1. Mrs JO'B is back!
After five weeks in Australia helping her parents (including two weeks in quarantine), Mrs JO'B is back! Very pleased to have her home, have missed her lots.
She returns with the added bonus of her bringing back some of her parents' records, plus some of her own record collection - basically, I had my own personal Record Store Day bonanza, without the queuing! We are definitely going to need some new shelves...
2. Spotify Blend
While Mrs JO'B was away I was invited to "blend": with one of her old colleagues - I had no idea what this was, but it's a new way of sharing music. Blend allows users to choose a friend to share music with. Once two friends have joined together, Blend will then create a playlist that evolves over time, combining the two friends' interests.
So far it's been a great way to hear some new bands, though why it thinks I have been listening to Bob Dylan (the overrated vacuum cleaner) is quite beyond me....
3. Rudeboy
Rhythm, Blues, Soundsystems, Jamaica, Great Britain, Independence, Immigration, Integration, Skinhead, Rocksteady, Rudeboy, Reggae, Trojan - this is a brilliant film about the love affair between Jamaican and British Youth culture told through the prism of one the most iconic record labels in history, Trojan Records.
Combining archive footage, interview and drama - Rudeboy tells the story of Trojan Records by placing it at the heart of a cultural revolution that unfolded in the council estates and dancefloors of late 60s and early 70s Britain and how that period of immigration and innovation transformed popular music and culture.
I was inspired to watch this again after dinner with friends at Lewisham Model Market which has reopened and continues its brilliant combination of great food, beer and fab live DJs playing reggae, rocksteady and more.
Available on Sky / Now TV
4. Live In Leeds
I am heading off to Leeds for a few days for work, so have been digging out some of my favourite bands from in and around Leeds, plus a few local bands of merit that I am not that familiar with (The Mekons and The Three Johns passed me by). I am sure I am missing loads!
5. Lorde - Solar Power
Yes, it's an obvious lift of Loaded by Primal Scream combined with Freedom '90 by George Michael, but who cares? It's cracking!
See you next week, blogs include reviews of the new albums by Del Amitri, Juliana Hatfield, plus a look back at The Kinks (which I failed to do this week) and more. Stay safe, x