The One You Won't Regret

Today's selection started out with the intention of being a relaxed, laidback affair, triggered by a week revisiting Baby Ford's brilliant 1992 album Bford 9. I think somewhere along the line it morphed into a late night/headphones kind of vibe...

The nine tracks are all drawn from albums I've been listening to this week, several purchased last year, some having been in my possession for many years and one picked up one of two compulsory Sahel Sounds purchases last Bandcamp Friday. An eclectic bunch, it has to be said, but I think they make good partners.

I'll revisit Bford 9 again in the future but suffice to say my previous preconceptions about Baby Ford were completely upended by this album. I bought it on spec for £7.99 from a record shop in Yate (#45 in 2003's Top 50 Crap Towns) a couple of years after it's release and it's remained one of my favourite electronica/dance albums. There's a vocal version of 20, Park Drive; I've opted for the instrumental version to open this selection, to set the (languid) pace.

Happy Ending by Hifi Sean and David McAlmont was officially released in February this year. To say I love it is an understatement. In fact, I love it so much that when I got the double vinyl last December as a Last Night From Glasgow subscriber, I made it my 2022 album of the year. Transatlantic is a beautiful, downtempo moment, sweeping strings and shiver-inducing vocals.

Electribe 101's contribution dates from 1992 though didn't see an official release for three decades due to the record label dropping them midway through recording their second album. I wrote about it last January in anticipation of the album's long awaited release (thanks to Billie Ray Martin) and it didn't disappoint. Conquering Tomorrow is a bonus track on the CD, a brief instrumental that segues neatly into the next song on this selection.

My sideways step into the world of New York indie pop trio Au Revoir Simone came via their appearance on Paris by Friendly Fires. I picked up a few freebie sample songs via the now-defunct RCRD LBL website and then bought 2009 album Still Night, Still Light, followed by 2010 remix companion Night Light. The version of Take Me As I Am featured here is from the latter, London-based DJ Max Cooper delivering a shimmering version with hushed vocals coming in quite late.

 

Telefís was an inspired meeting of minds between Cathal Coughlan and Garret 'Jacknife' Lee. Debut album a hAon was released in 2022 and whilst the equally excellent follow up a Dó came in October the same year, it sadly proved to be a posthumous release, due to Cathal's untimely passing in May. Picadors is taken from a hAon and an example of a duo at the top of their game, lyrically and sonically. A tragic loss.

I featured a System 7 selection at the end of April and they've continued to be on my playlist since. The Abyss is the penultimate track on 2001 album Seventh Wave, seven and a half minutes of ambient waves which Steve Hillage and Miquette Giraudy do so well.

 

From there and another of my favourite albums of 2022, And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow by Weyes Blood. Another spine-tinglingly beautiful vocal, this isn't really ambient at all, more 1970s West Coast vibe yet it was an obvious next step from the System 7 song. The build towards the end is just wonderful.

 

Whilst I have a few Wau Wau Collectif songs from previous Sahel Sounds compilations, Friday saw my first purchase of a full length album by them, their second as it transpires. The Senegalese musicians collaborate again with Sweden’s Karl Jonas Winqvist, a name I only recognise from his work with James Yorkston & The Secondhand Orchestra. Again, Mariage Forcé is not a song that would be described as 'chill out' but I was struck by the tone of the two-second intro nearly matching that of the closing seconds of the Weyes Blood song, which made for a serendipitous pairing.

On more familiar territory for the closer, with William Orbit. Strange Cargo was the title of his second album in 1987, with volumes II and III following in the 1990s. The next volume in 1995 was confusingly credited to Strange Cargo and titled Hinterland. Business as usual belatedly resumed (and reverted to a William Orbit release) in 2014 with Strange Cargo 5. Kiss Of The Bee appears on the standalone Strange Cargo release in 1995, featuring Beth Orton and Christine Leach. Beth was about to release her second solo album, to great acclaim, whilst Christine fronted Baby Fox, who were unfairly lumped in with the mid-90s trip hop set.

 

1) 20, Park Drive (Inst): Baby Ford (1992)

2) Transatlantic: Hifi Sean & David McAlmont (2022)

3) Conquering Tomorrow: Electribe 101 (1992)

4) Take Me As I Am (Max Cooper Remix): Au Revoir Simone (2010)

5) Picadors (Album Version): Telefís (2022)

6) The Abyss: System 7 (2001)

7) God Turn Me Into A Flower: Weyes Blood (2022)

8) Mariage Forcé: Wau Wau Collectif (2022)

9) Kiss Of The Bee: Strange Cargo ft. Beth Orton & Christine Leach (1995) 

 

1992: Bford 9: 1

1995: Hinterland: 9

2001: Seventh Wave: 6

2010: Night Light: 4

2022: a hAon: 5 

2022: And In The Darkness, Hearts Aglow: 7

2022: Electribal Soul: 3

2022: Happy Ending: 2 

2022: Mariage: 8

 

The One You Won't Regret (47:34) (Box) (Mega)