The Chill Out Tent

Here are four albums to look out for in March. You can hear playbacks every day at Simon The Tanner, Long Lane, Bermondsey, London.

1 Various – London Is The Place For Me 7

A song about the London underground, a hungry man in Clapham, and the need to economise. It’s all here, a part of city life since time. In this case the specific time is the 1950s and 1960s as the Windrush generation settled and became part of our great city’s community. The music is a glorious mash-up of calypso, mento, jazz and r’n’b. And, although it inevitably sounds – of its time – it feels fresh, free any joyous.

2 Various – Merengue Típico – Nueva Generacion!

Merengue Típico was the big sound in the Dominican Republic in the 60s and 70s. It’s fast, wild and really quite mad.  Here, Swiss label Bongo Joe team up with vinyl digger Xavier Daive aka Funky Bompa who curates a crazy ride through his discoveries of lost 7” singles from that particular golden era. 

3 Ronnie Lion – Spanish Town

This album is the epitome of the simple and effective approach to music making. Take a solid reggae rhythm section, Ronnie on bass and Horeseman on drums; add some beautifully played Spanish guitar licks and – boom – an album that is as beautifully Balearic as anything this side of Ibiza Town. An homage to Spanish Town in Jamaica, made in London, released on Australian label Isle Of Jura, this is a glorious international mash-up.

4 Dawn Again – Every Dogs Hotel

Dawn Again, aka Nick Verwey from Melbourne, has created a new genre here in an attempt to musically represent the communal, convivial drinking atmosphere of his favourite pubs. He calls it, simply, Pubwave! He uses 90s and noughties electronica, breaks and dub influences to create a compelling and strangely uplifting downtempo soundtrack for chatting and lounging in our favourite places.