a thread about dancehall albums

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correct me if i'm wrong, but we don't seem to have said very much about any of the recently released dancehall albums. even the not-very-recently released ones. is it because they're mostly little more than a couple of standout tracks (which would've likely been discussed on one of the other DH threads) plus a bunch of riddims that have been versioned better elsewhere? the other day i was looking at the tracklisting for "up 2 di time" the other day and noticed that it had a joint with kardinal offishall, which seemed like the kind of thing ilm might be somewhat interested in. did we ever talk about the last elephant man album? i don't like that the album version of "fuck u sign" was modified to sound a little more rap radio-friendly. and what of the new beenie man and lady saw lps?

― m. (mitchlnw), Wednesday, 1 September 2004 13:51 (twenty years ago) link

too many 'other days'.

― m. (mitchlnw), Wednesday, 1 September 2004 13:57 (twenty years ago) link

they tend to get talked about on the dancehall rhythm threads. there are a lot less albums than rhythms and, by nature, they're never as up-to-date as the 7s. incidentally, greensleeves is rereleasing up to di time with the mad instruments and a couple of other newer rhythms on it soon, but i would have preferred vybz to do a whole new album. while we're on the subject lady saw's strip tease album is great. i have a piece about this, tanya stephens' gangsta blues and a little bit about ce'cile coming out in a uk paper pretty soon.

― stelfox, Wednesday, 1 September 2004 14:04 (twenty years ago) link

i started a thread about the Vybz album Timeless. it had no songs or riddims i'd heard elsewhere (i'm not as fanatical as some, so maybe this stuff was out there?) but only one person posted to it once.

Vybz Kartel - Timeless

― JaXoN (JasonD), Wednesday, 1 September 2004 16:06 (twenty years ago) link

yeah i got that album - like it a lot

― stelfox, Wednesday, 1 September 2004 16:31 (twenty years ago) link

what do you think of the ce'cile album stelfox?

― s1ocki (slutsky), Wednesday, 1 September 2004 16:44 (twenty years ago) link

you know what, in the past year or so i've had 3 copies of different versions, two samplers and god knows how much other guff, so i'm not quite sure what's even going to be on it. i'll tell you when delicious vinyl pull their finger sout and finally get a completed version in the shops.

― stelfox, Wednesday, 1 September 2004 16:48 (twenty years ago) link

Up 2 Di Time (original version) is really good but suffers slightly from excessive doncorleonitis. Never ever seen the Elephant Man release locally though I have most of it already. Interested in reports on the new Beenie Man though.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Wednesday, 1 September 2004 23:51 (twenty years ago) link

I like the "King of the Dancehall" single a bunch, not as big a fan of "Dude" but that's all I've heard. Oh yeah, and apparently there's a track where he dreams of a Jamaica where all the gays are executed.

I'm looking forward to the updated Up 2 Di Time a bunch and it's all that's kept me from buying the original over the summer.

Hahaha Doncorleonitis is awesome.

― djdee2005, Thursday, 2 September 2004 00:00 (twenty years ago) link

i like the new beenie quite a lot, is the executing gays track called 'back against the wall'? dodgy tatchell-bating title but such a great track - just beenie and an acoustic guitar, works really well. seemed chock-full of potential singles too, but haven't listened that much yet. seconding stelfox on the greatness of lady saw's newie.

― Affectian (Affectian), Thursday, 2 September 2004 00:13 (twenty years ago) link

"Hahaha Doncorleonitis is awesome."

Don't get me wrong I really like Don Corleon but a bit more variety over a whole album wouldn't hurt. I think my favourite artist album from recent years is still Higher Level for that reason.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Thursday, 2 September 2004 00:31 (twenty years ago) link

ward 21's full album is pretty good throughout. elephant man's good 2 go has a couple decent tracks, but way too many of the songs start with him going "aaaaah, good 2 go!" (as if the listener needs to be reminded of the album title on each song). i have a lady saw album as well that is just really cheesy. dancehall works better in singles methinks.

― joseph pot (STINKOR™), Thursday, 2 September 2004 01:11 (twenty years ago) link

I don't think any of Elephant Man's catchphrases have been as good as his 'shizzle ma nizzle'/'shankle mi nankle' phase.

― Tim Finney (Tim Finney), Thursday, 2 September 2004 01:13 (twenty years ago) link

the new lady saw album is not cheesy, trust me. and, anyway, dancehall can do cheese very well, that's the beauty of it - look at tok. doesn't have to be all relentless lyrical agggression and rhgythmic envelope-pushing.

― stelfox, Thursday, 2 September 2004 10:22 (twenty years ago) link

man I am all about the cheese - if you want to hear some crazy comedy check Angel Doolas "Shake That Thing" - it even has a vocal melody that (deliberately?) goes out of tune (or too blue?). (Angel to Paul: uh, thanks guy? Alliance a go blaze yuh) but still I would play it...

― Paul (scifisoul), Thursday, 2 September 2004 20:31 (twenty years ago) link

haven't heard the latest by Lady Saw. the one I have is called "Passion" and I fucking can't stand listening to it. it's not good cheese, but rather rotten-past-the-expiration-date-and-left-out-in-the-sun cheese. if that's your thing, well then bon appétit.

― joseph pot (STINKOR™), Thursday, 2 September 2004 21:38 (twenty years ago) link

I don't like "Good To Go" recently. I was feeling it very strong but then I felt overdose with Ele's super fast'n'funny feat. breaks'n'weddy tongue lyrics which he was producing all of time during this year. Although he is always my favorite voice killer. As well, cheesy dancehall is my preciuos file in playlist this summer. Cheesy = superb sound somewhere between late afternoon sleep on the beach and love for dancehall. including acoustic guitar on the air sometime.

Daville - Andale
Lukie D - Forever Be
Voicemail - Bounce Hard
Brick and Lace - Done It To Me

highly recomended: Merciless and Floyde - Lovely Ladies Tonight

― bojan (bojanm), Thursday, 2 September 2004 22:37 (twenty years ago) link

okay, I put Lady Saw Passion on and side one is pretty strong, except for "I Don't Need To Know" which showcases Lady Saw's ability to drop her Jamaican accent (why? it's lovely) and lay down a shitty r&b track. side two is where awfulness reigns, from the jaw-droppingly lackluster cameo by Beenie Man on "Healing" to the boring country/western tune (again sans accent). here's hoping the new one's better, cuz I do like her voice when she's not trying to imitate an American.

― joseph pot (STINKOR™), Thursday, 2 September 2004 23:46 (twenty years ago) link

i saw a Kardinal Offishal mix on SLSK, anybody know anything about it? (this is not dancehall per se, or is it? p.s. any T-dot-based dancehall lovers out there?)

― Dave M. (rotten03), Thursday, 2 September 2004 23:59 (twenty years ago) link

Good2Go has way way more than a couple of decent tracks (I only remember being blah about the Killah Priest track.)

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Friday, 3 September 2004 00:00 (twenty years ago) link

See, I find the artist albums a bit lacklustre, tell truth. I loved the TOK one with "chi chi man" and "money to burn" on it, but it's about the only one I'd just put on the turntable and let play rather than pick single tunes off.

I get the feeling that dancehall artists make albums because they feel they ought to, because, really, the format doesn't make much sense for them.

Like riddim albums are actually more listenable because I think that having the same instrumental with different vocalists gives you more variety in this style than having an album of different instrumentals but the same vocalist on all of them...

TOK being the exception here because they pepper their albums with sing-y tunes and because there are lots of them, so you get more sonic variety.

― Jacob (Jacob), Friday, 3 September 2004 02:13 (twenty years ago) link

essentialquestion for this thread: which is last dancehall artist's album who had all tunes before riddim ?

― bojan (bojanm), Friday, 3 September 2004 13:24 (twenty years ago) link

what?

― stelfox, Friday, 3 September 2004 13:38 (twenty years ago) link

Is there any album which is featuring all tracks previously unreleased as 7'' ?

― bojan (bojanm), Friday, 3 September 2004 16:45 (twenty years ago) link

I'm inclined to believe there was never a dancehall album like that (at least I've never heard of one.) Dancehall is and always has been a singles genre. Albums are a afterthought.

― Alex in SF (Alex in SF), Friday, 3 September 2004 18:16 (twenty years ago) link

so that's why I'm aking you. speaking/writing about dancehall albums tracks changes regarding previously single versions is like Ele's weddy weddy or Beenie's zagazaga lyrical manifestations. as well there is always some wonderfull and szuper funny photos and covers.

or we should tell something wonderfull about Lady Saw 'Strip Tease' track order.

anyway, recently I like 'Gangsta Blues' and I'm waiting in line for 'Strip Tease'.

btw: it would be great to get an artist album with previously unreleased tracks.

― bojan (bojanm), Friday, 3 September 2004 19:34 (twenty years ago) link

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