Cheebah and all that - Limerick, Ireland

seachtain eile i BAC

the chuck rainey coalition – the happy spirit – a&m records 7”.
upbeat number from chuck with some crazy guitar noises going on.

chuck brown and the soul searchers – bustin’ loose parts 1 and 2 – source records 7” different chuck this time. I presume this is where the inspiration for bustin loose that appeared in the pop charts in the last year or two came from. however, I can’t remember what that sounded like, which is a good thing, so I can’t be sure. great break in the middle of this. also, it came with a rectangular piece of cardboard in the sleeve which contains all the information so I presume it must have been a record that was intended for a juke box which is pretty cool.

the watts 103^rd st. rhythm band – do your thing – warner bros – seven arts records. stripped down rock sound here from charlie, great guitar riffs going on. hopefully not coming to a tv commercial near you anytime soon. flip side is called a dance, a kiss and a song which sounds like my idea of a good night out.

Not forgetting  you can buy great vinyl in Limerick too on wickham Street (photo paul tarpey)

woody herman - corazon – fantasy – 1974 7” beautiful jazz offering from that man woody. real heavy horn section going on here so it’s one that’s definitely destined for the dance floor. cover version of frank zappa’s america drinks and goes home on the reverse side but this isn’t up to much.

doc severinsen – “pictures” – rca records 7” taken from the “rhapsody for now album”. the way this record starts off and also it’s title would make you think it was a classical mix but then it gets seriously funky. kinda like ramsey lewis meets the rté symphony orchestra or something.

maxayn – bail out – capricorn records 1974 7” taken from their album out for fun (great title). not too sure how the describe the vocal on this but if they are able to sing like this without any studio effects it’s pretty scary. sampled by rjd2 according to olan.

rhythm heritage – “theme from s.w.a.t” – abc records 1975 7” not too sure whether swat was a tv show or a film. the start of this track has a real dallas feel to it but a lot funkier. bass and drum solo in the middle is amazing. this came with one of those rectangular pieces of card too so was another one that didn’t quite make it to the juke box.

law – wake up – grc records 1975 7” taking over the mantle from betty davis’ ‘f.u.n.k’ as my favourite guitar heavy rock track was a hard act to follow but law pass with flying colours. head banging fun all the way.

black truth band – butter nut – new one from the latest sound of champions 12”. You’ll be dancing your ass off to this, especially the drum/bongo/ whistle solo in the middle.

breakestra – hit the floor – ‘recognize’ fantastic brand new album form the l.a. based funk band. numerous stand out tracks on the record but recognize is my favourite, for the time being at least. music man miles plays nearly all the instruments on most tracks..he’s some man for one man as they say.

voodoo rhythm – hot jungle drums - second disco offering of the week, i really like the electronic/robotic vocal on this. flip side puts any electronica music you’ll hear today from the so called innovators in sound in the shade and this was made around 1984 i think…

central line – walking into sunshine - “to many rainy days” is the gist of the vocal on this so it’s a soundtrack for the bleak winter months that lie ahead (we can still dream of next summer so we can). larry levan extended mix the one to go for here.

troubled soul presents ghost writer ep - great new ep out on the all city records label. the only downside is that there is no track listing on it. mc duties by giant panda, i think, plus some instrumentals to boot on the flip side. this record reminds me a lot of rdj2’s first album only better. particularly liking the second track at the moment.

kashmere stage band plays originals - just like the breakestra i could pick any one of seven tracks but the one i’ll go with is ‘don’t mean a thing’. big band sound in large helpings here. also, check out the stamina of the bongo player, he plays at about 110 miles per hour without taking a break.

Peter Curtin

A week of record buying in Dublin

top ten on heavy rotation but in no particular order:

b d p- album-ghetto music: the blueprint of hip hop - track: jah rulez

picked this up second hand during the week, i think the sample is bam bam by sister nancy so there’s a great reggae vibe to this one and a beautiful vocal by pamela scott on the chorus to boot…

j v c force- album- doin’ damage – track: strong island

late eighties offering from the group which i found in the same box as the b d p record…i had never heard of jvc before but this is a good album to start off with …track contains a sample of unhooked generation, doing the rounds these days on andy smith’s latest document record…

ramsey lewis – album- goin’ latin- track- blue bongo

another recent second hand acquisition but from a different box this time…this one does exactly what it says on the tin..there are some great bongo and drum solo’s on this track backed up by ramsey’s piano….i think ramsey could do any genre of music and pull it off at his ease..

zebra- track- simple song

a little bit of plagiarism going on in the title but the very funky melody is definitely all their own…currently on release on jazzman 12’

letta mbulu- track- pula yetla

i only know of two other letta mbulu tracks and they’re both brilliant so I need to seek out more of her stuff…this one starts with a bang, a thunder and lightening strike to be exact but the storm soon dissipates to reveal the dulcet tones of letta…I’ve no idea what the lyrics mean but this is one to lull you to sleep…

mulata astatqé – album – Ethiopian modern instrumentals – track – munayé

got back into listening to this record after seeing broken flowers at the cinema ( which uses mulata’s music for the soundtrack )…this particular tune is lifted note for note by the greenhornes on their track ‘ there is an end ‘ which also appears in the film..i must find out if they acknowledge the sample...check out the interview with mulata in the current edition of wax poetics…

john barry – beat girl ( main title )

guitar heavy, funk/rock thing from the film of the same name...can’t beat it

quincy jones – hot sake

found this on an original 7 ‘…..only €2 as well but unfortunately someone took a bite out of a piece of the vinyl so care is needed when placing the needle as the first few grooves are missing….if they made a film in the sixties involving a high speed car chase in japan this would be the perfect soundtrack to it …mack the knife on the flip side…

raw business – celebrate

i don’t know if it’s the line about finding your dream girl at the celebrity ball but this one has hardly come off the turntable since i found it…starts off slow but builds up with some funky bass and heavy drums thrown in for good measure...’dance to the music for sure…

b. t. express – herbs

i was unaware of the b. t. expresses existence (shame) before hearing ‘do it till your satisfied at mickeys ( thanks paul )..this is a good one to start off your b. t. collection with, laid back reggae style and only €2 as well so a good week all round for 7 ‘ shopping…

the ones that almost made it –

billy brimstone – keep it live ( jazzy uk hip hop number )

the harvey averne dozen – the word ( brilliant latin / funk reworking of the beatles track)

elsie mae – do you really want to rescue me – ( new jazzman 7 ‘…enough said )

the Karachi prison band – put some grit in it

nosotros pimpamos – three color collar – ( don’t even attempt to request this if your drunk )

j live – listening ( featuring kola rock and taken from the new album )

Peter Curtin

 

Cheebah mix October 2005

This is Paul Tarpey's Cheebah mix  of old breaks, new beats, disco, reggae and hip hop for October 05. Any deejays out there feeling the same about sellotaping these kind of sounds together, call in on Fridays to Mickey Martins (Augustinain Lane, Limerick)  and check us out for a gig.

 

Recent top five

Rock: 'Girls got rhythm' AC/DC

Electro: 'The White Horse' Laidback

Soul: 'Happiness is just around the bend' Main ingredient

Rap: 'I know what girls like' Jay-Z

Reggae: 'Summercute' Little Tasha

 

DJ Paul Murphy in Mickey Martins Limerick

As the cheebah sessions entered its fifth season at Mickey Martins last September, it brought one of its biggest ever guests in the form of legend Paul Murphy. An enthusiastic up for it crowd greeted his arrival and Paul returned the compliment with an excellent set which included some choice material from his own label Afro Art records.
Later his end of year list marked Mickeys out as an essential european destination!

My top 5 gigs 2004- Paul Murphy

Belgrade Festival Theres a bar called Idiot and the concierge in my hotel looked like a circus strongman & his friend just smoked "It's my job" he said. .. The Sounds of Carl Cox kept me awake Saturday night.. .The food was good though even though the drink came in a vinegar bottle and theres some quite strange buildings, you can fly a helicopter on some of them , through them even. The taxi driver played Cuban Music "Helps me against stress" he said. My kind of town..

Bialystock. KLUB METRO A three hour drive from Warsaw to the middle of THE
Forest. Only one rule on Polish roads "Always drive faster than the car in front!" , The chill out room has a sliding door like in Star Trek ("Engine Room!") and they drink Vodka in half pint glasses as I found out later. Great sound system.

Lyon La Marquise My first ever gig in France (on a boat too!) & I must say I
succumbed to a great deal of great French hospitalty. Its all true, the food is great & the wine is 10 times better than we get here.I succumbed so much I missed my plane next day.

Budapest CHA CHA CHA What a weekend! I was hospitalised , I missed my plane,
my credit card was refused. A great party though courtesy of Mr Attilla & friends.Watched the Greeks win the footy too.

Limerick Mickey Martins A tiny place so small that the dj box took up a third of it (it seemed). Rain & sun in equal measures all day plus what seemed like huge barrels of Guiness heading my way every five minutes.Hospitality in a way that only the Irish can do . Then the penance of a five hour coach journey next day.