Shelter Me

Leeds based label Paisley Dark is releasing a compilation album today- Shelter Me- aimed at raising funds for Shelter. Label boss John Paynter has set the target of £5000, money that will be used to help the homeless and those who live in bad housing. Anyone who has been in any of the country's towns and cities during the last ten years will have witnessed the rise in homelessness. More hidden is the number of people, families and individuals, who end up in poor quality housing, homes ridden with damp and overcrowding, poor facilities and landlords who take the cash and do little more. If that sounds like a description of Victorian Britain, then maybe it's appropriate. 

The album has twenty tracks, all donated free of charge, and built around the A Love From Outer Space network of artists and sounds of the travelling chug disco of Mr Weatherall and Mr Johnston (bravely being shouldered solo by Sean now). The list of artists takes in current Bagging Area edit favourites Jezebell, repeat Bagging Area postees such as Duncan Gray, Richard Sen, Shunt Voltage, Matt Gunn, Bedford Falls Players, Man2.0 (formerly Manpower) and many more besides. You can buy the album digitally at Bandcamp. Album opener Beschutze Mich by Steady State (translation- Protect Me) is dark, sleek, cosmic disco, the perfect gateway to the album. 

Also present is Leeds DJ/ producer Cosmikuro with a track called Pan In The Flash. Earlier this year Cosmikuro put out a track called Gum (as part of a charity release called Collective Consciousness, raising money for Mind, Trees For Cities and Women's Aid). Gum is a delight, a dubby, tranced out chug through the cosmos, pulsing synths and bassline. This track was also recently part of Jesse Fahnestock's Higher Ground 10:40 mix which is where I first encountered it and which I wrote about here at the end of last month.