PRESENTS:

VARIOUS ARTISTS: THE MIGHTY STRIKER SHOOTS AT HITS

Release date: 18. 4. 2008

„The Mighty Striker Shoots At Hits“ is the fourteenth album release by MOLL-SELEKTA.
Continuing our successful compilation “The Bunny Lee Rocksteady Years” (released 2005)
it picks up again the work of this outstanding producer, focussing on his most famous phase, the time after Rocksteady and the marriage of Roots Reggae from 1973 – 1979. His passion for Westerns, which he watches endlessly on a six foot wide screen in his living room lead to the title of the sampler.

Bunny Striker Lee was introduced to the music bussiness by Derrick Morgan in 1962, starting out as a “record plugger” for Duke Reid (Treasure Isle) before becoming a producer in 1967. After countless hits in the Rocksteady area, his star was shining even brighter in the 70’s where he revolutionised Roots Reggae with the Aggrovators and Sly & Robbie with their flying cymbal sound. He was one of the first to spot the extraordinary potential of King Tubby and his new creations in Dub and gave his records to him for the final mix. These days, as well as disseminating his songs and looking after his vast archive of Jamaican musical history, he also runs a repairs workshop for lorries.

“The Mighty Striker Shoots At Hits“ collects some of the most essential and rare songs from the Roots area in a better sound quality than ever before. Big names like Horace Andy, Johnny Clarke and Delroy Wilson characterize the album which differs widely from other Bunny Lee compilations on the market due to the explicitely influential and extremly seldom recordings from Lee’s extremly big archives. These are songs that should be a delight for every fan, especially when they come along in the original-maxisingle-length like Horace Andy’s “I Don't Want To Be Left Outside”. Honey Boy’s wonderfull hommage-ballad “Jamaica” fits nicely to the tougher Roots-steppers by Barry Brown and the Lovers Rock of “I’m Still In Love With You”, Alton Ellis’ great Studio One-hit sung here by his sister Hortense. Johnny Clarke’s cover version of Hopeton Lewis’ „Rocka Shocka“ is enlargened by the rare DJ-cut by Prince RAS Murray so that the diverse styles of Roots from Singer/Songwriter-tunes to Dub are featured and the whole range of Bunny Striker Lee’s work in the key-phase is covered up.

PRESENTS:

MICHAEL HOLLAND: SIMPLE TRUTHS AND PLEASURES

Release date 25. 1. 2008

Michael Holland, born March 5, 1969, grew up in a small town in North Carolina about 30 miles from Charlotte in the deep South of the U.S. - “just a flatlander from Monroe looking west towards the hills” as it says in his very personal bio in www.myspace.com/michael hollandmusic (see also www.reverbnation.com/michaelholland and www.folkbomb.com ).
He derives from his family strong musical roots which sometimes lead to a little trouble in the family - his grandmother, a Baptist preacher’s daughter, thought of the in laws as heathens because they were musicians...
Michaels own musical career started around 1990 when, after a near fatal car accident, he and his twin brother founded the Rock band Jennyanykind, which released several critically acclaimed albums on Elektra/Time Warner, Yep Roc and other labels between 1992 - 2003. Burned out by many tours through 48 states, label changes from minors to majors and back and in a state of complete emptiness and sadness, “God finally smiled on him again” - he fell in love and started a family some time later. Along came another strong influence that changed his life: He received the Harry Smith Anthology as a gift from his darling which completely changed his view towards music - it simply didn’t haunt him as it had before, “now I didn’t have to stop the whole world for it. I could go on, enjoy the rest of my days, go about my business, play that song in my head, over and over again if I wanted to, and it would never, ever trouble me again.”
More than on his first solo release “Bootleggers Dream” (2003 Big Johns), this awakening is evident on his second album “Tomorows American Treasures” (2005 Sit-n-Spin), a great and very relaxed Songwriter-Folk record widely based on joyful rags. The album spent several months in the Top 10 of the National Bluegrass Airplay charts.
His new masterpiece “Simple Truths and Pleasures” is again performed with members of the Big Fat Gap Bluegrass Band from NC, the vast majority of it recorded live in the studio. Most of the musicians have day jobs (Michael Holland is a sound engineer at the University of NC) who “just like to pick and like each other”, showing more than ever before on this album. More traditional than the predecessor, the earthly songs reflect influences of regional artists like Earl Scruggs, Blind Boy Fuller, Mississippi John Hurt, the Carter Family, Doc Watson and Hank Williams. The music is a perfect and very melodic mixture of the timeless Southern musical forms: Acoustic Country, Folk, Bluegrass, Honky Tonk, Old Time String Band, Blues and Gospel. Songs to grow old with, led by Michael Holland’s warm and haunting voice, adding a fresh Songwriter appeal to the classic American Roots-genres.
Many of the song topics are personal and impressionistic, but some are topical in nature and chronicle figures in North Carolina history. The most obvious example of this is “Ballad of Eric Rudolph”, which gives an account of the infamous serial bomber’s (Olympic games 1996 in Atlanta) fate, which both sides of the argument may identify with. “Bill Payne and Wash Turner” tells the tale of the Depression Era duo from western North Carolina who busted out of prison and went on a bank robbing, shooting spree that left one policeman, George Penn, dead. “Lesley Riddle” gives the unsung “fourth” member of the Original Carter Family, a black man from Burnsville, NC, his long awaited due.

Please enjoy these rhythms of everyday life and “Keep The Music Simple” (Dr. John)!