Only a wazzock would begin a blog entry about what he played on his radio show this week by discussing a band whose wares he failed to commit to the airwaves.  I am that aforementioned hitherto hypothetical wazzock.  I had all good intentions of playing Salsa Celtica on this week’s programme, and then when the weekly task of packing the record bag full of goodies in preparation for the programme came along, I just plain forgot.  If you see me on the street, feel free to point and boo me for my continued enslavement to lacksadaisy.

The timing of the proposed play was imperative, as it was meant to serve as a “heads up” – as I believe trendy people say – to the fact that Salsa Celtica, who released their new live album En Vivo En El Norte on 19 April, are set to play at Victoria Hall this coming weekend as a part of this 2010’s Saltaire Live.

There’s not many bands who manage to describe their sound within their name, but Salsa Celtica do exactly what they say on their metaphorical tin – blending brass brash salsa beats with the wonderful diddly diddly of traditional celtic folk strings.  Any album which features Eliza Carthy – a woman who, as the cliche has it, could sing the phone book and I’d still be in her aural thrall – is bound to attract my attention, and thus it was that Salsa Celtica’s 2006 album El Camina piqued my interest a few years ago.  Carthy lends vocals on the sublime Grey Galito (The Grey Cockerel), though the rest of the album is a good deal more upbeat in mood.  To put it bluntly, its the type of record which makes you want to grab your maracas and shake arse about Brazilian-style whilst trying not to spill your Guinness (other celtic-related beverages are available).

For a flavour of what to expect, here’s a short documentary piece about the band from 2006:

It is wishful thinking to assume that I might remember to play something by another band who are landing for a Saltaire rendezvous in the coming weeks.  It is also a bloody awful spot of wordplay from yours truly as Wishful Thinking is the name of the current album by splendid New York trio Hot Club of Cowtown, whose mix of jaunty country oompah and traditional bluegrass has proved a winner with audiences worldwide and even saw singer / violinist Elana James gain employment for short time as part of the touring band of a certain Robert Allen Zimmerman.

Salsa Celtica play this Saturday (1 May) at Victoria Hall, whilst Hot Club of Cowtown are on at the same venue on Thursday 13 May.  Tickets for both shows (or indeed the Saltaire Live show by Four Men & A Dog [Friday 11 June], of whom I was hitherto unaware, hence the dearth of column inches devoted directionally in their favour) can be purchased with that there money at the following vendors:

BY POST:
Send cheque, payable to SaltaireLive, 13 Leyburn Grove, Shipley, Bradford BD18 3NR

ONLINE:
Go to www.jumborecords.co.uk -  Please note that Jumbo add a booking fee.

IN PERSON:
Jumbo Records, St John’s Centre, Leeds (plus bkg fee at Jumbo)
Wall of Sound, John William Street, Huddersfield
Fanny’s Ale House, Saltaire – please note that Fanny’s only sell tickets for one show at a time (currently Salsa Celtica). Tickets for the next show will not be onsale at Fanny’s until the previous show has taken place.

Selection Box Show 131
Transmitted 26/04/2010

1.  Paul Weller – Aim High
from: Wake Up The Nation

2.  Mark Stewart – Mr. You’re A Better Man Than I
from: Rough Trade Counter Culture 2008 (various artists)

3.  Jackie Lowell – Rocket Trip
from: The Ultimate 50s Rockin’ Sci-Fi (various artists)

4.  Gogol Bordello – Pala Tute
from: Trans-Continental Hustle

5.  Spiral Starecase – More Today Than Yesterday
from: More Today Than Yesterday: Complete Columbia Recordings

6.  Fairport Convention – Matty Groves
from: Liege & Lief

7.  Anibal Velasquez – Carusseles
from: Mambo Loco

8.  Television – Foxhole
from: Adventure

9.  The Light Crust Doughboys – Mama Won’t Let Me
from: Western Swing: Hot Hillbilly Jazz & Blues 1935-1947 (various artists)

10.  Rufus Wainwright – Who Are You New York?
from: All Days Are Nights: Songs For Lulu

11.  Aero Manyelo – Just In Time
from: Ayobanness EP: The Sound of South African House (various artists)

12.  The Morning Benders – Excuses
from: Big Echo

 

Patrick Thornton presents Selection Box every Monday at Midnight.