yho20 - Lovers & Technology

The twentieth edition of YHO was a special one dedicated to the Mad Professor and his Ariwa label.  It was put together to complement a mixtape, and both featured fantastic cover art from Per-Christian Hille.  The story of the Mad Professor and Ariwa is an incredible one, and needs telling in real depth one day  One of the opening paragraphs in this issue is particularly significant, I think: “There is still a school of thought that equates independent record labels with the punk rock era and what came after. This is patently ridiculous. There is a long tradition of small record companies in whatever area of UK music you choose to examine: jazz, blues, folk, classical, reggae, rock, soul, and so on. There has always been recording activities away from the mainstream, and some of these imprints have been more successful than others. It’s just that their definition of success may not have been a place on the national Top 40. Sometimes even survival is success in certain circumstances.”

Among those also mentioned in this edition of YHO and on the mixtape are:

Ø  Ranking Ann

Ø  Lorna Gee

Ø  Sandra Cross/Wild Bunch

Ø  Kofi

Ø  Papa Levi

Ø  Pato Banton

Ø  Macka Bee

Ø  Sister Audrey

This issue can be found here ...  

The mixtape itself, featuring lovers rock, studio experimentation, DJ dexterity and deep roots sounds.  It can be found here ...