Simon Bonney collection Past, Present, Future due May 3rd

Past, Present, Future collects music from Simon's Forever and Everyman albums with 6 unissued tracks including a lovely Scott Walker tribute. 

Simon Bonney has just released his compilation album Past, Present, Future (Mute) which brings together songs from his last two albums, Forever (1992) and Everyman (1994), as well as six new tracks for an unreleased album titled Eyes of Blue. Check out Simon's version of "Duchess" by the late great Scott Walker below.

Reflecting on the message found in “Don’t Walk Away From Love,” Bonney says, “In a relationship you can focus on the positive or you can focus on the negative. The one you feed the most will define that relationship. ‘Don’t Walk Away From Love’ is about embracing the positive.”

Beginning Sunday in Nashville, Bonney will embark on a tour of the Eastern United States alongside Mark Lanegan. See below for a full itinerary.

Past, Present, Future is the beautiful amalgamation of songs taken from two of Bonney’s previously released albums: 1992’s Forever, a deeply personal and intimate record, and 1994’s Everyman, his socio-political opus that has grown in relevance as rapid change and social dislocation has increased. Rounding out Past, Present, Future are a number of songs unearthed from Bonney’s lost album, Eyes of Blue.

Forever and Everyman were recorded during Bonney’s time living in the US while his band Crime & the City Solution remained on hiatus. At this time, he turned to the melancholy and plaintive sounds of dobro and lap steel of 1970s country music. In these sounds he found a feeling of longing for the familiar, for security and stability, songs about family and belonging, memories of a childhood farm in Tasmania. The result was two country-tinged, compassionate and prescient portraits of life in late 20th Century America through Tasmanian eyes.

Bonney’s path led him into outback Australia, Micronesia, Papua New Guinea and Bangladesh – a life rich in extremes of color and conflict, of trauma, of humanity and inhumanity, of power and powerlessness. It was not always easy to witness and eventually, as happens with all that walk this road, he had seen too much and it was time to stop. It was time to re-embrace something simple, something personal – his music. He pulled tapes from shoeboxes and listened to the old albums as well as tracks that were destined for an unreleased album, Eyes of Blue, which was recorded in Detroit with a band featuring Matt Smith (Outrageous Cherry, the Volbeats), Troy Gregory (the Dirtbombs, Electric Six, Killing Joke) and a guest appearance by Chuck Prophet. As he revisited these earlier recordings, Bonney found that they sounded fresh and every bit as relevant – if not more relevant –  than when he had recorded them.

 Simon Bonney – Past, Present, Future (Mute)
1. Ravenswood (from Forever)
2. Don't Walk Away From Love (from Everyman)
3. There Can Only Be One (from Forever)
4. Where Trouble Is Easier To Find (from Everyman)
5. A Sweeter Kind Of Pain
6, Everyman (unedited) (from Everyman)
7. Duchess
8. The Great Survivor
9. Forever (from Forever)
10. Annabelle Lee
11. Eyes Of Blue
12. Can’t Believe Anymore



Simon Bonney on tour with Mark Lanegan
May 3 - Jacksonville, FL - Rockville
May 4 - Atlanta, GA - Shaky Knees
May 5 - Nashville, TN - Mercy Lounge
May 7 - Chicago, IL - Bottom Lounge
May 8 - Detroit, MI - The Shelter
May 10 - Marston, NC - Epicenter Festival
May 11 - Baltimore, MD - Ottobar
May 13 - Boston, MA - The Sinclair
May 14 - Brooklyn, NY - Warsaw
May 15 - Philadelphia, PA - Underground Arts
May 16 - Asbury Park, NJ - The Stone Pony
May 18 - Columbus, OH - Sonic Temple

Funkadelic reworked by Detroiters

Hear Moodymann's update of "Cosmic Slop" & Alton Miller's tweak of "You Can't Miss..."

Funkadelic Reworked by Detroiters (Ace Records) 
Side 1 
Sexy Ways (Recloose Disco Flip) 5:51
You Can't Miss What You Can't Measure (Alton Miller Mix)  5:19
Get Your Ass Off And Jam (Marcellus Pittman Remix)  6:44
Side 2
Cosmic Slop (Moodyman Mix) 9:28
Music For My Mother (Andres Wo Ahh Ay Vocal Mix)  5:22
Super Stupid (Dirtbombs Version)  4:32
Side 3 
Music 4 My Mother (Underground Resistance Mix) 5:39
Undisco Kidd (Gay Marvine Edit)  5:42
Take Your Dead Ass Home (The Fantasy Version)  7:52
Side 4
Let's Take It To The Stage (Amp Fiddler Laughin @Ya Mix)  6:17
Standing On The Verge (Anthony Shake Shakir & T Dancer Remix) 4:51
You And Your Folks (Claude Young Jr Club Mix)  7:26
Side 5
Be My Beach (Mophono & Tom Thump)  6:16
You And Your Folks (Claude Young Jr Dub) 5:56
Let's Make It Last (Kenny Dixon Jr Edit) 7:30
Side 6 
Looking Back At You (Ectomorph Stripped And Dubbed)  6:16
Maggot Brain (BMG Dub) 10:13

Happy Birthday Mick Collins!

Adult. covers Detroit techno classic

  Shari Vari (ANumberOfNames) by Adult.

Shari Vari on The Scene 1981

Shari Vari by The Dirtbombs

Coffey's on at the Horseshoe Friday

Unless you happened to be watching Late Night with Jimmy Fallon last night and saw Dennis Coffey knocking out nasty guitar licks with the Roots, the well-dressed bearded bloke could easily be mistaken for a real estate agent or financial advisor. However, if you've heard the Temptations' Ball Of Confusion, Cloud Nine or Edwin Starr's War, you're already familiar with the scorching wah-wah work that is Coffey's signature guitar sound. Part of Motown's superb studio crew known as the "Funk Brothers," Coffey was the first-call guitarist in the late 60s whenever one of Berry Gordy Jr.'s recording projects needed a heavy guitar boost.
Beyond Coffey's psychedelicized sessions for the Temptations, Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, Gladys Knight, Stevie Wonder, The Supremes and Edwin Starr, the go-to guitar great can also be heard on unforgettable tracks like Freda Payne's Band Of Gold, The Spinners' It's A Shame, Chairman of the Board's Give Me Just A Little More Time, Johnny Taylor's Who's Makin' Love, Honey Cone's Want Ads, The Sylvers' Boogie Fever, CJ & Co's Devil's Gun, Darrell Banks' Open The Door To Your Heart, J.J. Barnes' Real Humdinger, Little Carl Carlton's Competition Ain't Nothin' and many others. That's not even counting the amazing instrumental joints he cut under his own name like the million-selling breakbeat stunner Scorpio, the hard-hustlin' soundtrack to Black Belt Jones and the super dope Hair and Thangs album. Check out the podcast Constellations – The A To Z of Dennis Coffey below put together by Detroit's DJ House Shoes.

Coffey's new self-titled studio album which the UK-based Strut label released at the end of April picks up where he left off with 1969's Hair And Thangs, updating a well-chosen selection of Detroit productions past  with an impressive cast of guest collaborators.
Fanny Franklin from Cali-funk combo Orgone sweetly overhauls Wilson Pickett’s psych-soul gem Don’t Knock My Love and no doubt even Steve Mancha would approve of the way Lisa Kekaula of The Bellrays belts out 100 Proof Aged In Soul's house-wrecker Somebody’s Been Sleeping In My Bed. Coffey's fellow D-Towners Mick Collins (of the Dirtbombs) and the Detroit Cobras’ Rachel Nagy show up for darkly demented swing at Funkadelic’s I Bet You and the largely overlooked Rodriguez number Only Good For Conversation is competently handled by Scots upstart Paolo Nutini. Even Stones Throw's resident crooner Mayer Hawthowrne doesn't do too badly with Parliament's All Your Goodies Are Gone.
What impressed me most were the surprisingly solid new compositions like Miss Millie built around a pounding groove laid down by Milwaukee's Kings Go Forth and the mighty instrumentals which recall Coffey's work with the Detroit Guitar Band, namely the opener 7th Galaxy,  Knockabout and the cosmically twerked Space Traveller.
There's no telling who might be joining Coffey on stage for his Toronto return slated for the Horseshoe on Friday (July 8) but it's sure to be a memorable event. Tickets are $22.50 advance or $25 at the door but you can win one of two free pairs we're giving away if you're among the first to tell us Coffey's astrological sign. Email your answer on the double to the theperlichpost@gmail..com with "Dennis Coffey Contest" in the subject line. Only the winners will be notified.
NOTE: Winners must be 19 or over and present valid ID when picking up their tickets in person at the Horseshoe on Friday.

When the promotion-savvy folks at Strut come up with the concept of putting together a Dennis Coffey retrospective refresher to show off his considerable contributions to the world of soul, funk, and hip-hop as a prelude to his impressive comeback album, they wisely went to Detroit's House Shoes. Sometimes called "Detroit's musical ambassador," House Shoes is not only well aware of Coffey's extensive back catalogue and how it has been used by hip hop producers,  he also happens to be a better than average mix DJ. On the resulting Constellations - The A to Z of Dennis Coffey, House Shoes covers all the bases, moving from the psychedelic b-boy soul of Coffey's 70's solo material, to the classic recordings he played on as a session ace, the joints sampled for hip-hop tracks, and he even snuck in a couple of pieces (*) from the new album which fit in seamlessly alongside with his old school faves.

Constellations – The A To Z of Dennis Coffey

01. Scorpio Intro - (ft. Dennis Coffey, Jazzy Jeff, Jake One, & Q-Tip)
02. LL Cool J - Jinglin' Baby
03. Dennis Coffey - Main Theme (Black Belt Jones OST)
04. Dennis Coffey - 7th Galaxy *
05. Dennis Coffey - Ride Sally Ride
06. The Temptations - Cloud Nine
07. Rodriguez - Sugar Man
08. Marvin Gaye - I Want You
09. Dennis Coffey - Garden Of The Moon
10. The Spinners - It's A Shame
11. Dennis Coffey - Never Can Say Goodbye
12. Dennis Coffey - Whole Lotta Love
13. Diamond D - No Wonduh
14. Isley Brothers / Dennis Coffey & Lyman Woodward - It's Your Thing
15. The Floaters - Float On
16. The Dramatics - In The Rain
17. The Dramatics - Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get
18. Dennis Coffey feat. Mick Collins (Dirtbombs) & Rachel Nagy (Detroit Cobras) - I Bet You *
19. Edwin Starr - Easin' In (Hell Up In Harlem) / Digable Planets (Nickle Bags)
20. The Temptations - I Can't Get Next To You
21. The Undisputed Truth - Smiling Faces Sometimes
22. Dennis Coffey feat. Mayer Hawthorne - All Your Goodies Are Gone *
23. Outro

  Constellations - The A to Z of Dennis Coffey: A Mix By House Shoes by Strut

The Dirtbombs take on techno

Garage guru Mick Collins has always had broad musical interests which sometimes show up in his intriguing cover choices. But the guitar-slinging founder of The Gories, The Blacktops, The Screws, King Sound Quartet, The Voltaire Brothers and The Dirtbombs has never before attempted anything quite so subversively bold as Party Store (In The Red) – a concept album reworking classic Detroit techno and electro joints in a garage-rock style.

What might initially appear to be a ridiculously wrongheaded notion or a nutty pisstake, The Dirtbombs' Party Store is actually an inspired follow-up to 2001's Ultraglide In Black album. Only instead of updating their favourite 60s and 70s soul and R&B tunes from the Motor City and beyond as they did a decade ago, Collins and crew are now blasting through D-town's post-industrial buzz of the 80s and early 90s. It all works brilliantly. The funky melodic electro-minimalism of Derrick May, Juan Atkins, Kevin Saunderson and Carl Craig – a perfectly cold and bleak soundtrack for a decaying urban metropolis – turns out to be surprisingly well suited to the brutally de-tuned 'n' distorted bashing favoured by the Dirtbombs.
They approach the material with just the right balance of respect and irreverence so it never seems like they're trying on an ill-fitting suit for size. And Collins clearly knows his shit judging by Party Store's exceptionally well-chosen repertoire which includes a selection of global dancefloor destroyers such as Inner City's Good Life, Rhythim Is Rhythim's Strings Of Life and Innerzone Orchestra's Bug In The Bassbin (featuring a cool cameo by composer Carl Craig) as well as a couple of cult curios like the sought-after 1981 b-boy banger Sharevari by A Number Of Names, Cybotron's Alleys Of Your Mind and the DJ Rolando jam Jaguar 1.
Even though the synthesizer use on the album is limited to selective whirring, gurgles and blurps, the Dirtbombs may very well alienate a certain blinkered portion of their garage-loving fanbase with Party Store. However, the bold move will likely make up for any losses with loads of new converts from around the world delighted by the Dirtbombs' boisterously rough-cut update of Detroit's future past. If the club crowd catches on, the album could be the Dirtbombs biggest seller ever. Adventurous DJs and vinyl junkies will be pleased to know that the 9-track Party Store disc is also available as a 3 LP package with a free download coupon currently selling for the price of a single LP.
Can't wait to hear what the Dirtbombs do with the music of J. Dilla, Moodymann, Black Milk and the Underground Resistance collective in 2021.

Sharevari by The Dirtbombs     


Sharevari by A Number Of Names on "The Scene" 1982