My favourite group of the mid 90s were the antithesis of Britpop, which was alright with me.
Sukia came out of Silverlake with a vaguely sinister vibe, a clutch-bag of odd samples and a whole other set of references, many from Mexican-American trash culture. Their 1997 single The Dream Machine is a jump-up staple.
Continue reading I Like A Bit Of A Cavort: Sukia – The Dream Machine
Can’t beat a bit of Chuck for a frolic.
Watch him move.
I saw him live a year or so later at The Rainbow. He played a 35-minute set and brought on his daughter for the lovey-dovey finale. It may have been South Of The Border.
When the Teds realised he had vamoosed rather than play an encore they tore up the place.
Twenty-odd years later I was in the green room for an edition of The David Letterman Show which featured him and was shot in London. What struck me was Berry’s bearing and the agile grace with which he moved among the throng of well-wishers and fans.
That and the fact he was wearing the same pair of yellow Lionels I’d seen on him at the Rainbow…
Sixth on the gun from guest selector Stagger Lee (click on the title):
Prince Alla – Stone (Freedom Sounds)
Don’t do anywhere near as much reggae DJing as I used to, but this never leaves my big box of 7″s – as good as 70s roots gets. Dug it out for a recent gig and can’t leave it alone.
Here’s the fifth from the Top Ten current faves of guest selector Stagger Lee (click on the title):
LCD Soundsystem – All My Friends (London Sessions Version) (EMI)
They played their last gig a few weekends ago and I miss them already. Underneath the hipster signifiers is a songwriter with amazing heart and a pretty much perfect set of influences he parlayed into music which sounded totally original.
Fourth on the floor from Stagger Lee (click on the title):
JD McPherson – Northside Gal (HiStyle)
A Chicago-based Okie making soulful, riotous rockabilly and rhythm’n’blues the old way. Like Eli Reed’s soul, this isn’t pastiche, this is passion.
Third on the gun from Stagger Lee (click on the title to listen/download):
Morton Valence – Sailors (Bastard Recordings)
Cue lots of “best kept secret” cliches…Morton Valence are the best band in London right now. This is from their second album, Me & Home James, which I think is out early this summer. Hard to categorise but always brilliant.
Next up from Stagger Lee (click on the title to listen/download):
Lykke Li – Sadness Is A Blessing (Atlantic)
“I could have picked anything from the Wounded Rhymes album, and it’s not often you can say that anymore. Not sure she’s being marketed right. The angle seems to be some sort of kooky pop moppet when she’s a really singular talent, fiercely protective of her music. May be album of the year…”
“Maybe somehow the desire for knowledge is back, and to be glamorous will be to have a big brain.
That’s why I believe that the stars of the future aren’t designers or musicians, they’re teachers. Because people are searching for answers, they’re searching for content. A college professor is much more glamorous than an actor.”
Malcolm McLaren, 1995.
Thanks to Steven Daly for sending me Holly Brumbach’s interview with Malcolm, Being And Nothingness And Kate Moss, New York Times, May 21, 1995.
You can trust in Stagger Lee Fisher; he’s a man of great musical wealth + taste.
I’ve asked him to select the 10 top tracks currently buzzing around his brain.
First up (click on the title to download):
Penny & The Quarters – You & Me (Numero Group)
“This sweet soul number cropped up on the soundtrack of the movie Blue Valentine (the romance movie equivalent of Cannibal Holocaust), and is from the vaults of Prix Records, a rough rehearsal demo found in a box. Nobody knows who they were, but this is one of the loveliest things I’ve heard in a very long time.”
Continue reading Stagger Lee selects: You & Me by Penny & The Quarters