― Dr. C, Tuesday, 13 November 2001 01:00 (twenty-two years ago) link
Soon Forward and Mr. Isaacs are incredible. Smooooth mofo.
A step back a little further to rocksteady can't do any harm
Love love love rocksteady. Anybody who likes American soul music should check into it. Some favorites: John Holt (and the Paragons), Slim Smith (and the Techniques/Uniques), Pat Kelly, Ken Boothe, The Heptones.
The Pressure Sounds comps are great too.
The Royals singles compilation on Pressure Sounds, 'Pick Up the Pieces', has been kicking my ass recently. Classic from beginning to end. Dubwise, the Joe Gibbs comp. 'No Bones for the Dogs' is quality throughout as well.
Other shit that I've been hooked on and can usu be found at a good price: Delroy Wilson 'Good All Over' (rocksteady at the cusp of reggae), Dub Over Dub (27 tracks of Errol Thompson's mixing, with solid tracks as a base), the Wailing Souls self-titled debut (superb, utterly beautiful singing and catchy yet rough tunes), Scientist vs Space Invaders (um, it's early 80s Scientist. nuff said), Gladiators 'Proverbial Reggae' (you know reggae is the shit when an album this good hardly gets discussed)
― oops (Oops), Saturday, 21 June 2003 07:10 (twenty years ago) link
― ss, Saturday, 21 June 2003 16:59 (twenty years ago) link
― Ian Johnson (orion), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 07:37 (twenty years ago) link
― Ian Johnson (orion), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 07:45 (twenty years ago) link
Born Fi Dead by Laurie Gunst is also essential to get that time, tho less about music than politics.
Ian, check Jammyland in the East Village. Might be more $8-$12 but the selection is all essential. Everything above and more. In JA fashion, will play you 45s and LPs if you ask. If you can make it out to Moodies in the north Bronx, it's also amazing. More stuff straight from JA distributors. VP, of course, too in Queens.
― Jeff Chang, Tuesday, 13 January 2004 16:09 (twenty years ago) link
― Jeff Chang, Tuesday, 13 January 2004 16:28 (twenty years ago) link
― oops (Oops), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 16:40 (twenty years ago) link
― Tim (Tim), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 16:48 (twenty years ago) link
http://www.amazon.co.uk/exec/obidos/ASIN/B00008LKHZ/ref=sr_aps_music_1_1/202-0254809-4916649
― Dr. C (Dr. C), Tuesday, 13 January 2004 17:22 (twenty years ago) link
if you stick to Blood and Fire, Pressure Sounds, On-U, Trojan etc at first you should avoid the real stinkers, although all these labels have been guilty of barrel-scraping with certain releases.
On what discs is Blood & Fire ''barrel-scraping''? I mean, I've only got about 25 of their discs (RIP to B&F, BTW), but I haven't heard any ''barrel-scraping.''
― Daniel, Esq., Sunday, 2 March 2008 17:56 (sixteen years ago) link
Forget Heart of the Congo's, overrated.
-- Omar, Wednesday, October 31, 2001 8:00 PM (6 years ago)
huh
― am0n, Sunday, 2 March 2008 18:47 (sixteen years ago) link
i just ordered that jammys book mentioned upthread
― am0n, Sunday, 2 March 2008 19:02 (sixteen years ago) link
5 dolla
― am0n, Sunday, 2 March 2008 22:13 (sixteen years ago) link
'Nother good dub/reggae book is supposed to be Michael E. Veal's Dub: Soundscapes & Shattered Songs in Jamaican Reggae (2007).
Also 5 dolla, perhaps?
― Daniel, Esq., Sunday, 2 March 2008 23:28 (sixteen years ago) link
I just randomly found Lee Perry's Ape-ology, BTW. Will be spinning it this evening. Should I prepare myself to be disappointed or is this a "change your life"-type experience (or does it fall somewhere in between, perhaps)?
― Daniel, Esq., Sunday, 2 March 2008 23:30 (sixteen years ago) link
judy mowatt. gregory isaacs.
― dylannn, Sunday, 2 March 2008 23:36 (sixteen years ago) link
-- Daniel, Esq.
I like Ape-ology but prefer the Arkology boxset which is full of great vocalists (Max Romeo et al.) and is therefore a bit more accessible. Ape-ology is a much heavier / claustrophobic proposition.
― sam500, Monday, 3 March 2008 05:57 (sixteen years ago) link
Ape-ology is just Super Ape (super awesome) + Return of the Super Ape (not as awesome) + Roast Fish, Collie, & Cornbread (awesome, but Perry vocals get a little wearying after a while), right? Yeah Arkology is better.
― Alex in SF, Monday, 3 March 2008 19:53 (sixteen years ago) link
i agree with the poster that said heart of the congo is overrated. there are a couple of very nice trax on it, but.... why come nobody has mentioned Black Uhuru on this thread? i can't think of a better reggae group from the eighties - Anthem and Red are both pretty stellar
― outdoor_miner, Monday, 3 March 2008 20:00 (sixteen years ago) link
Anyway the answer to the original B&F question is that Congos and Burning Spear and Tubby stuff that were among their original releases were so strong that for a while everything else kind of paled in comparison and so a lot of reggae trainspotters got down on the label. Specifically I recall the Morwells, U-Brown, Impact All Stars getting a lot of flack (needlessly frankly.)
― Alex in SF, Monday, 3 March 2008 20:06 (sixteen years ago) link
re: congos being overrated
this is truly an idiot's guide
― elan, Monday, 3 March 2008 20:11 (sixteen years ago) link
Roast Fish, Collie Weed & Cornbread is classic Perry. Also a big fan of "Kung Fu Man" on The Mighty Upsetter.
― ian, Monday, 3 March 2008 20:12 (sixteen years ago) link
Hell, I haven't heard any Perry I didn't like. Double Seven and Blackboard Jungle Dub also get a lot of play around here.
Yeah Arkology is better.
No option for yesterday, as Ape-ology is all this place had. However, some time earlier I did find The Upsetter Selection at the same place. Not bad for a Border's Bookstore music section.
― Daniel, Esq., Monday, 3 March 2008 20:32 (sixteen years ago) link
been on a bit of a dub binge lately - Scientist, Prince Far-I, Culture (almost all at the recommendation of some other ILM dub thread - thx ILM!)
― Shakey Mo Collier, Monday, 3 March 2008 20:46 (sixteen years ago) link
I'm really enjoying Ape-ology. I vaguely remember somebody upthread saying it's heavy, dark-ish dub/reggae, but I think the psychadelic touches (n.1) give it a lighter-touch than a lot of other (great in its own way) dub/reggae I've heard, e.g., Blood & Fire's stuff.
___________________________ (n.1) I also want to say the guitars give it a lighter sound, at least I think it's guitars I'm hearing on at least the early cuts on Super-Ape.
― Daniel, Esq., Monday, 3 March 2008 20:55 (sixteen years ago) link
A lot of people would argue that Super Ape is exactly the opposite of light. Rather than being dub reduced to drum/bass/echo, it's MAXIMALIST dub with every track featuring more more more production touches, effects, instruments and even vocals. Either way it's great.
― Alex in SF, Monday, 3 March 2008 21:20 (sixteen years ago) link
Either way it's great.
Agreed, from what I've heard so far. "Maximalist Dub" is a good term for it (unlike the more hollowed-out, minimal sound of, say, Tubby or Hudson).
― Daniel, Esq., Monday, 3 March 2008 21:31 (sixteen years ago) link
"i can't think of a better reggae group from the eighties"
There's not much competition here ya know. Steel Pulse? Misty in the Roots? Reggae groups are pretty much the minority anyway.
― Alex in SF, Monday, 3 March 2008 22:08 (sixteen years ago) link
Guess Whose Coming To Dinner, by Black Uhuru, is good (the song, I mean; I haven't had enough time to consider the whole disc).
― Daniel, Esq., Monday, 3 March 2008 22:09 (sixteen years ago) link
It's a good album too. Probably their best.
― Alex in SF, Monday, 3 March 2008 22:13 (sixteen years ago) link
Shine Eye Dub is my Uhuru of choice.
― ian, Monday, 3 March 2008 22:15 (sixteen years ago) link
steel pulse is pretty awes. i really want to hear 'rally round' now.
― Jordan, Monday, 3 March 2008 22:25 (sixteen years ago) link
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zqYT1HWEcF8
― Jordan, Monday, 3 March 2008 22:26 (sixteen years ago) link
what no love for ASWAD
― Shakey Mo Collier, Monday, 3 March 2008 22:37 (sixteen years ago) link
"i can't think of a better reggae group from the eighties."There's not much competition here ya know.
There's not much competition here ya know.
Fairly or not, I've felt like Jamaican music went downhill fast in the 80s, once it went digital and morphed into dancehall and its progeny. I must need an "Idiot's Guide to Jamaican Music from the 80s to Present." (Actually I probably need an "Idiot's Guide" to everything).(n.1)
_____________________________ (n.1) As I said elsewhere on these threads, I've got that Greensleeves compilation -- From Dubplate to Download -- but I just can't warm to it (not yet, at least).
― Daniel, Esq., Monday, 3 March 2008 22:45 (sixteen years ago) link
I love reggae and I love dancehall, but don't like a lot of 80s stuff. Or at least the sound used to really put me off, and I haven't gone back to re-evaluate.
― Jordan, Monday, 3 March 2008 22:46 (sixteen years ago) link
wow I don't think there's any dancehall I've listened to that's POST-80s - all my favorites (Shabba, Barrington Levy, Tenor Saw, etc.) are all 80s dudes.
― Shakey Mo Collier, Monday, 3 March 2008 22:50 (sixteen years ago) link
Much as I love all the other periods, I think 80s dancehall and ragga is probably my fave reggae era.
― Noodle Vague, Monday, 3 March 2008 22:51 (sixteen years ago) link
And this is my hero
― Noodle Vague, Monday, 3 March 2008 22:55 (sixteen years ago) link
I gave up on dancehall around the time of Shaggy's first hits
― Shakey Mo Collier, Monday, 3 March 2008 22:57 (sixteen years ago) link
Early-80s pre-digital dancehall is great (although yeah kind of overshadowed a bit by what preceded it and what came after.) For Barrington Levy, Yellowman and Eek-A-Mouse alone a classic period, but there is plenty of other greatness out there.
― Alex in SF, Monday, 3 March 2008 22:59 (sixteen years ago) link
Y'all need to hear this one too
― Noodle Vague, Monday, 3 March 2008 23:00 (sixteen years ago) link
This is sooooooo fantastic:
http://www.discogs.com/release/223248
― Alex in SF, Monday, 3 March 2008 23:00 (sixteen years ago) link
Oh yeah, "Rocking of the 5000" is a stone classic.
― Noodle Vague, Monday, 3 March 2008 23:01 (sixteen years ago) link
Immediately post-Shaggy was when dancehall got GREAT again!
― Alex in SF, Monday, 3 March 2008 23:01 (sixteen years ago) link
80s dancehall and it's progeny always come off as too cold and lyrically hard-edged to me. And I can't explain why that's been off-putting for me; I mean, I like plenty of other types of lyrically hard-edged music (from old murder ballads like Pretty Polly to to new rap acts like Ghostface and unapologetic celebrations of violence, like Drive-By Trucker's Sinkhole). Something different about 80s dancehall-type stuff that I can't warm to but for reasons I can't articulate well. I definitely don't like the homophobia and misogyny in it.
Sorry for the rambling post.
― Daniel, Esq., Monday, 3 March 2008 23:02 (sixteen years ago) link
Admit that last year or two I've been too busy to keep up much with new dancehall or really new anything. It's a lot of work.
― Alex in SF, Monday, 3 March 2008 23:02 (sixteen years ago) link
There is shitloads of 80s stuff that's not homophobic or misogynist. If anything I feel like homophobic lyrics were a lot bigger from the 90s on. Check out something like this:
http://www.discogs.com/release/1026208
and see if you don't change your mind.
― Noodle Vague, Monday, 3 March 2008 23:05 (sixteen years ago) link