Sound slaughter at the Slaughterhouse

Tired. Home from Club Gully Creepin’ @ the Stockholm Slakthuset only six hours ago and already at work… punishing. But last night, my premiere visit to Slakthuset, was truly rewarding. A converted slaughterhouse, the club holds three dancefloors and bars, letting three acts fill the house simultaneously without spilling over to each other. Massive.
Big ups to all acts. Safari Sound, Stereo Steppers and German Sentinel Sound had the Dancehall floor cooking. I missed out on the Caribinghi show. DnB star Seba rocked the smaller floor in the company of Irk, Systematic and Limbz, while Cali Crew and Suntanas dropped rap stuf on the third. Crazy Fresh Tattoo were performing live ink art on paying customers.
Had I been 25 again I would have brought my best squeeze instead of waking her up with the smell of Red Stripe and cigarettes on my breath.
Special big up to DJ Shirkan & Sammy K of Safari Sound. And thanks for the beer, mates!

At the drop of two hats

Today we are dropping two new hats from favorite hatters Jaxon Hats at The Soul Shack; the Houndstooth Trilby and a Diamond Crown Porkpie.
A Trilby; aren’t we the Porkpie People? Yes we are, but people keep asking us for a Trilby model and we finally succumbed to demands. And besides, the Houndstooth is awesome. Choosing from sizes Small up to 2XLarge you will even find one to fit your dreadlocks.
The Diamond Crown Porkpie – that is one sharp model. Measuring a mere 1,5 inches, the brim makes the hat a killer. And it is adorned with a feather combo on the left side. A hat to die for.
Check them out at the Soul Shack webshop.
Soulshack.se for shipping in Sweden
Soulshack.se/eng for shipping in Europe [it's in English]
And get yourself a new hat.

Finland rocks!

What is it about Finland, this tiny nation of a thousand lakes? Is it something in the water, sauna and myth that makes the poeple turn out fantastic music?

To travesty the great Jamaican poet Dillinger: Finland, land of wood and water, motor vehicle and ear slaughter.

I will drop some names. Sibelius; need I say more? The screaming choir Mieskuoro Huutajat, the phenomenally productive guitarist Jukka Tolonen from monster fusionists Tasavallan Presidentti and his own band, the mad men of Leningrad Cowboys, hard rocking HIM, Nightwish, Hanoi Rocks and The Rasmus.

I don’t get it. It really is a small country where they speak a language of incredibly complicated grammar, a language belonging to an extremely small group of languages. And yet they rock hard.

I sold a licensed Jimi Hendrix hat this Saturday. One Hasse Walli from Finland phoned and said he was in Stockholm, and could he see me about the hat? Mr Walli showed up on my doorstep and proved to be another professional Finnish musician. Next year he will celebrate 50 years of stage life.

He tried the hat on and bought it, while telling me he’d seen Jimi live in Finland twice, the first time in 1967. He showed me his website and gave me his latest DVD as a gift.

After Hasse Walli left I put on his DVD and started going through his extensive web site, hassewalli.com. I suggest you do the same, and add YouTube to it. What I found was a truly versatile guitarist/singer playing the blues, jazz, Senegalese pop, progressive and soul stuff. I don’t know, maybe I should take the Hendrix hat down from the Soul Shack’s offer, I may have sold one to the rightest person ever. I lift my pork pie to Mr Hasse Walli and give you his rendering of Jimi Hendrix Voodoo Chile from the DVD “Live at the Lakeside Festival 2009″. You can buy it from his site. Do it.
And Mr Walli, if you read this, fan and friend Henrik Bäckström sends his regards.

Hasse Walli – Voodoo Chile from Pork Pie People on Vimeo.

Jimmy Bo Horne in town in November

Looked up retro disco club Soultrain Stockholm to check on the next club event. I am happy to tell you Soultrain Stockholm is arranging a concert with Jimmy Bo Horne in November. And low-priced too, only SEK 295 (€30) for a ticket, meaning I can take the whole family to the event.

Hat off and big ups to René and the others for doing this. Let’s do it some more!

Jimmy Bo Horne: Dance across the floor

Weh de cops dem?

Last night I was awakened by a burglar trying to break into my building. I went down alone to chase him away; obviously none of my neighbors had taken any notice. The bloke wandered off under mumbled excuses about getting all soaked in the rain, and aching feet, and…
Since I knew I wouldn’t sleep I decided to put on my pork pie and take a look see if the burglar tried another front door. Of course he did, going from door to door round our little square, inserting his screwdriver and prying. I called the law and they said they would send a car. After 10 minutes I couldn’t see him, but an alarm went off and suddenly he scrambled out through a window. I called the law again and they showed up about a quarter of an hour later, taking my statement, and probably losing the thief in the dark streets.
25 minutes to reach a central city address on a blooming Monday night? A few days earlier there was a reggae concert in my local venue, and my streets where swarming with police, without any reported crime. Draw your conclusions as I drew mine.

Kapten Röd headlined the show. Check the Captain:

Funk gets stronger

Finally adding two new favorite tees to the Soul Shack offer: Funkadelic Uncle Jam Wants You and Parliament Motor Booty Affair t-shirts. Funk gets stronger in here. Two classic P-funk albums from 1979 and 1978 with Pedro bell and Overton Loyd artwork in awesome colors. Get them from the Soul Shack now. For shipping in Europe and inside Sweden.

Mad as a hatter

What can you do? I saw this Baltimore Packable Pork Pie by UK brand Jaxon, and it floored me. I had to own it, so I ordered a box of them. Thought maybe some of you have the same flair for pork pie hats. Madness? I don’t think so, but go on and do your best; empty the shelf and make us order more.

And remember: All men look cool in a pork pie. Seen? We will add more models later, too.

THTC och Smiley Culture i Soul Shack

Soul Shack stödjer kampanjen Justice for Smiley Culture och introducerar THTCs miljöanpassade kläder

Vi breddar Soul Shacks utbud med kläder från brittiska THTC – The Hemp Trading Company. THTC drivs av ambitionen att vara så etiskt och miljömässigt sunda som möjligt. THTC görs av och för medvetna konsumenter och aktivister, med budskap om politik, musik, religion och miljö. THTC har alltsedan starten favoriserats av musiker och aktivister världen över och har lysande designers knutna till märket.

Inledningsvis kommer Soul Shack att erbjuda sju olika plagg med tryck från THTC, bland annat den officiella tröjan för kampanjen Justice for Smiley Culture. 120 kronor av försäljningspriset går direkt till Smiley Cultures familj; Soul Shack behåller inget av vinsten för egen del.

Reggaestjärnan Smiley Culture dog av ett knivhugg i hjärtat under ett polisingripande i hans hem i Surrey i mars i år. Självmord, hävdade polisen. Hans familj och vänner var inte nöjda med polisens utredning och startade kampanjen Justice for Smiley Culture för att driva saken vidare. Ungefär en person i veckan har dött i polishäkte eller under polisingripande i England de senaste tio åren utan att en enda polis ställts till ansvar.

Smiley Culture – hans riktiga namn var David Emmanuel – hade stora succéer på 80-talet med låtar som Cockney Translator och Police Officer. Vi vet inte vad som hände Smiley Culture, men är glada att kunna bidra till kampanjen och opinionsbildningen på det här sättet.

Läs vad initiativtagaren till kampanjen, Merlin Emmanuel, har att säga på Soul Shacks blogg.

Alla THTCs kläder är gjorda av organisk hampa, koldioxid-neutral bomull eller bambu, och de använder oftast vattenbaserad färg för trycken. Plaggen framställs i kontrollerade fabriker utan barnarbete och med reglerad arbetstid och semester för arbetarna. Används 55% hampa så sparar man 2 500 liter vatten per tröja.