WAX TAILOR::HOPE & SORROW

Finally, after the superb "Tales of forgotten melodies", Wax Tailor hits the stores with a new album: "Hope & sorrow," albeit only in the US, Canada and France. That, however, makes sense since Wax is a big name in those countries and fairly unknown in other countries. Or is he? In Holland, where yours truly resides, he's got quite a big following these days and his new album will only seek to increase these numbers.

Although feeling a bit of dissapointment at first, "Hope & Sorrow" only seems to give way to its sheer beauty after a couple of rounds. Sure, the sound is familiar by now and that might very well be the main reason for the aforementioned dissapointment, but give it a good listen and mark the excellent production, the superb songwriting and the small details that tie the album together like glue. The main thing that makes "Hope & sorrow" a more than worthy succesor, though, is that it doesn't sound like an album made up by various artists: it's not crammed with ideas like its predecessor. Wax' newest is beautifully set up like a musical journey making it very worthwhile to listen to the album as a whole instead of skipping through highlights. Although that doesn't mean there aren't any on this one: "The Way We Lived" featuring Sharon Jones is simply superb and "The Tune" is a funk anthem in its own right.
Formost, this new album shows that the abilities of Wax Tailor as a songwriter and musician are te be taken into serious account: I believe his next one will be the true masterpiece we're all eagerly awaiting.

But untill then: get off on this one. It's good. Very, very good.

Info: Wax Tailor

Superfunk is Back! Volume 5 comin' up!

Yeah, the girls and guys from Ace records delivered another baby: Superfunk Volume 5, another album filled with unknown funky pleasure. Compiled as usual by Dean Rudland. Click on the samples and enjoy!

Check the Ace website for more info.

01 JUST SITTING - Smithstonian sample
02 CAN'T GET ENOUGH - 87th Off Broadway
03 SHE'S THE ONE - The Diplomats
04 HI OFF LIFE - The Eternal Flames
05 HOME BREW - Miles Grayson
06 GIVE ME ANOTHER CHANCE - The Uniques
07 I GOT HURT PT 1 - The Phillips Brothers
08 I GOT HURT PT 2 - The Phillips Brothers
09 TURN AROUND AND GO - Lee Bernard
10 LET A WOMAN BE A WOMAN-LET A MAN BE A MAN-Dyke & The Blazers
11 TWINE TIME - Alvin Cash sample
12 FACE TO FACE - The Explosions
13 SHAKE A LEG - Jackie Wilson sample
14 CAN'T BUY SOUL - Hebrew Rogers
15 LOW RIDER (DEUCE & A QUARTER) - Smokey Wilson
16 WHO DONE IT? (WHO DRAINED THE POOL) - Big Daddy Green
17 MOTHER POPCORN - The Mello Matics
18 LITTLE BOY BLUE - The Phillips Brothers
19 YOU'D BE GOOD FOR ME - Jeanette Jones
20 HOLD ON - Lorenzo Holden
21 FREE THE SOUL MAN - La May & Company

New Jazzman Release: Sister Funk 2!

Jazzman Records proudly presents Sister Funk Volume Two. A full five years in the making, the follow up to the hugely popular first volume finally sees the light of day, bearing with it the fruits of compiler Ian Wright’s inexhaustible quest to unearth some of the world’s toughest, most elusive and undeniably funky female 45’s. The spectrum of sounds covered on this album reflects a broad range of styles, from the heavy funk of Keisa Brown’s ‘Dance Man’ to the dancefloor jazz of Barbara Trent’s ‘Heartbreak Hotel’, from the discofied soul of Florence Trapp to the crossover stylings of Barbara Mason. As ever, the selections range from the ridiculously obscure to the frustratingly impossible to find – which isn’t to say this is music to stroke your goatee to - if anyone’s still sitting down after putting this record on we’ll send Big Ella round to sort ‘em out!

Tracklist:

1 RHETTA HUGHES You're Doing it with Her 2.39 Listen
2 HONEY & BEES Love Addict Listen
3 DOLLY GILMORE Sweet Sweet Baby Listen
4 BARBARA KING What I did in the Street Listen
5 COLETTA WOODSON Follow the Wind Listen
6 SANDY GAYE Watch the Dog Listen
7 BIG ELLA The Queen Listen
8 SHEILA WILKERSON Baby You're a Jive Cat Listen
9 RICHI CORBIN TRIO A Woman was made for a Man Listen
10 BARBARA TRENT Heartbreak Hotel Listen
11 ALTHEA SPENCER Take me Baby Listen
12 CHERYL JOHNSON It's not too Late Listen
13 BARBARA HOWARD I Dont Want your Love Listen
14 LEON MITCHISON Whatcha Need Listen
15 CHERYL DORSEY If you Want your Man Listen
16 FABULETTES Muddy Waters Listen
17 KEISA BROWN The Dance Man Listen
18 BARBARA MASON You Better Stop It Listen
19 HARD DRIVERS Since I was a Little Girl Listen
20 FLORENCE TRAPP Love Came into my Life Listen

New Soundway Release: Colombia!

Already available as we speak: Colombia! The Golden Age of Discos Fuentes – the Powerhouse of Colombian Music, 1960-1976.

Discos Fuentes has since 1934 been the largest record label in the vast country of Colombia, a place where music is impossible to escape. This collection concentrates on the golden years of 1960-1976 and is hand-picked by Soundway from a huge catalogue of hot, tropical music styles. Cumbia, Gaita, Fandango, Salsa and Champeta all feature in our selection from one of the world’s best Latin music archives. More info @ http://www.soundwayrecords.com/

Tracklist:
Fruko Y Sus Tesos-Salsa Na Ma-4:13 sample
Lito Barrientos Y Su Orquesta-Cumbia En Do Menor-2:46 sample
Michi Sarmiento Y Sus Bravos-Hong Kong-3:53
Sonora Cieneguera-La Piojosa-2:53
Fruko Y Sus Tesos-Improvisando-3:50
The Latin Brothers-Patrona De Los Reclusos (CD ONLY)-6:13
Wganda Kenya-Tifit Hayed-3:40 sample
Pedro Laza Y Sus Pelayeros-Fandango En Percusion-2:45
Orquesta Nunez-La Samaria-2:57 sample
Los Corraleros de Majagual-El Mondongo-10:13
Fruko Y Sus Tesos-A La Memoria Del Muerto-4:21
Michi Sarmiento Y Sus Bravos-La Primavera (CD ONLY)-2:16
Wganda Kenya-Elyoyo (CD ONLY)-4:07
Lucho Bermudez-Gaita De Los Flores-2:33
El Sexteto Miramar-Cumbiamba-2:42
Michi Sarmiento Y Sus Bravos-Mirame San Miguel-2:50 sample
Pedro Laza Y Sus Pelayeros-La Picua (CD ONLY)-2:50
Climaco Sarmiento Y Su Orquesta-La Pata Y El Pato-2:44 sample
The Latin Brothers-Las Calenas Son Como Los Flores-3:55 sample
Afrosound-Pacifico-2:44

Back from Brazil Part I: Sivuca

While travelling through Brazil last january & february, I was visiting São Luís, (capital of Maranhão, northeastern Brazil), and could’t resist to do some digging on the local markets (found an original copy of Mandrill’s 1973's Composite Truth for 1 euro!). Opposite the market was a small recordstore called Adriano’s. It was actually closed, but the neighbour called the owner, who luckily arrived within 10 minutes. Actually he didn’t have too much interesting records, but when I saw this cover, I took a few seconds to study this record. There were references on the back by Harry Belafonte and Oscar Brown Jr, but Bill Wither’s Ain’t No Sunshine really convinced me to buy it. Later that week I learned that this guy, who looked like a yodeling native of the Swiss Alpes, did the arrangement of the Miriam Makeba classic Pata Pata. The self-produced album, on Vanguard (1974), mixes Folk with Bossanova and Latin Jazz, contains 10 tracks and includes his self-penned classic Adeus Maria Fulo. Apart from some other pretty decent tunes, it also has a nice version of Antonio Carlos e Jocafi’s Voce Abouso. But the killer track is definitely Ain’t No Sunshine: hitting of with funky female bossanova voices reminding of Sergio Mendes’ version of Mas que Nada, then changing into a funky jazzfrenzy with the screaming CUICA riding the riddim, stretching the tune to 4:46. listen to the sample! (on allmusic.com).

Sivuca was born in the state of Paraíba, Brazil in 1930, moved to Recife and Rio de Janeiro and later Lisbon, Paris, New York and Scandinavia. He plays accordion (which even impressed Miles Davis), guitar, keyboard and percussion, sings and even skats. He died of cancer on December 14, 2006.

Tracklist: Adeus Maria Fulo, Tunnel, Amor Verdadeiro, Ponteio, Arrasta Pé, Voce Abouso, Inquietacao, Ain’t no Sunshine, Lament of Berimbau, Rosa Na Favela.
more info:
Sivuca @ his homepage

Sivuca @ All Music Guide

Sivuca @ All Brazilian Music

OLD CAPITAL PRESENTS NEW RIDDIM

Last year we wrote a small piece about the first release of Old Capital in which we stated that the label made a promising impact with their first riddim "Rasta Pickney". Now the french based label is about to unleash their newest creation, called "Togetherness," and it is even better than we had hoped for. "Togetherness" is a thick 'n bassheavy roots riddim with a pumping sound that is beyond uplifting due to the incredible production skills by Judi K. The sound is clear and heavy, but still maintains to keep a certain "genuine" feel to it.

Then there is the excellent choice of artists riding the riddim: Fantan Mojah, Perfect & Lutan Fyah are presenting some valuable songs and will provide the riddim its claim to fame in the dancehall. Equally strong songs are provided by lesser known artists like: Don Pako, Keefaz and Malijah, making this set of 7"s yet again essential.

Listen to a compilation of all songs on the myspace page of Old Capital

Special thanks to Old Capital for the preview.

LEE PERRY....THE MOVIE

Apparently a film about "the madman," or rather "genius" of reggae music, is in the making. Hopefully it will include some rare footage of Black Ark recording sessions, since we just can't get enough of that. The website of the film is unclear about its release, but there is a synopsis and a trailer. Go there

STUDIO ONE RUB-A-DUB

We lost count somewhere along the way, but here it is...another great comp by SoulJazz Records: Studio One Rub-A-Dub. No matter what they've named it this time, it's yet again filled with great music! Here's the tracklist for ya:

Cornell Campbell - My Conversation
Lone Ranger - Screw Gone A North Coast
Judah Eskender Tafari - Danger In Your Eyes
Rapper Robert & Jim Brown - Minister For Ganja
Freddie McGregor - How Could You Leave
Barry Brown - Give Love
Len Allen Jnr - White Belly Rat
Johnny Osbourne - Forgive Them
Alton Ellis - Live And Learn
Horace Andy - Happiness
Rapper Robert & Jim Brown - Pirate
Willie Williams - Keep On Moving
The Heptones, Freddie McGregor et al - Equal Rights 12'
Papa Michigan And General Smiley - Jah A The Creator
Ethiopian - Empty Belly
Earl 16 - No Mash Up The Dance
Lone Ranger - Natty Chalwa

BURAKA SOM SISTEMA

Everyone that enjoyed M.I.A, Jahcoozi and Modeselektor should check out BURAKA SOM SISTEMA from Lisbon. When I was in that great city for new years eve, I noticed every wall was covered with posters of this great nu-dancehall act. Seems like they're local heroes over there already, but soon their fame will spread because the music is simply astonishing. They appeared live at the last EUROSONIC fest in Holland last january, where they made a great impression on almost everybody there.

Luckily for me, I bought a 7" of Buraka in Lisbon, since it's hard to get by those outside Portugal. But a cd is supposedly on the way, and that will be available allover. For those living in Holland: Buraka is coming over again in April, so don't miss it!

But first: check 'em out and fall in love!

NEW ARTIST OF THE MONTH

And yet again, we present a new artist of the month: This time it's Albert Joseph to take credit for fully blowing us away. These days, we at Lock it Down are very much into dubstep, so we keep searching the internet for new goodies. Fortunately for us mr. Joseph presented himself to us by asking for a myspace friendship and a quick listen on his site became a 45 minute session of scanning his music, wishing he'd add some more.

His music featured in the myspace player is dubstep in essence, but we figure this guy's coming from a hiphop background since a lot of his music in the other player on his site is based on exactly this. Less impressive, but still good enough. However, when he starts mixing things up he's reaching great hights! A bit of hiphop, a lot of dubstep and a touch of IDM makes mr Joseph sound different than the others around, which is not only a good thing but also quite an achievement by itself.

By far the most impressive new found artist on the web since months.

Check him out here

Reggaemixes on Firecorner site

Check these wicked mixes on the Firecorner website:
Adrian Crestani showcases the vocal talents of Errol “Flabba” Holt – better known as a bass player with the Roots Radics band and for being part of the Morwells but he cut some stunning vocals in his own right. Some heavy roots tunes! And as usual plenty of DJ, dub and next vocal cuts thrown in. This isn’t a complete discography but is a great overview of a fine singer who was overshadowed by his equally fine bass playing skills.
click here: http://www.firecorner.com/new
also loads of other mixes for downloading!thanx to Mr T for the linx!

SSSSCRATCH!

One of my favourite records of all time is Brainfreeze, on which Dj Shadow and Cut Chemist show off their infamous skills by only using funk 7"s. The result is, how could it not be, a remarkable set that is both very well crafted as utterly enjoyable because of the selected tunes, which are often great, but hard to find funk 45's. This album combines the best of both worlds: a compilation great funk and some serious scratching skills that never fail to keep it within the flow.

This record already saw the light of day back in 1999 and a lot has happened since then. A whole heap of scratch records were released after Shadows 1996 record "Endtroducing". Some good, but most of them boring. What's the fun of a scratch record when the craft is produced so gently and smoothly you don't hear the difference between actual scratching and a sampler anymore? Though all of them are undoubtly made with true craftmanship, most of the records fail to make an impression on me since they all sound like downtempo, instrumental hip hop or triphop that are build up from small and mostly unrecognizable samples. I like it a bit rougher, like the Brainfreeze album on which you can hear more than a "bassdrum snippet" and find yourself baffled once you find out that you're listening to three tracks running simultaniously. Luckily, there are still artists around that do it "Lock it Down stylee". Here are the ones that impressed us most:

Zeph
Hailing from California. His solo album "Sunset Scavenger" is pretty good, but Zeph is even better when he links up with others. Must checkout albums are:

- Breakbuilders part 2: the next best thing after BrainFreeze. A serious contender, using discofunk and funk records that are more modern then the deepfunk Shadow and Cut Chemist use. The result is an amazing mix which makes it impossible to stay put. It sometimes sounds like early electro because of the focus on drums. Essential record.

- Hip Hop Bebop 2006: made together with dj Mason of the mighty Haul & Mason duo, this album focusses on jazz entirely. The result is equally impressive as Breakbuilders, but with a total different feel to it. The focus is more hip hop and the album sounds like Guru's Jazzmataz albums at times, but is rougher in every way. The samples, to these ears, are pretty obscure, but can easily be found on the net with a little big of googling.

Mister Aul
Has it's base in France. We never heard of him before, but we were utmost impressed when he linked us on myspace. There are good tunes to be found on his myspace site, but you'd better check out his own website, which is full of goodies. Though trying to make "real songs" with his samples, Mister Aul also seems to enjoy the rough edge of which we stated the necessity above. Every track on his site is equally impressive.

Afrodisiac Soundsystem
ASS consists of Jed and DJ Haul, who also formed Afrodisiac Records. Their reissuing and remixing of some super rare West African funk tracks that Jed had brought back from a 5 month long record hunting expedition through Ghana, Ivory Coast, Guinea, Senegal, and Mali is splendid. They turn Fela into hiphop and hiphop into afrobeat, with just a flick of their wrist. Great album for afrobeat lovers with a wish to hear some obscure tracks and also great for those hiphoppers/early electro freaks that like to hear a different beat.

WARPIGS CREATE PARANOIA: Uncovering Black Sabbath covers pt 1

These last months, I stumbled upon some remarkable cover versions of the dark groove godfathers Black Sabbath (formed in Birmingham, England in 1968 under the name Polka Tulk Blues Band). Now we all know how great & important this band was, right?.... even if the evil singer made a pact with the devil and has now its own tv show.....Of course there were influential to every band in thew world who uses a rock guitar, but these creators of immortal riffs also have bestowed their wisdom upon German Schlager Stars.

Norbert Berger ('45) and Jutta Gusenburger ('48) are both born in the German town of Völklingen. From 1965 on they appear together as Cindy & Bert and in 1973 topped the charts with Immer wieder Sonntags (also appears on Vic van der Reijt's brilliant compilation of german songs Van Du tot Dadada). The Darker side of the duo is shown in their version of Black Sabbath classic Paranoid. Der Hund Von Baskerville was released as 7 inch B-side to Holly Holy on Cornet records in 1970. Just spotted that one for 125 bucks on ebay. The song in itself has a real psychotic feel to it (as it should) and the dog in the video surely increases the paranoia. Even if you hate Cindy & Bert's music(Can you imagine?) , you have to check this video below. You will be happy to hear that this German duo are still performing today.(thanx 2 chiswick for pointing out this one!)

HYPE THE HYPE

Dubstep, a small subgenre in electronic music that sounds like slowed down drum 'n bass or two-step and mainly coming from London, is taking over the world. Rapidly. We're not going to boast here: apart from the odd song or two, we at Lock it Down never heard before of this kind of music. There is no shame about it, it's a London underground thing which kept to themselves a lot. Sure, nowadays, when even all papers in Holland are writing about this new craze and dubstep is all over the internet, you'll find people boasting about it like they were the first ones to discover it. But where were all those people when the artists, that are now receiving great reviews, were performing mostly to other dubstep artists in the scene? We at Lock it Down are honest: we weren't there. And that is just a damn shame, because, frankly, dubstep is the best thing that ever happened to electronic music as it is.

Smoothly combining the roots of Jamaican dub with its grandson drum 'n bass, two-step and grime, dubstep is taking things further where many people thought things couldn't be stretched anymore. The recipe is simple: slow down, speed up and go low.
We'll define that for you: slow down the riddim but make it so that you can dance twice as fast to it and make the bass sounds even lower and "wobble" it more as ever. Difficult? Yes. The riddims might sound complex to unexperienced listeners: I went to a dubstep party where most of the people there couldn't understand how to dance to the slowed down beat. Only after the dj (Kode 9) plugged and perfectly mixed a record that was twice as fast as his record already playing, the crowd understood that dubstep is also suitable to dance that old-fashioned drum'n bass stylee to. And thus it became a great party after all, that gained dubstep a lot of new fans. Myself included.

Being an avid fan of reggae dub, electronic dub, drum 'n bass and electronical music like IDM (terrible name!) I found myself somewhat bored after a couple of years. The "amen break" has been sampled to death, electronic dub artists seem to do nothing else but either copy themselves or Zion Train, and IDM, nowadays, is all about producing lame beats with acoustic guitars and rappers or taking it way too far in timing beats and breaks. And then I heard dubstep...It fitted perfectly with what I was searching for: innovative beats, massive sound, heavy bass and something new in general. Here's a small overview of "must hear" artists and "must see" sites.
Convince yourself.

Kode 9
Heavyweight producer who's involved in a lot of the records you hear nowadays.

Skream!
20 year old wonderkid who supposedly wrote about 1500 tracks already, but Skream! is also responsible for one of the best dubstep albums released up till now.

L-Wiz
Not from the UK, but hailing from Scandinavia, this guy's one of the most innovative dubstep artists.

Loefah
Very creative when it comes to building riddims. Also the one that brings the bass down lower then everyone else.

Burial
Dubstep's first superstar

Digital Mystikz
Pioneers and leading producers of this scene. Very creative, with both strong takes on old style dub as new-style dub techno.

HyperDub
Dubstep record company number one

Tempa
Dubstep record company number two

Dub Police
Dubstep record company number three

Dubstep forum
All there is to it: you'll find it here. The newest productions, gossip and shows.

Barefiles
All the newest mixes, productions and mash-ups can be downloaded from this site.

Of course there is a lot more to be found on both the web as on vinyl. To name just a few to bare in mind are: Wavescape, Taken and Various. But these links will give you a nice start. From there on, you're lost.
Promised...

OH MY....IT'S THE DANSETTES!

By far the finest, most danceable, most retro, most remarkable and, above all, funniest 7" I encountered recently is courtesy of vocal trio "The Dansettes." This strictly limited edition 7" (500 copies worldwide) called "Oh my!" is a wonderfull piece of music that is both appealing as it is impressive. The New York based Dansettes smoothly combine early Stax hammond grooves with the typical Tamla/Motown vocal trio sound, blend it with sugarcoated pop and also manage to put some of that fine New-Orleans drum patterns into their music. The result is an ultra poppy, "where did I hear this before" sing-along that is utmost pleasing, but play it some more and you'll discover the sheer brilliance of it. They make it sound so easy but the way they mix, switch and blend styles in this song is far from easy. I read somewhere that the best popsongs are the ones that are easy listening but hard to play. Indeed they are and this 7" is a fine example of a truly great pop/soul/funk song.

The Dansettes owe a heavy credit to the The Bourbon Dynasty, who layed down the rhythm (instrumental is on the b-side) and the mighty Daptone who recorded the song in their infamous studio, but as long as they can keep it together I'm eagerly awaiting more 7"s. Untill then, I'll just play this gem over and over and over again..

Go have a listen here

SUDDENLY, THEY CAME TO BREAKOUT!

Breakout, a funk combo hailing from Hannover Germany just released a heavy, heavy 7" on Melting Pot, the same label that also brought us the mighty Lefties Soul Connection.

Although the single sounds like it is recorded by a tight funk outfit, Breakout works a bit different: they transform old dusty records with the help of up to date technology, a bunch of musicians and the knowledge of modern music into something new. Quite a long route for a song to come together. Certainly when the result, in this case, is not far from the real deal: a heavy funk stomper which fits perfectly well with your original funk 45's. But you'll never hear Lock it Down complain about that, certainly not when a song is as good as this. It rocks!

Check the sound of Breakout here

A Hammond in Your Garage: Das Aldi Combo

Das Aldi Combo from Groningen has just released their seven inch The Dirt on the Ground on Butterfly Records. Insane Hammond-Garage Sound from the Northern part of the Netherlands! The Combo includes members of soul punkers Green Hornet, sixties-garage The Firebirds and polka-skaband Jammah Tammah. Influenced by souljazz like Jimmy McGriff, Rock & Roll, a ballad or rather something by The Cramps...
check samples:
Aside-The Dirt On The Ground, Thinking Black (Ike Turner)
Bside-Human Fly (The Cramps), Bag of Bones
More info & sound on their website: http://www.dasaldicombo.com/
or Myspace: http://www.myspace.com/dasaldicombo

Upcoming Reggae Release Fest

Some of our favourite labels are about to release interesting stuff, so be warned!
First, there's the new Soul Jazz compilation: 100% Dynamite! Dancehall Stylee. Artists include:
Early B, Lady Saw, Tippa Irie, Ladybug(The Bug & MC Warrior Queen), Anthony Redrose (Tempo), Digital Mystikz, Kiprich, Fat Eyes, Powerman, King Tubby, Shinehead(of course, Billy Jean), King Baucho, Beenieman, Michigan & Smiley (Diseases), Dillinger, Wayne Junior, Pompidou and Cecile.

Then, the Blood & Fire Label re-issues the classic Yabby You album Deliver Me From My Enemies with loads of bonustracks. Classic Roots in a righteous way! Releasedate: Oct 23. (info from from Dance Crasher site!)


1. Deliver Me From My Enemies
2. Deliver Me From My Enemies Version
3. Judgement Time
4. Blood A Go Run Down King Street
5. Love In Zimba
6. Zion Gate
7. Lonely Me
8. Stranger In Love
9. Pound Get A Blow
10. Pick The Beam11. And Amlak (One God)
12. Jah Vengeance / Yabby You & Trinity [12" mix]
13. Free Africa / Yabby You & Trinity [12" mix]
14. Babylon A Fall / The Prophets [12" mix]
15. Falling Babylon / Tony Tuff [12" mix]
16. Pick The Beam / previously unreleased dubplate Mix 1
17. Pick The Beam Version / previously unreleased dubplate Mix 2

Finally, the Pressure Sounds Posse strikes back with another great compilation of tracks produced by Tommy Cowan: Life Goes In Circles (Sounds from the Talent Corporation 1974 to 1979). Releasedate: Oct 2.
1.Jerusalem - Devon Irons (Extended Version)
2.Love Comes And Goes - The Abyssinians
3.Love Comes and Goes Version - The Abyssinians
4.Ghetto On Fire - Jacob Miller
5.Mother Country - Little Madness
6.Mother Country Dub Side - Little Madness
7.School Tonight - Desi Roots
8.The Way - Augustus Pablo
9.City Of The Weak Heart - Earl Zero .
10.Dub The Weak Heart - Circles & King Tubby
11.The Road Is Rough - Leroy Smart
12.Life Goes In Circles - Dennis Brown
13.False Rumour - Two Rasta Man
14.False Rumour Version - King Tubby
15.Please Officer - Earl Zero
16.King Tubby's Version - Talent Crew
17.Speak Softly Love - Ken Boothe
18.Hit Song - Roman Stewart
19.Natty Sings A Hit Song - Dillinger
20.Dub Songs - Dillinger and King Tubby

R.I.P. JOSEPH HILL

Reggae legend and Culture frontman Joseph Hill is no longer with us. Joseph suddenly took ill and passed away in Berlin Germany on the morning of August 19, 2006 while the group were in the middle of a European tour. Hill (born: January 22, 1949) enjoyed a lengthy career in reggae music and will be greatly missed by both fans and peers. The group plans to finish its current European tour and honor all other commitments with Joseph's son Kenyatta standing in on lead vocals as a tribute to his father. In coming days additional information will be posted on this website and Culture's website and Guestbook entries can be made here

WAKE THE TOWN, ITS REGGAE JEGGAE

One of our first blogs ever, dealt with the issue of the revival of Joe Gibbs as an imprint in business. At the time we were very pleased that some hard to find gems were made available again, but the new Crazy Joe Europe imprint apparently decided to take it to the next level. Sure, they said, it's nice that the "African Dub" series are, deservedly so, in print again, but there is more! More?? Yep, and the chance that you've heard these tunes before are pretty slim (the Royals recorded for Joe Gibbs??)...My oh my, this is good material..All music on "Reggae Jeggae" was recorded inbetween 1968 and 1969 and at the time released as "Amalgamated" 7"s. Nowadays, they are worth a fortune if, and I mean IF, you are lucky enough to find only one of them in good condition, let alone the whole bunch. Info on their releases is not the strongest point of the Crazy Joe Europe imprint, so couldn't tell you if there are some unreleased songs on this comp, but that really doesn't matter since this is so good a record with so much great songs, both classics as obscurities, that it leaves me with just one possible recommendation: ESSENTIAL.

Tracklist:
01_Drumbago & The Blunders_Reggae Jeggae
02_The Versatiles_Lulu Bell
03_Hugh Malcolm_Mortgage
04_The Slickers_Mother Matty
05_Errol Dunkley_Love Brother
06_The Reggae Boys_The Wicked They Must Survive
07_The Destroyers_Rock The Clock
08_The Immortals_Bongo Jah
09_Ken Parker_It's Allright
10_Jackie Robinson_Let the Little Girl Dance
11_Tyrone Taylor_Delilah
12_The Soul Sisters_Wreck A buddy
13_The Pioneers_Who The Cap Fits
14_The Creations_Get On Up
15_The Immortals_Jane Anne
16_The Royals_Never See Come See

Listen to some snippets here