If There Is Hell Below Podcast... The Unskippables

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Down tools and sack-off your work load, it’s the If There Is Hell Below podcast… Rob and Callum have unintentionally pulled together 3 songs with loosest connections to the ‘Big Star’ sound and Alex Chilton’s little circle of influence. The other songs jump from a new cut from Gonjasufi’s latest desert hip hop trip, Conduits; a shoegaze band who refuse to be called a ‘shoegaze band’ – so some shoegaze from them. An incredible track jazz/hip hop/Marvin Gaye-a-like track from BJ and the Chicago Kid, a lovely little tender moment from Elijah Forrest’s project Terrors, some Brazilian psych fuzz and Young Governor leading our Big Star family tree. 

The Unskippables by Ifthereishellbelow on Mixcloud

Tracklisting

Guitar Slim Green with Johnny & Shuggie Otis

I Was A King - Happy

The Dwight Twilley Band - I'm On Fire

Conduits - Top Of The Hill

Allah-Las - Catamaran

Balue - Darlin'

Suely E Os Kantikus - Esperanto

Gonjasufie - Nikels and Dimes

COOLRUNNINGS - Spirit of the High

Young Governor - Where It's Quiet

Terrors - Lifetime to Regret

BJ the Chicago Kid

Hypnotic Brass Ensemble - Spottie

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Hypnotic Brass Ensemble - Spottie by ArtDontSleep

Sly little drop from the Hypnotic Brass Ensemble, a cover of Outkast's 'Spottieottiedopaliscious'.
What can be said that you wouldn't expect from HBE, it's a jazz funk orchestra reworking with a bit of hip hop erm.... awww man I ain't using that word. You know what I mean

Edzayawa - Gondzin

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Edzayawa - Gondzin by Soundway

Soundway have dug this nugget of an album straight out of West-Africa.
Sat alongside BLO's Last Chapter and Mono Mono's Give the Begger A Chance as one of the earliest Afro-rock LP, Project One by Ghanian rock outfit Edzayawa has been out of print for 40 years and only now it getting a much needed a reissue on gatefold vinyl and CD in February.

Gondzin is the only teaser we have to go on, there's a motorik almost krautrock feel to that delicious bass lead opening before going off into Afro-psych-folk daze.

Check Soundways for unearthed gems that never fail. 

K.S. Chithra - Indha Vennila

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K.S. Chithra - Indha Vennila by Finders Keepers Records

Can't put my finger on this cut, one minute it's a p-funk synth lite-jam then it's string and bongo draped Bollywood but still with the funkiest little bass down just subtlety hanging out the back and then a drop of cinematic drama.
You come to expect the unexpected from Finders Keepers, who are putting this out on wax and CD sometime in the year, till then you've got this to gorge on.

If There Is Hell Below provide the All Back To Mine Mix on BBC Radio Kent.

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It was a massive honour to be asked by Sean Rowley to provide the All Back to Mine Mix for his BBC Radio Kent show, we're massive fans of his radio show.

You can listen to the country rock, psychedelic folk and cosmic jazz mix on the iPlayer for the rest of the week, I'll make it available for download and on the mixcloud next Monday.

Cheers again Sean, click the link below and take a listen to the show.

If There Is Hell Below on Sean Rowley - All Back to Mine

If There Is Hell Below Podcast... Fred West's Marvellous Collection of Glam Rock Records

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Think of a bad British man from the 70s and you know they either have an incredible Glam Rock record collection or were a successful Glam Rock recording artist. There’s no Glam Rock in this, Rob and Callum are the good guys, and 2012 loves a good guy. The good stuff on this pod includes: Afro-disco of Sinkane, clean Russian sophistico-pop by Galway, Frankie Rose with the beat that defined the 80s, Of Montreal’s new one, melancholy pop beauty from Elliot Smith and Alex Chilton, Peaking Lights provide a hangover from 2011 and other delights.

Fred West's Marvellous Collection of Glam Rock Records by Ifthereishellbelow on Mixcloud

Tracklisting

Sinkane - Jeeper Creeper

Mac Demarco - Baby's Wearin Blue Jeans

Spectral Park - Colours

The Doozer - Fold Up Chair

 Frankie Rose - Know Me

Atomic Forest - Obsession '77

Relatively Clean Rivers - Journey Through the Valley of O

of Montreal - Dour Percentage

Galway - Mria

Alex Chilton - The EMI Song

Elliott Smith - Oh Well, Okay

Peaking Lights - All the Sun That Shines (Doldrums Remix)

The Shins - Simple Song

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Was supposed to look for songs on my lunch break, for the pod and the blog and the like, just ended up listening to this on loop for 40 minutes.
Not exactly a step away from The Shins sound, I couldn't be happier, James Mercer has the rare ability to write the most satisfyingly addictive hooks.
Port of Morrow is out in March.

Lothar and the Hand People - Heatwave

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Lothar and the Hand People - Heatwave

I've worn the original so thin I need a new kind of kick from this song. This cover of the Martha and Vandellas staple was taken from Lothar and the Hand People's Space Hymn LP from 1969, sounds more like it would belong in the mid-to-late-70s-early-80s new wave era.

Video: Air - Sonic Armada (A Trip To The Moon)

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It's not that the last few releases by Air haven't been good, they've just failed to really give us that music horn, that same musical we got from the Virgin Suicides Soundtrack, Moon Safari or the Premier Symptones EP.
This is something taken from the forthcoming soundtrack to the newly restored and colourised 1901 film 'Le Voyage Dans la Lune', a film that looks more like a piece of engineering than a piece of cinema.
The industrial clanks that make up the rhythm of this tune and the vintage analogue synths fit with mechanical movement of the film.
I always fancied seeing what Air would sound like with a more krautrock sound.

Sinkane - Jeeper Creeper

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Jeeper Creeper by Sinkane Ra

I think all my end of 2011 celebration hangovers have come at once - with interest.

Back at work and back to the blog and paying attention to music. Starting with this, which I can comfortably is the best new song I've heard this year!

On first hearing this I was taken back to the first time I heard Yeasayer's debut album All Hour Cymbals, with it's African rhythms, Ghanian/Nigerian guitar twangs and disco basslines.

Needless to say it was no great surprise when I found out the Sinkane is the solo project of Yeasayer drummer Ahmed Gallab who is preparing to release his debut album Mars in 2012 featuring collaborations from Twin Shadow and Yeasayer's Ira Wolf.

Listening to his soundcloud tracks and reading his blog (anyone who features Curt Boettcher's Millenium and David Crosby's debut solo LP is alright by me) it seems that Mars is going to be a diverse little mother with psych, exotic, jazz, disco and African flavours all going into the pot.

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