MP4
The extraordinary Parliamentary Allstars MP4 release their first album, Cross Party, through Revolver Records. All proceeds from sales go to Help for Heroes so pick up a copy or two today!
Apache Indian
Apache Indian, aka Steven Kapur, grew up in Handsworth, home of reggae bands such as Steel Pulse, and by the early 1980s he was working with local sound systems and wearing dreadlocks. By the mid-1980s he had trimmed his hair and began to make a name for himself as a dancehall deejay, and he recorded his first single in 1990, "Movie Over India", initially a white-label pressing, until it was picked up by the reggae distributor Jet Star. The single mixed ragga and bhangra and was hugely popular among audiences of both genres. Two further singles followed in a similar vein, "Chok There" and "Don Raja", bringing him to the attention of the major labels, and in 1992 he signed a recording contract with Island Records.
With the collaboration of his cousins Simon & Diamond now referred to as Dj Swami, he introduced the new hybrid sound of bhangra raggamuffin - also known as bhangramuffin - to the world with his first album No Reservations, recorded in Jamaica and produced by Simon & Diamond, Phil Chill, Robert Livingston, Bobby Digital and Sly Dunbar) in 1993. It was followed by Make Way for the Indian, (produced by Sly & Robbie, The Press, Mafia & Fluxy, Pandit Dinesh and Chris Lane), which featured rapper Tim Dog and spawned the hit, "Boom Shack-A-Lak". By 1997 he had been dropped by Island and his next album,[2] Real People / Wild East (produced by Harjinder Boparai) proved to be his most experimental album, and also featured more Indian elements than the other albums. In his heyday, he also made an appearance in the Tamil film, Love Birds, dancing alongside Prabhu Deva.
Credit: Wikipedia
Review of Time for Change
Courtesy of Vanguard-Online.co.uk
Best known for the decidedly throwaway ‘Boom Shack a Lak’, it seemed Apache Indian had completely disappeared after his brief dalliance with fame twelve years ago. Not so, for he’s now returned with this perky collection of Eastern-tinged reggae.
Warming up with a rendition of Desmond Dekker’s ‘The Israelites’, Apache indulges in some nifty rapping but, otherwise, stays faithful to the original, with Dekker himself providing an authoritative stamp. Spirituality is a theme that runs throughout the album with ‘Calling Out To Jah’ and ‘All Religions’ pleading for religious tolerance the world over. ‘I Pray’ may be Apache’s own attempt at a ‘Redemption Song’-style anthem but his vocal style is somewhat mismatched with the minimal acoustic arrangement.
Faring much better are the steamy ‘So Hott!’ and the R’n’B-flavoured ‘Sometimes Love’; tracks that are more than capable of giving Shaggy and Sean Paul a run for their money. Elsewhere, ‘That Girl’ and ‘Acting Shady’ homes in on Apache’s Bhangra roots, proving just as vital an influence to his overall sound as his beloved reggae. The Tsunami charity single, ‘Om Numah Shivaya’, is evidence of Apache’s ongoing activism, not to mention the sleeve endorsements for Oxfam and Womad.
Boasting a running time of eighty minutes, ‘Time For Change’ could have benefited from being half an hour shorter, for want of a snappier set, but, on the whole, it’s a refreshingly unpretentious and optimistic set with its heart in the right place.
Be-Bop Deluxe
Be Bop Deluxe was founded by Bill Nelson in 1972. They never played bebop music, but instead came out of the blues-based British rock scene of the late 1960s. At first they were compared to the more successful David Bowie,
but Nelson never tried to copy Bowie, and appears to have disliked
comparisons or being pigeon-holed. This artistic restlessness
eventually led him to disband Be Bop Deluxe altogether and pursue less
commercial paths of expression.
Influences on the band's music included David Bowie, King Crimson, Pink Floyd, Van Der Graaf Generator and Frank Zappa. The band's sound emerged as a mixture of glam rock, prog rock and straightforward rock and roll. Science fiction imagery (e.g. robots)
was common in Nelson's lyrics, along with the more traditional themes
of love and the human condition (albeit often hidden beneath Nelson's
quirky lyrical and musical metaphors).
Nelson was acclaimed as one of the finest guitarists in British rock
at the time, and the music showed that, with his distinctive tones
adorning most tracks. Stylistically, the songs took elements from
progressive rock, glam rock (the band had flirted with make-up in the early days) and hard guitar rock. Sunburst Finish contained the band's only UK hit album, Ships in the Night was their most successful single in the UK and USA.
Drastic Plastic, recorded under the influence of punk, new wave and David Bowie's
'Berlin' albums was a substantial stylistic change from the progressive
/ guitar rock of the early Be-Bop Deluxe. Eager to embrace the changing
musical landscape, Nelson dissolved Be Bop Deluxe and immediately
formed a new band, 'Bill Nelson's Red Noise', retaining Andy Clark on
keyboards, and adding Nelson's brother Ian, who had previously
contributed to Be Bop Deluxe albums, on saxophone.
The only album to emerge from this lineup, Sound on Sound (1979) can be seen as the last Be Bop Deluxe album, as it amplified and
extended the trends on 'Drastic Plastic', and was the last rock band
album Bill Nelson made before moving into the introspective solo
projects that were to dominate his subsequent career.