No reviews today thanks to a busy schedule, so some reggae will suffice for today.
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The country of Libya is not the first country one thinks of when it comes to reggae, but as it turns out, Libya produced a fair share of excellent artists in the genre. The ever-estimable Habibi Funk Records have released a labor of love dedicated to one of Tripoli’s finest, Ibrahim Hesnawi. From the label’s Bandcamp site: “Hesnawi crafts restless grooves with evident buttressing from a reggae foundation. Highlighted across the LP is how Hesnawi essentially pioneered such an effortless synthesis between traditional Libyan music and Jamaican reggae stylings, plus the endlessly disparate funk, jazz, and disco accents which firmly…
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Spanish record label Liquidator Music has just published a two-track 7-inch full of the most joyful ska I’ve heard in decades, courtesy of Italian ska legend Rude (performing here as Rudy Bolo), backed by a hammond-organ version as the B-side.
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Meaty, beaty dub is on offer here by Errol Brown (no, not the Hot Chocolate singer, but the sound engineer based out of Kingston, Jamaica) courtesy of Dub Store Records out of Tokyo, Japan. Those who know me well might figure out why I appreciate the title.
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It’s safe to say that 1976 Nigeria was a somewhat different world from today’s. The Edo-Delta region must have been a rather swinging place if this reissue of Felix Labarty’s classic, Girls For Sale, is any indication. The music is lush, perhaps a little tinny, disco mixed with reggae vibes and lyrics filled with a combination of braggadocio and grieving over lost loves. No, not love, but loves. He was quite a player in his day. An essential for those who want their Afrobeat to come in a different flavor.
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The indie world lost a giant on April 21st with the passing of Mark Stewart. In his honor, I share a compilation album featuring the crème de la crème of alternative, industrial, reggae and dub music coming out in full force to remix and cut up Stewart’s works. Featured on this compilation are Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, K.K. Null, Stephen Mallinder and Eric Random among others. From the release’s Bandcamp site: “VS. is a unique collaborative project helmed by Mark Stewart, a vocalist, producer and songwriter who’s been an anarchic, pioneering figure on the frontiers of Post-Punk, Industrial, Avant-Dub and Electronic…
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What a wild and heavy album out of Haiti! From Chouk Bwa’s Bandcamp site: “Following on from the first edition released earlier this year, we’re please to announce ‘Ayiti Kongo Dub EP#2‘ by Chouk Bwa & The Ångströmers. As Afro-Caribbean polyrhythms meet bass-weight dub electronics, the two part EP has documented the group experimenting with a stripped back form which focuses on the dimension of trance. Opening with a cermonial chant and designed to enduce dancefloor delirium, the first track taken from the EP is the raw, high-octane, primordial techno of ‘Zemedo’.” Wild, dubby listening.
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This collaboration between Augustus Pablo and the legendary King Tubby is considered a masterpiece of dub. It’s a purely instrumental affair, and truly mellow listening.
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While browsing through about 40 TB of music files I’m uploading into my iBroadcast.com account, I came across an absolute plum of an album. African Head Charge were one of the greatest bands on the legendary On-U Sound Records roster, and this heavy reggae/dub masterpiece, released in 1990, is consider by most of their fans as being their masterpiece.
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Here is an impressively authentic-sounding ska coming to us from Los Angeles, California (my home town). The Western Standard Time Ska Orchestra boast of combining Jamaica’s greatest contribution to the world and a big-band sound. They pull this combination off flawlessly, and they must have one very impressive live act if their music is anything to go by.