Rodrigo y Gabriela - Tamacun

Guardian Bird.

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Renowned sound engineer and record producer Mike ‘Prince Fatty’ Pelanconi has been a prominent member of the reggae and dub scene in the UK since the mid-90s. Finding himself frustrated by the tempos and mixes of certain records he loved – typified by DJing one time after Don Letts who had already played half his selection – he set about recording his own versions with a super group of London’s finest reggae musicians. 

“I have worked with many of the UK-based reggae musicians at one point or another so I went about selecting the best possible musicians from my experiences with two criteria in mind: the best skills and the most vibe. At the same time my Dub Supervisor and Reggae Jedi aka Little Roy and I had started to record tracks for his new album and I found myself recording reggae every day. The Pioneers were dropping by my studio, Al Capone was cutting specials and singers like Winston Francis were just hanging out.”

As well as versions of favourite reggae and soul songs, two tracks stand out: covers of Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s Shimmy Shimmy Ya and Cypress Hill’s Insane in the Brain.

“I was sad when Ol’ Dirty passed away and for me the great hip hop era ended with him. I cut the version of Shimmy Shimmy Ya soon after he died. As a tribute we often hold a minute’s silence when Horseman and I perform it live. We did Insane In The Brain for fun as we had a show supporting Madness. The nutty boys challenged us to a sound clash and they lost. Though we played a dirty hand, they were gracious in defeat.”

The vocal line-up on the album also include Hollie Cook – Slits singer, daughter of Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook and new Mr Bongo signing. Also on the album is a dub of That Very Night from Hollie’s own debut album. 
Prince Fatty’s 2007 debut album Survival Of The Fattest achieved widespread critical acclaim from the music press and was supported across BBC Radio, resulting in a raucous live session on Mark Lamarr’s show. Favouring recording on vintage equipment to preserve his signature sound, Pelanconi’s unique style has attracted the likes of Lily Allen, Graham Coxon, Little Barrie, Gregory Isaacs and Sinead O'Connor to work with him. He has recently opened his own studio, The Ironworks, in Brighton.


Guardian Bird.

Greg Joseph