Sunshine Hit Me - THE BEES

 

There are times when someone decides that an album deserves plaudits, laurel wreaths and all round backslapping because it's an auspicious debut recorded without the help of some guy with a ponytail in a big office. Well, far be it for me to pooh-pooh such laudatory behaviour but surely history tells us that you can count your chickens far too early? Whither Roni Size these days? The real joy to be found in a hand-tooled album like this is imagining what its siblings could turn out to be like if its creators are just left to get on with it.

And what a funky little curio this album is? Blessed with a running time polite enough to not overstay its welcome, it cuts a meandering swathe through a whole plethora of styles. The overall vibe is one of laid back summer ambience sprinkled with surreal lyrics that hint at a some definite herbal assistance.

 

Punchbag

 

 

This Town

 

 

Sunshine

 

 

Sweet Like A Champion

 

 

 

Straight Shooter - BAD COMPANY

Among the members of Bad Company, singer Paul Rodgers and drummer Simon Kirke witnessed the collapse of Free, guitarist Mick Ralphs witnessed the collapse of Mick Ralphs in Mott the Hoople and bassist Boz Burrell participated in King Crimson's stagnation. In the aftermath of their debut LP of the previous year, Bad Company appeared determined not to fall into the traps of any of those groups. While retaining all of the spontaneous combustion of the earlier album — which, like Straight Shooter, was recorded "live" by mobile units — they managed to refine their musical energy, give it sharper direction and came up with fistfuls of apparently innocuous but totally effective hard rock surprises.

Good Lovin' Gone Bad

 

 

Weep No More

 

 

Call On Me

 

 

Feel Like Makin' Love

 

 

Welcome To Mali - AMADOU & MARIAM

It would be all too easy to think of Amadou & Mariam as a kind of Afropop Peters and Lee. But while the ability to dispense feelgood vibrations from within a doubly reinforced stockade of blindness and domestic felicity has been a feature of their ever-widening allure, it is the spindly irresistibility of their music that is the most important thing about them.  Amadou & Mariam glide smoothly through gear changes that would strip the teeth of a less well-tuned musical motor.  They are the figureheads of African music's commercial upsurge, and deservedly so

 

Djama

 

 

Sabali

 

 

Magosa

 

 

Africa

 

 

 

 

Mr. Smith - LL COOL J

Released at a turning point in his career, James Todd Smith (in case you didn't know, LL Cool J stands for "Ladies Love Cool James") had become better known as a sit-com star than as one of the original old skool rappers. His previous album (his fifth) had been a commercial flop, so he and his producers searched for a sound that would retain his street credibility but also make the songs more radio-friendly.  What he stumbled upon was a sound that has been used as a template for all r'n'b and hip-hop acts since. Without this album, our music charts today would sound very different

Doin It

 

 

Hey Lover

 

 

Hollis To Hollywood

 

 

Loungin

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



Be Good To Yourself At Least Once A Day : MAN

Man were never a band to conquer the world. Hailing from Wales but with a San Francisco sound and with an ever-changing line-up, they failed to produce the one proverbial hit to propel them to national consciousness and, reputedly ever stoned, they were never going to get further than the 'B' list. Yet "Be Good To Yourself At Least Once A Day" recorded in 1972 remains a marvellous album that has worn its years remarkably well, whilst avoiding some of the excesses and indulgences of the time.

By 1972 British rock music was at something of a crossroads. It was the year the Stones released "Exile On Main Street", Bowie put out "Ziggy Stardust" and Roxy Music's first album emerged, the latter two heralding the glamour years. It was also the year that Yes and Emerson Lake and Palmer had some of their biggest hits and Hawkwind discovered that they had a "Silver Machine".

Man skilfully trod a middle way, probably without thinking about it. They were one of the few bands next to the Allman Brothers to be able to sustain an extended jam in an intelligent yet spunky way. On "Be Good To Yourself" their pieces, although often based round simple little riffs, featuring the interlocking guitars of Micky Jones and Clive John, are full of inventive musical touches (often thanks to keyboards player Phil Ryan).

The rhythm section with drummer Terry Williams, who went on to work with Dire Straits and many others, is 100% rock solid and above this foundation they periodically create floating textures akin to Pink Floyd. What makes the four tracks on this album so satisfying is the organic way they develop, always rocking, but always just that little something round the corner

C'Mon

Keep On Crinting

 

Bananas

 

Life On The Road