Great new music from independent labels and artists all around the world

Music from The USA, Russia, Trinidad, Cardiff and Saarfen this week as your genial host Peter Clitheroe scours the world’s finest sources to bring musical delights for your delectation. Ah, he’s all heart!News about the SnC MySpace and the social event of the year which he missed out on by a cruel quirk of fate. It’s all in Suffolk ‘n’ Cool 128.Crazy When She Drinks – Lee Rocker (Illinois, USA)Lee Rocker, the man whose muscular slap bass playing fuell ed The Stray Cats to the top of the charts, is making some of the strongest music of his career. Rocker, with The Stray Cats, helped reintroduce rockabilly to a mass audience. Now he’s igniting the roots music fire. Lee currently has a couple of albums on Alligator Records. Most of whose catalogue seems to be on teh Podsafe Music Network now. Perhaps the PMN is making a transition from artist outlet to label shop-window.http://alligatorrecords.com/index.cfm?section=artists&artistID=150Happy – Jimmie Bratcher (Missouri, USA) – themewww.jimmiebratcher.comI mentioned Wayne Perkins and Marley last week and was contacted by film maker Phil Lowrey who was at Island too. We think it was very shortly after I dropped out to the country … man … that Phil joined what was, at that time, the best label in the world. Not the biggest but the quality of artists was astounding.It turns out Phil had arranged a grand reunion just a couple of weeks ago of quite a few of the Island mob from the 1970s. Including Richard Williams, formerly head of A&R, now chief sports writer at The Guardian,  Steve Smith who was in my first band Smith, Perkins and Smith and went on to produce Bob Marley came over from the States and someone whose iconic voice I can hear (in my head) to this day, Jess Roden. Oh well, next time maybe.Pictures on Phil’s Flickr at:www.flickr.com/photos/28687229@N08Still – Kira Fontana (San Diego, CA, USA)On her debut album, The Inner Revolution, songstress Kira Fontana triumphs in embracing an emotional rawness without fear. Like Sinéad O’Connor and Tori Amos before her, the San Francisco Bay Area-born artist approaches such a task with unshakable power.After four years of intense instruction at the Eastman School of Music in Rochester, NY, and writing purely instrumental music, Fontana entered Yale for graduate studies in composition, but soon began to feel that something was missing in her creative life. With stints writing and recording in New Haven, Brooklyn, and Montreal, she finessed her way back to songwriting and composed her first song since age 13, a soothing, piano-driven ballad entitled "Still."www.kirafontana.comwww.myspace.com/kirafontana We are all accelerated readers – Los Campesinos (Cardiff, Wales)Rapidly running out of LC tracks to play!You can catch them live in August at:2 August – Manchester, A Day At The Races (with Calvin Johnson, Nina Natasia, Jeffrey Lewis and more)3 August – Standon Calling, Hertfordshire9 August – Japan, Summersonic Festival10 August – Japan, Summersonic Festival15 August – Belgium, Pukklepop16 August – Holland, Lowlands17 August – Brecon, Greenmanwww.loscampesinos.comwww.myspace.com/loscampesinoswww.wichita-recordings.com/Bye Bye Blues – Erin Harpe (Boston, MA, USA)Growing up in the Washington DC area, Erin Harpe began playing the guitar in her teens taught by her father, bluesman Neil Harpe.In a genre that is often dominated by men, Erin Harpe is breaking new ground as a very accomplished female guitar player with a soulful voice and feel for the blues. Playing acoustic delta blues in the vein of Memphis Minnie and early Bonnie Raitt, Erin plays guitar and sings the blues like no other.www.erinharpe.com/www.myspace.com/erinharpeMySpace friends can now be allocated to "categories" and we are making full use of that facility.I wanted a place for us all to get together but also to have somewhere special, limited to artists that I’ve played (or want to play) on the show. Quite a few people have commented that the SnC friends section is like a musical playground that you can just dive into and know that you’re going to find loads of really interesting music, everywhere you turn.Now you’ll find them all in the On the Show category for the great artists who had proved their worth by being featured on the show.The Business is the category for all the venues, studios, promoters, labels, etc. who keep the indie music scene on the road. If you are looking for a service – it would be a good place to browse. For inclusion, please include "Business" in the message panel when you make a friend request.Then there is the competition (nah, not really). The Music Podcasters whose hearts are in the music and who are committed to getting it out there.Of course, there is a category for Listeners – who give the buzz that makes the show such a joy to produce. I’d love to have you as a ‘friend’ so please click on the "Add" link and get it moving. Please put "listener" in the message panel when you make your request. You’ll be very welcome.Finally there is a category for Prospects – artists who would like to be on the show in the future (for inclusion put "prospect” into the message box.)To explore the categories:1. go to the MySpace page at www.myspace.com/suffolkncool2. Click "Show all of Suffolk ‘n’ Cool’s Friends" and then the categories tag.TIP: The most recently played artists are in the top friends section.Elvis – These New Puritans (Southend, UK)Debut full-length from Southend’s very own These New Puritans sees the young art-punk quartet channeling their inner Mark E. Smith- and Gang of Four-isms for a sound that’s remarkably fresh. Produced by Gareth Jones (Einsturzende Neubauten, Liars, Wire), taut rhythms and Wire-y guitars carry their catchy, sinuous lyrics.These New Puritans have done a lot in their brief time. Their debut EP, Now Pluvial , came about as a result of one intense, 24-hour session in October 2006 in the shed-cum-studio assembled by de facto leader Jack Barnett and his band – twin brother George (drums), Thomas Hein (bass, sampler), and Sophie Sleigh-Johnson (synth, sampler). Recorded in harsh, digital audio onto Jack’s laptop, the EP was released on 7" vinyl in a limited edition of 500 copies by Angular Records, before being made available as a free download for a single day, and then deleted.Song taken from Beat Pyramid, their full-length debut, the next phase in These New Puritans’ hyperbolic progression. Recorded alongside producer Gareth Jones, its songs are an ever-mutating blur of brash chords, subtle details, and taut rhythms.www.thesenewpuritans.com/www.myspace.com/thesenewpuritansCabin Near Paris – Sasha Ponkratov (Moscow, Russia)From his album Kaleidescope which is the most downloaded netlabel release on archive.org This link should take you straight to it.www.archive.org/compress/puls02 and this will link to Jamendo www.blue.jamendo.com/en/album/15983 or go via his MySpace at:www.myspace.com/ponkratovsashaLaura & Bren – wedding (at last) on Saturday in Cumbria. So
sorry I won’t be with you but I’m sure the reasons are understood. Have
a great day followed by lots and lots more. Now what was that pub in
Notting Hill called …Love Dis Girl – Waltah PPK (Trinidad and Minneapolis) (MS)Born and raised on the island of Trinidad. (Walter Alan Shields) aka Waltah PPK, vocalist/songwriter was involved in music from an early age.  Strongly influenced by his mother’s passion for music, he began giving performances as a pre-teen on the steel drum, piano and singing in choirs.Waltah migrated to the US as a young adult, where he completed his college studies.  During this time the island of his birth had become infested with violence, corruption where many still fall victim to an unjust political system.  This turn of events called him to return to the stage driven and compelled to be a voice of awakening, inspiration and truth.In 2004 Waltah was an original member of The Elementals; a local MPLS band that infused reggae, funk, rock and soul to create a sound that was new to the Minneapolis/St. Paul music scene.  Always delivering music with a positive message, the band gave performances with international reggae superstars Lucky Dube (R.I.P) and Yellowman as some of their most notable highlights.Accompanying him are band members:Ryan Ward (Fly Ry) – GuitarKeith Raney (KMan) – BassAndy Deckard (Randy) – DrumsTogether the band delivers passionate grooves that target the soul, move the body and inspire the mind.www.myspace.com/waltahppk