives his all, conjuring previously unheard sounds from his Moog synthesizers while proving once more his dexterity, revolutionising keyboard playing as much as Hendrix did with electric guitars. In the middle of that madness, Lake's pop sense and emotive vocals provided the perfect counterpart while Palmer's powerful drumming propelled the songs in hard rock territory. Mussorgsky's original work was inspired by an imaginary exhibition of paintings by his friend Viktor Hartmann, describing the feelings created by each painting, while the connecting melody "promenade" represented the walk from one painting to the next. EL&P staged their own interpretation for their 1971 tour, while this LP was recorded live at Newcastle City Hall on 26 March of that year. The opener "Promenade" features the main theme played on the great City Hall pipe organ, followed by "The Gnome", an instrumental filled with weird synthesizer noise and some pretty good drumming by Palmer. "Promenade" returns, albeit with lyrics written and sung by Greg Lake, followed by an original Lake ballad called "The Sage" and played mostly on acoustic guitar. 

"The Old Castle" is met with a lot of applause, leading me to believe that something must have been happening onstage because the aural part isn't all that agreeable: Lots of synthesizer noodling by Emerson whose playing on this album is over-the-top and at times annoying, in contrast to Palmer's solid drumming and Lake's melodic balladry which is much to my taste. Thankfully, all of the elements blend nicely together on the "Baba Yaga" trilogy, a fast and agressive piece of prog rock befitting of the fearsome witch of the same name. "Blues Variation" is another keyboard-based instrumental albeit of a more conventional variety, with enjoyable jazz funk organ passages, while there's also another reprise of the main theme "Promenade". "The Great Gates of Kiev" is, in my opinion, the highlight of the album, a majestic ballad with heavy organ and emotional vocals. The encore is "Nutrocker", a jam based on a 60's surf instrumental which in turn was based on Tchaikovsky's Nutcracker Suite. It's a light and playful piece, intended probably as a crowd-pleasing closer to a challenging show. It was chosen as the single, despite being the least interesting track off the album. With the exception of the Lake ballads, this isn't an album for the faint-hearted. Certainly not the place to start if you're interested in EL&P (or Mussorgsky). If, however, you are already a fan of bands like Dream Theater or Porcupine Tree and want to delve deeper into their sources of inspiration you may find a lot of interest here...

**** for Promenade II, The Sage, The Hut Of Baba Yaga I, The Great Gates Of Kiev, Nutrocker

*** for Promenade I, Blues Variation, Promenade III, The Curse Of Baba Yaga, The Hut Of Baba Yaga 

** for The Gnome, The Old Castle

The Punkles "The Punkles" 1998**

I found this CD cheaply at the 2nd hand Pêle-Mêle shop in Brussels and thought it'd be good for a few laughs. Obviously the cover is a spoof (or tribute?) of punk rockers Stranglers' Black and White, while the logo is derived from The Beatles, with the name being an amalgam of punk and Beatles. You won't be surprised, then, to learn that their music is consisted by sped-up, Ramones-style, Beatles songs. Now is this parody or tribute, and where's the difference? The songs, anyway, are played in earnest: faster and with more energy, but not mockingly - they're fun but they're not a joke. Do they sound good? Listen, they're Beatles compositions. You can play them in punk style, jazz, reggae, or classical - if you're not completely useless as a musician or don't actually try to mess them up, they'll never sound bad because those songs are immortal. Two songs are sung in German: "She Loves You/Sie Liebt Dich" and "I Want to Hold Your Hand/Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand". For those not familiar with The Beatles discography, the Fab Four themselves had actually recorded these songs in German and released them as a single in Germany to capitalize on their fame as a live band in Hamburg. Which is, incidentally, The Punkles' hometown. The band members' stage names consist of the first name of a Ramone and surname of a Beatle - except for bassist Sid McCartney who apparently chose to take his name from Sid Vicious from the Sex Pistols. I guess "Dee Dee McCartney" sounded wrong somehow. The manager's name is (of course) Malcom McEpstein. Among the better tracks here are those recorded live: ostensibly at the Hollywood Bowling Center, with added girls' screams to reproduce the Beatlemania ambiance of the "Live At The Hollywood Bowl" Beatles album, they do have that peppy live sound. "All You Need Is Love" is less punked-up, and appears in two versions. The second "All Star version" with backing vocals by other (mostly German) punk rockers, replicating the original's all star cast of backing vocalists (The Stones, Clapton, Marianne Faithfull etc). The album ends with "The Silence of the Amps", 1,5 minute of static noise. A bit of internet searching reveals that the Punkles were also known as Prollhead, a German-language punk/metal parody band. Exactly why there are so many German rock parody bands is difficult to understand. It is a scientific fact that Germans and humour are mutually exclusive, so why even give it a try - let alone repeated ones? In any case the Japanese apparently got the joke, as 2 Punkles albums reached the Top 50 there. To me this album is only another curio for my collection. They're not bad, their music rocks amiably and they do a half-decent Beatles parody, but I can't help but compare them to The Rutles, another Beatles spoof band that had the privilege of containing members of the Monty Python comedy team, Bonzo Dog Band and The Beach Boys - the Punkles couldn't hold a candle to them...

P.S. this album is also available under the title "Beat The Punkles". Different title, different cover, same songs (with the addition of 2 bonus tracks).

*** for Eight Days a Week, Help, I Should Have Known Better, Sie Liebt Dich, Komm Gib Mir Deine Hand(live), All You Need Is Love, A Hard Days Night(live), I Feel Fine(live), Ticket to Ride(live), Can't Buy Me Love(live) 

** for Please Please Me, I Saw Her Standing There, Twist & Shout(live), All You Need Is Love (All Star version)

* for The Silence of the Amps

Green Day "Bullet in a Bible" (CD/DVD) 2005***

A few days ago I was at a Green Day concert in Amsterdam, part of their "Revolution Radio" tour. It was a fantastic gig that exceeded my expectations. The band had tremendous energy and Billie Joe kept the audience on their toes, proving once again he's mastered the art of stadium rock. He continuously addressed the crowd, and had fans get up on stage to sing and play guitar along with the band - actually gave his guitar away to a lucky fan, now that's a souvenir! Ziggo arena (15.000+ capacity) was the perfect size, big enough for Billie Joe to run around and for the show effects (huge flames, light show, tons of confetti) but also not so big that you'd lose sight of the band. There weren't the usual giant screens, so you had to look straight at them - which helped in creating more intimacy. Of course, they also had a lot to say about the new U.S president: "Fuck Donald Trump" was their rather unambiguous message, while they dedicated "Boulevard of Broken Dreams" to the refugees Trump turned away in one of his first presidential decisions. Republican ultra-right presidents certainly energize them: if George W. Bush inspired them to create their masterpiece "American Idiot", imagine what the ever more colourful Trump will...  
After the gig I went home and played my "Bullet in a Bible" DVD, to see how much they've changed in the 12 years separating the two concerts. I must say it wasn't much. They were just as enthusiastic and energetic as their younger selves, and didn't even look a day older. Both concerts used an expanded band (from 3 people in the studio to 6 for the concerts) and a lot of the songs were performed in a similar manner (i.e. the King for a Day/Shout medley, though the Amsterdam version also contained snippets of "Hey Jude" and "Satisfaction"). Billie Joe kept talking to the audience and tried to get them more involved, sing along etc - in concert, this works better than on the CD. "Bullet in a Bible" was shot during the American Idiot Tour, and features most of the songs from that album - one which saw Green Day depart from the punk pop of their earlier albums to play thoughtful ballads ("September", "Broken Dreams") and rock mini-operas ("Jesus Of Suburbia") inspired by The Who, all in service of a concept album seriously attempting to paint the big picture of American society under a conservative warmongering government. The sheer ambition of that project already set them apart from the punk rock crowd, and when they took the show on the road they took it even further. This CD/DVD is recorded before one of the biggest audiences Green Day (or any punk band) ever played. They handle it like arena rock pros, beefing up the sound with extra guitars, horns and keyboards, employing stage props and giant screens. Billie Joe runs up and down the stage like Mick Jagger, nobody's idea of a punk rocker - just compare him to the leering audience-baiting Johnny Rotten, or the hunched-shoulders/hair-down stance of Joey Ramone. So what? He doesn't need a certificate of punk authenticity. He's gone past that, and anyway his audience seem like emo kids rather than punks. Still, in contrast to most stadium rock bands, Green Day try very hard (and partly succeed) to retain some intimacy with their fans despite the size of the place. The revolutionary preachers of "American Idiot" avoid taking themselves too seriously on the road, showing us that, at heart, they're first and foremost entertainers. This weakens the effect of the more political songs (with the exception of the rebel-rousing "American Idiot") but works great for the Celtic Punk of "Minority" and Ska/R&B-tinged "King For A Day" - the latter is performed as a 10(!) minute medley with the 60's classic "Shout!" and Monty Pythons' "Always Look at the Bright Side of Life", very un-punk-like but definitely one of the disc's highlights. The first half of the album is dominated by the "American Idiot" album, featuring the anthemic title track, and the equally hook-y "Holiday", mid-tempo sing-along "Are We The Waiting" and punky "St. Jimmy". The middle of the set features the older, punkier, numbers "Longview", "Hitchin' A Ride" and "Basket Case". Though devoid of the urgency of the original versions, their hooks and energy keep the fun level high. The grungy "Brain Stew" gives Billie Joe the chance to present the band. Lastly, near the finale, we get the ballads "Wake Me Up When September Ends", "Boulevard Of Broken Dreams" and "Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)" - the latter also closed last month's concert. Hardly the concert's strongest moments, yet the fact that they can write and deliver sincere, emotive, ballads speaks well for the band's versatility. The sound quality of both CD and DVD (crisp stereo and 5:1 dolby surround) is excellent, while the DVD takes the form of a musical documentary, mixing interviews with expertly edited concert clips. *** for the CD, **** for the DVD, but really...you should have been there. Catch them live if you can!

**** for American Idiot, Holiday, Longview, Basket Case, King For A Day/Shout 

*** for Jesus Of Suburbia, Are We The Waiting, St. Jimmy, Wake Me Up When September Ends, Minority, Boulevard Of Broken Dreams, Good Riddance (Time Of Your Life)

** for Hitchin' A Ride, Brain Stew

2016 end-of-the-year lists

There's a right time for end-of-the-year reviews, and that's December, so why post this this now? I guess because this isn't an end-of-the-year review. How could it be? I've bought maybe 10 new records (and about 150 old ones) this year, and listened to maybe 20 more - not enough for me to make such a list. But I do buy the music papers for their year retrospectives. Last December I bought these four, so I thought I'd publish their Top-50 lists and my thoughts on them. My first impression from comparing these 4 lists is that, judging from the critics' choices, Bowie's "Blackstar" must be head and shoulders above the competition - but is this really true? IMO "Blackstar" is intellectual, emotional and original, a worthy epilogue to an unparallelled musical career. On the other hand, it's a rather difficult album which I doubt we'll often be playing a few years from now - so its unanimous top position is probably an emotional reaction to the sudden passing of one of the greatest pop/rock musicians ever. Another recently departed musical giant was Leonard Cohen whose last album "You Want It Darker" also found itself high in the lists - but then again, the same happened with his 2 previous albums. One may argue that everybody expected each of them to be his last, so maybe these were also emotional choices. But there's no denying "Darker" was, like its immediate predecessors, terrific: poignant poetry, excellent orchestration, and that raspy yet warm and soothing voice...an album every bit as good as his early material. An artist I was very glad to see featuring high in the lists was Iggy Pop. "Post Pop Depression" even deposed Bowie from the top position of Classic Rock's list, thanks to QOTSA's Josh Homme who took over as musical director. Not that Iggy's material wasn't good by itself, but he evidently needs someone to play the role that Bowie did for him in his Berlin period. I'm glad for Iggy 'cause I like him - and who doesn't? he's such a sweet and goofy character, even in his crazy drugged days all that violence was turned inward, hurting mostly himself. Another favourite of mine who made an excellent album last year was P.J.Harvey. She's about my age and through the years it's been great to watch her try out new things and evolve. Her "Hope Six Demolition Project" is a mix of music, poetry and journalism - a bit precious maybe, but it's nice to see someone tackle the big issues without ever becoming too self-important to give attention to the music - which Neil Young has been doing of late. See any Neil Young in these lists? No? Now you know why. Another singer of my generation, Antony (formerly of The Johnsons), reinvented him/herself as Anohni adopting a different, more electronic, sound for "Hopelessness". After a string of beautiful but somewhat samey albums, his/her (complicated this trans-gender thing) voice stops being so impressive, so a change seemed necessary - though I'm still not totally convinced that I should add "Hopelessness" to my collection. The discussion on Nick Cave's "Skeleton Tree" has been dominated by the accidental death of his son. Understandable, given its sombre and dramatic character, though most of it was written before his personal tragedy - and anyway Cave has never been anything if not somber and dramatic. For me it's slightly inferior to his previous one, but still outstanding. Cave is probably the last of the great ones, a poet/ musician/rocker of the calibre of Cohen or Dylan. Speaking of whom, I'm surprised by how little was made of Dylan winning the Nobel prize for literature. The man himself may have chosen to underplay it, but I expected it to be cause for celebration, a recognition for songwriters in general. Meanwhile he just released "Fallen Angels", his third album of classic standards in a row. If I didn't know better I'd worry his creative well is running dry. Radiohead released another well-received album this year, with a minimum of fanfare and promotion. 20 years ago it seemed they would become huge, the successors of classic rock titans like Pink Floyd.  Instead they left the big hooks and stadium shows to imitators like Muse and Coldplay, and embarked on an experimental low-profile journey. "A Moon Shaped Pool" sounds like they've at last stopped sabotaging themselves. I may be wrong but it seems like they're slowly reclaiming their place at the top while carefully holding on to their "artistic integrity". All the critics had nice things to say for the albums of the two sisters, Beyoncé and Solange. As far as I know I haven't heard any of them, and will not. In my universe R&B means Aretha Franklin and Marvin Gaye - names like Rihanna or Beyoncé ring a bell, but that's about it. Up to now, Iggy excepted, there's a notable lack of Rock in these lists, which is a shame. Thank god we have Classic Rock (CR) to redress the balance. For this magazine there's no such a thing as a guilty pleasure, and loud guitars don't have to be ironic post-something. So they keep supporting bands like Blackberry Smoke, Rival Sons and Blues Pills. I get it, especially in the case of the latter who I think are unfairly snubbed by the music press because of their frontwoman Elin Larsson. The world just isn't a fair place for 20-something blond Scandinavian chicks - if she was African-American, bespecatcled and chubby like The Alabama Shakes' Brittany Howard, her band might have broken out of the CR ghetto. The Rolling Stones' Blue & Lonesome generally got positive reviews but only features on one list. Wanna bet it'd be No.1 if Keith Richards had died instead of Bowie? Looking at the CR list, one gets the idea it must have been a great year for Prog Rock: Marillion, Steven Wilson, Opeth, Dream Theater etc figure on their Top 50, despite passing unnoticed by the other magazines. Same with new albums from the likes of Eric Clapton, Jeff Beck, Van Morrison, Heart, Cheap Trick. Guess that's why it's called Classic Rock, dah...

UNCUT 

1. David Bowie – Blackstar ★ 2. Radiohead – A Moon Shaped Pool ★ 3. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds – Skeleton Tree ★ 4. Leonard Cohen – You Want It Darker ★ 5. Ryley Walker – Golden Sings That Have Been Sung ★ 6. PJ Harvey – The Hope Six Demolition Project ★ 7. Sturgill Simpson – A Sailor’s Guide To Earth ★ 8. Anohni – Hopelessness ★ 9. Teenage Fanclub – Here ★ 10. Beyoncé – Lemonade ★ 11. Thee Oh Sees – A Weird Exits ★ 12. Brian Eno – The Ship ★ 13. Drive-By Truckers – American Band ★ 14. Bon Iver – 22, A Million ★ 15. Wilco – Schmilco ★ 16. Hiss Golden Messenger – Heart Like A Levee ★ 17. Cavern Of Anti-Matter – Void Beats/Invocation Trex ★ 18. Solange – A Seat At The Table ★ 19. Lambchop – Flotus ★ 20. Angel Olsen – My Woman ★ 21. William Tyler – Modern Country ★ 22. The Avalanches – Wildflower ★ 23. Margo Price – Midwest Farmer’s Daughter ★ 24. Paul Simon – Stranger To Stranger ★ 25. Iggy Pop – Post Pop Depression ★ 26. Cate Le Bon – Crab Day ★ 27. Shirley Collins – Lodestar ★ 28. Case/Lang/Veirs – Case/Lang/Veirs ★ 29. Kendrick Lamar – untitled unmastered ★ 30. Frank Ocean – Blonde ★ 31. Cass McCombs – Mangy Love ★ 32. 75 Dollar Bill – Wood/Metal/Plastic/Pattern/Rhythm/Rock ★ 33. King Gizzard & The Lizard Wizard – Nonagon Infinity ★ 34. Lucinda Williams – The Ghosts Of Highway 20 ★ 35. Eleanor Friedberger – New View ★ 36. Jenny Hval – Blood Bitch ★ 37. Tim Hecker – Love Streams ★ 38. Chris Forsyth & The Solar Motel Band – The Rarity Of Experience ★ 39. Shovels & Rope – Little Seeds ★ 40. Let’s Eat Grandma – I, Gemini ★ 41. Anna Meredith – Varmints ★ 42. Brigid Mae Power – Brigid Mae Power ★ 43. Róisín Murphy – Take Her Up To Monto ★ 44. Okkervil River – Away ★ 45. King – We Are King ★ 46. Swans – The Glowing Man ★ 47. Handsome Family – Unseen ★ 48. Skepta – Konnichiwa ★ 49. Christine And The Queens – Chaleur Humaine ★ 50. Kevin Morby – Singing Saw

MOJO

1. David Bowie - Blackstar ★ 2. Michael Kiwanuka - Love & Hate ★ 3. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Skeleton Tree ★ 4. Lambchop - FLOTUS ★ 5. Leonard Cohen - You Want It Darker ★ 6. Iggy Pop - Post Pop Depression ★ 7. Frank Ocean - Blonde ★ 8. Paul Simon - Stranger to Stranger ★ 9. PJ Harvey - The Hope Six Demolition Project ★ 10. Heron Oblivion - Heron Oblivion ★ 11. Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool ★ 12. Beyoncé - Lemonade ★ 13. Teenage Fanclub - Here ★ 14. Charles Bradley - Changes ★ 15. The Cult - Hidden City ★ 16. Bon Iver - 22, A Million ★ 17. Dinosaur Jr. - Give a Glimpse of What Yer Not ★ 18. Syd Arthur - Apricity ★ 19. Modern Studies - Swell To Great ★ 20. Bob Dylan - Fallen Angels ★ 21. Ryley Walker - Golden Sings That Have Been Sung ★ 22. Solange - A Seat at the Table ★ 23. Kevin Morby - Singing Saw ★ 24. Car Seat Headrest - Teens of Denial ★ 25. Skepta - Konnichiwa ★ 26. Cass McCombs - Mangy Love ★ 27. case/lang/veirs - case/lang/veirs ★ 28. Angel Olsen - My Woman ★ 29. Thee Oh Sees - A Weird Exits ★ 30. The Monkees - Good Times! ★ 31. Fat White Family - Songs for Our Mothers ★ 33. Suede - Night Thoughts ★ 34. David Crosby - Lighthouse ★ 35. Field Music - commontime ★ 36. Wilco - Schmilco ★ 37. James Blake - The Colour in Anything ★ 38. William Bell - This Is Where I Live ★ 39. White Denim - Stiff ★ 40. Chance The Rapper - Coloring Book ★ 41 Steve Gunn - Eyes on the Lines ★ 42. ANOHNI - Hopelessness ★ 43. Bitchin Bajas & Bonnie 'Prince' Billy - Epic Jammers and Fortunate Little Ditties ★ 44. Meilyr Jones - 2013 ★ 45. Kendrick Lamar - untitled unmastered. ★ 46. Christine and the Queens - Chaleur Humaine ★ 47. Van Morrison - Keep Me Singing ★ 48. The Comet Is Coming - Channel the Spirits ★ 49. Nada Surf - You Know Who You Are ★ 50. The Divine Comedy - Foreverland

Q MAGAZINE

1. David Bowie - Blackstar ★ 2. Leonard Cohen - You Want It Darker ★ 3. PJ Harvey - The Hope Six Demolition Project ★ 4. A Tribe Called Quest - We got it from Here... Thank You 4 Your service ★ 5. Nick Cave & The Bad Seeds - Skeleton Tree ★ 6. Radiohead - A Moon Shaped Pool ★ 7. Cass McCombs - Mangy Love ★ 8. Angel Olsen - My Woman ★ 9. The 1975 - I Like It When You Sleep, for You Are So Beautiful Yet So Unaware of It ★ 10. Christine and the Queens - Chaleur Humaine ★ 11. Skepta - Konnichiwa ★ 12. GOAT - Requiem ★ 13. Beyoncé - Lemonade ★ 14. Michael Kiwanuka - Love & Hate ★ 15. Dexys - Let the Record Show: Dexys Do Irish and Country Soul ★ 16. Cate Le Bon - Crab Day ★ 17. Frank Ocean - Blonde ★ 18. The Avalanches - Wildflower ★ 19. Parquet Courts - Human Performance ★ 20. ANOHNI - Hopelessness ★ 21. Iggy Pop - Post Pop Depression ★ 22. Steve Mason - Meet the Humans ★ 23. Pet Shop Boys - Super ★ 24. Julia Jacklin - Don't Let the Kids Win ★ 25. Wild Beasts - Boy King ★ 26. The Lemon Twigs - Do Hollywood ★ 27. Underworld - Barbara Barbara, we face a shining future ★ 28. Anna Meredith - Varmints ★ 29. Let's Eat Grandma - I, Gemini ★ 30. Jamie T - Trick ★  31. Kate Tempest - Let Them Eat Chaos ★ 32. Bat For Lashes - The Bride ★ 33. Kendrick Lamar - untitled unmastered. ★ 34. Lady Gaga - Joanne ★ 35. Savages - Adore Life ★ 36. Biffy Clyro - Ellipsis ★ 37. Brian Eno - The Ship ★ 38. Fat White Family - Songs for Our Mothers ★ 39. Thee Oh Sees - A Weird Exits ★ 40. Bastille - Wild World ★ 41. Kevin Morby - Singing Saw ★ 42. Solange - A Seat at the Table ★ 43. The Coral - Distance Inbetween ★ 44. The Last Shadow Puppets - Everything You've Come to Expect ★ 45. Kanye West - The Life of Pablo ★ 46. Peter Doherty - Hamburg Demonstrations ★ 47. Blossoms - Blossoms ★ 49. Richard Ashcroft - These People ★ 50. Primal Scream - Chaosmosis

CLASSIC ROCK MAGAZINE

1.Post Pop Depression-Iggy Pop ★ 2.Blackstar-David Bowie ★ 3.Everybody Wants-The Struts ★ 4.Fuck Everyone And Run (F E A R)-Marillion ★ 5.White Bear-The Temperance Movement ★ 6.Hollow Bones-Rival Sons ★ 7.Bury Me In My Boots-The Cadillac Three ★ 8.Blue & Lonesome-The Rolling Stones ★ 9.Solas-The Answer ★ 10.Skeleton Tree-Nick Cave And The Bad Seeds ★ 11.4 ½-Steven Wilson ★ 12.Bang, Zoom, Crazy... Hello-Cheap Trick ★ 13.Folklore-Big Big Train ★ 14.The Last Hero-Alter Bridge ★ 15.Desire's Magic Theatre-Purson ★ 16.Kentucky- Black Stone Cherry ★ 17.The Machine Stops-Hawkwind ★ 18.Mud-Whiskey Myers ★ 19.Fed To The Lions-Tax The Heat ★ 20.Lady In Gold- Blues Pills ★ 21.Anyway You Love, We Know How You Feel-Chris Robinson Brotherhood ★ 22.Heart Like A Levee-Hiss Golden Messenger 23.Fingers Crossed-Ian Hunter 24.Sorceress-Opeth ★ 25.Hardwired... To Self-Destruct-Metallica ★ 26.Like An Arrow-Blackberry Smoke ★ 27.Alone-The Pretenders ★ 28.I Still Do-Eric Clapton ★ 29.The Astonishing- Dream Theater ★ 30.A Sailor's Guide To Earth-Sturgill Simpson ★ 31.Keep Me Singing-Van Morrison ★ 32.Are You Real?-Beware Of ★ 33.Here-Teenage Fanclub ★ 34.Book Of Shadows II-Zakk Wylde ★ 35.Loud Hailer-Jeff Beck ★ 36.Divides-The Virginmarys ★ 37.Weekend Man-Royal Republic ★ 38.Acid Roulette-Scorpion Child ★ 39.Femejism-Deap Vally ★ 40.Apricity-Syd Arthur ★41.Painkillers-Brian Fallon ★ 42.Welcome To Fat City-Crobot ★ 43.Ellipsis-Biffy Clyro ★ 44.Hey! Hello! Too!-Hey! Hello! ★ 45.Lemon- Ming City Rockers ★ 46.American Band-Drive-By Truckers ★ 47.Blues Of Desperation -Joe Bonamassa ★ 48.Bodacious - Purple ★ 49.Weezer (The White Album)- Weezer ★ 50.Beautiful Broken-Heart

Johnny de Miranda "The Sunny Sound Of Surinam" 1974****

Having lived in The Netherlands for 7 years I've obviousle met a lot of Surinamese people. I must admit that before I came here I wouldn't be able to find the country on the map, or even tell you in which continent it is. I can now place it on north South America (does that make sense?) near Brazil and not very far from the Caribbean. It used to be a Dutch colony until 1975 and its history is, like most of "Latin" America, a history of pillage and exploitation. And slavery, the Dutch having made a fortune in the slave trade. The Dutch West India company alone is estimated to have trafficked 550,000 Africans into slavery, at a time when the population of the whole world was 500 million. When slavery was abolished in the Netherlands and its colonies (in 1863) there was no keeping those free men and women in the plantations - not when they could disappear in the jungle and grow, hunt or gather their own food. The Dutch then transported destitute farmers from Asia (mostly India and Indonesia) to fill the gap. Add the freed Africans, indigenous South American tribes and European colonists, and you have an unprecedented mix of peoples and cultures. Not to mention languages: According to wikipedia, next to the country's official language which is Dutch, recognised regional languages include Sranan Tongo and other Creole dialects, Caribbean Hindustani and Javanese. 

Being curious about the country's music, I once asked a Surinamese colleague if it was similar to Latin music, to which she replied something like "Yes...but not exactly. Similar, but different" - which didn't make me any wiser. Given the large Dutch-Surinamese community, there's surprisingly little music from that region to be found at record shops. But then the same is true for the other big minorities here: Moroccans, Turks and Indonesians. So when I found this cheap LP at a record fair, I thought it could help answer my question. It looked authentic enough and was sung in some local language. The name of Johnny de Miranda wasn't familiar, of course, but this is what I could later find out about him: He was born in 1924 and started playing at an early age. He played violin, clarinet, alt and tenor sax, as well as congas, drums and piano. He joined popular dance orchestras in Curacao and Surinam before moving to The Netherlands in 1955 and making a few records, alone or with his co-patriot Max Woiski. "The Sunny Sound Of Surinam" was the first (of two) LP's mentioned in discogs. Last news piece I found about him mentioned that he was back in Surinam, still an active musician and celebrating his 90th birthday. From what I've gathered, this is more or less typical Surinamese music. Does it sound like Latin music? Yes...but not exactly. There is a strong Caribbean and Afro-Cuban flavor, with some Swing, Calypso, Ska and Samba influences. The liner notes describe this music as Skratjie Pokkoe, a name that evidently derives from the specific kind of drums used in this style. All I know is that it's fun, good-timey music that invites you to dance. The band is tight and sound like seasoned entertainers. Based on their names, it seems to be a mixed Dutch/Surinamese affair. Highlights include the sax on the opener "Sèkanti", nostalgic accordion intro on "Moesje Oe Koemba", the Belafonte-meets-Tito Puente vibe of "Waka Libi" and "Bigi Elena", and the African sounds of "Wai Anisa" and "Bamba Maskita". The latter reminded me of the lost-and-rediscovered Senegalese band Orchestra Baobab. The lyrics are of course unintelligible but I like how the language sounds: exotically strange yet strangely familiar. An English word here, a Dutch there, another that sounds like Portuguese - all in the same song. The album has never been reissued either in LP or CD, but apparently it isn't that rare or expensive. There's a good chance you'll come across a reasonably-priced copy. If you do, buy it. No record collection is complete without at least one album of Skratjie Pokkoe. UPDATE: Johnny De Miranda died on 11/11/2018, aged 94. R.I.P.

**** for Sèkanti, Waka Libi, Bamba Maskita, Bigi Elena, Wai Anisa, Takroe Fesi, Moesje Oe Koemba, Wang Foroe

*** for Ba Wiriang, Lena Pikieng, Alla Modo, Didong Dè