i dont like reggae - is there anything i can do to remedy this?

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i find it too bloody slow
too langurous
which wouldnt be that much of a problem, but i find a lot of it weirdly perhaps, too 'slick'
i mean i got lee perrys super ape, great artwork, but fuck me if all the songs dont sound the same
then again, thats dub, so what did i expect, but even then, they shouldnt all sound like that should they???
bob marley, i get tired of his poppier moments, like some of his stuff, but even then, it doesnt seem to have any energy, or 'bite'
rastas always look like theyre pissed off at 'the man', where can i hear this pissedoffedness in the actual music?
am i listening to reggae wrong?
do i need a gigantic bass bin to 'get it'?
or is it just not for me?

― okokoko, Monday, 15 August 2005 20:05 (twenty years ago)

YOU LOVE IT

― Ronan (Ronan), Monday, 15 August 2005 20:07 (twenty years ago)

try 60's ska first, then move on to rock steady and reggae afterwards

― pappawheelie II, Monday, 15 August 2005 20:10 (twenty years ago)

listen to the police!

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Monday, 15 August 2005 20:12 (twenty years ago)

Try dancehall instead?

― Jordan (Jordan), Monday, 15 August 2005 20:14 (twenty years ago)

http://www.forces.org/images/cig-frisk.jpg

― pappawheelie II, Monday, 15 August 2005 20:14 (twenty years ago)

http://www.artistdirect.com/Images/Sources/AMGCOVERS/music/cover200/drd500/d558/d558400boap

― m coleman (lovebug starski), Monday, 15 August 2005 20:17 (twenty years ago)

BLOOODCLAAAAT

― m coleman (lovebug starski), Monday, 15 August 2005 20:18 (twenty years ago)

yeah i like dancehall more, although i prefer the early-mid/late 90s stuff, not today's dancehall. sounds too poppy today.

― okokoko, Monday, 15 August 2005 20:18 (twenty years ago)

BURN 1 JOINT

(it's a cliche but it works esp. w/dub)

― m coleman (lovebug starski), Monday, 15 August 2005 20:19 (twenty years ago)

pat yourself on the back; reggae is crap!

― I'm Hi, Jared Fogle (ex machina), Monday, 15 August 2005 20:20 (twenty years ago)

Tell Alex In SF this and then watch him EXPLODE.

― Adam In Real Life (nordicskilla), Monday, 15 August 2005 20:21 (twenty years ago)

So what if you don't like reggae? There's plenty of other music. Why the need to force yourself to like a particular genre?

― nathalie starts to cry each time we meet (stevie nixed), Monday, 15 August 2005 20:28 (twenty years ago)

Did I say bass? Yes. Bass. But there was no bass player. There were records, played over the giant speakers, to which Eminem performed. Singing along with records used to be considered bad. Now it's considered good. Which I think is bad.

There was one song -- is it really a song if it's a rap? -- and it was done by one of the many co-rappers Eminem had with him, and in this song, I swear I am not making this up, the only two words I could understand were "child support."

― I'm Hi, Jared Fogle (ex machina), Monday, 15 August 2005 20:32 (twenty years ago)

hmmm

― andrew m. (andrewmorgan), Monday, 15 August 2005 20:34 (twenty years ago)

reggae? more like reg-gay!

― M@tt He1geson (Matt Helgeson), Monday, 15 August 2005 20:34 (twenty years ago)

Ronan OTM.

― k/l (Ken L), Monday, 15 August 2005 20:34 (twenty years ago)

well, like my dad said after i tried one but failed to enjoy a ketchup sandwhich, "hey, more for me."

― andrew m. (andrewmorgan), Monday, 15 August 2005 20:36 (twenty years ago)

http://www10.ocn.ne.jp/~buzzard/poster/music/music_img/music016.jpg
ditto on th joint burning..bu then there is alot of music which suddenly gains relevance after smoking...Bread,old male vocal records and most of those steam train sound effect records.

― dan bunnybrain (dan bunnybrain), Monday, 15 August 2005 20:37 (twenty years ago)

reg-gay? more like Ray Gay!

― Ray Gay, Monday, 15 August 2005 20:38 (twenty years ago)

http://www.ricenpeas.com/images/Photo%20Journalism%20for%20website/smoking%20ganja.jpg
Even country sounds better on weed

― dan bunnybrain (dan bunnybrain), Monday, 15 August 2005 20:41 (twenty years ago)

Is that his beard, or is that his bud?

― Rockist_Scientist (RSLaRue), Monday, 15 August 2005 20:52 (twenty years ago)

dan, that peter tosh poster is up at academy in brooklyn

― I'm Hi, Jared Fogle (ex machina), Monday, 15 August 2005 20:55 (twenty years ago)

Live reggae beats anything recorded, in my humble opinion. It IS about the gigantic bass bins, and the weed if you're so inclined, and the overall vibe. If you can see The Skatalites (who obviously are not strictly reggae) or Toots and the Maytals -- either in a crowded, skanking club or at a festival on a sunny day -- and you don't like that, then you likely never will.

― Daniel Peterson (polkaholic), Monday, 15 August 2005 21:01 (twenty years ago)

Dan BB OTM. Country sounds awesome on weed, especially if it has lotsa pedal steel!

― Brooker Buckingham (Brooker B), Monday, 15 August 2005 21:03 (twenty years ago)

Maybe it's just not for you.
But I would agree that you should try checking a good live band if you can..
Or dip into a compilation like the Dynamite series on soul jazz and see what you like and what era it's from and look for more stuff by that artist/that time period.

― Bn1 (Bn1), Monday, 15 August 2005 21:22 (twenty years ago)

i find it too bloody slow
too langurous
.
.
rastas always look like theyre pissed off at 'the man', where can i hear this pissedoffedness in the actual music?

two words: ragga jungle

― amon (eman), Monday, 15 August 2005 22:21 (twenty years ago)

"Doctor, it hurts when I move my head this way."
"Then quit moving that way, dumbass."

― Truckdrivin' Buddha (Rock Hardy), Monday, 15 August 2005 22:43 (twenty years ago)

Huge bass, huge joint, your shortcut awaits ?

For me and as mentioned in another thread by someone else, dub/reggae works as an earcleaner after hearing too much music of any kind. I used to say I hated it. Which as Ronan told you straight away, was not true. Marley's hits have been imposed on us all, killed most of the fun for me but Lee Perry ? You're good to go.

If you're interested in the production of music, all this stuff was revolutionary and remains hugely influent. Sound systems, DJs, MCs, remixing, hip hop... still pretty hype after all these years

― blunt (blunt), Monday, 15 August 2005 23:13 (twenty years ago)

you want some UK Steppers Dub. Try these:

Jah Shaka
The Rootsman
The Disciples
Alpha and Omega

Planet Dub (2xCD) of dubwise electronic music.

― biz, Monday, 15 August 2005 23:17 (twenty years ago)

http://www.dustygroove.com/images/products/c/congos~~~~~_heartofth_101b.jpg

― Masked Gazza, Monday, 15 August 2005 23:48 (twenty years ago)

http://shop.happyhardcore.com/gifs/16158-1.gif

― strng hlkngtn, Tuesday, 16 August 2005 00:00 (twenty years ago)

then again, thats dub, so what did i expect, but even then, they shouldnt all sound like that should they???

All dub sounds the same? I wouldn't say so at all. Dub's served to warp my mind, my conception of music -- and mind you, I've never done drugs! The sounds are (of course) all heavily treated and crazy and spacey and phasered to fuck and the bass is usually even monstrous and thumping and distorted and -- damn, I love dub. I'm an absolute sucker for any remotely dubwise production. There's so much to get lost in, so much to examine. Half of the reason I buy music is to study music production techniques and I find dub records to have such outstanding production methods I feel that I'm getting absorbed into the music, and it's utterly inspiring to me. Sorry for the absent-minded ramble.

― Ian Riese-Moraine: a casualty of social estrangement. (Eastern Mantra), Tuesday, 16 August 2005 00:21 (twenty years ago)

ok, well i listened to peter toshs legalise it album, i still fucking hate the title track with a passion, all those stupid weed lyrics and happy happy reggae vibe are crap to me, but the rest of the album was very good.

xxxxxxxpost - im not forcing myself to like it, its just that im trying to learn more about it, and kinda feel like im missing out on something. plus, im trying to learn more about all types of black music, and world music too, so it would be a shame if i cant get into it.

but maybe its just not for me... hmm

― okokoko, Tuesday, 16 August 2005 09:56 (twenty years ago)

Plenty more fish in the sea

― When You Wore a Tulip (and I Had a Big Red Nose) (Dada), Tuesday, 16 August 2005 10:15 (twenty years ago)

It might help to have a bit more idea of what music you actually do like....

Have you tried any of the great DJ's: Dennis Alcapone; Big Youth; Dillinger; Prince Far-I; I-Roy; U-Roy?

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Tuesday, 16 August 2005 10:21 (twenty years ago)

I don't imagine he'll like them at all

― When You Wore a Tulip (and I Had a Big Red Nose) (Dada), Tuesday, 16 August 2005 10:26 (twenty years ago)

i havent, no, i think i should though
that might be to my liking
not into the overtly 'sweet' stuff. i tried to get into john volts 100 volts album or whatever its called, but i found it a bit too 'sweet'

hmm what do i like? well i like stuff thats not middle of the road, i like extremes

i like burning spears marcus garvey album, actually - i should prob find more stuff like that
i like hard-edged mid-early 90s ragga - i need to get more of that actually, all i have is a few comps
one of the reasons i dont much like modern dancehall is that the rhythms sound a lot more poppy
i like sleng teng by wayne smith
i like police and thieves by junior murvin (i like the clash version a LOT too)
i like the specials' ghost town
i like that new welcome to jamrock tune (anyone know what riddim thats based on and what else is like that?)

― okokok, Tuesday, 16 August 2005 10:29 (twenty years ago)

I don't like reggae all that much either, but I listened to Soul Jazz 300% Dynamite comp the other day and I could get into most of that stuff. Someone else mentioned Soul Jazz upthread, that's your best bet I think. They know what they're doing!

― Colonel Poo (Colonel Poo), Tuesday, 16 August 2005 10:31 (twenty years ago)

i like burning spears marcus garvey album, actually - i should prob find more stuff like that

Which, curiously, I've always found to be a bit bland and slick

― When You Wore a Tulip (and I Had a Big Red Nose) (Dada), Tuesday, 16 August 2005 10:36 (twenty years ago)

sometimes i forget that reggae exists! then i'll hear some on a college radio station and be reminded. i do know this though: black uhuru albums still sound really good. cuz every blue moon i will put one one and they still captivate.

― scott seward (scott seward), Tuesday, 16 August 2005 10:50 (twenty years ago)

I'd also recommend you try Forces Of Victory and Bass Culture by Linton Kwesi Johnson.

― Stewart Osborne (Stewart Osborne), Tuesday, 16 August 2005 11:34 (twenty years ago)

Man, I used to hate reggae with a passion, and this one dude at the record store I worked at played it all the fucking time. It was the two of us in the back doing inventory for a few weeks, and we'd switch albums back and forth, and he inevitably picked reggae and/or dub to listen to. For me it was just acclimitization/Stockholm syndrome - after a while I loved the shit. Really the recommendations of the Dynamite! comps are great ones - 100% was my gateway, but they're all good, and there's enough of a breadth of styles that you can find stuff that suits you and go in that direction. If you really want to, that is - maybe it's just not something you're going to get into right now, I mean you shouldn't force yourself to like something out of a sense of propriety or nothin.

― Zack Richardson (teenagequiet), Tuesday, 16 August 2005 12:57 (twenty years ago)

I agree with Zack - a lot of it's just becoming acclimatized to it. "Super Ape" is probably (in strict musical terms) much more diverse in its contents than 80% of your record collection. Stewart's LKJ recommendations are seconded. I also found Mikey Dread's "Beyond World War III" to be an eyeopener for skeptical friends.

― Dee Xtrovert (dee dee), Tuesday, 16 August 2005 22:30 (twenty years ago)

i really think you would be a lot happier of you stopped demanding that the music you listen to has to sound 'edgy'

― jeremy jordan (cruisy), Wednesday, 17 August 2005 00:13 (twenty years ago)

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