Salutations!

Salutations, Brothers and Sisters of Christ It’s Thursday and I still can’t quite bring myself to drop the priest act. Hallelujah for the heavenly Brothers Ignatius for skiving off their monastic duties and blessing Skylarkin’ with their wondrous talents this weekend. And thanks to YOU, if you were lucky enough to have squeezed into The Cellar or The Big Chill House to witness the monks, Don Letts, Harvey K-Tel or the Totally Gorgeous Unsuspecting Altar Boy in full flow. What a corking couple of nights!

Normal Skylarkin’ service resumes on the first weekend in February; in the meantime there’s the small matter of Christmas and New Year’s Eves to keep you rocking in silly outfits:

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CHRISTMAS EVE at O2 Academy, Oxford

A REGGAE CHRISTMAS 2009

FACEBOOK EVENT

LIVE: Mackating + Jamatone

http://www.myspace.com/mackating

DJs: Wrongtom (Big Dada) vs Count Skylarkin (Trojan Records) 9pm-2am

£5 earlybird tickets

As much a Christmas fixture as mulled wine in these parts, £5 earlybird tickets are available until the end of this week.

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NEW YEAR’S EVE at The Cellar, Oxford

THE HOGMANAY HONKY-TONK | Wild West Lothian Largeness

FACEBOOK EVENT

LIVE (JUST ANNOUNCED!): Hipbone Slim & The Knee Tremblers

Ticklin’ Bob McIvories

DJs: Count Skylarkin, Laird Indecision + guests

9pm-5am £10 advance TICKETS

DRESSING UP TIME:

The FIRST EVER Skylarkin’ Soundsystem New Year’s Eve party celebrates the Scottish Cowboy. Think Stetsons, Kilts, Chaps and Begbie ‘Taches.

HIPBONE SLIM & THE KNEE TREMBLERS – LIVE

http://www.myspace.com/hipboneslim

Six-legged Rock’n'Roll, Hepcat Jive, Freakbeat and Voodoo Blues killer mule!

TICKLIN’ BOB McIVORIES Honky-Tonk piano singalongs in the saloon bar

COUNT McSKYLARKIN and LAIRD INDECISION bring the basslines. Expect rum-fuelled reggae, spaghetti western ska, rawkus 50’s rock n’ roll and bouncehall bagpipes all night long.

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Finally, cheapo Ska Cubano tickets (the perfect Christmas gift?) are selling like mince pies – don’t miss out!

ADVANCE TICKETS

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Now for two weeks of detoxifying liver preparation. Merry Christmas everybody!

**The Count

Kerr – Dunk!

Alright Gang I don’t know about you lot, but I don’t think I’ll be right again for a while yet after a rocking weekend aboard the Good Ship Skylarkin.

Top marks to Kwasi Asante, The Earl of Indecision, the Nine Ton Peanut Smugglers, Nurse Wrongtom, the Turkish place opposite the Big Chill House, the Cellar’s rum supplier, the Oxford Tube, bacon sarnies, roast dinners, and finally to Lolita Lollipop for defying the odds and not actually breaking anything on Saturday (apart from possibly Wrongtom’s foot).

On December 4th and 5th we’ve got THE BROTHERS IGNATIUS (both nights) – an actual 8-piece band of MONKS who play Jamaican Ska at its finest, plus the legendary DON LETTS for those lucky enough to be in London on the Saturday – celebrating the 30th anniversary of the release of The Clash’s London Calling. Revolution Rock!

We’ve also just put the FIRST EVER Skylarkin’ Soundsystem NEW YEAR’S EVE shindig on sale, and it’s gonna be a showdown in the best traditions of the Old West. Get your tickets before they’re ambushed by injuns.

Tickets here

Finally, THE WAILERS return to Oxford TWO WEEKS TODAY – don’t miss!

More details here

But for now… COFFEE.

Speak soon, **The Count

The Count ‘pon de radio

Count Skylarkin’s 1st record ‘ Dub of a preacher man’ produced with Harvey K-Tel will be out in the new year. In the mean time, it’s attracting a bit of attention from a certain Don Letts.

Taken from Don’s BBC 6Music Radio show

Check it out >>>

All aboard the Skylarkin’ Express!

LADIES AND GENTLEMEN, this month the Skylarkin’ Soundsystem Express is bound for OXFORD and LONDON.

Onboard we have:

THE NINE TONE PEANUT SMUGGLERS http://myspace.com/9tonpeanutsmugglers

Oxford’s premier exponents of 60’s ska, authentic Caribbean boogaloo, rabid r&b and vintage jump-jive sleaze.

MC KWASI ASANTE http://www.myspace.com/kwasiasante

Assuming he makes his connecting service from Manchester… mic-mad Aim, Rae & Christian, Mungos Hi-Fi and Nextmen collaborator who we got messy with at Shambala Festival.

COUNT SKYLARKIN & DJ INDECISION

http://www.skylarkinsoundsystem.co.uk

Carriage-quaking selections from Specials and Wailers DJ of choice Count Skylarkin and (restored to the fold after the summer engineering works) DJ Indecision!

Calling at:

THE CELLAR, OXFORD Friday November 6th \\ 9pm-3am \\ £4 before 11pm/£5 after

THE BIG CHILL HOUSE, KINGS CROSS* Saturday November 7th \\ 9pm-3am \\ FREE before 10pm/£5 after ALL ABOARD!!

*passengers should make their way to the buffet carriage for extra DJ WRONGTOM

Have a little piece of Skylarkin’ on your chest

SKYLARKIN’ SOUNDSYSTEM T-SHIRTS NOW ON SALE

£12.99

http://www.dizzyjam.com/dj/products/252

Something like this….

Introducing perform Endtroducing

Mind-Blowing, Shadow-approved live reworking of the 1996 classic by a full 9-piece band. As seen at Bestival, Electric Picnic and Camden Jazz Cafe. Plus LAROCA’s hometown launch for their sophomore release (*** Q Magazine) & Skylarkin’ Soundsystem DJs rocking till 3am.

Friday October 23rd Introducing play DJ Shadow’s Endtroducing + Laroca + Skylarkin’ Soundsystem DJs

http://myspace.com/introducinglive

http://myspace.com/larocauk

http://www.skylarkinsoundsystem.co.uk

9pm-3am, £8 adv

http://www.wegottickets.com/event/60773

INTRODUCING

Take the idea of the “world’s first completely sampled album” (Guinness Book of Records) and turn it around by playing the whole thing live. It’s hard to imagine that it’s now over a decade since DJ Shadow released his classic debut album ‘Endtroducing’ – an album that inspired a generation of DJs and musicians alike, and which still sounds as fresh today as it did back in 1996. ‘Endtroducing’ was a unique piece of work, partly because it made it into the Guinness Book of Records as the ‘First Completely Sampled Album’, but also because of the intricacy with which, using an Akai MPC60 sampler and an early Pro-Tools set-up, DJ Shadow created completely original-sounding compositions. So, despite being made entirely of samples, it’s not an album that could be, or ever has been, played live by a DJ, not even the man himself… until now.

MATT DERBYSHIRE

“I just randomly discovered one day that there was this guy on the internet who’d taken the time to locate each and every sample that was used on the album, and you could go to this site and download the whole lot. Amazing. Being a bit of a music geek myself, I thought ‘hang on a minute, I’ll see if I can start recreating one of the tracks on my computer’. “I think it was the drums that first got me thinking. There are some absolutely mental bits of drum-programming, and I just started thinking, ‘I wonder what that would sound like with a real drummer’. I’m also lucky enough to be old mates with a guy called Mike Reed, who’s probably one of the few drummers in the world that could even attempt such a thing.”

Matt started painstakingly recreating the whole album on his computer, whilst Mike charted out all those mental drum breaks that define the sound of the album. “Mike’s such a perfectionist”, Matt continues, “he even plays all the delay effects that Shadow puts on the drums, rather than putting the drums through an Effects unit”. So with a scratch DJ, an actor (and a vocal FX box), a bassist, a cellist, a Chinese hip hop keyboard virtuoso and a sax and flute player, alongside Matt on keyboards and guitar and Mike on drums, the band was formed.

“It’s been a mammoth task, obviously, but we’re all just really excited to be able to do something so unique and deliver the first ever live performance of one of our favourite records. It’ll be a shame not to be able to be in the audience!”

Larkin’s lost it!

I overheard a conversation yesterday between two men and two women, all in their mid-twenties. You could tell by the way they were dressed that they probably had good jobs, or at least that money wasn’t much of a problem. And without wanting to sound like a judgemental old Commie, you could tell from the way that they spoke that it probably hadn’t been much of a problem for any of their parents, either.

“Did you see? The Sun has come out for Cameron!” one of them exclaimed.

“I know, it’s marvellous,” another chirped, as the rest chimed their approval.

To this day, whenever I come across anyone with enthusiasm for the Tory Party – least of all people who are actually younger than me (I realise that this is increasingly no great feat, but still) – it leaves me completely bewildered. It seems to me that in our preposterous electoral system we effectively have two choices – one of them is essentially for the many (whatever you or I might think of Labour’s record since ’97) and the other is for the few. I wondered what it was that these people were approving of, exactly. Had they not experienced the trauma of losing their home as a child when their parents couldn’t pay Maggie’s Poll Tax? Or perhaps they’d forgotten school lessons in dilapidated 60’s prefab classrooms with textbooks that had been handed down since the 1970’s?

Or maybe they never really liked those dinner ladies anyway, who’d lost their jobs when school meals were privatised. Perhaps, unlike me, they’d never had to wait in casualty for 5 hours in St Helier Hospital. And they’d probably never turned the telly on and listened to Norman Lamont declaring that a national minimum wage would be economically catastrophic, while their mum went out to work for £2.50 an hour. Hell, at least we weren’t coal miners!

If Boris Johnson’s first year in office as London Mayor is anything to go by, I guess they were looking forward to things like bus fare increases (“never use ‘em anyway”) and not having to pay the congestion charge in the Royal Borough of Kensington & Chelsea after all, while commuters in Peckham and Denmark Hill lose their rail connections with London Bridge and Victoria. Or great, free celebrations of music and culture like RISE Festival being axed because it dares to carry an anti-racism message. Maybe they don’t reckon the BBC is all that. After all, Lost is on Sky.

Most of all, I think they were just delighted that your Super Soaraway Sun was rounding up the proles in their camp and brainwashing our enfeebled minds so that they could start thinking about buying that second holiday home. But we’re not that stupid, are we?

Who says the summer’s over?

JEWELS and the JACUZZIS have been wowing Skylarkin’ audiences for some time now, and their sultry, mesmerising roots reggae is surely destined for big things. This year they’ve already warmed up for The Wailers and wowed festivals all over the land. Massive Attack’s Daddy G is a big fan and the Mad Professor a past collaborator. ONSTAGE 11PM. Check them out:
http://www.myspace.com/jewelsandthejacuzzis

DJ WRONGTOM is currently working on material with none other than Roots Manuva; on the decks he’s a master of all trades and a jack of none. He’s also a resident at our London night and fancied a drive.

THE COUNT is back in residence after missing the August date through festival commitments. He’s also chomping at the bit to play you tracks from his soon-to-be-released collaborations with Harvey K-Tel.

Most of all, we’re bang up for a rocking party, and hope you are too!And ARRIVE EARLY – we were sold out again last time.

“Rhythm and blues meets rocksteady, calls round for ska and rock and roll to see if they’re playing out before heading round to drum ‘n’ bass’s place for a party right out of the top drawer”
www.bigchill.net

Skylarkin’ OXFORD: Bubbling HOT!!!
Live: JEWELS and the JACUZZIS
DJs: Wrongtom + Count Skylarkin
Friday September 4th
THE CELLAR, Frewin Count, Oxford
9pm-3am // £4/£5 after 11pm

Wha-blow bredbins!

The world was rocked this week by the death of one of its most universally-admired talents. Though their body of work peaked a long time ago, fans were still aghast to learn that the icon will be laid to rest wearing a wig, but without their famous pussie.

Mollie Sugden, we salute you. Elsewhere, with perhaps Skylarkin’ Soundsystem’s busiest weekend of the year looming, I was warmed by the arrival at the Heights of the very latest in my long and distinguished list of personal valet-de-chambres, Jackson. A nifty mover, he turned up late last week, having been highly commended by my previous manservant Geller (you’ll recall how we had to vanquish the rather hapless Zyromski to a remote Slavik leper colony, while the ever-resourceful Shadow now works for a publishers in Nuneaton. Geller himself is now the chairman of Exeter City football club!). Anyhow, we’ll be needing every last ounce of Jackson’s endeavour (and his monkey), as the ‘system embarks on a marathon weekend of indoor and al-fresco entertainment. It’s CARNIVAL TIME!

· Friday July 3rd: Skylarkin’ Soundsystem at The Cellar, Oxford (9pm-3am, £4/£5 after 11)
o Mr Benn & Souls Liberation bring the bouncehall mashment
o Zion Wilson plays LIVE – epic, majestic reggae/soul 7-piece
o Count Skylarkin shows off his Glastonbury tan

· Saturday July 4th: Skylarkin’ Soundsystem at The Big Chill House, Kings Cross (9pm-3am, FREE/£5 after 10)
o Mr Benn & Souls Liberation ram the dancehall
o Zion Wilson soothes the soul
o Indecision & Wrongtom connive and concoct

· Sunday July 5th: Skylarkin’ Soundsystem at Carnival in the Park, South Parks, Oxford (12pm-7pm, FREE; afterparty at Hi-Lo)
o The Count, Indecision, Constant Jammin’ and Raggasaurus DJs entertain, eat plantain, with rum to drain

Indeed, I’ll no doubt be calling upon him for more of that delicious Jesus Juice he’s been dousing me with. Lovely!

Till the weekend,

Count Skylarkin (on behalf of)
Dalton Nugget

The Count @ Big Chill House 02.05.09

From the Count with love

Click the link below to stream or download – ENJOY!

Count Skylarkin’ @ Big Chill House 02.05.09

1. Lord Kitchener - Dr Kitch
2. Hipbone Slim & The Knee Tremblers - What Do You Look Like?
3. Huey ‘Piano’ Smith - Don’t You Just Know It
4. Ruth Brown - Mama, He Treats Your Daughter Mean
5. Etta James - Something’s Got A Hold On Me
6. The Melodians - Sweet Sensation
7. Don Drummond & The Skatalites - Eastern Standard Time
8. Theo Beckford - Best Things In Life
9. Lord Tanamo - You Belong To My Heart
10. Alton Ellis - Dance Crasher
11. Tommy McCook - Cotton Tree
12. Nine Ton Peanut Smugglers - Bald Head
13. The Skatalites - Jonestown Special
14. Shenley Dufus - Lonely Boy
15. Prince Buster - She Loves You
16. Lavern Baker - On Revival Day
17. Nina Simone - My Baby Just Cares For Me
18. Tenor Fly - Bright Side Of Life
19. Dandy Livingston - Rudy, A Message To You
20. Temptations - My Girl (Reggae Mix)
21. Amy Winehouse - Cupid
22. Richie Spice - Earth A Run Red
23. Bob Marley & The Wailers - Waiting In Vain
24. Marvin Gaye - Sexual Healing
25. Nora Dean - Barbwire (Remix)
26. The Silvertones - Feel Alright (Groove Incorporation Remix)