The 66th FYC Album – Various Artists – Disc Two (reviewed by Dave Franklin)

The second disc of this fab and groovy waxing, as we might have called it if it were the sixties, and this was on vinyl, features a mix of some of the artists we heard on the first disc, plus some new names. However, if you follow the fantastic collections and compilations, videos, and music shows that Bongo Boy is responsible for, you will recognize many names.

As with the previous disc, we kick off with a cover, this time the Zager and Evans’ classic In The Year 2525, given a suitable injection of stacatto, rock and roll energy courtesy of The NEW Bardots. There was always an ominous sense to this prediction of the future, but here it is taken into some darker and more delicious realms than ever, thanks to a band that injects everything they do with a sense of heightened theatrics and drama. That’s how you do rock and roll.

Firefly, from Kick The Wicked, is also full of rock groove, operatic vocals, and wide-screen sonics. It’s another slice of classic rock that meets proggy ornateness with no small hint of the genre’s 80s heyday- music that is both big and clever, and it is not often that you get that.

Rock is still on the menu with ObLiveA’s Deep Inside. This song is built of squalling guitars and dark design, intriguing and intelligent. It doesn’t just throw away its sense of presence but builds and beguiles, drawing the listener into it as it spirals upwards in intensity.

Phew! That’s a lot of rock and roll, so now Angie Wells is ushered back in for a scintillating slice of bar-room jazz with Talkin’ All Under My Clothes. Once again, she is captivating and understated and leaves plenty of room for the players to also have their moment in the spotlight, as is the jazz way. Trumpets serenade, basses boogie, pianos promenade. It’s a genre that is nothing if not democratic.

As we found on the first disc, putting Angie Wells back to back with Clark Ford and Underground Treehouse works a treat. Again, those old-school jazz vibes are followed by some tender balladry, a love-lorn and lingering lullaby, tender and tantalizing.

Ban Brothers offer us something that can be regarded as world music—the sounds of Mediterranean guitar mixed with Indian vocals set to waltz time with Phire Elaam. If world music is music not from one place but the authentic sound of global collaboration and cross-pollenation, then this is the real deal.

Grayhawk is known for music that seems to tap into primordial feelings. This music feels to have been passed down through the eons to be reimagined and reawakened for a modern audience. Here, To Ask A Blessing feels like a combination of opera and spiritual ritual, choral chants, drifting elemental sounds, and ethereal voices from across the years.

African Queen, as the name might imply, is a buoyant blast of Afro-beat Groove and dance moves, the sound of the traditions of that continent complete with gorgeous vocal harmonies and liquid guitar runs, all running on that lilting off-beat bounce that is so prevalent and brilliantly employed in such music.

Studio helps take things home with their signature grand pop-rock soundscaping in the form of Find Your Destiny, music that is built from recognizable musical elements but which sounds like sky-searing anthems in their own right. The full stop comes with the funky grooves of Inga McDaniels, Ain’t That It, a shuffling, bustling blast of understated and relaxed dancefloor swagger. And sadly, to respond to her statement…yes, that is it!