
“Dub to me is the music of chance," says Stewart. Bovell, who has worked with everyone from Linton Kwesi Johnson and Steel Pulse to The Slits and Orange Juice, is once again at the controls for this new dub version of Y. Mark Stewart and the rest of the band had the good sense and taste to use dub and reggae legend Dennis Bovell to produce their early records, including their classic single "She is Beyond Good and Evil" and their debut album, Y. If you thought the Pop Group's classic debut was already pretty dubby, you haven't heard anything yet.ĭub has been a core component of post-punk greats The Pop Group's sound from the very start, working the form's spacey world of echo into the sense of dread inherent in their bleak, paranoid style. The Pop Group & Dennis Bovell - Y in Dub (Mute) The message is there if you choose to listen, and it bubbles up undeniably on repeat plays, but Time To Melt goes down easy like comfort food while packing more vitamins than you think.

Sam also brings a lot of '70s influence to the table, with echoes of Steely Dan, Gerry Rafferty, Sly & The Family Stone, Al Green and more in groovy tracks like "Dream Free," "Sunshine," "Lonely Days" and the sublime, string-laden "Knock Knock." While your mother may have said politics have no place at the dinner table, these songs are also packed with an undeniable social consciousness fed by recent times.
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(He's got a cooking series on YouTube.) In addition to having a culinary feel, the title is a good sonic descriptor for the album as well, which has a rubbery, psychedelic feel where most of the instrumentation feels pleasingly wilted, deglazed with a glug of white wine. He's largely succeeded with Time to Melt, which is warm and convivial that keeps you engaged whether you're making risotto or grilling flatbreads. Having left the hustle and bustle of New York City for a more relaxed life in the Catskills, Sam Evian and partner Hannah Cohen say they mostly listen to music while cooking, and that his new album was an attempt to make a record perfect for that. Groovy sounds to cook to - an album that tastes great going down but is good for you, too The Million Things That Never Happened by Billy Bragg "When things start to unravel / And days fill you with dread / When comments dent your confidence / Confide in me instead." While the world changes by the minute, Billy's empathy remains steadfast. "I Will Be Your Shield" is a song about the power of love and friendship in the times of deepest strife, that is little more than Billy and a piano. The album's most effective moment, though, is also its most simple and direct. The production on the album by The Magic Numbers' Romeo Stodart and Dave Izumi is warm and soulful, like Billy's voice, with mellotron giving songs a surreal thread that fits the times in which it was created, the weirdest two years most of us have ever experienced. There are songs about personal accountability ("Shoulda Seen it Coming," "The Buck Doesn't Stop Here No More'), aging and death ("Pass it On," the title track), and changing with the changing times ("Mid Century Modern," "Ten Mysterious Photos That Can't Be Explained."). presidential election, The Million Things That Never Happened has the personal and the politically intertwined like never before. Written and recorded during the 2020 of the pandemic, Black Lives Matter, Brexit and the U.S. One thing that Bragg does better than almost anyone is mix the personal with the political, bringing a relatable point of view to his most strident material, as well as his tender love songs (few are as observant to the slings and arrows of relationships). I’m trying to respond to the things I’m hearing now, rather than reminding folk of ‘the good old days’." Kids have got new priorities and new ideas.

"To cling to that and imagine that you’ve nothing to learn from younger generations, you’re in danger of becoming a dinosaur.

"As a mid century modern geezer, I’m aware that my notions of personal relationships were formed almost fifty years ago, likewise my politics," Billy says. One of the great human beings of Planet Earth, Billy Bragg has been mixing pop and politics with compassion and wit for 40 years and, unlike some of his contemporaries, has continued to evolve, look forward and consider the bigger picture. On his 10th album, Billy Bragg continues to mix the personal and political in sublime ways like few else Billy Bragg - The Million Things That Never Happened (Cooking Vinyl)
