2k7 official reggae rmxs POLL

nb this is not a guest verse ting! only brand new dancehallreggaefied production was considered (in mims case, barely)

I think I've only heard the versions of "Say It Right" (loved it but must track it down again to remind myself) and "No One", which I would be happy to vote for simply as a thoroughly effective resurrection job (whereas with more hallowed 2006 options like "Irreplaceable" it's like, yeah, it's great, but it's not actually better than the original really). RTC which of the above do I absolutely have to hear?

mims - this is why i'm hot ft junior reid & cham

Oh yeah I have and love that - but I agree that it probably doesn't really fit the spirit of the thread. but yes best thing ever. I tend to just assume that rap tracks with Junior Reid on them are great but I'm not sure if that's just cos I'm cherrypicking.

akon - don't matter (calypso mix)

close call btwn mims and akon, but akon takes it for it's undeniable party vibe.

i heard that mims remix a lot on mainstream hip-hop radio which was cool

i am throwing out tim's request on the basis that it presupposes there are better things to be getting on with than even the bad ones of these? nah ok furtado wins the transformative vote, keys/reid the teasing out something struggling in the original award, stefani for the greatest distance travelled from stumbling rubbish to sunny ease. (cos d marley in full warm swing is still like whoa.)

otherwise i was always happy to hear the one drop umbrella w/ shaggy, and also its excellent cousin the bartender blend.

the ele ragga mix never made it to cdq i don't think (?) but its strafing socajoy on the chorus perhaps deserved better.

the kiss kiss mix tried a moody lurk like 'notorious' and... achieved something or other unexpected i guess.

"Now That You Got It" for me!

a bit offtopic but still reggae-related: rtc, have you heard the Chi Chi Bud riddim? nice n smooth groove, and it's got a pretty great hitrate (esp. the Mikey General and Lloyd Brown tracks)

AKONAKONAKONAKON

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yeah mt i think i might go for gwen too! why the fuck not.

havent heard the chi chi bud yet, but i will do. couldn't seem to find any good roots at all in 07; taurus riley and alborosie did nothing for me, and stuff like ray darwin's 'people's choice' was nice but kinda self-consciously very deadening old school as well. frustrating cos it seemed to all really click with me in a modern way in 06 - hopefully the return of gyptian, and the serani/daseca/bugle axis will work its magic this year.

anyway, it is gladdening to see my mystic hoez on a reggae tip. why arent you guys ever on rolling dancehall? i am so not going through another year of prodding along decrepit congo natty collectors and well-meaning "world music" dudes

DIS IS WHY WE HOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOT

tsk i knew i shouldnt have put in that cop-out option

it's obviously the best one

no one remix is good too but I still hate her vocals.

gah, where is the magnificently ott jamaican songstress GHOST these days!! give her that beat and you'd all have been begging for alicia's restrained tones

What is the Paul McCartney song like?

Frankly I am having trouble getting my head around it.

truthfully i only heard it the once on a goldfinger show and it was totally unremarkable (sly & robbie did it, they just kept a bit of macca on the chorus i think?) but haha er yeah the trivia, the trivia it will always live on.

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<i>couldn't seem to find any good roots at all in 07; taurus riley and alborosie did nothing for me, and stuff like ray darwin's 'people's choice' was nice but kinda self-consciously very deadening old school as well.</i>

when it comes to reggae i'm a lovers rock dude (been enjoying <A HREF="http://www.greensleeves.net/products/7518";>this comp</A> lately a lot) so i tend to avoid proper socially conscious roots stuff: those names you mention are a mystery to me! anyway, here's my 2007 reggae top 10:

1. KMC - Roses
2. Shaggy feat. Rik Rok - Bonafide Girl
3. Alaine - Sincerely
4. Nadine Sutherland feat. Chrisinti - Can't Tek It
5. Gwen Stefani feat. Damian Marley - Now That You Got It rmx
6. Nikesha - Sweet Talkin
7. Lady Saw - No Less Than a Woman
8. Mikey General - Father God Almighty
9. DaVille feat. Sean Paul - Always on My Mind
10. Tony Bailey - Lover Lover

<i>why arent you guys ever on rolling dancehall?</i>

well, i'll be honest and admit that i'm generally not that much into dancehall... in fact, dancehall often turns me into Geir! "oh it's just a load of dudes barking and shouting, where the tunes at", etc etc. (of course, i like it when it gets all-out poppy, and every year i find a few random things to love - Shaggy's "More Woman" in 07, Kendra's "Saddle Up" in 06)

i also liked this 'i'm a flirt' rmx w/ lady saw

yeah that lovers comp is good isn't it! (also the synth bit on the donna rhoden really REALLY sounds like something else and it is driving me mad trying to place it.) you should definitely check out gyptian's album - he is probly the closest around to a breezy lovers superstar, even his fire & brimstone tracks manage to be quite charming.

ALSO it won playboy magazine world music album of the year 2006.

(god why am i not doing reggae reviews for playboy!!)

haha when you listen to the first juno clip of 'beng beng' it happens to happen upon my favourite lyric of the decade

"how do you feel.... if your own brother blood was taken by...your enemy STEVE...!! who has been looking all around for you, yeah"

fucking steve!

These are all pretty great. Before this thread I had only heard the mims one.

ok i'll check out Gyptian's album sometime soon!

btw if anyone's interested, here are some youtube reggae 07 links:

Shaggy feat. Rik Rok - Bonafide Girl
Lady Saw - No Less Than a Woman (Infertility)
DaVille feat. Sean Paul - Always on My Mind
Tami Chynn - Over and Over Again
KMC - Roses
Nadine Sutherland feat. Chrisinti - Can't Tek It

oh nice, found a beenie n alicia

That's fabulous - it feels totally epic! It's astonishing how brilliant Alicia's vocals sound on all these versions. Between this and the "Ghetto Story" remix she should just become a reggae vocalist full stop.

Also loving the calypso version of "Don't Matter".

totally forgot about that ghetto story rmx - i rode for akon's at the time thinking everyone was kneejerking into alicia's out of spite (also "see we africans we love hunting" haha) but post-'no one' it really does sound great all of a sudden

ur right about the beenie mix too, i have grown very fond of it

Ah, my version of the "Ghetto Story" remix has both of them for maximum impact. It's actually a very effective/affecting version: starts with Alicia singing "here's my ghetto story, been through hell and the fire, gonna take it higher", then cuts to Akon chanting "see I was born poor like many men and didn't have nuttin..." - almost five minutes of righteous goodness!

yeah that was the other thing i didnt like about alicia's - with her alone it was like a big fake celebrity pr stunt, cham's ghetto all cordoned off while prissy princess makes a flying visit, whereas akon's had a genuine splitscreen dialogue thing going

i mean it's not like akon's didnt seem a bit silly too, but cham came out of it nobler

Yeah without Akon an Alicia version would be a bit Angelina Jolie.

However the best bit of "Ghetto Story" we always be "ME SAY 'MIKEY!!'", regardless of who is guesting.

haha la jolie crossed my mind too but she's got more of an akonic "see we americans we love hunting" hardfaced matter-of-factness i think

apropos of nothing i reckon it's time you heard my beloved 'silly dreams' by lady saw if you havent already man:

http://www.zshare.net/audio/6277213e9efc4d/

That's beautiful. I always find lady saw in classy (or "classy" mode) a bit disturbing, it's like when my older sister is being unusually polite. I wonder what she's holding behind her back. So I only really become comfortable with this when her voice gets broader (key moment being declaiming "YOU SAY SHE CHEATED WITH ANOTHER MAN..." - would be even better if there was a subsequent verse "BUT THEN YOU CHEATED WITH ANOTHER MAN...") - but then this retroactively makes the politeness of the beginning (as well as the end) just perfect and fragile.