HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Yup, it's that time of the year again: time to make up a list of "best of's." A horrible task indeed, because it's never complete, it always lacks a few greats after publishing, it's bound to give credit to those who don't deserve it (that much) because of aforementioned reason and it's always narrowed down to a "top ten" or even a "top five" on most accounts. But here at LOCK IT DOWN we take things easy...we don't bother, we just want to give full attention to those who deserve or need it and we will take up to 20 posts to do so if needed. So here it is...my first attempt to list all worthwile tunes, reissues, albums or riddims of 2005...

ALBUMS

Bantu featuring Ayuba - Fuji Satisfaction
well, you read it before on this blog....this is a killer record featuring afrobeat, dancehall, hiphop, juju and more...KILLER!!!





Wax Tailor - Tales of the forgotten melodies
Forgotten melodies? yes that might be just the case here..DJ Shadow already did this kind'o stuff way back in '96, but Wax Tailor is a bit different. It sounds alike, but then again, it doesn't. This album's got that eerie vibe that can also be found on albums by french dubmasters High Tone. Now, mix that sound with a certain Tricky-like triphop flavour, or more specifically a Martina Topley Bird flavour, an up-to-date-but-refreshing hiphop sound, some real good juggling skills and a fine nose for samples and you'll get a slight idea of what I'm talking about here..

Modeselektor - Hello Mom!
Yes! Although made by one artist (a crazy German duo), this albums has got all the symptomes of a compilation. And a good one it is! It features all styles of music I like: beautifull electronica, deep 'n mellow dub (with Paul st.Hilaire/Tikiman on the mic), harsh but melodic techno and booty, BOOTY dancehall(featuring Sasha.) Modeselektor does it all, but never fails to provide the goods with quality. Quite impressive, indeed.

REISSUES

Various: Studio One Roots 2
Genuine masterpiece. Even better then volume one, which is quite an achievement by itself, this compilation is the ultimate roots rock reggae compilation that no one, and I mean no one, should miss out on. Don't boast that "you've already got all the tracks" because you don't. And even if you do, they will not sound like this, because this gem's got that great SoulJazz fat heavy bass sound that lacks the original 7"s..Reggae never sounded better. Got it? Go get it..

Various: Hit the Rhodes
Brown Sugar never fails to impress. Although I'm not too fond of late 70's funk, this label always succeeds in making me think otherwise. Instead of putting out releases stacked with all kinds of unreleased, very-hard-to-get-by stuff just for the sake of it, they release their albums with much devotion and a pure love for music. Even when that means including an evergreen. This one here is a highly recommendable, funky 'n disco-ish tribute to the Fender Rhodes organ, and that, my friend, I like! I don't like late 70's funk??? Hell, because of this compilation I just bought my first David Axelrod lp! And that is the true power of a good compilation.

Various: Soul Power, Funky Kingston 2
And even at the reissue-our-own-catalogue-over-and-over-again-factory Trojan they decided to put a little effort in it this year. And, sad but true, they should do it more often because they got the goods to back it up. This compilation of, mainly, English reggae goes funk is a true manifesto of groove! Every track on this double lp is right on the spot, and when it's done it still leaves you craving for more...MORE....MORE!!!

REGGAE RIDDIMS

In reggae, it's all about the riddim. Produce a good riddim, and you're bound to have a line-up of big artists waiting outside your studio, anxious to ride it. Here are my faves of 2005:

- WORLD A MUSIC: first a big hit for Ini Kamoze in the eighties (World a reggae), then a big hit for Damien Marley (Welcome to jamrock) riding the original riddim. But the first price goes to the Bad 2000/Maximum Sound crew for their heavier, faster and more brutal update of the riddim. Whooooha! Listen here

- PRESSURE AND SLIDE: A big hit for the Tennors in the rocksteady era (1967.) Lovely updated by the Down Sound Crew. Thanks to the big smash "Hungry" by upcoming superstar Fantan Mojah, it almost became THE anthem of 2005. Listen here

- TRUTHS AND RIGHTS: a big hit for Johnny Osbourne in 1981 on Studio One. In 2005 he hits again with an ultra heavy version by the Massive B crew. It's good, but the man who records faster than his shadow, takes the credit for the best cut: Chuck Fender (All about the weed) Listen here.

- HARD DRUGS: A big smash for Gregory Isaacs on the Taxi imprint, and now it re-appears as a HUGE one drop anthem by the Delperies crew. Listen to a combination drifter by Buju Banton and slick rick Anthony Cruz here

More to come, for sure! But first, why don't you share your list? we like to know!

Burning Spear Blog

Winston Rodney, Aka Burning Spear, who created some of the best roots music around, now even has his own blog. So Big Up to the Spear!

http://burningspearmessage.blogspot.com/

Ring the Alarm!: Tenor Saw Live in Japan!

Tenor Saw, appearing live (9:11) in Japan, very nice!
Check It if you like early dancehall reggae.....!

click here for the video

Thanx to Douwe Dread for the link!

20 BEST REGGAE SEVEN-INCHES by David Katz

As the Jamaican music industry turns 50, esteemed reggae fan, writer and all-round fountain of knowledge David Katz celebrates its jewel in the crown – the reggae seven-inch.

Click here to see his list of 20 golden tunes.......

A CHRISTMAS GOODIE FROM JAZZMAN

It's that time of the year again...Time to unwrap the presents and be happy! And ooh, would we be happy if Santa was to provide us with this gem...

Jazzman Records is offering us a funky holiday season again! Last year they pressed a 1000 copies of seasonal smash "soulfull christmas" by none other then James Brown to lighten up the celebration of Christ, this year it's up to "Santa's Got a Bag of Soul" by Soul Saints Orchestra to do exactly the same. Now, I had never heard of the Soul Saints Orchestra myself, but as it turns out, this combo is better known as german funkateers Poets of Rhythm, whom we all know for putting out great funk 45's and albums. This tune here was originally released as a christmas giveaway for the Hotpie & Candy record company in 1995, and, back then, only 250 copies were released (originally with "Working on the Line" as flipside, now paired with the previously-unissued-on-45 instrumental "Bag of Soul"). Indeed, way too less copies, because this tune is perfect to turn those dreadfull days into a woweeeeee party! .

Check it here

Merry christmas!

I CAN HEAR MUSIC!

Heya, time to lively up this site! From now on, this blog will not only be "talking music" it'll be "listening" as well! In the future we'll give you examples, snippets, intros, remixes, refixes, or complete songs to go with it all!
Nice one, huh?

For the disbelievers among us, enjoy this Out of Sight watermelon man, and convince yourself!

Last Night ......... I Made A Compilation Tape.........

Last Saturdaynight I decided to stay at Home a devote myself to my record collection instead of the usual party action. So this is what happened.

New York meets Kingston: Boo-Ga-Lo vs Impact!

The First Side: Hip-Shaking Boogaloo from NY Barrios
New York late sixtes, the boogaloo craze at its heights, young & wild Latin Soul. Fania and her sublabes rule the scene.

Flash & Dynamics – Electric Latin Soul (Tico ’70)
Chollo Riviera – Latin Soul Drive is Here (Cotique ’69)
Quetzy Alma – Deep (Tico ’69)
Joe Torres – Get Out of My Way (World Pacific ‘68)
Joey Pastrana – King of Latin Soul (Cotique ’68)
Mongo Santamatia – Groovetime (Fania ’68)
Joe Bataan – Subway Joe (Fania ’69)
Kako & Orchestra – Kako’s Boogaloo (Musicor ’68)
Larry Harlow Orchestra – Freak Off (Fania ’71)
Tito Puente & Orchestra – Hit The Bongo (Tico ‘70)
Eddie Palmieri – African Twist (Tico ’68)
The Alexander Review – I Want You (Vaya ‘73)
Chacon – Chacon Pata Pata (Alegre ’70)
The Lat-Teens – Mary Wanna (Cotique ’68)

The Other Side: Crunchy Reggae from Randy’s & Impact!
Mr Chin created some of the finest moments of reggae music in his studio Randy's, Kingston, Jamaica.

Winston Wright & Impact All Stars - Woodpecker
Augustus Pablo - Too Late
Alton Ellis - Too Late To Turn Back Now
Carlos Malcom – No Jestering
Big Youth – Natty No Jester
Lloyd Parks – We’ll Get over it
Dennis Brown - Cheater
Randy’s All Stars – Guns in the Ghetto
Hortense Ellis – Woman of the Ghetto
Bob Marley & The Wailers - Sugar, Sugar
The Wailers – Bus Dem Shut (Pyaka)
Jackie Mittoo – 30-60-90
Randy’s All Stars - Mission Impossible
Winston Cole - Black Magic Woman
Lloyd Parks – Ordinary Man

SHOW ME A PICTURE...

A very impressive photoshoot has just been issued on the web. Former Greensleeves staffer Adrian Crestani made a trip to Jamaica in july 2005 and he went to all the countrysites dealing with reggae history. Lucky for us he made a lot of pictures. So if you are wondering where all those mighty Bunny Lee reissue come from, take a look at the picture above. If you are also interested in Studio One Blvd, Cornell Campbell, the neighbourhood King Tubby was active or killed in, modern dances in Jamaica, Trenchtown or anything else reggae-related: click here.

IT'S IN OUR VAULTS AND WE'RE HAPPY!

It's been a while since we've posted anything, but hey, it was a busy time! I did a lot deejaying gigs the last couple o' weeks and just when I got the excitement of those gigs out of my system, there was the big record fair in Holland last weekend. And that, dear reader, is sho' nuff excitement! Hundreds and hundreds of stands offering nothing but "the best there is to find," which basically means you have to dig your way through huge amounts of crap hoping to find an interesting item. Gold digging for sure...I only visted four market stands and still I had to be satisfied with whatever my wallet allowed me to spend. But it was worth it..Here's a quick overview, or better yet: a "best of" the bought items:

- In the funk '45 section it turned out to be a good day! After turning down a beer from the very friendly Canadian seller, I also got loads of info on the 7"s for free. And that is something you don't encounter much these days. The result is a good 100 euros spent. Leaving me with good, funky tunes like, amongst others, Contributors of Soul: Yum Yum Man (on Emase), Clarence Reid: Funky Party (on Alston), Count Sidney and his Dukes: The Grandpa (on Goldband), Oliver Sain: Bus Stop (on Abet), Jason & Pam: Soul Train (on Happy Fox) and The Incredible Bongo Band: Bongo Rock (on MGM). I've uploaded some of these tunes to the funk45 website, so who knows, in about two weeks you'll be able to listen to these gems on their great site.


- In the reggae '45 section it gets mad! So no overview here..Well, some highlights then...I'm very content with the purchasing of "Fattie Bum Bum" by Carl Malcolm (on the "Leo" imprint, which is a sub for Impact), Winston Reedy's update of the Burning Spear classic "Door Peeper" (on the "Room in the Sky" label), Marcia Aitkens take on "Woman is like a Shadow," originally recorded by the Meditations, on the Joe Gibbs imprint "Belmont" (here it's called Narrow Minded Man), Bobby Melody's "Let it be," which is not a cover of the fab four but a true classic in its own right (on the "Errol T" label, produced yet again by Joe Gibbs), Sizzla and Jah Cure's "King in this Jungle" (On Beres Hammond's imprint "Harmony House") and some great tunes on the "Things and Time" riddim by Super Cat (Cry fi di Youth) and the "Rougher Yet" riddim by Reggie Stepper (Commanding wife) which were released on the mighty Techniques imprint. And then some more...

- In the afrobeat section there were a lot of mediocre sounds to be found. Often the records for sale displayed too much disco or way to less funk. Still I found some great '45's: The Simon Kenyatta Troupe's take on the Manu Dibango classic: "Soul Makossa," which doesn't add much to the original but is still pretty impressive (promo copy on Avco) and future classic: Weyman Corporation "Le Chat" (on Barclay), which has a B-side called "Kumbayero" that is a serious afro beat contender!

And lucky for me: all these did good inna di dancehall!

THEM DUTCH......THEY GROOVE!

Since I'm from Holland, it wouldn't be fair to rate this record, now would it? So I won't (pssst...it's very good...) Not convinced yet? Read the Dusty Groove review:

Forget all your visions of windmills and wooden shoes, and get set for the sound of Funky Funky Holland! This package is a long-overdue look at the budding Dutch groove scene of the 60s and 70s -- a place where jazz players were letting their hair down, rockers were jamming on the drums, and surprising appearances by American and African artists were having a strong impact on the overall sounds coming out of the Netherlands. The tunes here are surprisingly funky -- not fake funk or kitsch funk, but really great little tunes with a heavy heavy bottom and lots of strong instrumentation served up in a variety of different ways throughout the set. CD 1 features a whopping 23 tracks from vintage years -- most of which were totally fresh to our ears -- with titles that include "Funky But Clean" by Vitesse, "Houseparty" by Houseband, "Relax (Before Doin Sex)" by Oscar Harris & The Twinkle Stars, "Soul Party" by The Free, "Dynamite" by Fred Van Zegveld, "Snoopy" by The Playboys, "Let's Go Randstand" by Rogier Van Otterloo, "Passage To Prerov" by Jack Van Poll Tree-oh, "Hunky Dory" by Rob Franken Organization, "Funky Limbo" by Dutch Rhythm Steel & Show Band, "High Winds" by Reality, "De Glazen Stand" by Hans Van Hemert, and "It's An Ill Wind That Blows Nobody Any Good" by Swingin Soul Machine. CD 2 is totally cool too -- with remixes of older tunes from the first disc, but often done in a fairly straight way that retains all the classic funky touches, and even adds in a few more bits of instrumentation! Booklet is nice also -- with notes on every track, and even images of old records used on the set!

More info:

the remixing is done by none other then: C-mon and Kypski

Info on featured artists: Dutch Rare Groove

IT'S A COMMUNITY!

Check this community of afrobeat related bands from the US:
AFRO BEAT DOWN. Lots and lots of mp3's, news, bands, photos's, lyrics and more. And....yes...lots of Fela clones as well..Still worth checking out though! go!

ROOTS ARCHIVES AWARDS 2005

The Roots Archives website is one of the most complete reggae databases to be found on the worldwide web. Their purpose is to "bring you a comprehensive and searchable database of Jamaican Roots Reggae Albums from 1970 to 1985." And they succeeded. The site is a search-friendly and very easy accessible pool of information which will expand your "want list" to dangerous proportions. In no less then three mouse clicks you'll find yourself having a complete "wannahaves database," so beware.

Newest feature on the site is the ROOTS ARCHIVES AWARDS 2005 which is a poll to find out what we, the visitors, think was the best roots-reggae reissue released in the januari 2005 'till december 2005 stretch. There are four categories with pre-selected nominees so all you have to do is check a box in each category. Leave your name and e-mail, and you might even snatch one of the winning items!

Nice one!

AFRICAN DUBS AVAILABLE AGAIN

It's not even published on their own website yet, so this is where you'll read it first: news reached us that the infamous African Dub series by legendary engineer Errol Thompson (who sadly passed away earlier this year) are made available again through the newly set up Joe Gibbs imprint: Crazy Joe. Both lp lovers as cd adepts who don't own a copy can finally pick up these icons in order to fill up that nasty gap in their collections. Soon available as 4 lp's or 2 cd's.

Here's a review 1/review 2 for more info and for those of little faith.

SOUNDWAY = THE WAY

The Soundway label is an up and coming, promising and up 'till now never failing, new record label based in Brighton, UK, with a mission to "release underground tropical dance music with a funky flavour. With a philosophy of quality not quantity."

To be honest, I never considered myself being a huge fan of "tropical dance music" or whatever that might be, because, to me, the term reflects a "Look at me, I'm on holiday in a third world country, feeling very 'back to nature' and enjoying the 'local' music on a freaking hotel stage" kinda thing, which is often sadly displayed in any tourist scene in either Zimbabwe, Gambia, Senegal, Kenya or even in Amsterdam for that matter. But as it turned out, and I'm happy to admit it: I'm all wrong! "Tropical dance music" in a Soundway style seems to be nothing less then ultra-funky, heavily afrobeat based, maximum-swinging, top of the bill music from all over the world! And that, dear reader, we like!

At first they started treating us with compilations like:
Ghana Sounds volume 1, Ghana Sounds volume 2, and the Fela Kuti adepts fave Afro Baby:the Evolution of the Afro sound in Nigeria, 1970-1979. All fans of afro music we're drooling over these compilations because they consisted of very hard to get by, unreleased or just plain f*cking good songs. Also they unleashed two "best of" compilations for TP Orchestra Poly Rythmo and Orlando Julius, which are also very worthwile to pick up, indeed.

Their latest releases, however, are every record collector's wet dream. Soundway decided to treat us with impossible to find, superfunky, afrobeat gems on our favourite format: the 7" record! Check out these goodies:

Orchestre du Bawobab / The Don Isaac Ezekiel Combination

A double hitter.Both tracks show very different sides to the Afro Funk coin: the legendary Orchestre du Bawobab depart from their usual styles to deliver a pounding club mover: A chanted vocal on top of an ultra-heavy beat topped off with the sweetest of guitar lines (courtesy of Latfi Ben Geloune) makes this a crucial track unlike any other – best played loud! The Don Isaac Ezekiel Combination stretch out for a deep slice of funky Afro-Gospel. Preacher Man is very funky early Afro beat, with a steady groove and a call and response vocal. The sound of conscious Lagos in the early 70s.

Richard Stoute / Telstars

This split 7” offers two contrasting tracks from Barbados and Guyana respectively. For the A side, successful Bajan singer Richard Stoute gives us his tropical cover of the Ides of March 1970 stoner rock offering Vehicle. Foregoing the breezy platitudes of the original, here Stoute opts for the bass heavy thump of an insistent Calypso rhythm, cascading horn section and a vocal that comes off like a cross between Terry Callier and Jon Lucien at carnival time. On the B side, the mysterious Telstars of Guyana stay in the pocket for a deep funky soul excursion. Shades of N.T. era Kool and the Gang spiced up with a reggae feel in the horns give this offering an introspective yet unerringly funky edge, topped off with a plaintive vocal.

Victor Olaiya St Augustine

Two heavy funk tracks from Nigeria, both more obviously influenced by US funk and Rn’B, yet played by highlife musicians at the top of their game, giving a rootsy spin to the well known JB-esque formula. Known as ‘the evil genius of highlife’, Victor Olaiya was one of the biggest names in Highlife with a career spanning the 60s and 70s. This medley of Let Yourself Go and There Was a Time is taken from a 10” lp that mimicked the style of the legendary Live at the Apollo Volume 2 with a non stop onslaught of rough funk, incongruously interspersed with highlife numbers. To our ears one of the better cover versions of these tracks, the band lay down a bass heavy belter with ethereal horns and a great vocal, underpinned by drumming that would give Clyde Stubblefield a run for his money.

The Blue Rhythm Combo

More heavy grooves from the West Indies – this time with two tracks from the mighty Blue Rhythm Combo. Hailing from Barbados, the Blue Rhythm Combo were a successful and prolific group, playing a broad mixture of soul, calypso and funk throughout the 70s, all with a distinctive Island flavour. Although better known for their beefed up cover version of the classic rare groove Black Water Gold, Get Down is perhaps the group’s funkiest recording, incorporating frenetic drumming, a killer bassline, calypso horns and an authentic carnival whistle. Originally released on the cult Merrydisc label, it is now available to burn up dancefloors across the world. On the B side is BRC’s Groove - a deep instrumental workout from their ‘Megumba’ album, sounding like a tropical meeting of the Meters and Funk Inc, replete with heavy drums and blazing horns – definitely not for the faint hearted.

Check out the Soundway website regularly for updates.

More info on afrobeat can be found on this excellent website:
Funky Funky Africa

Happines is........ finding Lloyd Parks for 9 euros....

It was a sunny thursday afternoon, and I was grazing in the reggae section of Twist & Shout....and oh what joy, I found a Lloyd Parks album for 9 euros.......The album kicks of with Wonderfull Moment, a nice 'n positive song, but way too dull, something wich tends to happen regurlary with Trojan productions, then We'll Get over it (available in an earlier version on the Impact! compilation, see below), not as haunting as the Impact version, but still a righteous lament of a man in the ghetto who tries to hold his faith together. Baby Hang up the phone comes on pretty cheesy (it is said to have been a minor hit), but you just have to like Lloyd's beautifull falsetto voice which is capable of very soulfull sounds. In Wolf, the whole biblical rasta theme is used over a rocking rhythm with a kind of Linval Thompson style-vocal performance. Nice, but not stunning, which brings us to the next track: Carl Douglas' hit song from the Tv Series Kung Fu Fighting kicks as hard as The Honarable Bruce Lee, with fuzzy psychedelic guitars on top, making the whole thing into a real pleasant and funky experience, why isn't this track on a Dynamite compilation? I instantly forgive this man for any cheesy and boring love song with strings he did. Side A ends with Forgive Me, again a mediocre song with soulfull lyrics, but still pleasant. Upon hearing the first song of the next side, joy filled my heart and I felt a huge amount of endorphine being pumped into my bloodstream. I already heard this version of Minnie Ripperton's classic Loving You before, but was not able to figure out whose version it was, and now finally, the really, really nice & funky reggae version of one of my alltime favourite soul songs. What I actually mean is do yourself a favour and buy a Minnie Ripperton compilation. But then again, I don't wanna live anymore without the Lloyd Parks version neither, why isn't this track on a Dynamite compilation? Wrapped up is the weakest spot on the album, so let's not get into that cheesy stuff. Next up is Strike, a militant rockers song, done pretty good, but Lloyd's voice seems to be more credible for soulfull and desperate stuff. He just not is the rasta type with the camouflage and all, he's definitely the romantic one...which might explain why the ballad I'll Be Your Man is that deep. And I mean deep, as deep as Dave Godin's Deep Soul treasures....is that If Loving you is Wrong, I don't wanna be Right I'm hearing? The Wonder of You also has been released as a single, but not really as convincing as whe know from the last song he can go way deeper. The last track Push Push has a very groovy and familar rocking riddim with nice horn sections.In conclusion it can be said that the album is great, but it is only essential for someone into funky reggae.

Tracklist: Wonderfull Moment, We'll get over it, Baby Hang up the Phone, Wolf, KungFu Fighting, Forgive Me, Loving You, Wrapped Up, Strike, I'll Be Your Man, Wonder of You, Push Push

Engineered by Errol Thompson & Ernest,
Produced by LLoyd Parks,
Arranged by Lloyd Parks,
Recorded at Randy's, Channel One, Studios
Bass: Lloyd Parks,
Guitars: Raughy McLean, Rad Bryan,
Drums: Sly Dunbar,
Organ: Ansel Collins,
Harmonica: Ansel Collins

Other releases: Officially Parks - Lloyd Parks ATLP 1009 GirlIn The Morning -Lloyd Parks TRLS 109
also check the essential Soul Jazz release Impact! Rare and Unreleased Reggae, Funk & Soul from the Vault of Impact and Randys Records, for the ultimate version of Lloyd's We'll Get over It. And the wonderfull Mafia 7 inch on pressure sounds of course.......

NEW ITEMS TO HUNT DOWN

Except for the up and comin' Joe Gibbs releases (see below) there is more to enjoy these coming weeks! An imprint called Hot Pot, which is a new sub of the Cooking Vinyl label, are quickly making a name for themselves unleashing some long awaited re-issues of long unavailable but never forgotten dub classics. After "Glen Brown and friends volumes 1 & 2" and "Earthquake Dub" they give us the mighty "Leggo Dub" album. And what a treat it is! For those that are into Gregory Isaacs, this is a must have product since three quarters of the album consists of dubs from the "mr isaacs" album that producer Ossie Hibbert recorded with the singer in the late seventies. But that's not all: Also included are a dub version of the "I'm Alright" rhythm (originally recorded by Horace Andy for producer Keith Hudson) and none less than six bonustracks that weren't to be found on the original copy of "Leggo Dub" (featuring amongst others versions of: Ranking Trevor's "Lion Fence", Frankie Jones' "Zion I" and Earth & Stone's "Wicked A Fi Dress Back.")
For those not familiar with these songs: no worries, just pick up a copy and convince yourself. It's good!

Lucky me, it seems I've got a copy of the new SoulJazz Studio One release before anyone else did..Not even the mighty DanceCrasher site has got a feature on this new gem. Don't worry, I'm not boasting. The mere reason I'm writing this is because I got me a copy without a tracklisting...I was getting my hopes up that I would be able to snatch it of the aforementioned website because they are usually quicker with supplying info then SoulJazz themselves, but this time I found myself without luck..So, it's all down to the music, which is, how could it not be, amazing. Sure, it takes a couple of spins before it really kicks in and you'll probably have to take in a slight feeling of disappointment at first because it doesn't turnout to be a killer record like their last release Studio One Roots 2, but be honest: how could it be? Just let this one work for itself and you'll discover some beauties that'll nest your brain and request a play over and over. Pick it up once it's released and you'll not be disappointed.

Yes, this is it! Born and raised Nigerian, currently hailing from Germany, Ade Bantu finally shows what he's really capable of. This Brothers Keepers member already recorded some great solo efforts (including a 12" with none other than Gentleman, which I unfortunately never heard) but this is the album where everything really comes together. Afrobeat, dancehall, juju, hiphop and reggae: it's all there, but brought to you in such a clever, danceable, unifying and uplifting way that it takes a hell of an effort to stay put. If you like Fela Kuti, King Sunny Ade, modern roots reggae and a twist of hiphop: try this. If not: try it anyway.

WHAT'S IN A REISSUE?

Can't help but wonder 'bout some so called "reissues." Take, for example, the reissue of the classic jamaican Chantells album "Waiting in the Park" which was released on the infamous Phase One record label in 1978. No doubt about it that it is a great album, heck it is one of my all-time favourites for that matter, but listening to the 2001 reissue of this classic the question that keeps popping up inside my head is: which one do I like better?
Don't be afraid, this is not going to be one of those boring "is it remasterd and available on SACD" topics but mere a "what's in a reissue" topic. Because while listening to the original copy of the album I could only identify 4 tracks similar with the revive. Yes, you read it right...four tracks! This is not a reissue, it's a companion! As a Phase One adept I thank the almighty God on my knees for this revive because it contains songs I never heard before, but then again: I'm lucky enough to own both copies. The original is pretty hard to get by but boy does it contain some serious contenders that are not included on the revive! Why not, I ask? No matter the fact the effort both Blood and Fire (The great: Chantells and friends) and Motion Records(we're getting bad) put in their compilations: no one included the wicked version of Children of Jah that's on the original copy: it's a rootsier, heavy but slower and most of all deeper version then the better known track included on both compilations. Also nowhere to be found are jewels like: true born african, by the sweat of your brow, baby don't leave me and oh, what a night.

I'd say it's time for a "true" revive of Waiting in the Park, or another great compilation including aforementioned songs. Who dares? SoulJazz maybe?

JOE GIBBS EMBARKES EUROPE

Well known reggae producer Joe Gibbs is back in business. After a dispute with one JC Lodge over royalties in the early eighties, this highly succesfull producer went out of the recording business. Through his son Carl's imprint "Rocky One" he did reissue his monster hits again in the early nineties, but it wasn't untill 1993 that he teamed up with his right hand producer Errol Thompson again to start some new recordings, including none other than Tanya Stephens.

Latest news on the Gibbs empire is the release of three new compilation cd's featuring modern dancehall (Mad world), old style rockers (Inner city roots) and a "best of" compilation (fundamental reggae vol 1).

Also Gibbs revived an old label: Crazy Joe. Originally created in the late seventies, releasing hard stepper roots from the likes of Culture and Dennis Brown this "new" label has been especially brought back to life to cater the hungry european market. Its headquarters are even located in France.

Seems like Gibbs is planning a total takeover this time!

More info on the producer and the new label/releases: Joe Gibbs Europe

.: WELCOME :.

Hi and welcome to another blog on the web. Are we going to make a difference in the ever expanding world of blogs? Nope, don't think so.
A blog is always a personal thing and so is this one, but still: if you like reggae, funk, soul, afrobeat or any related kind of music: this is the spot. We'll be blattering about some recent discoveries, some faves, some background stories and anything else that comes about. All music related ofcourse.

So enjoy..and contribute.