Peter Barclay
I'm Not Your Toy

CRAZY in-demand 2nd release by Mad Honey, performed and recorded live to tape. Sounds like if all your favourite 70s + 80s soul/funk artists got in a room together and hit record... think Leroy Burgess production with a Brit-Funk tip. Funky, free-flowing live jams with all the best solos you could want. So in demand, they got straight in the studio to start on an album. The label Space Grapes is an independent and artist-run label by Bobby van Putten and Danilo Plessow (MCDE), focusing on the best in contemporary live music. Hell yeah!

This 2015 reissue from Awesome Tapes From Africa is the whole reason founder Brian Shimkovitz started the blog and the label that grew out of it. Some 13 years before, Brian found a cassette copy of Obaa Sima in Ghana, leading to the foundation of the ATFA blog and long-running effort to track Ata Kak. 4 years after ATFA became a label, Brian finally tracked down the musician and was granted permission to reissue Obaa Sima, using the second-hand tape purchased in Ghana as the source. The seven tracks on this LP are a winning tinny combination of highlife, rap, pop, and more. Not everyone's cup of tea but I think it's sensational.