Skip to content
Hi Sorry Staters, thanks for clicking on our newsletter and checking in with us.
It’s been another crazy week and honestly what happened in the White House on Friday still has me in shock. Really? This is the America we live in now? Aligning with the dictators of the world. My God! To think of all the people who have given their lives for their country to protect democracy here and around the world only to have these horrible traitors act so shamefully. It is beyond comprehension. We are in a constitutional crisis in America and a third of the population at least seems to be cheering on as the place burns. Sad. Very sad.
With all that in mind, trying to think straight and write a pick for the newsletter is even tougher than normal. I honestly couldn’t even write home for money right now, but I’ll give it a go.
Just quickly first, a mention about a record that has been out for a few months now but was missed by me when it came to the store originally. It seems we had a color variant which sold out quickly and a black vinyl version which, although listed on our webstore, didn’t make its way to the store bins. Shame on us for missing that. Anyway, last week Jeff and I were talking about the popularity of the Alvilda record, and he mentioned he thought that another French language record we got in was just as good or even, dare he say, better. That was Coeur A L’Index from Belgium and their debut titled Adieu Minette. As soon as I put it on, I knew instantly that I liked it. Great C86 style DIY pop-punk which should easily appeal to fans of Chin Chin, Dolly Mixture and bands on Slumberland Records, just to give you a rough idea. As always, Jeff called it. If you were slow on the ball like I was, we still have copies on black vinyl in stock. Check it out.
Okay, for my main pick this week I had to go with a terrific collection of reggae and dub that is focused on the productions of Dennis Bovell. It’s called Sufferrer Sounds and is out on the Disciples label, a subsidiary of Warp Records in the U.K. The compilation concentrates on tracks that were produced and released during and around the time that Dennis Bovell was involved with the South London sound system known as Sufferer Sound in the late 1970s. It’s a wonderfully curated compilation and sequenced to play as an album almost, even though tracks are pulled from different releases. There are rare B-side version dubs, lovers rock beauties, powerful rockers and roots cuts, all with the genius production touch from Dennis Bovell. I think it is great and will certainly be one of my faves of the year, I am sure. I won’t go into a deep dive on Bovell here, as I have neither the time nor the brain power to do him justice, but Lord Daniel is a big fan also and I know he picked a Dennis Bovell record before for a staff pick here in the Sorry State newsletter, so perhaps pull that one up to read a more in-depth history. Suffice to say, if you have listened to a Slits record or watched the film Babylon or loved the dub poetry of Linton Kwesi Johnson, then, whether you realized it or not, you have experienced the magic of Dennis Bovell.
Back to this collection. The label has done a great job in the sound restoration and the pressing is a good one. I have been cranking it at home and at the store and can testify to the top job done by the mastering engineer. These cuts potentially have never sounded so good. Many of them are rare and hard to find (and expensive) so it’s a blessing to have them compiled here. For those wondering how things might have played and sounded at Sufferer Sound with DB at the controls all those years ago, this is a fantastic approximation. Comes with liner notes and a few photos along with track-by-track recollections from Dennis himself. Killer stuff and essential for all lovers of 70s dub reggae. I’m loving the dub version of Take Five and Angelique’s Cry with the DB version that closes out the album. Beauty and toughness combined.
Okay, short and to the point this week. Thanks for reading and supporting music and the arts.
Cheers - Dom