Mushroom Ceremony of the Mazatec Indians of Mexico - Maria Sabina

"We escaped with a single cassette, the clothes on our back, and our lives."

How's that quote for ya? Always a good way to start a blog that. Also, a good way to generate some interest in a record. The quote comes from a Mr David Blair Stiffler, who in 1988 went to the mountainous regions of Nueva Ecija, Aurora and Luzon in the Philippines to record some of the most isolated tribes on earth. Stiffler and his crew would be taken hostage and their recordings stolen, but that single cassette that Stiffler managed to bring back with him documents the aural traditions of a culture truly of its own making, without any outside influence. The music itself is not something to put on in the background while making the spag bol. It's a documentary of a culture we will almost certainly never experience otherwise. Mostly revolving around hypnotic, cyclical gong rhythms, the recordings are a fascinating and often intimate look at another culture. Released by Numero Group in 2014, check out sound clips from Music from the Mountain Provinces over at Juno. 

   

I spoke of how the internet has allowed these sort of discoveries in my previous blog post and one of my favourite things about collecting music more widely is the diverse number of unusual things that are pressed to vinyl, cassette or CD. These types of records are often things I would never buy, not while I earn tuppence an hour anyway, but they open up a glimpse into something new, something that I would or could never have found an interest in before and from which I can explore new and related genre, interests and other such things.   

Another such example I stumbled across was a 2011 reissue of The Evil Beast by Aleister Crowley. Just look at that record cover, how could I not check that bad boy out? I'd never heard of Crowley, but my Dad just tutted and sighed when I mentioned him once. Turns out he was an occultist and the founder of a religion called Thelema, he was dubbed by the press as "the wickedest man in the world". He was actually a bloke from Leamington Spa but he sounds like quite the fella. I'd urge anyone to look him up just to have a peruse of what this mad man got up to. The record itself is of Crowley muttering his fanatical preaching and frankly, if I turned up and someone was spinning this on their turntable then I'd probably sneak back out and call the police. But it's these random findings which make record collecting so enjoyable and unpredictable and it's also let me learn a little about the occult which can't be that bad a thing? 

All this leads me to my latest discovery. Mushroom Ceremony of the Mazatec Indians of Mexico is not the name of a douchey surf-rock band but rather a collection of recordings of a healing vigil held by a Mexican curandera - a healer or witch doctor - on the night of July the 21/22, 1956. Maria Sabina, the curandera, would give the participants her "holy children" to consume before she would sing and chant throughout the night. Her "holy children" looked suspiciously like psilocybin mushrooms (magic mushrooms), so one can imagine that whatever happened, the night of July the 21/22, 1956 was an odd one for some people in remote Mexico. Once again the sounds are not the kind of thing I'd stick on when a few mates come round for a curry, but Sabina's gentle singing is haunting and intimate and gives such an interesting look into the kind of bizarre ritual that you only hear about in Indiana Jones and the like. The excellent record label Death is Not the End has a variety of bonkers recordings and I can only feel grateful that such interesting cultural practices, so far removed from anything I will actually experience, have been lovingly recorded and released to give the slightest of insight into these strange goings on. 

Check out the label's bandcamp to buy and listen to Mushroom Ceremony of the Mazatec Indians of Mexico. 

Maria Sabina
Mushroom Ceremony of the Mazatec Indians of Mexico
Death is Not the End
Vinyl LP and Cassette Tape out: 29/07/2016 at Norman Records        

Something - Honey Lung

My girlfriend recently described someone she had just met by saying that he is "stuck in 2002: he wears converse, got kinda long hair and listens to guitar music". It made me chuckle. Ha! 2002, good one. I then thought, is guitar music (what I call a couple of dudes or dudettes rocking out with guitars) really something of a throw back or something that isn't popular music now? 

It reminded me of a guy I met in a queue once. He told me that despite what folks say about music being "dead" and that Bieber and his lot have placed the last log onto music's funeral pyre, just waiting for Gaga or Rebecca Black to do the deed and light a match, this geezer told me that now is the best age music has ever had. Bye bye 1969, roll over 1976, let yourself out 1984 because it is now, 2016, that is the best of times and probably, the worst of times. What with your Soundcloud, your Youtubes, ya iTunes and Spotify, hell, even The Irregular Riff, now you can find any obscure genre, 1970s hidden psychedelic gem or any band with a single released from their home studio in some woods in Sweden or indeed, a combination of all of those. All that from some throw away joke my girlfriend made. 

Honey Lung tick two of the boxes. Band with one single that you can stumble across on the internet - tick. A guitar band rockin' it large in 2016 - tick it. Another box they tick is the like one. The trio are about to release their debut single, Something through RYP Recordings. It's a good ol' swirling freak out at times; with loud wailing guitar swarming around you, held together by some solid, slamming drums. There are quieter moments which have some sweet Smiths like guitar but what hooks me in are the slurring, distant vocals that give everything a slouched, psychedelic feel and remind me of some of the heavier Shoegaze bands such as My Bloody Valentine, The Rain Parade or Splashh. Check out the video below and give them a follow over at their Facebook page. There's a single launch in London tomorrow on the 26th so get down for what'll probably be a sweaty gig full of people wearing converse with kinda long hair and listening to some pretty damn good guitar music. 

Honey Lung

Something

RYP Recordings

Download out: 29/07/2016 at iTunes   

Nobody Can Live Forever - The Existential Soul of Tim Maia - Tim Maia

Some artists have a story which can be more infectious than their music. My true introduction to the classic rock band Cream was through the excellent documentary Beware of Mr Baker (2012), which documented the life of the band's drummer, Ginger Baker. Cream are an incredible group - with Clapton on guitar and Ginger on drums it was bound to be - but it's not the kind of music I lap up enthusiastically, playing on repeat until I know every slight key change, peddle press and bass tweak. But Ginger's story and character is so incredibly bold, brash and hedonistic, it becomes magnetic; pulling me in so I can learn more about the complex man who's true rock n' roll credentials are shown by the fact he's known by his first name; Ginger. It's a story of booze soaked violence, drugs, sex, crazy falling outs with his band mates, his label, his family. It's one of those true rock n' roll lifestyles which we all crave a little but most, like myself, are happy to live them vicariously through the true stars, ultimately being content with life as a lame office drone when we see the present day Ginger; grouchy, finding it hard to walk and living on a ranch in South Africa, penniless and having broken most of his friendships. Beware of Mr Baker is a great film and I think it's on Netflix and other such sites so do check it out. The trailer's enough to make me want to watch it again: 

It was a desire to be close to this character, even if sat in my bedroom, watching a Youtube video of Ginger doing a drum solo back in the '70s, that lead me to listen to Ginger's music. It's all very, very good, but it didn't totally grab me. It was Ginger himself who did that. I eventually saw Ginger playing live, playing the jazz music he talks about so passionately in the documentary. He had to have help walking to the drums but no help when playing them. He was brilliant, the band was brilliant, the sound was fantastic but I hadn't really gone for the music, but to see a bona fide rock and roll legend.

So is the case with Tim Maia. There's something about Maia's music which has always distanced me a little. I think it's his voice. It's deep and rounded and perhaps a bit too polished for my liking. The instrumentation is great, moving from funk to soul to pop, but it's not as good to my ear as that of another Brazilian super star, Marcos Valle. But Tim Maia sounds like he was a proper star. Watch the cool video to accompany this compilation to learn a bit more about this crazy cat;

  

The chubby, slightly nerdy looking Maia with his big afro, dodgy moustache and bad album covers, contrasted with the stories of his rock n' roll lifestyle, is enough to grab my attention. All that said, Maia's music is damn groovy, with some great horns and instrumentation and has a really great mix of American soul and the kind of Brazilian experimentation that is in much of the country's music in the 1970s. This compilation by Luaka Bop, the same guys who did the William Onyeabor compilation, is a great intro to the man's vast back catalogue and is getting a repress later this month. Check out one of the standout tracks, Bom senso, and let me know what you think. To my ears this track has a very Tom Jones feel. Nice. 

   

       

Tim Maia

Nobody Can Live Forever - The Existential Soul of Tim Maia

Luaka Bop

Double Vinyl Repress out: 22/07/2016 at Resident

Hello Moon, Can You Hear Me? - Professor Tim O'Brien, Jim Spencer and Dave Tolan

What immediately drew me to this one is the same thing that drew me to the music of Professor Green. With Prof. Green I was ultimately disappointed but Professor Tim O'Brien is an actual professor, and a professor of Astrophysics at Manchester University at that. What's he doing releasing a 7" record? Well, in collaboration with producers Jim Spencer and Dave Tolan, who have worked with New Order among others, they've created Hello Moon, Can You Hear Me?, a driving piece of electronica all created of samples from the Jodrell Bank observatory and centre for astrophysics. The samples include sounds from Sputnik 1, swirling electrons, a black hole and a dying star among other things. In a nifty move, the B-side has the professor explaining where the different sounds are from and what they mean. 

  
The music itself is a driving dance floor banger. It's got an '80s feel and is as if synths pioneer Giorgio Moroder wrote the soundtrack to a fast-paced space adventure. It is reminiscent of the relentless soundtrack to the 1998 German film, Run Lola Run and has a dystopian future feel to it. I'd love to see how this goes down on a dance floor, it's bound to be out of this world! 
Sorry. 
Listen to the song and read a bit about it from the Prof. himself at his personal blog, here.

Professor Tim O'Brien, Jim Spencer and Dave Tolan
Hello Moon, Can You Hear Me?
O Genesis
7" Moon Picture Disc (cool) out: 22/07/2016 at Rough Trade
    

Nigeria Freedom Sounds! - Compilation

As someone who now finds the need to vent their enthusiasm for music through a blog on top of the trawling through Youtube playlists, the buying of music in numerous forms, going to live gigs, DJ sets, reading interviews with artists, boring anyone who'll listen to me by taking about such musical topics as the demise of the flute in popular music and buying into all that paraphernalia that go along with following a band; T-shirts, tote bags and I even own fax papers from 1983 sent between a venue in Amsterdam and the manager of the legendary musician Fela Kuti which list things as mundane as Fela wanting 15 litres of coca-cola, 6 garbage cans and for the venue to be heated at 20 degrees for his arrival. As that guy, it might be surprising to know that I have only been interested in music since my late teens and early twenties. This is usually the time when people's musical tastes "mature", as horrible as that phrase is, but for me, there was nothing to mature. I was late to the party and the world of music opened to me as others were beginning to send their guilty pleasures from their CD collections to the charity shop. Somehow I'd avoided all the pop that my friends were raving about and all those classic songs by the likes of ABBA, Wham!, Michael Jackson and beyond. I just wasn't interested. 

I think my first true interest in popular music came through seeing the video for Bohemian Rhapsody by Queen for the first time on Youtube. Rather than Queen, it was Youtube that I was checking out amid warnings from school that the new video website might be a dangerous site full of unsuitable content and viruses. I somehow ended up watching the Queen video and I was immediately drawn in by its theatricality and just how bonkers both the video and song are, not to mention the hair. They hooked me in and I moved out from there, discovering more classic songs for the first time.

The reason I'm waxing so lyrically about my "discovery" of music is because I'm interested in the way that people do those first steps and their continued forays into music. Most start off like me, although perhaps a little earlier and with more help from their parents. They get to learn the classics of Motown, pop, rock, rock 'n roll etc. You then listen to your friends, the radio and whatever else is happening around you and find that stuff that sounds a bit like your favourite tune from the '60s, '70s, '80s or whatever, is coming out now, sounding a little different perhaps but happening now. That's exciting. You can be the one who goes out and queues for the album on release day, you can actually see the band live in some sweaty, dank club, you can create the stories your Mum tells you about when she saw Rod Stewart live in the '70s, but about your band. 

This band for me was The Horrors and I did all of those things; getting their album Skying (still probably my favourite album) on the day of its release and going to see them live as my first gig (definitely my favourite gig). From there you discover the band's influences, how they take from a host of psychedelic bands from the '60s and '70s; The 13th Floor Elevators, early Pink Floyd, The Velvet Underground. 

Then something comes along from an unlikely place which makes you start all over again. For me, this unlikely source was Mr Elijah Wood or as I know him, Frodo Baggins. Elijah Wood changed my life enough through The Lord of the Rings trilogy, but it's this video that opened the next door in my musical journey:

It's a video of Elijah Wood at the American record store, Amoeba, chatting about the records he's bought on his visit. Among them he picks out the eponymous debut album by Gal Costa from 1969. He describes her as "super psychedelic" and as a part of the "Tropicalia Movement in Brazil". My interest in psychedelic rock, that started with The Horrors had grown into an obsession with the genre so I just had to check out the "super psychedelic" Gal Costa, and the Tropicalia Movement sounded pretty cool too. I discovered Gal's incredible debut album and discography and the Tropicalia Movement of the late '60s and '70s in Brasil - a group of musicians who made psychedelic music as a resistance to the oppressive government regime. This lead me to more bands and musicians from the movement; Gilberto Gil, Os Mutantes, Secos & Molhados. I realised that up until then, my musical tastes were white men from Britain and America, often wearing paisley shirts or denim jackets. My musical discovery started again, and I discovered the big names in Brazilian music like I had in pop and rock and Motown, before delving into the more obscure gems. Through the music of artists like Lula Cortes, Arthur Verocai, Jorge Ben and Baden Powell I learnt not just about the music of Brazil, but also about Brazil itself; its people, history and its culture, all of which I had previously no knowledge nor interest in. 

   

This lead me to want to hear more, discover what else could excite me and what I could learn from. In my musical travels I've been to Turkey through the music of Erkin Koray, Ajda Pekkan, Ersen and Baris Manco. To Italy with Ennio Morricone, Piero Umiliani and Nico Fidenco. To France with Serge Gainsbourg, Alain Goraguer, France Gal, Jean-Pierre Massiera and Brigitte Bardot and all aboard Youtube, Soundcloud and Spotify airlines.  

That's what music does best. It takes you places you may never have even thought about before. It makes you interested in all sorts of times in history, countries, communities and cultures. More so than any other, my fascination with Nigeria was first sparked by its music. Introduced, as so many are by the music of Fela Kuti, I discovered Nigeria's other genres and artists and I have since got quite a large collection of original LPs from Nigeria, mainly from the 1970s. The music has lead me to go to gigs of Nigerian and other West African music, attend exhibitions on Nigerian art and to read books or go to talks on its history and its future. 

So imagine my joy when one of my favourite labels, Soul Jazz Records, announce the release of a compilation of popular music from post independence Nigeria. I popped down to the excellent Sounds of the Universe store in Soho, London, which is linked with Soul Jazz, and bought it on release day. 

Nigeria Freedom Sounds! collects together 24 songs across two LPs, documenting popular music between 1960, the year Nigeria gained independence from Britain, and 1963. It's the kind of music that you can imagine a packed dance hall in Lagos dancing to - a mix of jazz type horns, Afro-Cuban style dance tunes and sunny guitar. It's music to make you shake your shoulders to and it all has a distinctive Nigerian and African feeling from infectious, rattling percussion. 

The compilation covers a variety of artists and styles and is great at painting a picture of Nigeria at the time. The gatefold album sleeve and the two inner sleeves come covered in extensive notes detailing the history of colonialism in Nigeria, Independence and a little on post independence Nigeria. There is also a section dedicated to the evolution of music in Nigeria; from the initial first recordings in the 1920s to an explanation of the different styles in the compilation, which I was thankful for as apart from Highlife, I wasn't really sure of the characteristics of each genre. There's also details on each artist and their songs. It really is the full package and leaves very few questions due to its thorough explanation of the period. There are also some fantastic pictures of adverts from the time, which are both incredibly beautiful and often fun artistically, yet these optimistic and celebratory images are tinged with sadness at the knowledge of the horrific Biafran war to come and of Boko Haram currently terrorising the people of Nigeria. Below's a track from the compilation by Chris Ajilo and his Cubanos, one of the only tracks from the compilation on Youtube:

Compilations, when done well, are the perfect way into the history and culture of a country and Nigeria Freedom Sounds! is a perfect starting place to become enthusiastic and informed by this fascinating nation and its people. 

Compilation

Nigeria Freedom Sounds! 

Soul Jazz Records

Double Vinyl LP out: NOW! at Sounds of the Universe          

Phantoms of Dreamland - Michal Turtle

I was first introduced to the record label Music from Memory by the sound of the track Caravan Revisited by Workdub coming through the speakers at a local record shop. Check it out below but be aware that it sounds so much better and deeper on a proper speaker system. It's an unusual track of graceful synths and off-kilter percussion which seems ethereal and timeless. It is actually from 1989 and was created by two musicians, Virgil Work Jnr. and Nicholas Georgieff, messing about in their basement home studio. They released an LP and a CD and then faded into obscurity.



Music from Memory's brief is to re-release songs to a wider and more deserved audience than the original release may have received, or to finally get unreleased material onto wax. I can't think of much more honourable than that and Music from Memory pull out some gems that would have otherwise remained hidden to the majority of people. Along with other excellent reissue labels such as Now-Again Records, Light in the Attic and Soundway, Music from Memory are at the top of their game in my humble opinion. The label also has a strong aesthetic and style and it's one to follow for sure.

Their latest release is a double LP of music by Michal Turtle. Phantoms of Dreamland expands on a 12" release of Turtle's work that Music on Memory issued in 2015 with more strange, hypnotic electronica from 1983-85. The release is made up of mainly unreleased tracks that were created by the 22 year old Turtle in his living room in South London. He'd invite musicians over and mess about with synths, recording everything to tape or to cassette.

The music itself is a collection of strange experimentation, often with soothing, layered synths and clunking percussion. It can be comforting and fuzzy or alien and cold but there's something new with every listen. It could easily be a modern electro LP but there's a certain naivety in the tracks which makes the album endearing and engaging. My favourite tracks include the glittering Spooky Boogie, shimmering Ball of Fire and El Teb, which brings Eastern inspirations to synth experimentation. 
Check it out below and let me know what you think and be sure to take a look at Music from Memory too. 

Michal Turtle
Phantoms of Dreamland
Music from Memory
Double Vinyl LP out: 15/07/2016 at Music from Memory
 

     

Elafonissi Blue - GUM

- Hey dude.
- Oh hey, thanks for checking out the blog, needs all the help it can get these days.
- Ye sure. You know that the single Elafonissi Blue was released on GUM's album Glamorous Damage, in like, November of last year!
- Um, ye I did, ye.
- But, I'm pretty sure that this whole "Irregular Rift" thing...
- It's The Irregular Riff actually...
- I'm pretty sure you said it's only to look at upcoming releases?
- I might have said...
- Ye, here it is, "All the releases must be not available at the time of writing".
- Oh lord, you've gone back to the archives.
- Dude, you've got like 3 blog posts, just scroll down and read it! 
- Ye, so I can see how this might look like I'm breaking my own rules, but actually GUM and the super cool label he's on, Spinning Top Music, released a music video for Elafonissi Blue only recently on the 28th of June. Check it out, it's pretty funky: 

- But that's still in the past you idiot! Not upcoming in the slightest. Why you calling GUM a "he" anyway?
- GUM's the name for Jay Watson's solo project. He's a regular member with the awesome, mental psych band POND and he's a live member with Tame Impala. He's a pretty cool dude I think. I've seen him live with Tame Impala and Pond and he can rip it up on guitar or bust some sweet keyboard grooves and I'm pretty sure I saw a video of him wacking a drum, so a solo project makes sense.
- Oooh, get you being all relevant and seeing Tame Impala live! GUM's a stupid name. Does he just blow raspberries and put it onto vinyl or something. What a joke.
- Actually there's a lot going on with Elafonissi Blue. There are huge '80s vibes - I'm talking Pet Shop Boys, Prince and that sort of disco-funk from the likes of Cameo.
- Oh God, is this some sort of gay propaganda? 
- I'm going to ignore that. There's also hints of Dam Funk, Boards of Canada, College and lo-fi synth rock. It's got a banging chorus and it's just funky man, with some sweet swooshing synths and a driving bass line - it reminds me a bit of the College soundtrack to the film Drive but with a bit more mental fun attached.
- So it's a good song which came out ages ago. Why do you not write about Yellow Submarine then? Ey? This blog has gone to the dogs already. Is it even getting a physical release? I thought that was one of the blog criteria too?
- Well, it's already out on the excellent Glamorous Damage LP...
- From November last year? Did you create your silly little "word-art" thing and then realise it was already out? You did didn't you.
- No, I just thought that with the recent release of the music video I could share this really good...
- That's it isn't it! You know nobody actually cares about those word things anyway? They think it's weird. 
- Well, I...
- You're a joke mate. 
- Cheers, bye then.

GUM
Elafonissi Blue
Spinning Top Music
Vinyl LP out: NOW at Spinning Top Music  

Holy Day/ Mirror - Motorama

Motorama are a Russian group and for my money, you don't hear enough from Russia. The country has actually got a pretty awesome history of psychedelic rock from the '70s with this tune from Yuri Morozov being a particularly sexy number with a bass line to jiggle ya bits along to. The '80s, as is so often the case in the so-called Eastern Block, was dubbed a Golden Age and Kino were pretty prolific. I annoy my girlfriend no end by nattering incessantly the choppy guitar line from this track. Other than that, Russian music for me boils down to Prokofiev's Peter and the Wolf, which still has me scrambling for behind the sofa after being tormented by a sinister animation as a child. I can still see the scraggly wolf creeping through the twisted trees to those violins and the deep bass. 



None of that here, however as Motorama create relaxing, slouch-inducing indie pop on their 7" single, Holy Day backed with Mirror. It's the kind of tune to soundtrack the end of a house party, crushed cans and fags all around, a bloke nobody knows asleep in the bath and the sun just melting through the curtains. It's just you and your proper mates by this point, collapsed on one another in a glorious, sweaty heap. Holy Day tingles along in lo-fi electronic fun and the vocals are indifferent, slurred, as if sleepy but still partying over the driving bass line. Grab ya mates, a bottle of something and let Motorama be the soundtrack to the 5:30am last dance.  

Motorama
Holy Day/Mirror
Talitres
7" vinyl out: 8/07/2016 at Talitres

The Capsule's Pride (Bikes) - Bwana

Techno has always been more of a Tech-no thanks for me. I lived in Berlin for six months and you can't escape the stuff. The constant thud emanates from grimy corners of the city at all hours of the day. It's so sobering when you're off on a midday stroll in the sun and come across a dingy, thudding warehouse with the techno crew still raving away from last night. It's even worse being in there. I once arrived at the doors of a club as the sun came up, only to be plunged into deep darkness inside some abandoned building, the only light being the occasional flaring of someone's cigarette or the bright, early morning summer sun bursting through when anyone opened the door, the light flooding in to mock my misfortune before the big warehouse door swung shut again and plunged me back into the continuous beat of the dull techno. What made it worse was how seriously all the Berlin club crew took it. Standing in static rows facing the DJ, doing the "techno-shuffle" from one foot to the other and whistling at the slightest predictable drop or dodgy DJ effect. Techno really is one of the least fun music forms ever. Not what I want at 7am.*

So a techno producer called Bwana based in Berlin has all the hallmarks for me to pass this one by. Even the name Bwana is enough to get on my nerves. But am I glad that I checked this out. 

The Capsule's Pride (Bikes) was originally floating around on the Dark Web through Tor but is now available for free download through a pretty cool website (link below). The whole album is a tribute to the 1988 anime film, Akira. For some reason I've never seen Akira, but I had heard some of the soundtrack and know that it's a bit of something special. Bwana's album is made exclusively from samples of the soundtrack and has so much more mood and emotion in it than the usual techno thud. 

There are many of the usual techno tropes; repetition, ping-ponging beats, deep electro rhythms. But there's so much more going on than that. On the track The Colonel's Mistake, The Scientist's Regret, the beat is a sample of someone saying "Akira" chopped into three bits, A-ki-ra. There's a lot of vocal samples which gives everything more character, makes it interesting, no longer just a cold beat. What's really great is how Bwana uses the traditional Japanese musical sounds from the soundtrack and morphs them into some great techno. This is techno with some soul, something to make you move and, dare I say it, it's really fun.          

Check out the full album in this Youtube playlist  and download the album in full at the pretty cool website made for the album. 

*Despite how it sounds, Berlin is great for a party and I loved it.

Bwana
Capsule's Pride (Bikes)
LuckyMe
Vinyl LP out: 15/07/2016 at Norman Records

Introducing The Irregular Riff - A Riff To Get Stuck in Your Head

What makes a good old fashioned riff? Those few notes which whirl around your skull all day and put a big fat grin on your face. Notes which produce the sort of guitar line that you can almost chew a chunk out of. A good riff is almost something natural, as if hewn from a rock, harvested, foraged, fished for in the murky depths of the sea. It can seem impossible for that sound to have ever not existed, for it to have been made rather than just be. There's something primal about a good riff, as if it exists in all of us. I always think that a riff has similarities with the homing ability of birds, as if a killer riff is inherent in all of us even if we don't know how. How many times have you heard the opening riff to The Good, the Bad and the Ugly and unconsciously started humming along, letting it fly you to the Wild West, before you realise that you have no idea which film it's from, who wrote it, or how you know the song at all? Those few wobbly notes, crafted by my hero Ennio Morricone, are now inbuilt in us all, like migrating swallows know to fly south for the winter, there's something in us which knows these few notes seemingly even before we've had a chance to discover them. The power of the riff is what brings stadiums of sweaty football fans together to chant the dark-electro opening of Sweet Dreams (Are Made of This) by the Eurythmics and makes beer bellies bounce to The White Stripes and Seven Nation Army.

It is an earworm riff that can be that first introduction to the giddy joy you can get from a great tune, and The Irregular Riff is hopefully going to be the place to find more great, unusual, compelling and just damn fun songs and sounds. Here I am going to post a new release that I have found and I feel the need to share, shout about, wax lyrical about and all that. The only criteria is that these must be upcoming releases, something you can buy for yourselves in the coming days, weeks or months but is currently just a youtube video or a wiggly line on a soundcloud page. So none of ya Beatles, Kinks or Stones, I'm gonna be ploughing into the new stuff, although I will also highlight new reissues or compilations if I feel the music needs some attention. 

The Irregular bit? Hopefully not an indication of the frequency in which I post new music but rather of the types of music. No genre limits here. If it sounds good or interesting or just so damn strange that I need to share it, it'll make it onto The Irregular Riff. 

So check back as often as you fancy. I aim to make the blog something you can just dip into whenever you want for a browse, see what's what and hopefully find something new which gives you that bottom-lip-biting-feeling and happily rattles around your head for the next couple of days.