Peter Tosh 7 Inch Box from Randy's

As I am a huge fan of Impact and Randys the following news is very good news (From the DanceCrasher site):
Clive Chin is putting together a box set of late 60’s Peter Tosh singles with help from UK record dealer Bob Brooks from Reggae Revive. All will be Randy’s productions except record 2 which is a Lee Perry production. The release date is slated for early March.

Record 1
A. You Can’t Fool Me Again (RANDY’S PRE DYNA RANDY 414-1 (1969) JA(a Tosh vocal on an uptempo early Reggae rhythm, this was reissued on a Randy’s 7″ a few years ago)
B. Green Duck (RANDY’S PRE DYNA RANDY 415-1 (1969) JA(the same rhythm that was used on the UK produced Torpedo release Skinheads Don’t Fear, when I asked Clive about this he had not heard the Torpedo release before and had no idea how they got hold of the rhythm)
Record 2
A. Rightful Ruler - Peter Tosh & U-Roy(UPSETTER PRE DYNA UPSETTER 718-1 (1969) JA / KEITH’S KR 200 B (1969) US **(some argue that this was the first tune U Roy voiced but there are competing claims on this, mainly the tunes for Keith Hudson or Lloyd Daley)
B. Memphis (SOUL REVOLUTION ALBUM (1971) JA/UK – FIRST TIME EVER ON 7″ **
Record 3
A. The Return Of Al Capone (UNITY UN 525 A (1969) UK
B. Sun Valley (UNITY UN 529 A (1969) UK(Two cuts with Tosh on the organ. His playing is a bit of an aquired taste, Sun Valley (on the Everybody Needs Love rhythm) is particularly eccentric).
Record 4
A. Little Green Apples (RANDY’S PRE DYNA VC 957 (1970) JA
B. The Crimson Pirate (JACKPOT JP 706 A (1970) UK(Crimson Pirate is an organ cut of Slim Smith’s Somebody To Love)
Record 5
A. Stick Up - Peter Tosh & Count Machukie (RANDY’S DYNA VC 956-1 (1970)
B. Moon Dust - JACKPOT JP 706 B (1970)(Moon Dust is titled Moon Duck on the Jackpot issue, another organ piece).
Record 6
A. Man’s Greatest Adventure – (PREVIOUSLY UNRELEASED (1969)
B. Selassie Serenade - BULLET BU 414 B (1969)(Selassie Serenade is another organ cut, the rhythm is a fairly obvious one, probably from the Bunny Lee camp but I can’t place it at the moment).
Record 7
A. 30-60-90 - RANDY’S RRM STUDIO 17-4 (1969)
B. Whistling Jane - RANDY’S DYNA RANDY 971-1 (1969)(a cut of Alton Ellis’s What Does It Take To Win Your Love, apparently with Jackie Mittoo on organ nd Peter Tosh whistling)

BRENKY GOES TO HOLLYWOOD

And yet another fine example of instrumental hiphop is about to hit the streets. Beatmaker Brenk, hailing from Vienna, will release his debutalbum "Brenk Gumbo" on the 22nd of februari and according to the snippets that were sent to Lock it Down, it's going to be a good one! Picture the mighty Modeselektor (in a hiphop mood) in the studio with Wax Tailor and you've got a general idea what this Brenk character sounds like. R 'n B, funk and hiphop gently merge into a very nice, fat, loungy yet uplifting blend. What makes Brenk different than other instrumental hiphop artists that we wrote about (i.e: Wax Tailor, Guts), is that he's a bit rougher than them. More hiphop. The sound on Brenk Gumbo almost makes you want to write lyrics to the songs, but for the sake of the musiclovers out there, I'll just keep mumbling those inside my head and leave it to the prof's.

Check Brenk on myspace.

'Vinyl has been eliminated'

In Jamaica, seven-inch singles are completely extinct; DJs have ditched their turntables. Will the digital revolution mean the end of traditional reggae?
read the full article in the Guardian here...
thanx to Mr T for the link!

New Souljazz release: The Sound Dimension

An essential new compilation of classic recordings from the funkiest group in the history of Reggae! Available to buy in all good record stores or online here now at Soul Jazz Records The Sound Dimension have recorded some of the most important songs in Reggae music; songs such as “Real Rock”, “Drum Song”, “Heavy Rock”, “Rockfort Rock”, “In Cold Blood” – all classic songs that have become the ‘foundation’ of Reggae music, endlessly versioned and re-versioned by Jamaican artists since the time they were first recorded to the present day. As the in-house band at Studio One in the late 1960’s, The Sound Dimension also played alongside everyone from The Heptones, Alton Ellis, Ken Boothe, Marcia Griffiths and more. Similar to their US counterparts The Funk Brothers at Motown and Booker T and The MGs at Stax, The Sound Dimension recorded on a daily basis incredibly catchy and funky tunes matched by a seamless musicality.Featuring musicians of the calibre of Ernest Ranglin, Jackie Mittoo, Eric Frater, Leroy Sibbles, Don Drummond Jnr, Deadley Headley and more, the Sound Dimension existed from around 1967-70 and all the recordings featured here were originally released during this period. For a band with a fluid line-up, they had an amazingly consistent sound laying down classic rhythms for the singers of the day at Studio One as well as stretching out with their own recordings. None of this can explain the importance of this music. “Real Rock”, “Mojo Rocksteady”, “Rockfort Rock”, “Drum Song”, “In Cold Blood” – the melodies to these classic songs are a thousand times better known than the musicians who originally created them. Played and re-played by every house band for every producer on the island, these iconic rhythms became the basis for dancehall and laid the foundations for the future of Jamaican music.This album can be seen as a companion to the earlier Sound Dimension release “Jamaica Soul Shake” and together these two albums make a unique and definitive document of a seriously important set of recordings.