aaamusic | On 03, Jul 2011

DC FONTANA
Meshkalina
DCtone Quality Recordings
Enhanced CD/7″ Vinyl/Download
Release Date: August 2011

Which current band can boast affiliations with Mick Jagger, Stevie Winwood, Julie Driscoll, Spacemen 3 and Julian Cope?

DC Fontana, that’s who. The midlands based eight piece masters of R&B, soul and jazz, psychedelia, folk and beyond. Like their ancestors Traffic, this is a band that certainly cannot be put under one umbrella. Oh no.

Mark Mortimer, bass player and spokesperson nearly made pay dirt with The Dream Factory way back in the ’80s – but didn’t. DC Mk1 appeared in the late ’90s as a different, louder entity all together. Now, featuring both young and seasoned players alike, the restructured new and improved collective feature brass, Hammond, a floating array of Indian and folk musicians, video artists (a wonderful promo film shot in Portmeirion is included on the CD)… and producer magnifique Donald Ross Skinner (who many will recognize as guitarist and producer for Julian Cope and the master mind behind records by Prolapse, Salad, Cud and so on).

‘Meshkalina’ was originally cut way back in 1969 by Peruvian psychedelic-rock band Traffic Jam on their debut album Virgin – which has since become something of a cult item for those in the know. DC Fontana take the basis of the song and then rework it into a rousing funk number, with rasping brass and a seductive vocal from female singer Karla. It’s the DC Fontana way. (The song comes in two forms, including G Corp’s Afro Dub remix). This obscure delight is one of the very few covers in the band’s repertoire.

‘It Don’t Worry Me’ slows the pace down for a radio friendly dose of epic ’60s grandiose pop… it brings to mind something that George Harrison may have penned for Sandy Shaw in an alternate universe. That’s the thing with DC Fontana, they have no boundaries

La Contessa (a fabulous mini album featuring foreign versions of band classics, a few new instrumentals and more) will follow this autumn. Meanwhile, the Meskalina EP is that rare thing that can ignite dancefloors and please daytime Radio 2 listeners.

DC Fontana are available for interview, radio and instore events to promote the EP and the forthcoming mini album.