extraordinary reggae

not really long enough this thread...

what about

andy capp - pop a top
king tubby - a rougher version

two dub tracks that seriously melt the fabric of reggae

Is "Pop a Top" a hard, minimalistic dancehall track? If it is . . . was one of my favorite 45s until I lost it.

I suspect not. There's a review here:

http://www.smallaxepeople.com/thesmallaxepeoplereviews.htm

It sounds interesting.

Also, I think Dillinger, like, CB 200 and his other keyboard heavy, disco-y stuff, fits this "extraordinary reggae" description.

Burning Spear - 'doorpeep ' the late 60s single version. like something from another planet.

Most of Burning Spear's output sounds otherworldly

Where's Dr. C's LONG answer? I'd definitely like to read it.

"Pop A Top" is actually a very early dub single, but by comparison to later stuff it's completely bonkers.

Geoffrey Chung, UFO

^ more early use of synths

How could I forget!

Impact All Stars, Extraordinary Version

... has tape rewinding and various odd effects

Also, there's at least one Lee Perry track that's backwards... not to mention various of his tracks from the mid-70s using drum machines and rhythm boxes and samples from TV programmes

there was one lee perry production i heard that just stops completely, then gets ushered back in by that zombie/cow noise he's so fond of. I can't for the life of me find it again.

More from Scratch, "Cow Thief Skank" = splices together three different tracks, he did this on a few tracks but never so bizarrely as here. Also, can't remember the name of the track, but there's one where he (seamlessly) splices in a few bars from The Chi-Lites' "Give More Power to the People".

Isn't that Station Underground?

That's the one

Both synth driven science-fiction instrumental reggae;

Along these lines, I once heard a reggae instrumental with R2D2 synths on it. Anyone know what I'm talking about?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PURSWR3iwbQ

LONG answer coming up at some point!

― Dr. C (Dr. C), Monday, October 7, 2002

still waiting . . . want to read yr post!

Dr. C, Dr. C., Dr. C.,paging Dr. C,, come back

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fhhVg38nbyw&feature=related

Silly in a Paul McCartney's 'Ram'-style silly.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQ9xcEOTdaE

BTW Reggae fans... these compilations are fucking fabulous http://extramusicnew.wordpress.com/2012/07/05/nascente-pres-bass-culture-box-set/

I wonder whether this:

there was one lee perry production i heard that just stops completely, then gets ushered back in by that zombie/cow noise he's so fond of

was "Life" by Prodigal Creator off the back of (one of) the UK 12" issues of "Conscious Man" by the Jolly Brothers?

I wonder whether the "backwards" Perry thing Tom was thinking of was "Evol Yenoh", b-side of "Honey Love", same backing track but with the vocal track run backwards.

I wonder why I don't remember anything about this thread.

My offering: "Bubble Up" by Wayne Jarret, Wackies production, flutes sound like they're underwater (it's on the LP "Bubble Up" which was renamed "Showcase" for the reissue, or have I got that the wrong way round?).

Oh and I kinda think everyone knows this but the fading in and out high pressure trombone on "Flat Foot Hustling" by Dillinger maybe fits the bill here.

DL what's the mastering like on those Nascente comps? They look good to me (nice mix of stuff I know and stuff I don't) but so often with these not-too-pricey comps you get duff sound and so they just stay on the shelf.

Sounds very very good. And yeah, even though I've got dozens of good reggae comps there's not that much crossover on these with what I already have and most of the songs are great!

Thanks!

some of my favorites already posted. upsetters - lizard stick another good one, sounds like some kind-of alien reggae

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eKQt6TnkJkc

prob should mention the Serge Gainsbourg's "Aux Armes Et Caetera" here huh

holy shit at this Vulcans album mentioned in the initial post btw

Granny Danger - I'm a big fan of that Serge dub album.

What about '60s ska and rocksteady? I find a lot of Desmond Dekker's stuff extraordinary simply because of the phrasing and cadence he uses. Really imaginative structures that twist and turn like the human consciousness...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uaN2zlSc1yU

This is also on the Nascente comp and I love it:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4tkajISweIU

Not sure if they belong on here, but I find them extraordinary.

Geoffrey Chung, UFO

^ more early use of synths

― Collectible Spoons of the 3rd Reich (Tom D.), Wednesday, April 7, 2010 6:22 AM (2 years ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

this track is tremendous

Just realised the desmond dekker track I posted earlier is a new version with hardly any of the original's charm.

Here's the versh I was talking about

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zPkfyzRI6S8

That's fantastic, dl - and with a lot of charm, as you say!

Also liked the UFO track - esp cos it uses that great Breakfast in Bed rhythm as a v effective ground.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kb-BwfPydP4

Finding myself a little bored by searching out 'seminal' roots reggae, only to find it 80% of the time adhering to the same overall sound with minor variations (I love that sound, but.....), I'm on the prowl for more singular examples of reggae in the roots era, tracks that are strikingly different from the sonic norm, or suggest some unexplored furrow of 70s/early 80s Jamaican music.

the assumption is always that there *is* some unexplored furrow out there, and not just another rut

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IP6nuY5nipw

Hmmm. I'd argue that some of this stuff isn't too "extraordinary," but there you go. I would suggest (though it's out-of-print) the excellent double CD on Trojan of Roy Shirley recordings called "Music Is The Key." He performed what was arguably the first rocksteady song, "Hold Them," produced by Joe Gibbs, and to some extent his only well-known song. But Shirley had an extraordinarily odd, quivery voice and was probably about ten years before his time (I shudder to think of what marvels Black Ark-era Lee Perry and him would have produced.) Check out this incredible bit of live footage (music starts at about 1:14, but the whole thing's cool):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vNDXanDd8fg

The small local crowd is going nuts, and Shirley puts on a great performance. I especially love his song "My Bride," which is too odd to describe. Can't find it on YouTube, but it's on the Trojan compilation of his stuff.

Doctor Alimantado is pretty cool too. Famously championed by Johnny Rotten and quoted by the Clash ("like the doctor who was born for a purpose" in "Rudie Can't Fail"), Alimantado sang and toasted and squealed and most of it was pretty great. His classic is "Best Dressed Chicken In Town," a weird deejay tune in a dub style:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vu97ctxg8hk

But I also like the straight forward roots of "Born For A Purpose," which is probably his most famous tune - a more frenetic and dubby version of something like a GG Alvin-produced Gregory Isaacs track, it defies a lot of the convention of its time by being very metronomic and still kind of loony:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k6pIONWxTbs&feature=related

George Faith's "To Be A Lover" album is a classic Black Ark production, but differs from others of the era (Congos, Jolly Brothers, Junior Murvin) in being highly indebted to southern soul (he covers William Bell and Lee Dorsey, among others) but not really sounding anything like it. Pretty widely available too, which is a plus. Check out the title track:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hzYVfzUNGec

Joe Gibbs' mid-70s dub stuff really stood out for its intense rhythms (here, I think is one of Adrian Sherwood's big influences), weird sound effects and general grooviness. Any of the four volumes of "African Dub Almighty" are great, but the third is the ultimate one, and the Pressure Sounds "No Bones For Dogs" release is chock full of great stuff.

here's a great track from the third "African Dub Almighty" album:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=g2rBi_L4NKc

There's a period of Mikey Dread's career where he was the leading *original* roots producer, which is probably best heard on "World War III" or "Beyond World War III," which are more or less the same album. One of them is still easy to get. Here's the title track:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SJ3XAobAHVw

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=KjpzL5Ow9qY

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8rB8mp-K6fk

speaking of mikey dread

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RJxB2xIAN28

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CHDT0CoXeJ8

I've been listening to this one all night. Might just fit here.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0uKjNLMKpyA

And its dub but Scientist meets the Space Invaders is in line with op.

that Roy Shirley clip upthread is great

second the Best Dressed Chicken in Town rec, that album is amazing

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_3JYo7ECP_vo/RxuiWaiEudI/AAAAAAAAAEA/zag2DeaOABQ/s320/African+Roots.jpg

^love this

So I mentioned the Bass Culture comps on Nascente upthread and I was so taken by them I wrote this gushing review on the Quietus http://thequietus.com/articles/09951-bass-culture-compilation-review

MAybe not 'extraordinary' but extraordinarily great. Just played this 4 times in a row.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PvCT7PY4KrU

moka, was going to post "golden hen", you beat me to it....

Lots of Keith Hudson is extraordinary but I'm No Fool came on random today and it made me think of this thread.

i don't even understand this thread but here's a couple tracks i've always felt were on their own particular vibe

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kl8922mn6X8

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Wwj7T2hEv4

cool japanese/jamaican collabo. this track has it all: spacey vocals, some funkish gtr action, a great trombone solo, even a santanesque interlude!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eTUfVUfe7NQ

a trombone solo?

yeah, 2:39 to 3:25. that's a trombone.

sweet, haven;t heard a dope trombone solo since the first groove armada album

if you like jamaican music and trombones this is essential:

http://ecx.images-amazon.com/images/I/41VYK6JDG4L._SL500_AA300_.jpg

This thread should just be about absolutely amazing reggae tracks by now.

Since the early 1990s Twinkle Brothers have been regularly collaborating with the Polish band Trebunie-Tutki in which they fuse reggae and traditional music from the Tatra Mountains.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aKhC_0KSZks

just listen to the atmosphere and textures in this track. keith hudson was a master.

yeah i am listening to this album tonight, it is extraordinary

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Vm8xGgMh4ro

heeeeeeeeaaaaaaaavvvvvvvvvyyyyyyyyyyy

think i could listen to nothing but lee perry and k hudson productions rest of my life and be content

thx for the heads up on that Keith Hudson track, never heard that before

that whole album (Rasta Communication) is excellent. did any other reggae producer use lap steel guitar before that?

chinna smith used it on occasion. RC was '78, right? don't know if i've heard anything w/Chinna playing steel lap prior to that tho.

chinna is credited on RC, so I'm guessing that's actually him on the steel lap?

must have been

that Vulcans album is so cool

seeing dog latin mention Aisha's wonderful Creator, reminded me of this song, which Aisha covers, tho I love the Faybiene Miranda original:

http://youtube/-phUA8P1wuw

was wondering if anyone knew the specifics of why it was banned. It mentions politicians and people heeding the call, but that's p small beer surely.

that mournful brass one of my favourite sounds in reggae - and I realise this is very well known, but it is extraordinary:

http://youtube/csZ-Vo4GwX4

(the ken boothe/i roy black, gold and green/red, gold and green track feels like the platonic ideal of this sound).

also - don't know enough to know whether its spurious to associate that sound with a strand of heavily politicised reggae of the 1970s (the songs here 75, 75, 72 respectively) but it seems right.

f'ing youtube, swear the embedding rules rotate on a daily basis.

I haven't seen it mentioned here yet, but dub-lovers should try and source the Scientist album "The Best Album In The World." It really is one of the greatest dub albums, and for a genre that can rely upon similar sounds a lot of the time, it's got a really special vibe.

doesn't sound like it was too unusual an occurrence.

Q: OK, the stations didn't have any obligation to explain to you why they banned your song, the authorities just banned whatever for whatever reason or purpose. But did you hear any explanation somewhere afterwards why they banned this tune specifically?

A: Sure. Oh, I heard that it was considered like sort of an outcry or call for people to resist or to sort of rise up against the government, which I thought was strange because of PNP at the time.

Q: Yeah, Manley.

A: And I was like... just really feeling them (laughs)! So I didn't know why they would've considered this... I mean, it was clear it was about Marcus Garvey. But I guess it was also clear that it was speaking directly to the hearts of the people. Because at the same time I think three tunes at that time that had been banned from not only radio airplay but supposedly sound systems wasn't supposed to be playing it either on the streets, it was 'War' (The Wailers) and 'Discrimination' by Ras Karbi.

(xpost. to myself. classy.)

will see if I can check out that album tho.

sometimes i get to the stage where i think i've heard most of the best reggae stuff and then something amazing comes my way, quite by accident

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=31sbAMcIHSU

Christmas has me feeling generous:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NDhRVljOQKc

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jOQ3Fd7v80I

Christmas a come - Eek a Mouse

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MsBBhSSSjqA

can anyone recommend some spooky roots and dub? I don't mean stuff like 'Scientist rids the world...' which is a great album of course, but is a bit cartoonish and horror-show. I kind of just want something with a genuinely spooky vibe.

Yabby You

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3wgJsHaaf3w

this Glen Brown/King Tubby album that got discussed recently on the Dub/Reggae: An Idiot's Guide thread, "Termination Dub (1973-1979)"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbztSVL8sxA

Heart of the Congos spooky as heck.

definitely. altho I figure everyone knows that album

dog latin there was some significant discussion of roots reggae w/ major dark apocalyptic vibes in this thread Dub / Reggae: An Idiot's Guide (which has tended to be the main reggae dub thread fwiw) including some various mixtapes created by outic that have exactly what you are looking for

main reggae dub thread fwiw

well older reggae/dub, more accurately, it is not the rolling thread to discuss current stuff obv

thx for the kind words marcos - i was trying to find a working link to one of those mixtapes but it looks like I deleted them :(

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CIjOU3rC7uY

wayne jarrett satta dread followed by dub version, both spooky but especially dub version

xp ha i listen to those mixtapes all the time!

ohhh and this prince far i joint from one of the tapes is so dark

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=w27ofotfIxI

i have been listening to a lot of big youth lately, prob my favorite 70s deejay and in general one of my favorite vocal presences in reggae music, i just love that hypnotic, manic chanting style he does that just builds and builds in tension into this like trance-inducing prayer

give praises the best example of this obv

huh I didn't know that Wayne Jarrett thx for the heads up on that one

that trinity album is so dope

B&F delivers yet again

whoah @ the acid rock fuzz guitar on this one!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UqakUaCJQMs

thanks all!!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Z-3KPnJFStI

I fell off the reggae reissue bandwagon years ago, but I picked up an album from Pressure Sounds the other day and immediately thought of this thread (which in my mind is basically for ~weird~ reggae): I-Mo-Jah's Rockers from the Land of Reggae: https://pressuresounds.bandcamp.com/album/rockers-from-the-land-of-reggae.

It has a scrappy, shambolic sound that reminds me of late Keith Hudson, Wackies, and Black Ark era Lee Perry (it's from 1982). I'm also reminded that PS started as a subsidiary of On-U Sound.

Cool!

rereading that post, I worry I'm overselling it with those three comparisons, but it's def worth checking out and if nothing else it makes me wish there were more backing choruses in reggae (and more women's voices in general)

I highly recommend reading the chapter on Pressure Sounds in Ian Preece's book "Listening to the Wind: Encounters with 21st Century Independent Record Labels". Pete Holdsworth who has been running the label since it's beginning is quite a character. Seems like he fell out with Adrian Sherwood a couple of times over the years:

"After a period of time, Adrian and me, we were getting on each other's nerves. He started collecting antique teapots. Bless him, in a way, he is what he is, he grew up in the home counties..."

I will check out Rockers from the Land of Reggae. Santic & Friends is my favourite PS release. I believe there is a second volume which is as good.

that book looks cool, thanks! iirc Blood & Fire had all kinds of weird drama going on too

And yeah "Down Santic Way" is pretty dope. Honestly, PS never got the love B&F did, but their discography is extremely consistent (though I only know it up until PS65 or so). I also picked up Rubadub Revolution—Bunny Lee productions in the "rub a dub" era—but haven't given it a close listen yet.

Here's a playlist of personal dub/DJ/reggae faves. I find a lot of dub gets boring or falls into formula, but these are the ones I find to be remarkable. Any suggestions for additions welcome

https://open.spotify.com/playlist/4cfUquzRvYiuEpdIeXUmSC?si=CJoBAxcWRZinEaaJrVJVnA

got some good ones I know and some I don't (though good chance I've heard before...who can remember dub track titles??).

Some suggestions:
Think you need some more Scientist! If we're going for more atypical dub, I'd suggest "Clean Hands and Pure Heart"
"Melody Maker - Version 2: Harmonica and Bongo Dub" - Chuckles & Keith Hudson
And a track from "No Protection" wouldn't hurt would it?
Okinawan dub: "Tinsagu Nu Hana Dub" - Ryuku Underground
"Dub Plate Pressure" - Lee Perry
"Bad Things Dub" - Keith Hudson
"Planet Dub" - Harry Mudie/King Tubby
"Jam Love Dub" - Prince Douglas
"Private Armies Dub" - Vivien Goldman
"In tha Mix" - Dennis Bovell

Going to look up the ones in your list I'm not familiar with

ha both Joe Gibbs and King Tubby have albums titled "Majestic Dub". What is it you were saying about dub falling into a formula?

Nice one. thanks GD. I'll check these out

Any more vintage dub tunes that answer logical paradoxes in set theory?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=F2n9vxnfQ9w

I can offer you a disquisition on the effects on Jamaica’s balance of trade from a particular industry, on the same rhythm. Less extraordinary though.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hbFiME45734

Cameroonian reggae anyone?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fOvL0P2Says

Pasteur Lappe - Babette D'o (Rastawoman)

https://assets.themodernhouse.com/wp-content/uploads/67WorningtonRd_JSouteyrat-2400px-14431-1600x1067.jpg

just saw this on the modern house

Cool place! But omg that price is insane.

The illuminated "prescriptions" sign in the next room is some try-hard "I love drugs me" bullshit but I cannot lie I love most of the decor

framed copies of bob marley legend, harder they come and two sevens clash? i’m not sure you could get more basic if you tried, even allowing for that ugly ass decor.

save that framing records shit for your pizza parlor or something, what a waste

I mean I agree there too, records should be on your turntable or in your rack, not on your wall

Also p sure one of those Marley records is some 21st century compilation, but when I catch myself even starting to sneer at such behaviour I quicly realise it's me who's being the asshole

But also reggae sleeves can be absolutely majestic, these are not they. I could understand wanting to frame, say, Dread In A Babylon.

fwiw there's a jamaican flag on the wall in another room. maybe they don't even own a record player. who cares.

honestly sneering on the internet at ppl who choose
to advertise their terrible taste (whether in interior design or reggae albums) is pretty low in the hierarchy of my asshole-ish behaviors and one i’m happy to continue indulging in

besides imo if you spend 2.5M to gussy up a shoebox w modernist glass, metal siding and wood paneling and then stick a bunch of thrift store reggae records - framed, at that! - in frames on the wall, you’re the asshole. although, in their defense, i did spy a soul jazz comp, plus i guess the thrift store reggae finds match the thrift store furniture

or maybe i’m the asshole for not editing my posts better, who knows?

records in frames just looks weird and stupid to me, maybe if they were signed or something? who cares indeed

idgaf about taste i sneer at people for being rich bourgeois scumbags.

anyway bummer revive

Where are you finding reggae in a thrift shop? All I can find is Al Hirt all over the damn place.

That Lacksley Castell album is great.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4YJB1g57bTk

Lee 'Scratch' Perry - not super extraordinary by Scratch's standards but could be the only reggae tune that has a sneeze in it

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=dIq23AiLlJs

From the same album, this one is extraordinary because it could be the only reggae tune that has the word 'clammy' in the lyrics. Unless I'm mishearing the chorus. Which is possible

YouTube recommended me some 'non-metal albums for metalheads' vid for some reason and Return of the Super Ape was in the thumbnail

roy smith - “bondage”

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kGJdgVnx0dE

That is some extraordinary reggae.

Yeah that's great!

The guitar part in Skinhead Moonstomp which seems to be trying to experiment with slide in a minimal way and may sound more fitting in a spacerock or noise lp
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VVTI7mR4GJI

I heard it on a compilation set a couple of weeks ago and it stood out at the time and I've wondered if there was a widely known backstory to it since. seems a bit avant or cod avant for a band of the ilk to be playing at the time. Sounds like the connecting bits in a wilder exploration by somebody like Hendrix or similar from the more psychedelic scene around the time it was recorded in 1970

Wasn't sure where to put this, but the first time I've heard this in a while and yes, praise him.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kliymkZuAZM

Count Ossie and The Mystic Revelation of Rastafari - Way Back Home

Oh so good. Also demonstrates how important jazz was to the development of reggae. A good bunch of these amazing instrumentalists learnt their chops in the Alpha School playing in big bands, and it shows. Not heard this one before, but if you like stuff like this, seek out Cedric Im Brooks stuff - my guess is it might be him blowing on this song

Here's a good bit of rootsy steppas

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6qDGaDPSgqA

It is Brooks, aye - he's the bandleader. *The Light of Saba* is all time.

dog latin, you absolutely need to hear the rest of Grounation!

I'll absolutely check it out now

Oh wait, yes I'm familiar with a fair bit of this? Maybe I had a compilation that roughly reordered this - I know "Ethiopian Serenade", "Oh Carolina" etc pretty well. Just hadn't heard "Way Back Home" I think

that makes sense, it's had a somewhat tortured release history iirc

it's had a somewhat tortured release history iirc

TBF the version I'm hearing on Spotify sounds a lot better than the 2 CD thing I had at some point in the 2000s

xp ha yeah that's true

Soul Jazz put out a nice edition a little while ago. and yeah I had that 2-CD one too which looked like a bootleg even if it might not have been

that's the one. black packaging and looked / was cheap

The Honest Jons' release of The Magical Light of Saba is excellent.

i would love it a lot if they rereleased that and i could buy it on vinyl. serious contender for one of the best albums ever made

Mutabaruka's version of Outcry on there is even better than the one on his Outcry LP.

amazing how many dead links there are in this thread - didn't we use to encourage newbies to type a desciption of the content of their links because the content inevitably gets wiped for one reason or another?