If it’s a Sunday night, then I must be listening to some folkie shit, right?

OH HAI Dick Gaughan.

Sunday nights back in the late 80’s and early 90’s meant Here Be Dragons with the legendary John Shaw on Radio Trent.

John is sadly no longer with us. He really, really is missed. Most of my musical education during this period came from his unique tastes.

When I should have been mashed off me tits and getting into sorts of trouble, I was listening to late night folk radio in bed.

That’s not as WEIRD as it might seem.

Dick Gaughan was occasionally played on Here By Dragons. But not as much as the House Artist, Richard Thompson, and all things Fairport.

On the CD player this evening is Gaughan’s Handful of Earth. It was picked up in the wonderful second hand St Helena music shop in Walton-on-the-Naze.

I became more aware of Gaughan following his collaborations with Billy Bragg. This album includes World Turned Upside Down - a song that Bragg would also cover on the Between the Wars EP.

It’s wistful, almost soulful Sunday evening music. The burden of the new week ahead doesn’t loom as large with a little folkie interlude.

That’s very much how I remember the great John Shaw and Here Be Dragons.

Bark Psychosis' Hex, Lowell George’s Thanks I’ll Eat It Here, and Ali Farka Toure’s Talking Timbuktu.

Look - I’ve been away.

I’ve been away buying CD’s…

But that’s not the point.

One of the pleasures of returning home is finding the stash of CD’s that the local Postie has left for me.

I’ve been after Hex for a year or so now. Prices between £15 - £20 are not unknown.

I managed to pick this up for £8 - a fiver or so above my usual personal threshold.

It’s bloody good though. Dark, early 90’s proto post-rock. That makes it sound a lot more pretentious than it actually is.

At the other end of the scale we have Lowell George.

Erm, I’ve not actually heard this. But Robert Elms always bangs on about how bloody good it is. He’s yet to let me down.

And finally Ali Farka Toure. This was a recent album from the 1,001 Albums list. It’s an uplifting record that gets even my downbeat feet dancing.

What can I trouble the postie with next?

Don’t stop off at the Oxfam in Herne Hill and spunk away more money on CD’s.

DON’T STOP OFF AT THE OXFAM IN HERNE HILL…

Yeah, you know what’s coming.

I find it impossible to resist the lure of the Herne Hill Oxfam each time that I cycle past.

There’s a steady turnover of quality CD’s to flick through. Not the usual Simply Red charity shop crap, either.

Fifteen minutes later and I was £7 lighter, with three CD’s - one of which is a triple.

Not bad.

I hesitated over The Jungle Brothers' debut. I love their hip house crossover, with the Daisy Age angle. But is it really a CD album?

Who gives a shit at £2. Add it to the basket.

Then there was Mozza, with Ringleader of the Tormentors - his last acceptable album before he became, erm, a little questionable with his views.

So that makes it alright then.

Finally a triple package from Fats Domino. That will pass away the winter evenings with a bottle of red on the go.

I must try and plan a different bicycling route from Herne Hill back to Sunny Stockwell.

We reached 1,001 albums on the 1,001 albums generator on Friday morning.

Blimey.

What next?

For the record, Friday’s serving was Little Richard’s Here’s Little Richard. It was a fitting finish; I awarded it five stars for the sheer rawness, energy, and, yep, sex.

Not all albums on this extensive list have had rawness, energy and sex. I struggled somewhat to find these admirable traits in some of the shitty hair metal albums that were deemed worthy to grace the list.

R and I started the daily ritual around two and a half years ago. The 1,001 album generator site is modelled on the book 1,001 Albums You Must Hear Before You Die.

This online exercise has worked superbly as part of a group. We are both delivered the same album each day. A review is then added.

I broadly know R’s musical tastes. I thought I knew mine. One of the pleasures of this project has been to compare his short and insightful listening notes with my scribblings.

The 1,001 site provides a detailed breakdown of our shared group interests. We’ve very conservative in providing an average rating of 2.52 out of 5.

Like I said - there has been an awful lot of hair metal shit to sit through.

Our favourite decade is 1980. No surprises there.

Rock ‘n’ Roll, Reggae and post-punk come out as our most popular shared genres.

We showed little love for metal, hard rock and, erm, samba,

As a snapshot, our highest rated albums included offerings by Sam Cooke, Al Green, Curtis Mayfield, Specials, The Clash, The Beatles, Portishead, De La Soul, Malcom McLaren, Soft Cell, Muddy Waters, The Undertones, ABC, Ginger Baker, The Human League, Otis Redding, David Bowie, Fela Kuti, Velvet Underground, Dexy’s, Wire, Aretha, Run DMC, Massive Attack, Pixies, Johnny Cash, Lou Reed, The Fall, Public Enemy and Pulp.

Quite a playlist.

Yeah, it’s all a bit muso noodling, but in an age of streaming slop, it’s also been a fantastic exercise to open up new artists that I wouldn’t have explored before.

I’ve added around two hundred and fifty CD’s to my collection as a direct consequence of the list.

The past two and a half years have flown by. I’ve made the daily listening as part of my online routine each morning.

And so what next?

Similar online daily recommendation sites are available. I think we’ll give them a try.

I’d highly recommend the original 1,001 albums list for anyone that feels they are treading water and is open to new ideas.

It’s not just the opening seconds of Tutti Frutti that make you smile - it’s the opening few tenths of a second.

BOOM!

You’re straight in, knowing that there’s quite a ride ahead.

It’s almost impossible to shock and surprise musically these days. Everything seems to have been exhausted. There’s no more boundaries to push.

It’s quite remarkable that an album from 1957 can still give you a whack round the head and leave you with optimism.

This is just bloody great from start to finish. There’s no concealed cleverness, no nod and wink here and there. Just a FULL ON assault as it confronts you with the rhythm and energy.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

To Lion Vibes on Thursday evening. For Selecter [erm] Thursday!

If it’s the first Thursday of the month, then it must mean that the Brixton Village space has another open deck session. It’s for anyone who wants their fifteen minutes of reggae love and appreciation.

The basic premise is that you book in a slot ahead of the session, and are then allocated fifteen minutes to play some of your fave tunes.

There’s no rules about which reggae style is acceptable. This is not a muso noodling session for people who really should listen to music alone at home.

It’s almost impossible not to SMILE when pretty much any reggae genre is blasted out of the Lion Vibes PA in a small space of appreciative people.

I made my way down Stockwell Road. Pendulum were playing at The Academy.

Oh - interesting, I thought. I paused for a few seconds and thought of cutting a deal with a tout.

Magnificent though Pendulum are, I would much rather prefer an intimate music experience up close.

Selecter Thursday it is then.

The room was already rammed when I arrived. I lurked a little outside the front of the shop for a few tracks, waiting for others to leave and free up some space.

Even outside I could feel the bass trembling me from foot to toe. I’ll have a bit of that - especially on a school night.

Soon I was inside. The Sisters of Reggae were on the decks. Rocksteady got the crowd dancing.

A change of Selecter and soon we were deep into roots territory. Smiles were everywhere in this most informal and accepting of environments. Love only please, YEAH.

Shout out to Ben and all at Lion Vibes who also organised a collection on the night for the Caribbean Disaster Appeal. People were generous in donating on what is an otherwise free night.

It’s quite a leap in trust to open up your shop once a month and allow a customer takeover. It’s helped to build Lion Vibes into something much more than a record shop in Brixton.

The space has become a focal point for an ever shifting reggae community in Brixton. And it’s not just old school, either. Mixing with some familiar faces was a largely young crowd.

It reminds me a lot of my own youth club days - not so much in terms of the style of music, but more about the desire to simply have fun through music with others.

Selecter Thursday has become the best Thursday night out in Brixton.

I’m pleased the 1,001 Albums list threw up the Shack album this morning. I’d forgotten completely about the band, plus The Pale Fountains.

There was a lot going on back in 1999 - both musically and personally. I was always aware of HMS Fable through the music press, though I’ve never listened to it. Which is odd, seeing as though the NME banged on about it.

It sits perfectly in a post-Britpop world. There’s even an argument that The Pale Fountains were very early forerunners for all that followed.

On HMS Fable you have the melodies, plus the production. I would have preferred something a little more raw and rough around the edges. The songs are strong enough to carry it without the polish.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐

Cultural appropriation probably isn’t appropriate. These days we call it a collab. Both styles suit each other, with Ry Cooder holding down the more freestyle Mali approach. Makes we want to go and listen to some Andy Kershaw.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐ ⭐

An unexpected new drop form Kae Tempest, and a most welcome cover of George Michael’s Freedom ‘90.

It doesn’t have the same energy of the original, but I don’t think that’s the point with Kae. It’s obviously a song with a powerful message as Kae continues with his outstanding artistic and personal development.

It’s better than the ropey Robbie Williams cover, recorded with a similar message in mind.

George would have been proud of the direction being taken here. I often wonder how he would have thrived in a post-WOKE 2025 cultural environment.

Kae’s playing Brixton on Saturday. I’m keen to cut a deal with a tout.

Light and cheerful, with an almost rural feel throughout. As ever with foreign language albums, it helps that I haven’t got a chuffing clue what they’re banging on about. It’s probably something as mundane as the price of a pint of milk.

⭐ ⭐ ⭐