Breaths... The Best Of

Another of the albums I've re-acquired on vinyl that I formerly owned on cassette is this compilation of some of Sweet Honey in the Rock's best tracks as of 1987. I feel fairly sure I bought it relatively soon after its release. Theirs was among the several kinds of music that Andy Kershaw would play on his Radio 1 show - there's a fair chance I heard of them from him. They're an a capella vocal quintet with a sixth member who provides sign-language interpretations of their songs.

At Discogs this is categorised as "Gospel/Soul". There's more here of the socially-conscious, political & inspirational than the outright religious: they're preaching a kind of semi-secular gospel on this record, though their singing must surely derive much of its quality and heft from devotional roots. My favourite tracks here include the rousingly righteous 'Ella's Song' & 'Study War No More', and softer-edged numbers like the title track and 'Oughta Be a Woman'.

A little less to my liking are the closing songs on each side: 'Mandiacapella' is all scat-singing/vocalese of a kind that doesn't grab me; while the full-bore climax of 'Azanian Freedom Song' goes on a bit too long. Even so, this is a very fine collection. I also once owned their album Live at Carnegie Hall, which includes a mesmerizing rendition of 'Wade in the Water' that I dearly love.

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All Wrapped Up

Here's another of the compilation cassettes I bought this summer, having taken home a Denon twin-deck hi-fi cassette player from the local charity shop. All Wrapped Up is a 1983 compilation of singles by The Undertones, with Side One filled with A-sides, and B-sides on Side Two. A cassette must be the least desirable medium for such an arrangement, with a long rewind required if one just wants to hear the hits repeatedly. The Undertones were unapologetically provincial and anti-fashionable, with their songs sharply-written slices of life that pointedly avoided any mention of politics, or of the then-continuing violence in their native Derry. My favourite tracks are the obvious choices: 'Teenage Kicks', 'Jimmy Jimmy', 'Here Comes the Summer', 'My Perfect Cousin' & 'Wednesday Week'. Their later singles showed increased sophistication but lack the some of the straightforward charm of their earlier work. The B-sides, not unexpectedly, are mo...

In Heat

Having acquired the soubriquet "the walrus of love", Barry White thereafter became something of a figure of fun, something that misled me (and presumably others) into disregarding his music. Only within the last few years have I begun to pay it more attention. After picking up a copy of his '74 album Can't Get Enough last summer, which I loved, I sought out some of the music by his protegés Love Unlimited. From a Discogs seller I ordered well-used copies of Under the Influence of... ('73) and In Heat ('74) for only £6.25. The only unappealing thing about In Heat is its awful title. The songs and the singing are strong; the arrangements rich & warmly enveloping. As one would expect from White, the thematic focus is firmly fixed on amatory matters. The opening number 'Move Me No Mountain' (the only one on the record not written by White) offers a refreshing rebuttal to the kind of lyrical hyperbole in songs like 'Ain't No Mountain High E...

Bananas Are Not Created Equal

I knew Jay Berliner's name from his contributions to Van Morrison's Astral Weeks and Charles Mingus' The Black Saint and the Sinner Lady , so when I saw this curiously-titled LP at the local charity shop I was intrigued, and bought it even though I had no idea what kind of music it might contain. This was after the days when one could still buy records there for a pound apiece, but I don't think I paid more than a fiver for it. The music turned out to be an all-instrumental blend of funk, soul & jazz. Berliner's virtuoso lead guitar is only one of many attractions here. The band of first-rate session musicians behind him are all uniformly excellent too, and, crucially, sound like they're having a blast. Cornell Dupree's supporting guitar work, while less showy than Berliner's, is beautifully-judged, and the rhythm section is terrific. Arranger/conductor Wade Marcus was no slouch either, judging from the way everything comes together. Two of the funk...

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