June 17, 2009

Joe Gibbs Early Dub Classic: Dub Serial 1973

Greensleeves is re-releasing the first and long lost dub set by one of our alltime favourite producers Joe Gibbs. Originally issued circa 1973 alongside other classic early dub sets including Lee Perry’s Black Board Jungle and Rhythm Shower, Herman Chin-Loy's Aquarius Dub, Randy's Java Dub (mixed by Errol Thompson), Prince Buster’s The Message Dubwise and others. Virtually unheard since that time, it’s a dubhead’s dream come true, with early raw drum and bass cuts to Gibbs’s cut to Satta Massagana, Love Me Girl, Money In My Pocket and the killer cut to He Prayed used by Big Youth for his Foreman Vs Frasier. Spare on the effects, just a bit of echo and reverb and a couple of vicious tape rewinds. If you dig Joe's African Dub chapters, you'll need this album too. Dub Serial can also be found on cd in the boxset Evolution Of Dub Vol.1, also on Greensleeves.
Side One:
1. Satta Amassa Gana Version
2. More Dub Version
3. More Dub Version Two
4. Love Me Girl Version
5. Turn Back The Hands Of Time Version
6. Money In My Pocket Version
Side Two:
1. Rainy Night In Georgia Version
2. God Bless The Children Version
3. Love Ja Ja Children Version
4. Without Love Version
5. Be The One Version
6. He Prayed Version

Sitarfunk from France: Paikan on Jazzman

Lock it Down has always been a big fan of Sitarfunk, especially if it has the seventies sound to it. Ananda Shankar (nephew to the famous Ravi Shankar) made some incredible recordings in this genre, but nowadays the genre is kept alive from outta France (which isn't that weird, since Serge Gainsbourg already was experimenting with this sound at the end of the sixties). A debut release from a new French talent with an ear for Indian soundtracks and funky grooves. But there’s no wishy washy Bollywood nonsense here, this is the real deal - three slamming pieces of hardcore sitar funk! Toulouse-based sitar maestro Païkan has been on a musical journey ever since he entered the conservatory at the precocious age of 5 to study violin, singing and music theory. Since the end of his formal studies, his experiments and collaborations have touched pretty much every far-reaching corner of the popular music underground. More recently Païkan began to lend his mastery of the Sitar to more a acoustic-led funk and jazz sound, which is where we find him here on his debut release. As you know, our area of speciality is in finding and reissuing the lost and forgotten treasures of yesteryear, so it takes something pretty unique to pique our attentions away from that mission. Put simply: any new material has to stand up to and not feel out of place with the quality of those cherished original, vintage recordings. It should also stand alone as a piece of forward thinking music, not be mere retro-tribute fodder. Those are our guidelines, and we definitely believe that Païkan's three track 12" ticks all those boxes - and then some! Païkan's sound could be described as a four-way meeting of the minds between Shankar, Schifrin, Kuti and Hendrix. Take a listen to the lead track Dancefloor Fight and see for yourself. With the slinky, heavy bottomed Detective Pandit Rey and the sneakily laid back Afro frenzy of Afro On The Rocks making up the rest of the E.P. this is the best Sitarfunk we've heard in a long time..
A1 Dancefloor Fight
B1 Detective Pandit Rey
B2 Afro on the Rocks
Go here for soundsamples~......

New Daptone release: The Budos Band EP

Here at Lock It Down we love the Daptone label and are anxious to get their next release: From the vaults of Daptone Records, comes a collection of 6 unreleased tracks from the infamous Budos Band. Recorded after the Budos Band I sessions but before those for the second album, this EP is a fascinating glimpse into the group's evolution as musicians and recording artists. Listeners may be familiar with two songs previously released and universally recognized as “Budos classics.” The Proposition, a hit single released on 7-inch by Daptone Records, incorporates the style now known worldwide as Budos swing responsible for drawing so many a listener onto the sweaty dancefloor. Mas O Menos, included on the band's smash hit album The Budos Band II, exemplifies the group's feel for soul with its infectious bass, tightly intertwined guitar and organand soaring horns. Smoke Gets In, created on the anniversary of the six hundred sixty-sixth rotation of the Budonian lunar calendar, finds the band returning to its dusty roots. It is bothsonically and literally other-worldly. The psycho-tropic venom found on the Budos Band II may have originated in this very session. Is this actually happening or areyour ears melting? Named for the goddess said to have bestowed powers upon the knights of old Budonia, Ephra incorporates rollicking guitars, juxtaposed with haunting hornsand pervasive highlife rhythms. The existence of such complexity within a seemingly simple tune is the truest metaphor for the Budonian knight himself. Nobody's Bulletproof references the ever-evolving relationship of the Budos Band with their ancestors and predecessors. The stabbing horns and break-neck percussivepace hearken back to the band's Afrobeat roots. The near-militaristic cadence is a constant reminder that no one is safe from the scorpion's sting. As the greaterwarrior has said, “The sword cometh and hath not yet purged the depths of thine soul.”The Budos Band EP is a must have for Budos and Daptone fans alike. It stands as a vital account of the band's movement between musical styles and records a singular moment in the group's existence. It will indeed stand the test of time and remain a bedrock of Budos lore. If you're in the Netherlands don't forget to check them out live at the Supernatural Funky Festival 2009, on june 27th.
UPDATE: oh shit the entire Budos Band european tour is CANCELLED!

New Pressure Sounds release: Treasure Isle's Pleasure Dub 1974

The folks at Pressure Sounds drop another dub bomb, check out this classic set! Duke Reid died from cancer in 1974 and his nephew, Errol Brown, who had been a junior engineer at Treasure Isle and who would go on to become one of the key engineers at Bob Marley's Tuff Gong Studio, took over the studio controls. He mixed three dub albums at Treasure Isle that dressed down and dubbed up some of the best of the Bond Street catalogue. Snatches of the original vocals were woven in and out of mixes that sound as fresh and as vital today as they did when they were first released both in their original sixties incarnations and their seventies counteractions. Treasure Dub Volume One and Treasure Dub Volume Two have been available in various incarnations ever since. However, Pleasure Dub, the best of the set featuring Errol Brown's cuts to rock steady classics such as The Right Track by Phyllis Dillon, The Tide Is High and Riding On A High & Windy Way from The Paragons and Things You Say You Love by The Jamaicans has never been re-pressed since its initial release. In addition to the incredible music, re-mastered to the usual exacting standards, Pressure Sounds have retained the original artwork for the front cover and added an array of fabulous Treasure Isle photographs and graphics assembled alongside detailed sleeve notes that place the music in its proper context. This exciting release, takes you straight to the real roots of the music back to Bond Street and those very first versions.
1.Tracking Dub
2.Love Dub
3.Dub With Strings
4.Lift Off
5.Ride De Dub
6.Rema Skank
7.Bond Street Rock
8.Many Questions
9.The Attorney
10.Silver Hour
11.Twilight Rock
12.Dreads Leaving Babylon
13.Side Walk Doctor CD only
14.I Shave The Barber CD only
15.Barbering CD only
16.Seven Eleven (7-11) CD only
17.I See Your Face Version CD only
18.Scrubit (featuring Lizzy) CD only

June 16, 2009

Thursday june 18: El Hijo de la Cumbia @ OT301 Amsterdam

Thursday june 18 there will be a special MAXIMA cumbia night at the OT301, oye que super!!! with very special guest straight outta Argentina: El Hijo de la Cumbia (son of the cumbia). Just 24 years of age, this talented producer comes to Amsterdam for the first time ever!

El Hijo de la Cumbia aka Emilliano Gomez hails from the San Martin area of Buenos Aires and started his musical career in 1996. From that moment on, he took part in several Argentine Cumbia music bands. In 2000, he started listening to other musical genres originating in ghettos from all across the world, such as Reggae, Dancehall, Hip Hop, Jazz, Dub, etc. Very much influenced by Colombian Cumbia music, he then decided to experiment by mixing Colombian rhythms with African ones and new styles. Known as a Sonidero producer for Mexican and American bands, he has worked in the most important Mexican and US music scenes. There, he made his remixes which were quite peculiar back in the day, with a clear inclination towards dub. Also playing is DJ Saxixa (Paises Bajos, Worm), fresh from the porteno city of Rotterdam and the creative force behind WORM. He will spice up the night with his special record collection from allover South America. Expect old & new cumbia’s from Paraguay, Argentinia, Colombia, Peru and beyond…. and of course our usual hosts the Rebel Up! DJ’s (FR/BE), during the night our faithfull global duo crew will add greasy and spicy sounds for a mishmash of cumbia and dubby latino spheres.
Starts early at 21:00 and will go on till 1am, perhaps a bit longer if you can keep the heat up! El Hijo is expected to play around 23:30…OT301, Overtoom 301 (tram 1, stop at JP Heijestraat)doors open; 21:00fee; 6 euro

June 13, 2009

Barcelona Calling: Rumba Catalan by Que Pum Que Pam

It's no secret that Barcelona, an incredible meltingpot of different musical styles, is one of my favourite places in the whole wide world. However, the original sound of Barcelona is their Rumba Catalan, invented by the gypsies in the sixties, and made famous by Peret (or lesser known gods such as El Gitano Portugués) in the seventies. While most bands from Barca mix up all kinds of sounds into a mestizo cocktail (inspired by godfather Manu and his Mano Negra), there are some bands still playing the original pure Catalan Rumba. And the here featured Que Pum Que Pam is one of them....
Que Pum Que Pam is a six-piece rumba band, already playing together for several years, consists of: Alex Gallego “El capullo de Gramanet", Eduardo “Sepia del Besós”, Letizia Di Liberto “La calamara”, Julia Fritz, Xabier “el patriarca” Monreal and La Rubia Montoya. Last year they released their Garrulator: Vamonos Platanos, an ep with six groovy oldskool rumbas.
Tracklist:
1. - R.A.P.
2. - Maria
3. - Arrinconamela
4. - Brigante
5. - El Arte Del Pobre
6. - La Rumba de todas Partes
Que Pum kindly donated the track Arrinconamela to Lock It Down. Click down here te check it
They also made a videoclip of their El Arte Del Pobre tune, check it on Youtube here.

Cumbia mix by DJ Tommi

Local hero DJ Tommi is famous for his Balkan Beatz parties all over the Netherlands, but he's also knee deep into mestizo and cumbia. Cumbia was invented in coastal Colombia, nowadays it is mixed with all kinds of other styles from other countries, creating dancefloor-proof riddims. Listen to Tommi's cumbiamix and find out yourself why cumbia's gonna be hot this summer! Also includes my personal fav El Hijo de La Cumbia, watch out for this sound! Big Up to Tommi for sharing this mix with us!
01. Los Mirlos – Cumbia de los Pajaritos
02. Calle13 – Cumbia de los Abburdidos
03. Don Omar – Cae la Noche (Kassanova Rmx)
04. El Hijo de la Cumbia – Para Bailar (Alika Rmx)
05. Salsa Celtica – Cumbia Celtica
06. Grupo Fantasma – Borracho
07. Bomba Estereo – Fuego
08. Mala Vita – DF
09. Severina – Ljute Cigare
10. Rodolfo y sy Tipica – La Colegia
11. Celso Pina – Cumbia Poder
12. Conjunto Tipico Contreras – Cumbia Sampoesana
13. RossyWar – TechnoCumbia del Oeste
14. El Gran Silenco – CumbiaMuffin’

June 07, 2009

Enjoy & Dance: Reggae Mixtape LuisMy Selekta outta Ceuta (Africa/Spain)

Our friend LuisMy Selekta aka Lone Warrior from Afrikan Town Sound outta Ceuta (see here for pics of their Utrecht gig some time ago) made a nice mix of new roots & dancehall. Click here to download! For more info contact luismibong@hotmail.com.

Tracklist:
01. Luciano - What are we gonna do?
02. Michael Rose - Time Bomb
03. Alborosie - Sound killa
04. Everton Blender - Emergency love
05. Jah Mason - Shed no tears
06. Collie Buddz - Tomorrow is another day (RMX)
07. Lt. Stitchie - Real life story (RMX)
08. Naptali, Luton Fyah & Arafat - More love
09. Ginjah - Love music
10. Geoffrey Star & Wildlife - Free up your mind
11. Million Stylez & ill Inspecta - Revolution music
12. Nitty Gritty - Ready done
13. Yami Bolo - Ethiopian children
14. Top Cat - Girl of my dreams
15. Burro Banton - No problem
16. Burro Banton - Sort out yourself
17. Capleton - Get the hell out
18. Million Stylez - I-grade
19. Ward21 - Walla walla
20. Dr. Evil - Huslin
21. Collie Buddz - Rise it
22. Elephant Man - Bare as she dare
23. Mr. Pepper - She keep on
24. Tami Chynn - Rudeboy
25. Sean Paul - Pick it up and drop it
26. Gentleman - Jah guide the city (RMX)
27. Alborosie - Police (RMX)

Version Station Reggae Mix by BEN

Our friend BEN from France made a nice oldskool reggae mix for us, called VERSION STATION, 37 minutes filled with dj versions of popular reggae classics. So wake the town and tell the people to click down here....................




U Roy - Chalice in the Pale
Lizzy - The Right Song
Charlie Ace - Shock & Shake
Dave Barker - Wet version
Big Youth - Moving Version
U Roy - Festival Wise
Dr Alimentado - Chant to Jah
Junior Byles - Beat Down Babylon
Winston Williams - Dj's Choice
Nicky & Cat Campbell - Hammering Version
Dennis Alcapone - Musical Liquidator
Philip Samuels - Hot Stick Version
I Roy - Thinking Cap
Charlie Chaplin - Chalice