Dub / Reggae: An Idiot's Guide

rough guide to reggae was better as a buying guide imo. it really reads like that, too. the albums are really the focus there.

bass culture has more flair and is more fun to read than solid foundation but i found it a little lacking as a kind of "authoritative history". he has a ton of opinions and they are fun to read but i don't always agree with him. it's a really good book though.

solid foundation is exhaustive and authoritative but can be kind of boring sometimes as others have mentioned. like rob though i didn't find it as bad as you guys do - i found plenty to enjoy in it! same goes for people funny boy. katz isn't a great writer but i appreciate the level of detail he gives.

The albums are the focus, but it's a good overview still.

I appreciate the level of detail and as a reference book it's probably great, it's just an exhausting and dry read.

I love this Horace Andy deep cut: Be Good with the Wackies Rhythm Force. The version in spotify is backed by a different riddim :S

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pKOPIWjiqS4

Shared this in the Spotify playlists thread, there's some recommendations that I listened on this thread in there. Not an expert in the genres at all but you might enjoy it. Over 5 hours long.

This is one of the playlists I have since 2011 or so but I hadn't shared it because it's based around rocksteady/ska/reggae/dub and it's a whole wild world in there so I admit I have only minimal grasp of it. Even Spotify is intimidated by the size of it, it doesn't have half the music in my collection. Anyhow, there's some of my favorite songs in here, it doesn't really work as a mix so you can listen to it at random in small doses:

Kaya Kinks: http://open.spotify.com/user/moteldemoka/playlist/0nObX3nMjV8X8vTUuNoGfx
Opening artists: Marcia Griffiths, Skatalites, Joe Gibbs & the Professionals, Max Romeo, Toots, Morgan Heritage, Byron Lee.

just received in the mail:
http://www.reggaerecord.com/rc/shared_img/item/244969/244969_01_360.jpg
http://shmrecords.com/WebRoot/Daily/Shops/eshop859132/52DA/C259/D873/F0A7/8D35/0A0C/05E8/3E4B/CCI_0008.jpg

how is it that I never noticed that the Niney production of Ken Boothe's "Silver Words" is a cover of a Rodriguez song? so weird. I guess that record made it to South Africa AND Jamaica

http://www.whosampled.com/cover/182887/Ken-Boothe-Silver-Words-Rodriguez-Silver-Words/

also wtf had no idea Augustus Pablo was a pseudonym initially used by several different people

man this is gorgeous. why isn't there more dub stuff w vibraphone
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=719924Uts1w

account of Prince Far-I's murder in Solid Foundation bums me out so much

just the number of huge figures murdered is crazy - Tosh, Far I, General Echo, Tubby :(

no wonder so many guys left the island altogether

i've been feeling very intrigued by the late roots/very early dancehall sound from the early 80s, enjoying its sparseness and its polish a little bit. very different from that heady, heavy roots sound from the 70s and it took me a while to warm up to it but it is feeling very right right now. i put on this compilation of linval thompson productions from 1979-1983 that i've had for a while and didn't think much of but it sounds perfect lately.

listened to gregory isaacs' "night nurse" album from 82 this morning too, sounded wonderful. a little lighter and clearer than the roots stuff that dominated my listening for most of last year but i still very much like it

Scientist is a big part of that equation/shift

yea i really need to hear more scientist, i don't think i have anything from him except for some 3-disc trojan dub comp i bought about 10 years ago, it's a comp but apart from scientist i think it's like 60% roots radics, another big part of this period

what are some choice scientist albums/comps?

hard to remember exactly which of those early 80s Scientist albums I've heard, but I like "Rids the World of the Evil Curse of the the Vampires" and, iirc, "Wins the World Cup" is also quite good.

a personal favorite comp for this era is: http://www.discogs.com/Henry-Junjo-Lawes-Volcano-Eruption/release/2603181. also the Greensleeves 12" Rules for Junjo has some overlap but is also well-selected.

well the Radics were Scientist's house band so there's a lot of overlap there. This is a must have: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Scientist_Rids_the_World_of_the_Evil_Curse_of_the_Vampires

Scientist vs. Prince Jammy "Dub Landing" Vols 1 and 2

but really you can't go wrong with anything from '79-'82 or so. Scientist vs. Pac-Man, Scientist Wins the World Cup, Scientist vs. Space Invaders, etc.

ohh didn't know that about radics & scientist, yea this whole area has been a major blindspot for me

reading your first post reminds me of how long it took me to warm up to this stuff. for years I wouldn't touch anything made past 1979, but nowadays I think I like this period more than the immediately preceding late 70s stuff...or I just listened to that stuff too much.

which Thompson comp are you talking about? King Jammy in Roots is also really great: http://www.discogs.com/Various-King-Jammy-In-Roots/release/2271822

I too love that period, Junjo especially. I think dancehall had another great creative peak in the late 80s, particularly all that amazing Music Works / 2 Friends stuff.

xp this one from munich records, saw it for a few bucks last year and i don't know anything about munich records or whether it's legit or not but i do enjoy the music: http://www.allmusic.com/album/jah-jah-dreader-than-dread-mw0000606377

lol liner notes exist which makes me think it is at least somewhat legit, though there are no dates on any of the recordings

listening to that scientist rids the world of the evil curse album right now, this is soooooooooooo good

that LT comp looks pretty great. I have a couple of Thompson comps but not that one (one is on Blood and Fire, I think the other is Auralux).

xp
I know Music Works but had to look up 2 Friends. If this mix is indicative, I have been seriously missing out. almost weird to hear the Golds on non-Jammys riddims.

they're not really related (I don't think) but this Hugh Mundell album has a similar sound/vibe to Night Nurse iirc

I'm a big fan of a lot of Barrington Levy's 80s stuff as well

where would you start with Levy? I've never wrapped my head around his discography, but I've liked what I've heard (mostly Junjo stuff probably)

btw, the Thompson/Auralux one I mentioned is this and is awesome: http://www.discogs.com/Various-Roots-Of-Dancehall-Thompson-Sound-Meets-The-Roots-Radics-At-Channel-One/release/647566

my first intro to him was on some 80s dancehall comp that a couple of his giant hits ("Here I Come", "Under Mi Sensi") and then I kind of worked backwards. As far as albums go - Shaolin Temple, Prison Oval Rock, and Here I Come are all really solid and have that crisp, hard sound. There is also a great comp of his Joe Gibbs stuff called "Teach the Youth" that covers 80-85.

Teach the Youth is good, Sweet Reggae Music is another good comp of that period

Robin Hood is my top pick as far as albums...you will recognize most of the backing tracks if you've heard the classic Scientist albums.

Here are a few good'uns:

The Viceroys - Can't Stop Us Now
Black Uhuru - Plastic Smile
The Gladiators - Mix Up
Burning Spear - African Teacher
Ini Kamoze - World A Music
Steel Pulse - Handsworth Revolution

they're not really related (I don't think) but this Hugh Mundell album has a similar sound/vibe to Night Nurse iirc

Roots Radics are the band on both I think? Agree the Mundell's a good one, I haven't heard a bad Hugh Mundell record.

Slightly off-topic, I have started listening to Freddy Mckay lately, having never paid any attention to him post Studio 1. I've been enjoying "Harsh Words" and "Tribal Inna Yard" a good deal.

"lonely man" is a wonderful freddie mckay song

listening to that viceroys "cant stop us now" tune, dog latin, very good

that thompson comp i mentioned has "come closer" which is also great, very similar minor key vibe

yeah i love that viceroy's song so much.

the scratch-perry produced version of the wailers' "dreamland" is a miracle

bunny wailer's voice on that is so beautiful

picked up Kingston Sounds reissue of Tapper Zukie's "The Man from Bozrah" - good stuff but sound quality is shittier than the other Tapper reissue I got from them, which is disappointing

I have no idea if the 1000 posts have included this, but here's to make sure it is (and check if I can embed a YT)
https://youtu.be/_Xxf5qSocrU

(and the same post after having read the help)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_Xxf5qSocrU

"What do Ilxors think of the UK-based Prince Fatty/ Mungo's Hi-Fi/Congo Natty/Hollie Cook dub axis?"

congo natty vs mungos hi-fi on the dub version of the 'jungle revolution' album, 'in dub', that is coming out in a bit.
features a sample stuffed on-u sound remix (that's clearly my highlight), alongside several names i have never heard of.
old school vs nu-era : the end result is truly fantastic :

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uJ9yqeQHJBU

p nice

got the Veal book over the holidays and read the introduction the other night. Veal's writing is pretty dry, but looks like there's plenty to appreciate in his attention to detail and the meticulousness of the research. Wasn't quite expecting such an academic text, although he's already touched on ideas/issues that I hadn't really seen anyone write about in any meaningful way, particularly the distinction between reggae that was aimed at the Euro-American market (like Jimmy Cliff, Toots and Marley) and how that differed from the dub/roots stuff that was more popular locally. I don't think it's necessary or helpful to draw a qualitative distinction but it's always been clear to me that these were different branches, and how and why they came to differ was not clear to me when I started getting into this music. There was a pretty large gap between the period where I first heard Marley/Cliff/Toots and the much later period where I first heard Lee Perry, King Tubby, Trojan dub box sets etc. and it confused me how different these things were. Obviously there are links but in some ways hearing the Euro-American marketed stuff had led me to be kind of dismissive since it basically just sounded like contemporary R&B/rock instrumentation but with the one-drop rhythm. When people would use the terms dub and reggae interchangeably I would scratch my head cuz I didn't see the connection between the references to crazy production and minimalism and booming bass lines and, say, "Three Little Birds".

the track i listened to the most in the past week

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1R1uKKfvQ00

only Heptones I have is Party Time (which is insane and not at all representative afaict)

Heptones Studio One stuff is amazing.

Yet the studio one stuff is great

*yea

Black is Black and Freedom Line are on youtube, those have been my introduction. A friend of mine, a veritable reggae encyclopedia. directed me to this track.