V.A. Saturday

In 2017 Copenhagen's Music For Dreams label asked Mancunian/ Balearic DJ Richard Moonboots to compile an album for them, to pick out some little known gems and chilled tunes that could soundtrack moments of calm and contemplation-  moments that could come sitting at a beach bar in the Canaries or at somewhere more urban/ suburban, Ancoats or Chorlton say. We're definitely into autumn now. This week the leaves have begun to change their colour from the greens of summer to the reds, rusts, oranges and yellows of October and November. Moonboots' compilation, Moments In Time, sounds like summer and foreign shores in places but also carries the chill breeze of autumn. Bombay Hotel's Between Leaves for instance, or this one by Matt Deighton...

Tannis Root

There's a circling, fingerpicked acoustic guitar part, some wonderfully deep cello, and a woodwind instrument (a clarinet probably) picking out a meandering lead, all beautifully mellow and woody, and yep, all pretty autumnal, and done in under three minutes. There are very much shades of Nick Drake and John Martyn present. 

Matt Deighton fronted Mother Earth in the 90s, who were on Acid Jazz. He played in Paul Weller's band in the late 90s and briefly deputised for Noel Gallagher when he walked out of Oasis for a while in 2000. His solo back catalogue is much wider than that brief summary though and his albums and songs are steeped in a 60s and 70s folk sound but go beyond that too. I'm sure I should own more by Matt than I do. 

Coincidentally, or not, I reviewed a  various artists compilation at Ban Ban Ton Ton this week, a twenty track new release compiled by Luke Una which has a similar feel, songs for astral traveling, songs for long nights of quiet contemplation cherry picked from Luke Una's record collection. It opens with John Martyn's sublime ambient/ folk/ jazz/ field recording song Small Hours, a piece of music from 1978 that really has to be heard to be believed. And felt. You can read my review here. 

Small Hours