things and time will tell.

Little Axe ‎– Bought For A Dollar/Sold For A Dime Echo Beach ‎– EB 133C Vinyl, LP, Album, Reissue, Remastered, Germany, Sep 2018 (original release: digital 2008/CD 2010) info This is the 2018 vinyl version of Little Axe's sixth LP, Bought For A Dollar/Sold For A Dime . Skip McDonald's blues-dub-hip hop hybrid "band" again features the rest of Tackhead (Doug Wimbish on bass, Keith LeBlanc on drums, and a mixdown by On-U Sound main man Adrian Sherwood) on nearly every track. But this is Skip's show, with the guitarist leading the group in some subtly different directions on their second set of recordings after signing to Peter Gabriel's Real World Records.  Bought For A Dollar...  is probably the slickest and most commercial sounding Little Axe production, but that's not a critique (and it may be my favorite of their records). Cutting to the chase: it's a remarkable record. I promise you'll love it with no background, history lessons, or color commen...

Afrika Bambaataa & The Godfather Of Soul James Brown ‎– Unity Tommy Boy ‎– TB 847 Vinyl, 12", 33 ⅓ RPM, US, 1984 info 25 minutes of James Brown diving head first into hip hop ala 1984, brought to the party by his greatest NYC disciple, Afrika Bambaataa. They rap against cold war greed and violence and the virtues of funk over live breakbeats supplied by some of my favorite musicians. It's a shame this record isn't more remembered, it's a gem. The '80s weren't packed with new highlights in the James Brown discography, but hanging out with the Universal Zulu Nation brought something out in him and the Godfather of Soul gives a great performance on Unity . Maybe he enjoyed hearing his music being kept fresh. Maybe he was moved by Bambaataa's obvious joy at getting to record with his hero. Or maybe he was just feeling inspired to preach that day on the power of funk, the dangers of nuclear war, the importance of education and the gospel of " peace, uni...

A Keith LeBlanc and Adrian Sherwood production from 1984, paying tribute to the massive Miners Strike then taking place in the UK. I'm going to go out on a limb here and say that this is probably the greatest pro-union, electro hip-hop single of all time. (I dream of a world where it would have more competition!) The Enemy Within - Support The Miners Rough Trade - RTT 151 Vinyl, 12", 45 RPM, UK, 1984 More info on Discogs Tracklist A        Strike B        Strike (General Mix) Keith LeBlanc is an American drummer, probably best known for his 1983  No Sell Out  single, released by a still new Tommy Boy Records. The record was credited to Malcolm X, whose  cut up speeches were set over a LeBlanc produced beat . Although claims that it was the first record to use "sampling" or the first to use a DMX drum machine are laying it on a bit too thick,  No Sell Out  is rightly celebrated as a key moment in hi...