Dicky Continental is one of Rich Thair's alter egos, a one man project away from his main band Red Snapper and Red Snapper's offshoot Number and his role as drummer and percussionist in the rejuvenated Sabres Of Paradise. Dicky Continental appeared on Sounds From The Flightpath Estate Volume 2 with his Andrew Weatherall sampling Large Bongos, Andrew's voice appearing over some low fi dusty funk on side one, very much holding its own next to the previously unreleased version of Sabres' track Lik Wid Nit Wit.
Dicky Continental have two new releases. The first is a single coming out in early August called Hostile Environment, ahead of an album, Queer The Pitch. Hostile Environment is dubbed out gem with some typically cool percussion (conga and djembe), a sample from pirate radio, and Cardiff rapper/ poet Tia Zakura on vocals, a laid back and easy vocal style asking the right questions- 'Tell me what's the difference between existing and living?'
Recorded in Swansea, mixed in Hastings, listen and buy at Bandcamp. On the EP there will be a dub and an instrumental version to go with the vocal mix already available.
Meanwhile, another Rich Thair band The Secret Garden have a track out called Weekend Away, remixed by Dicky Continental and featuring the vocals of Ioan Omar. The Secret garden are Rich and Alex Vickers and the remix is a jazzy, summer sounding tune, keyboards to the fore and live drums and bass pushing it on. 'Call the collective', Ioan says, again like Tia above in a laid back vocal style, and the tune and vocal flow press buttons that call Soul II Soul, Ballistic Brothers and Acid Jazz to mind. Find Dicky Continental's remix of Weekend Away at Bandcamp.
