Old Man Riva

I’ve known John W for nearly 40 years, and he’s always been superb at his craft. It’s great to see him getting a deserved mention. A proper hidden gem, and a lovely guy with it!

Went to see Jerry Harrison and Adrian Belew last month doing the Remain in Light album, and they also did a really good version of this, which I’d completely forgotten from back in the day…

Well now it’s pretty much a revolution we’re in!

Excellent! We’re no longer a club, we’re now a movement!

Well, if there’s at least two of us, I think we can officially call that a club!

On the subject of Bill Laswell, he’s responsible for an album that I really like, that seems to float under the radar a bit; Panthalassa: The Music of Miles Davis 1969-1974. It’s an album of his “reconstruction and mix translation” (yes, really!) of some of the tracks off On The Corner, In a Silent Way etc. The electric/funky period of MD’s early 70s work. I remember it getting a bit of a slating when it came out from certain quarters - “you can’t remix Miles Davis!”. I think it’s a terrific piece of work, where Bill Laswell’s quality control on which tracks (or even parts of tracks) would work best, and also looking to genuinely add something extra, rather than simply piddling around with EQs, to try and make it sound more ‘modern’. It also holds a special place in my heart, as it was one of the only two albums I ever bought on MiniDisc, in that short-lived period where that particular format was going to become the absolute future, in terms of how we listened to music. Yeah, right!

Yes, Rhythm Killers is ace! Thanks for posting the Material record. I wasn’t aware of the album, but just over a minute in and there’s a Sly/In Time sample, so I’ll definitely be checking it out! I also really like the Strip To The Bone album they did with Howie B, in the 90s…

Same here! I actually really like the whole album, which can be acquired taste, to say the least. The odd things that resonate as a younger person (I was early twenties when this came out); the album inner sleeve was like a plastic transparent affair, rather than the cardboard type that I was used to. It baffled me then, and it still baffles me to this day! It was through her albums that I became aware of Sly & Robbie - I was a little obsessed with their Language Barrier record, which was out in the same year (see also the first Big Audio Dynamite album, and Scritti Politti’s Cupid & Psych ‘85)…

Not heard that before. I prefer it to the album version, which I wasn’t really a massive fan of. I think this version has an airiness that suits the song better. Liam’s vocal sounds really good. Thanks for posting…

This is a good read… https://www.theguardian.com/film/2024/feb/14/getting-it-back-the-story-of-cymande-review-the-second-life-of-a-cruelly-ignored-uk-funk-band As others have said, they’re well worth checking out, and, yes, you probably have unknowingly heard them before!

From 1985, I really love how he approaches this track…

For me, watching/listening to Neil Young play electric guitar is one of life’s greatest musical pleasures…

The first time Marcus Miller (knowingly) came onto my musical radar was in 1985, when he appeared as a session player on Bryan Ferry’s Boys and Girls, and Cupid & Psyche 85 by Scritti Politti. His bass line on The Chosen One is fab (though Wikipedia credits it to Alan Spenner, which I’m pretty sure isn’t correct), and is well worth a listen for anyone who hasn’t heard it. For full disclosure, I know it may be considered heresy, but I’m not really a fan of Marcus Miller (sorry!), but his playing on The Chosen One I could listen to all day…