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…”