— Issue 120 —

We hope you’re all keeping well, and have been enjoying the tunes so far this year. We have certainly loved finding this month’s records for you. We’ve also been out and about a bit on the music scene, with visits to Fabio and Grooverider at the Albert Hall (amazing to see Drum and Bass so well represented at the moment!) & a couple of visits to the Jazz Cafe as well. We missed out on tickets to see Jungle Brothers there on the 25th though, so well done to those who got their tickets in early.

Now, on to this month’s records. Another month with two LPs for you!

Our first album is a lovely release from veteran Malian drummer Baba Sissoko, and his daughter Djana. Baba has electronically transformed his traditional ngoni string playing into one of the freshest hitting lead instrument sounds to hit the music world in years. He is accompanied by his daughter Djana's sparkly soulful vocals, with Bambara language blending naturally with English and French in this album. Max Weissefeldt (Poets Of Rhythm, Dr. John, Guy One) features on drums, smashing out the fiery high-life beats. Recorded in Luca Sapio's analog studio,”Fasiya” is an organic music cornerstone fueled by new and vintage obscure gear. A great introduction to high life and the music of Mali. Track back from this and you’ll find a world of treasure!

Our second album is brought to us by Edinburgh based singer-songwriter and acoustic fingerstyle guitar player Dave Keir. The self-titled work, a stunning folk rock album, was released in 1976 and has now been reissued. Apparently about 500 copies were originally sold, mostly by Dave himself at his gigs. It has been described as a collection of: “Brilliant songs that edge towards Roy Harper, characterised by exquisite finger picked guitar compositions which are deep, dark and magical, and infused with a sense of sorrow.” We had to grab you a copy.