90 Minutes of Global Chicano Rock 1970-1978

If you don’t like screaming guitars and lots of percussion, don’t go any further. Latin Soul, Jazz , Rock & Funk, a deft balance between percussive rhythms, instrumental passages and emotional (and romantic) singing in both Spanish and English. Carlos Santana has risen to superstardom with these ingredients. However, there are much more bands, who in the wake of the Chicano Power movement of the late sixties got inspired and started to playing this music. Obviously all over U.S.A. and Latin America, but also as far as the Netherlands (check out the Massada track).

Anikulapo - Global Chicano Rock 1970-1978 by Anikulapo on Mixcloud

download here
http://www.mediafire.com/?r4868579sx938yc

The Boogaloo Combo – Nappy Head (Epic 1972)
Eddie Benitez - Hey Girl (Vaya 1976)
El Chicano - Ron Con Con (Shadybrook 1976)
Toro – Ramona (Coco 1975)
Santana – Oye Como Va (Colombia 1970)
Seguida – Mambo Rock (Fania 1974)
Chango - Mira Pa’ca (ABC 1975)
Coke Escovedo – Te Amo Mas (Sound Triangle 1975)
Azteca – Azteca (Colombia 1972)
Sapo – Can’t Make It (Bell 1974)
Katunga - Bailando Despacito (RCA 1973)
Bwana – Motemba (Caytronics 1972)
Tierra – La Feria (20th Century 1974)
Antiques - Chauca (Sound Triangle? 1973)
Cesar 830 – Azucar (Flying Dutchman 1975)
Massada – Nena (Kendari 1978)
Malo – Oye Mamita (Warner Bros 1972)
Flash & The Dynamics – Electric Latin Soul (Tico 1971?)
Macondo – Cayuco (Atlantic 1972)
Black Sugar – Viajecito (Sono Radio 1970)
Harvey Averne - Cucara Macara (Heavy Duty 1971)

Starting off easy with The Boogaloo Combo from Brazil, doing War´s Nappy Head. Their 1972 album Con Muito Ritmo also features a killer version of James Brown’s Hot Pants Road. Guitarist Eddie Benitez was born in Puerto Rico and raised in Europe, and at the age of 10 his family moved to New York City. Eddie started his musical career back in 1976 when he was signed to Fania/CBS Records at the age of 14. His first release NightLife soared the Latin and jazz charts and he became a West Coast Hero of Latin Rock. Hey Girl was produced by Fania ‘s Louie Ramirez. El Chicano was one of the biggest names on the scene, only second to Santana. This tune is from their later period on an independent label, their albums from the early seventies are also very enjoyable. New York based Toro is next with Ramona, produced by Harvey Averne, who returns with his own band later in the mix. Released in 1972 on Harvey’s Coco label. The Master himself Santana kicks in next with a cover of Tito Puente’s Oye Como Va. Always difficult to chose from such a vast volume of groovy recordings he made in the sixties and seventies. Seguida were a 20 piece latin orchestra from New York, that stood out at the time for combining sythesizers and electric guitars alongside the traditional percussion and brass. Mambo Rock is a serious dancefloor mover, produced by Fania’s Larry Harlow. One of the few latin rock acts on the Fania label, which normally was dominated by salsa. From U.S. East Coast comes the six-piece band Chango. The God Chango is the representative of unbridled sexuality, and here they deliver Mira Pa’Ca in rather West Coast way. After Azteca disbanded, Thomas “Coke” Escovedo toured with Stevie Wonder and signed to Mercury for his formal solo debut: Coke appealed to Latin, jazz and soul listeners. However, with disappointing sales, Escovedo rejoined Santana in the late 70s and played with Herbie Hancock during his disco-funk phase. The earlier mentioned Azteca, was a large Latin Rock band (up to 25 people!), based in San Francisco and including former Santana percussionists such as the brothers Pete & Coke Escovedo (Sheila E. also belongs to the Escovedo family) and Victor Pantoja. The group also included the horn section of Tower of Power and Neil Schon (of Journey) on guitar. They released only two albums in the early seventies on Colombia before disbanding. Also from San Franciso, Sapo, with Richard Bean on vocals, they enjoyed some chart success with Can’t Make It. Katunga hail from Argentina, but recorded most of their tunes in Peru. Balando Despacio, recorded in 1973, is a fine example of South American fusion of funk and rock. Also from the South American continent are Bwana, a mysterious six piece outfit from Colombia with an insane psychedelic Latin Afro-Funk-Rock sound; heavy keyboard grooves, moaning guitars, tribal vocals and conga madness throughout the album. Just as the song featured here, Motemba, the album is filled with long break-filled tracks. Back to the Sunshine State, there The Antiques from Miami, recording for the Sound Triangle label the edgy latin rocker Chauca. Tierra were one of a number of bands formed out of the growing Chicano movement in California. The group featured mainly a Latin-Rock sound, but funk is added in the stormer La Feria. Bolivian pianist-bandleader Cesar Ascarrunz and his group recorded the terrific Cesar 830 album for the Flying Dutchman label. With help of legendary jazz producer Teo Macero (who also did Miles Davis' Bitches Brew and Dave Brubeck's Take Five), he created an exceptional blend of Latino jazz rock fusion. Coming far from the typical Chicano environment, Massada, are an Indo-Dutch band (who sing in English and Spanish!) with a heavy Latin Fusion sound. The tune Nena is from their first and best album Astaganaga, released in 1978 on Kendari. Malo will always be known as the band of Carlos Santana’s brother Jorge, however, in the early seventies they released a series of quality albums, almost sounding fresher than Santana at that time. Oye mamita comes from their second album, simply called Dos, released in 1972. Back in the Big Apple, Flash and the Dynamics, (aka The Sons of El Barrio) combine latin funk & soul and boogaloo with tripped out psychedelic guitars. Electric Latin Soul is food for the brain, please listen to it. Macondo, from Southern California, took their name came from the novel 100 Years of Solitude by Gabriel Garcia Marquez. Sergio Mendes discovered and produced their 1972 album. The featured tune, Cayuco, again is a Tito Puente composition and you can hear again Victor Pantoja, former member of Santana and Azteca playing congas. Black Sugar is a funky 9-piece Latin-rock band from Peru, released two albums (both with the famous Coco Lagos on percussion). Influences from groups like Tower of Power, Blood Sweat & Tears and Chicago mixed with latin funk flavor, here performing the epic Viajecito. And finally, 70’s latin funkrock frenzy from NY latin mastermind Harvey Averne. Cucara Macara holds lots of percussion, electric guitars and soulfull vocals, resulting in the tasty Nuyorican sound, arranged by Marty Sheller. That´s all folks……. Hasta la proxima.

LES SANGANAS

Last week I was in for a nice surprise when my uncle called, telling me to come by and pick up his record collection. He didn't want anything in return for it, but I wasn't allowed to leave anything behind either. Obviously I didn't, which left me with an almost complete back catalogue of punk and new wave's finest. And while jiving to oldies but goodies like the Clash, the Jam, The Undertones and all them, I found a little pile of 7"s, tucked in between some records. One of them was by a group called "Les Sanganas," wrapped in a "not too promising" sleeve, you might know the kind: musicians in traditional clothing, masks, hats and drums all over the place...Very much like those terrible "world music" records that flooded the market in the mid 80's. Some further investigation of the sleeve learned that the two songs weren't recorded in some dusty studio in say..Lagos or Accra; nope, they were caught on disc in 1977 in a little studio in "funky" Breda, the Netherlands, by a producer named Tony Dirne (who recorded a lot of dutch groups in the 60's and 70's, some pop, some rock but most of them traditional dutch folk and easy listening.)

Yeah...I guess it's safe to say I wasn't expecting too much of this little gem when I finally put it on.
And then it blew me away...

Opener "Sibily Day" is nothing short of an afrobeat anthem pur sang, opening with- and superbly riding an ultra funky guitar riff, this song shreds all the way untill the very end. It's harbouring influences from blues, soul, funk, high life and gospel and it simply has got it all. It's more Orlando Julius than Fela Kuti, it's more proto type afrobeat if you'd like, but therefore more than welcome in my musical world. Fela was brilliant, but he's got way too many clones who simply copied his music without adding anything to it. Frankly: I'm tired of hearing the same song over and over and I just quit listening to newer afrobeat bands if their first few notes sounded anything like Fela. Orlando Julius was one the musicians that influenced Fela when he created his unique blend. Les Sangaras clearly were influenced by Orlando & Fela too, as they were also by James Brown and probably some others we never heard of, but this here, this is the kind of afrobeat I like hear. For all the reasons above.

B-side "Satata" follows the same formula as the A side, and it does so in the same effective way. It sounds like a traditional african folk song being funkified to the max. The whistle is silver, the break is golden, but I bet the song didn't make platinum at the time...

A search on the net didn't really give me any info about "Les Sanganas", unfortunately. Credits on the 7" are given to "Nganga, Joseph, Delvis" and "Nkeoua Ali M" but I couldn't find anything on them either. Too bad really...I guess I'm now the proud owner of a very obscure afrobeat treasure.

Well..here it is. Enjoy!

Sibily Day


Satata

R.I.P NORMAN WHITFIELD

Legendary producer and songwriter Norman Whitfield died on september 16th at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles. He was 67 years of age. Whitfield had struggled for months with complications from diabetes, and his prognosis had been day-to-day for several weeks. He had recently emerged from a coma. With collaborator Barrett Strong — himself in a Detroit hospital recovering from a stroke — Whitfield co-wrote many of Motown’s biggest hits, including its single most successful song, “I Heard it Through the Grapevine,” recorded by Marvin Gaye and Gladys Knight & the Pips. (source: freep)

Norman Whitfield first came to my attention listening to the Impressions' "Pyschedelic Shack" lp. The song that most notably "did it" for me on this album is called "Take a stroll through your mind," an epic, psychedelic and ganja flavoured musical epos, clocking in well over 8 eight minutes. Surely, that was not something I expected to hear from a Motown group with sweet hits to their name such as "It's allright", but dammit, this song struck me! It got to me big time and I just kept playing it over and over again. Soon I discovered that it was the producer, not the group, who was responsible for my newly beloved sound and I found myself digging for more of those psychedelic Norman Whitfield productions. Some were good, some were great and some dazzled me: I still remember the day my fellow Lock it Down writer Elephant Soundz put on the Jackson 5 version of "Hum along and dance" for me, which simply left me in awe...

Although certainly not all his productions are my cup of tea, Rose Royce's "car wash", for instance, is really a step too far for me, but it is without doubt that Norman Whitfield was a true talent. One of the kind that don't come up too often. A remarkable sound originator, a very gifted songwriter and, on a more personal level, one of the few producers who managed to create a signature sound that keeps me digging for more and more. His musical input is still greatly appreciated over here at Lock it Down. Think I'm gonna play the Velvelettes' "Needle in a haystack" some more....or "Ball of Confusion" or "Cloud Nine" or...

World's largest record collection drama

The Archive from Sean Dunne on Vimeo.

In today’s world, everyone downloads and buys music from the internet, making physical record albums obsolete, which is very sad news for Paul Mawhinney. Paul has the world’s largest record collection that he has been accumulated throughout his lifetime. He used to run a record store, and he would always put away the last copy of an album for himself. Due to his declining health and old age, Paul has decided to put the collection on sale for a mere $3 million when it was appraised at a whooping $50 million, yet no one has given a solid offer. Regardless of our technological advances, sometimes holding an album in your hands just feels a little bit different.

thanx to PVC for the link!

Dub Echoes Trailer

more info: http://www.dubechoes.com/

a little Tribute to Joe Gibbs R.I.P. mix

As a tribute I made a nice little mix of some of my Joe Gibbs Productions. May Joe Rest In Peace! check it below
(see http://www.jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20080226/ent/ent4.html)

Roy Shirley- Hold them
Sylford Walker - Burn Babylon
Shorty the President - Natty pass his CGE
Clint Eastwood - Badda Than You
Barrington Levy - My Woman
Dillinger - Take a Dip
Soul Sisters - Wrecka Buddy
Lady Ann - Murderer
Prince Mohammed - Bubbling Love
Dennis Brown - Let Me Live
Dennis Brown - Ghetto Girl
Joe Gibbs - Entebbe Affair
Culture - I'm Not Ashamed
Lee Perry - The Upsetter
Sammy Dread - Dreadlocks Girl
Eekamouse - Virgin Girl
Junior Murvin - Cool out Son
Lui Lepke - Love from Jamdown
Jacob Miller - I'm Just A Dread
June Lodge - Someone Love You

HIPLIFE TAKING OVER?

In 2008 Ghana’s youth is no longer dancing to "highlife," the music that was so popular back in the sixties and seventies, but to Hiplife, the local mix of Hip-Hop, Highlife, Reggae and Dancehall. Hiplife gained prominence about 10 years ago with Reggie Rockstone, who is known as the “Godfather of Hiplife” and was the first to rap in Twi, the most common language in Ghana. Hiplife is everywhere in Ghana now; it has developed into one of the most popular music styles in the country and has broadened into several sub-genres.

Out Here Records’ Georg Milz (also of the Munich-based Daladala Soundz sound system), compiled an excellent sampler, called: "Black Stars – Ghana’s Hiplife Generation," containing some of the most popular Hiplife artists. And you'd better believe us when we boldly state that anybody out there who enjoyed the "African Rebels" and "Lagos Stori Plenti" samplers should certainly check out this new release, or better yet: buy it instantly. Black Stars is a more than welcome supplement to said samplers, continuing the high standard, both musically as informationwise, all Out Here records display and on top of that: the music is kicking arse! Picture the mighty M.I.A. making an african album, add a bunch of fun and a complete own look on nowadays popular music and you'll get a slight idea of what HipLife sounds like. If this is to vague, which it probably is, but hey: I'm trying, go check out the samples on the OutHere Black Stars page or, if you're a Myspace user, link up at Ghana's Hiplife Generation It's worth it..

NNEKA NO LONGER AT EASE

Originally scheduled for release in january 2008, the new and eagerly awaited second outing of souldiva Nnneka got postponed and postponed, but it finally seems to be finished: The album "No longer at ease" will be unleashed on the 25th of april on YoMama records.

Prior to the forthcoming album, the new single "Heartbeat" will be released as well, showcasing Nneka going further down the musical road she has succesfuly been trodding. Heartbeat is quite an impressive single: Nneka's performance is stumbling and frankly, spoiled as we are, we wouldn't settle for less. The hectic drumming gives the song its heartbeat and works perfectly together with the songlines. I've seen Nneka on stage quite a few times and it seems that she succeeded to haul the energy she and her band display on stage into the studio and on tape. If this is what the album is going to sound like, I take it that fans around the world will not be dissapointed. Bring it on, Nneka!

Go catch her live on stage whenever she in the hood!

Producer Joe Gibbs dead at 65

From the Jamaica Gleaner:

RECORD producer Joel 'Joe Gibbs' Gibson, whose partnership with singer Dennis Brown yielded a string of hit songs during the 1970s, died last Thursday at the University Hospital of the West Indies.
Gibbs' son, Rocky, told The Gleaner that his father died shortly after suffering a heart attack. He was 65 years old.
The Montego Bay-born Gibbs began producing on his Amalgamated label in the 1960s. His first major hit was singer Roy Shirley's Hold Them, but it was in the next decade that Gibbs really hit his stride.
Brown, a former prodigy, cut a series of songs for Gibbs that were rarely off the charts. These included Money In My Pockets, Should I, Stay at Home, Love Has Found Its Way and How Could I Live.
Other productions
Gibbs also produced Culture's massive Two Sevens Clash, George Nooks' Tribal War and Althea and Donna's Uptown Top Ranking which made the British pop charts in 1977. His last major hit was singer J.C. Lodge's Someone Loves You Honey, a song originally done by African-American country singer Charlie Pride.
Bass player Lloyd Parkes was a senior member of Gibbs' house band, The Professionals. He said while Gibbs was an astute businessman, he was not the great producer many believed.
"I would call him an executive producer, most of the production was done by Errol Thompson and the musicians," Parkes said.
Thompson was the engineer at Gibbs' Retirement Road studio. He died in 2004.
Gibbs is survived by 11 children.

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.

A WHOLE LOT OF 7"S

Continuing their 30th Anniversary in fine style, Greensleeves presents the ‘Rewind & Come Again’ box set.

Packed in special a die-cut card box (designed to look like a turntable) with each 7” sporting the original old school labels..

Each 7” has two classic cuts (Double A sides) from the Greensleeves archive featuring tracks by legends such as: Wailing Souls, Eek-a-Mouse, Yellowman, Black Uhuru, John Holt, Barrington Levy, Dennis Brown, Gregory Isaacs and many more..

Limited to 1000 copies, first come first served

COMING UP: NEW SOUNDWAY RELEASE

Although their own website doesn't mention this release yet, Soundway is about to release a 2 cd/4 lp set called:
Nigeria Special: Modern Highlife, Afro sounds & Nigerian Blues 1970-6

If the standard is as high as all the other Soundway releases, this might very well be the definitive collection on Nigerian funk. It sure looks promising! Amazon.com posted the setlist a while ago and added soundsamples as well. According to them, this is what Nigeria Special is going to look and sound like:

Disc 1:
1. Ayamma - The Anambra Beats
2. Okwukwe Na Nchekwube - Celestine Ukwu & His Philosophers National
3. Amalinja - The Don Isaac Ezekiel Combination
4. Akula Owu Onyeara - The Funkees
5. Oja Omoba - Dele Ojo & His Star Brothers Band
6. Koma Mosi - The Harbours Band
7. Nekwaha Semi Colon - The Semi Colon
8. Osalobua Rekpama - Sir Victor Uwaifo & His Melody Maestros
9. Onwu Ama Dike - St. Augustine & His Rovers Dance Band
10. Feso Jaiye - The Sahara All Stars Of Jos
11. Eme Kowa Iasa Ile Wa - Mono Mono
12. To Whom It May Concern - Tunji Oyelana & The Benders
13. Ugali - The Tony Benson Sextet

Disc 2:
1. Asiko Mi Ni - The Nigerian Police Force Band 'The Force 7'
2. Torri Wow - Godwin Ezike & the Ambassadors
3. Belema - Opotopo (Easy Kabaka Brown)
4. Alabeke - Dan Satch & His Atomic 8 Dance Band Of Aba
5. Arraino - Popular Cooper & His All Beats Band
6. Simini-Yaya - Collins Oke Elaiho & His Odoligie Nobles Dance Band
7. Buroda Mase - Bola Johnson & His Easy Life To pBeats
8. I Want a Break Thru - The Hykkers
9. Business Before Pleasure - George Akaeze & His Augmented Hits
10. Omo Yen Wu Mi - Shadow Abraham With Mono Mono Friends
11. Blak Sound - Leo Fadaka & the Heroes
12. Eguae Oba - Osayomore Joseph & the Creative 7
13. Akpaisong - Etubom Rex Williams & His Nigerian Artistes

Go have listen.

Release date: february 5th

Big One!

NEW FABRIC LIVE: CASPA & RUSKO

Dubstep lovers watch out: two real heavyweight dubstep producers/dj's have been recruited to mix cd number 37 in the almost legendary Fabric Live series:
Caspa back to back with Rusko.

Both Caspa and Rusko have had a very succesfull and prolific 2007: the first saw his career skyrocketing after several years of hard work running his Storming Productions empire (which includes the Dub Police and Sub Soldiers labels) on which Rusko released his fresh material, resulting in the mega mega hit "Cockney Thug" which allows him to travel the world and party alongside Caspa and fellow dj Reso.

This new mix on Fabric is the crown on their work so far and is well deserved. It includes all the smash hits of 2007: Spongebob, Cockney Violin, Africa and Round the World girls (on Gibbo's "Hard Time" riddim") but also treats us with a new Skream dubplate and a nice remix of Cockney Thug by Portugese bubblers Buraka Som Sistema.

Fabric Live is eagerly awaited by Lock it Down, but will not be released untill december 3rd..Mini mini excerpts can be found through this link. For those wanting a bit more: Dutch agency Planet KL booked Caspa a while ago and posted his excellent live set in their news section.

Aaah, sweet anticipation....

STUDIO ONE MUSEUM

The Jamaica Gleaner runs an interesting interview with Norma Dodd, widow of Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, founding father of the legendary Studio One recording facility, in wich she unveils the plans for the establishment of a Studio One museum. Although Jamaica already is a hotspot for reggae afficionados, with the King Tubby, Treasure Isle and Joe Gibbs studios still intact, this new museum sure sounds promising enough to again tickle my urge to get on a plane and cross the ocean...

Read the full article here

1000 TNW ÷ 10 = 100 TNW's

The lads over at 't Nieuwe Werck are on a roll and currently celebrating their 100th internet release. Quite an achievement considering their first release was only posted about a year ago. Here on Lock it Down we already posted about the fun and variety of mixes run by 't Nieuwe Werck, but their last effort, mixed by "The TNW All Stars" (Knoflooksaus, Graafmeester Tijn, Dj √69, Schobbejak) is really something. Come and count with us: In 1000 seconds they mixed 10 tracks that have been used in their TNW mixes in the past, that makes this mix '10÷1000=100'!! On a special moment in the mix you'll hear 10 samples (of 10 used tracks too) in 10 seconds, again 100 (10x10)! Got it??

Luckily for us, TNW secured the listening pleasure as well. TNW 100 is a nice blend of, and here we go counting again: electronica, trip hop, hip hop, dubstep, house, old italian mafia songs, prison work songs & rock 'n roll mash-ups. That'll make a nice celebration cake, I'd say. The only thing dissapointing about this mix is that a 1000 seconds really isn't that long...we want more!

Check out, or download the mix here

and be sure to contribute your mix as well!

FUNKY DISCO DUBSTEP?

Now this is what we like, here at Lock it Down! Regular readers may have noticed we cover a wide area of music, from dubstep to soul via latin with a de-route through reggae: if it's about good vibes, we'll write about it. Luckily for us, there are kindred spirits out there with an equal broad taste in music. That said, it's the godshonest truth that the podcast that started this whole post even surprised the hell out of Lock it Down! Why? Well...picture a dubstep mogul mixing disco funk and disco funk only on a dubstep radioshow...Funny picture isn't it?

Past that, the mighty Skream really managed to unite the best of both worlds: his excellent mixing techniques makes this funky set a true pleasure to listen to. Combine that with the occasional "pull up," a jamaican dancehall scene gimmick, and the picture is complete: this is Lock it Down style podcasting, this is what we like to see.

What makes the mix extra fun are Skream's constant defense offerings: "...this is what I like; this is personal; I love this track; this one's got big bass!"

Nice, really nice!

Listen to Skream's "long awai'ed funk set" here

Big up and props to Rinse FM for airing this.

LUCKY DUBE SHOT DEAD

Reggae musician Lucky Dube was shot dead in a hijacking yesterday in Rosettenville, Johannesburg, South Africa, police say.

The report of the singer's death was published yesterday by the Independent online, an Internet-based news site.

Captain Cheryl Engelbrecht, who reported on the incident, told the news site that the incident took place around 8.20 p.m. when Dube was driving a blue Polo in the Johannesburg suburb.

The report was also carried by the BBC World Service last night.

The Independent online story reported Captain Engelbrecht as saying that the Rastafarian singer was dropping off his son in the area when he was attacked.

"His son was already out of the car. When he saw what was happening, he ran to ask for help," the Independent online said.

Lucky Dube, who said he was inspired by late Reggae star Peter Tosh, last performed in Jamaica at the Cricket World Cup opening ceremony at the Trelawny Multi-purpose Stadium.

Dube, who was born in Johannesburg on August 3, 1964, was named 'Lucky' as he was born in poor health and doctors thought he would die, according to Wikipedia.

But Dube survived and went on to become a front-line artist in the reggae genre.

May he rest in peace

source: Jamaican Gleaner