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Domino stacks up
Perhaps best known now as the former UK indie label home of Franz Ferdinand , Domino Records has enjoyed an exceptionally good run of releasing the snappy indie rock and backpack pop of misfit mavericks before they became mainstream standbys. Affixed to the current issue (August 11) of Brit music weekly NME is an excellent 16-track Domino label sampler, Declaration Of Independence, boasting Franzies B-side Shopping For Blood, new tunes from Clinic , Sons and Daughters , Adem and Hood , and no overlap with last year’s Worlds Of Possibility 10th anniversary two-disc retrospective. While some of the recent releases have been backward steps ( Stephen Malkmus and the Jicks , anyone?), label founder Laurence Bell still has a better handle on the next shit than any major label A&R savant drawing a paycheque.
Pure Mod-ness
DJ Rob Bailey of South London’s modernist DJ consortium known as the New Untouchables (that’s NUTs to you) has assembled a dynamite CD collection of 60s 7-inch swingers called Le Beat Bespoké (Sanctuary) that breaks free from the Britcentric mould of similar Mod comps to present such Continental corkers as Danyel Gerrard ‘s psych sizzler Sexologie, Howard Carpendale ‘s nutty Du Hast Mich/Glory Be, Les Lionceaux ‘s spirited stab at the Martha & the Vandellas ‘ Nowhere To Run and Knut Kieswetter ‘s unlikely cover of the Southern Sound ‘s That’s Me! A veritable lorry-load of obscure and rarely comped freakbeat and blue-eyed soul stormers guaranteed to get your scooter revving.
Los covers
Some of the finest recorded moments of Los Lobos have been their covers, and their Ride This (Mammoth) EP – snuck out as a companion to The Ride album – lives up to their high standard of inspired song selection and creative interpretation. Opening with a swinging take of Tom Waits ‘s Jockey Full Of Bourbon that brings out the tune’s Latin soul, they continue with a horn-backed run at Bobby Womack ‘s More Than I Can Stand, then lurch into a hard-pounding rumble through Elvis Costello ‘s Uncomplicated that continues in their heavy version of Richard Thompson ‘s deep dark Shoot Out The Lights. The sweetly soulful rendition of Thee Midnighters ‘ slow-burner It’ll Never Be Over For Me by Cesar Rosas suggests that a whole album’s worth of East L.A. classics might be in order.
Spit Kicker thriller
DJ Ayers and Eleven come up with the dope posse cuts and one-off pairings for the Spit Kicker Collabos CD, the first volume in what promises to be a very popular new mix tape series to rival their successful The Next Spit mix discs. Fans of Kanye West , De La Soul , Mos Def , Pharoahe Monch , Common , Talib Kweli , M.O.P . and A Tribe Called Quest will find lots of rare studio showdowns to love, seamlessly cut up by Ayers and Eleven with a minimum of annoying self-promotion.
