Reggae/Dub/Dancehall Listening Club

Ken Boothe - Black, Gold & Green (Lloyd Charmers, Trojan, 1972

http://www.roots-archives.com/artwork/albums/1322.jpg

Jacob Miller - Who Say Jah No Dread (Pablo/Tubby, 1974)

http://www.roots-archives.com/artwork/albums/326.jpg

Keith Hudson - Playing It Cool, Playing It Right (Hudson, 1971)

http://www.roots-archives.com/artwork/albums/2117.jpg

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Posting this thread now to get pfunkboy to chill the fuck out about the listening club. I would prefer this focussed on 1965-1983, since that's the era I like the best, but whatever. You can google the albums yourself to see who played on what.

can there be ska albums?

jacob miller Spotify link
Keith Hudson Spotify link

I hate ska, but if someone with no taste wants to discuss ska, go ahead. Thanks for the links.

I'll gladly choose ska one week then

great choices.
i'll take a week, please.

i'd like to suggest a few discs sometime, too.

i want to make a blood-and-fire week.

(rip BAF, obv.)

smh at OP of the reggae/dub/dancehall club saying ska=no taste

maybe he meant "third-wave" ska, or whatever that horrible 90s genre was called.

hope so..

that Keith Hudson is sick btw

eh ska is just kinda annoying. there's very little of it that i dig (DON DRUMMOND) and it makes perfect sense for a fan of the slower stoned out rocksteady/reggae/early dancehall eras to find it irksome.

no, he really does hate ska

some early ska is groovy. it drew from a lot of american r&b iirc.

anyway, of the first three discs to begin this thread, i only have the jacob miller. it's supposedly great, but i haven't spent much time with it. this thread gives me a reason to investigate it further.

So do we just listen to the records and reminisce about the first time we heard them or just shoot the shit about them generally? I'm new to this listening club thing.

Excluding ska and mento is pretty lame, but cutting off everything post-83 is basically insane.

65-83 is the best shit, I 2nd the motion. post ska, pre full digitalization.

So do we just listen to the records and reminisce about the first time we heard them or just shoot the shit about them generally? I'm new to this listening club thing.

think its the latter, e.g., try to figure out what a given disc is about; why one disc works for you but another doesn't; discuss influences and innovations; break down the elements, influences, yadda yadda.

yea, i'm no fan of digitalization.

I don't have the Miller record, but obv heard it a bunch (esp. the dub half). I'll be honest if not for "King Tubby Meets The Rockers Uptown" I'm not sure Jacob Miller would really be that big a deal (is he even a big deal?)

Not sure I've even heard the Booth (oh wait this is a comp and yeah I've heard most of it.) He's a great singer obv. One of those guys like maybe a whole record is kind of overkill (unless you really are really into lovers that day) but every time a track comes on it's like damn what a voice (Ellis, Wilson, Smith, Holt are other guys like this for me.)

Playing It Cool OTOH (and Hudson in general) is great. Some Hudson records kind of coast on his odd-ball reputation and their rarity, I guess (Flesh of My Skin I'm looking at you) and other things are just lousy (Too Expensive, ick) but this and Brand are nearly perfect distillations of what's great about Hudson's delivery (they might both work best because his voice is used so sparely and is so FX-laden.)

I guess I should track down the first two records and actually listen to them in full now.

i think the only hudson discs i have are the pure dub affairs (e.g., pick-a-dub).

"65-83 is the best shit, I 2nd the motion. post ska, pre full digitalization."

I couldn't disagree more and I am definitely picking post-83 records.

There are a couple of Hudson vocals on Pick A Dub too actually.

rising up briefly, then falling back into the mix, iirc.

also, isn't the material on pick-a-dub drawn exclusively from altered material taken from one of hudson's vocal albums? that's at least what i assumed, but i can't recall if i actually investigated it.

(not really "altered," but rather "dub versions of")

I forgot to mention one of my favorite things about Playing It Cool is the titles of the songs/dubs.

California (hmmn okay his voice is kind of annoying here)/By Night Dub
Be What You Want To Be/Be Good Dub
I Can't Do Without You/Still Need You Dub

Boothe is the greatest enunciator in all of Jamaican music. I haven't heard that comp (is it strictly singles he cut w/Chalmers in 71 & 72?). It's missing most of my favorites of his: Just Another Girl, Silver Words, Moving Away, Lonely Teardrops, Without Love, etc. Alex, you mean Ernie Smith, right? Hardly have heard anything by him, can you give some rec's?

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uyUq6RxhRls

It's dubs of various Hudson productions (some he voiced, so he didn't). So there are Big Youth vocals there. And Horace Andy maybe? It's been ages lemme pull out the disc.

Meant Slim Smith actually.

I really really wish I could get into post 83 JA stuff. Every time I do I run away screaming.

xp oh ok that makes more sense, don't know why I didn't think of Slim first as he's one of my favorites and fits in with Holt, Ellis, and Wilson.

Hmmn it doesn't specify in the Pick A Dub notes.

I'll pick some post-83 non-ragga stuff too. Plenty of great digital dub. Maybe Jah Shaka? Or Jah Warrior or Disciples?

As soon as Playing It Cool finishes I am going to watch the last ten minutes of the Laker game. This is actually reminding me how much more I love Keith Hudson dubs/productions than I do his "songs/singing".

Guitar on this record is awesome. Wonder who is playing on it? Roots-archives is no help.

Has anyone heard Jacob Miller Lives On? It got voted the third best reissue from last year by Roots-Archives or something and has outrageously bad cover art.

love love LOVE Hudson's penchant for slide guitar. I assumed it's Chinna?
Would def be interested in some digital dub. Only stuff I've got is a couple Mad Professor's.

http://www.dubdirectory.de/index.htm

^laughable incomplete, but still helpful on occasion

mad professor has some of the best album titles/covers i've seen.

laughablY

Alex, you're right re: Miller. This collection of his work with Pablo and mixes by Tubby is by far the best stuff he did. There aren't many reggae discs by a single artist where I love every song but this is one of them (maybe i skip A Girl Named Pat).

The Hudson is another. I was introduced to Keith Hudson via New Order's version of Turn The Heater On from their second Peel Session. I read it was Ian who was a fan of Hudson and that must have influenced their choice to cover it in 82. It's a great version and i'm curious to know when they decided to play that and how long they rehearsed it. One thing that fascinates me about Hudson is the variation in mood and atmosphere from version to version. I used to get annoyed by producers recycling rhythms but with Hudson you can really feel his creativity in the arrangements, delivery, amount of reverb/delay etc, and Playing it Cool features most of his best takes on his best rhythms. It's raw, sparse and over way too quick. I'm not sure if the Basic Channel folks are responsible for blending the vocals with the versions on my copy but the transitions are great and make for a perfect listen. This is one of the only reggae albums I own on CD and vinyl and I play it all the time. All time favorite. Keith Hudson is the pinnacle of reggae to me. I don't love all his work but I do appreciate his willingness to experiment. Cheaper than a sack of weed, but more potent.

I never heard much of Ken Boothe other than Ain't No Sunshine and Everything I Own on some comps, but this album (is it a comp?) is really great. You can hear the strong R&B influence in the songs but you can also hear the early roots sound coming through. It was either Black, Gold and Green or Alton Ellis' Arise Black Man comp for my third pick and this album got the call because every time one of the songs comes on random, i'll play the rest of the album and enjoy it in full.

I really love digidub/steppers stuff actually. Shaka, Disciples, Alpha Omega, Rootsman, Zion Train. Eager to hear what other folks like.

I love love love the windbreaker (?) that Boothe is wearing on that record. I WANT IT!

ok Playing It Cool doesn't have any slide guitar on it, does it?
this is what I'm talking bout:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0FM6xU70W08&feature=related

Can I shamelessly use this thread to reiterate my belief that Janet Kay's "Silly Games" is one of the best reggae singles ever? I always feel more people need to hear it.

janet kay--"silly games" classic or dud?

On topic: that Keith Hudson record is a stone cold classic

Love raw, sparse Hudson but love even more the sonic overload Hudson like in that youtube I posted above and on From One Extreme to Another.

i don't get this thread. wth is a listening club

what's the password, nerd

genre-based listening clubs are the "hot" new thread idea on ilm, it seems.

Oh man, Ken Boothe impersonating a begging woman on "Second Chance" is hiLARIOUS! Loving these records, so far, especially the Keith Hudson.

I'm staggered to read that Clarke was dropped by Front Line after this record came out. Especially at that time, when roots rock reggae was at its peak.

I love almost every track on Rockers Time Now, and I myself do go back it frequently, quite surprising given that mid-70s "conscious" roots is hardly my favourite type of reggae. The key - as the amg article above says - is the understated production. It's all so sweet and bouncy, but it's never anodyne, except perhaps for that ballady one on the second side, what's it called, I Wish It Could Go On. Very in keeping with the times, I suppose, that you had to stick a love song in there at some point.

I knew quite a few of these tracks from dubs on compilations, so when I bought the album it was like, Oh this one! and these feel now like the definitive versions.

One track (among several) that lifts this above your average album of its genre is Natty Dreadlocks Stand Up Right. Lilting, sweet, catchy and yet defiant and hard as nails at the same time.

The other thing is what you might call pop sensibility - these are (almost) all fine songs you can hum along to. And that's intended as a compliment.

yesterday i listened, side-by-side, to the song african roots, first on rockers now, where it originally appeared, and then on the blood & fire compilation, dreader dread. same song, but it sounded so different! i'm not sure if that's the result of context or remastering. on rockers now, it did sound "sweet and bouncy." on dreader dread, it sounded more bottom-heavy and brooding.

is this still going on???

it's languished lately. I want it to keep going!

brotherlovesdub is a bit busy now what with having nappies to change n stuff.. but im sure he wont mind if one of you keeps things ticking over, just pick some albums! (Hint: do some ska while he's not here!)

I don't know enough about ska, but here are three placeholder albums for your perusal, just to keep things at the top of the threads page:

Heavy Heavy Monster Sounds of Dave and Ansel Collins

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h279/juicyfrt/dave-and-ansel-collins.jpg

Junior Byles - Curly Locks: The Best of Junior Byles and the Upsetters 1970-1976

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h279/juicyfrt/junior-byles.jpg

Big Youth - Dreadlocks Dread

http://i66.photobucket.com/albums/h279/juicyfrt/big-youth.jpg

sorry I don't really know what I'm doing...just trying to keep things going...

no worries! i'm glad you did.

Love Big Youth, so exuberant and forceful.

nice, will check these out. glad to see the clubs still going.

Love that Junior Byles comp! That bizarre, minimal (like hollowed-out) second version of "Curly Locks", Scratch's kids singing on "Thanks We Get", lots of good stuff on that.

I don't know that Big Youth album, but if I had to pick a favorite roots-era DJ it would definitely be him.

who is volunteering for next week & so on?

i'll volunteer, but i will humbly defer if someone else wants to go first (i picked three discs a few weeks ago).

that Dave and Ansel Collins is pretty hard to find :(

hey Daniel Esq, are you out there?

I am! I'll select three discs later today.

F it, I'm just gonna leap in, mostly to make sure this thread doesn't die on the vine... apologies in advance of i'm an usurper (or unable to make the images come out right...

http://991.com/newgallery/Mad-Professor-Who-Knows-The-Sec-441043.jpg
Mad Professor: Dub Me Crazy Part Five
Picked it up as it has the track The Orb sampled and then forgot about for a few years, being too quirky, not roots enough. Going back to it now, the aural delights and humor hold up surprisingly well.

http://4.bp.blogspot.com/_4KjiXr1ScXA/TCuXyUnJdXI/AAAAAAAACgw/BnMsi6oPaGQ/s1600/frSufferation22.jpg
Niney the Observer: Sufferation
Every comp of the man I've come across has been a winner, this one perhaps edging out the B&F one, as well as the Trojan one I just picked up. His cuts are generally of the same caliber of Scratch and Tubbys, but he doesn't get as much attention.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DfnfWl8on4I/SdVasazuZ3I/AAAAAAAABFI/-RWxa8t4WmI/s320/dread.jpg
Ranking Dread: In Dub
Simply put, one of the greatest dub albums ever. Up there with Prince Far I's Cry Tuff 3 and the usual suspects. Monstrous.

not at all! i've been swamped all week, so i'm glad someone else stepped into the batter's box.

wow I can't wait to check these out!

Sufferation is maybe a bit better than the B&F Microphone Attack comp, but anyone who doesn't have the latter: it's $4 on Ernie B's right now and you should totally get it!

Anyone heard this? http://www.roots-archives.com/release/1987. I was under the impression Jamaican Recordings wasn't to be trusted, but a friend says that comp is great.

the CD is $4 I should clarify

Niney the Observer: Sufferation
Every comp of the man I've come across has been a winner

there's a relatively new one -- called blood & fire (but not from the BAF label) -- that's top-to-bottom killer.

This one Daniel? Trojan has two with the same name.

no, it's this one. sorry, i had the name confused (the song blood & fire is on this disc).

reggae reviews, a now-dormant site i like a lot, really dug this sufferation disc:

*GUEST REVIEW*
Frankly, I wasn't expecting much from this collection, but it turned out to be very pleasant surprise. You may expect great songs from renowned stalwarts like Gregory Isaacs, Dennis Brown, or Horace Andy (and indeed, their songs are good), but relatively less-know artists like Tyrone Taylor and Leroy Smart contribute with similarly enjoyable cuts and obscure artists like The Jewels and George B add some downright gems. Many of these songs are presented in extended mix with dub or DJ companions, making Sufferation even more efficient. Highlights are too many to mention, but (apart from previously mentioned) I find the Rock Tone Band's "Burn Me Out," Christine's "Saturday," and Dennis Brown's "Blessed Are the Men" absolutely delightful. Sufferation is the album that any seasoned reggae fan would eat up. Everything is in balance: wise selection of artists and songs, massive liner notes, and perfect sound quality. It's definitely a better showcase for Niney than Heartbeat's Observer Station.

nuts, that VP comp does look good, unfortunately I have just enough of it already to be kind of annoyed at it rather than excited :/

And yeah, Sufferation is very good, like everything I've heard from Auralux the sounds is excellent. And Beta is right about the Ranking Dread too: "monstrous" is exactly OTM.

Have never heard the Mad Professor. Actually I think the only MP I've heard is his massive attack remix album, always meant to explore him further.

If iirc "Blessed Are the Men" is an anti-birth control song! though not very effectively or anything

i love the covers of mad professor albums. i'm less enthusiastic about the music therein.

this disc, also from the auralux label, seems interesting. anyone know anything about it?

sorry to be off-topic.

That is the single Auralux disc I do not own, but I'm sure it's great.

Niney is super-underrated and Sufferation is awesome. I don't have the VP collection, but instead have the 3 HeartBeat collections, two or three dub albums and B&F deejays collection and they are all stellar as well.

That Ranking Dread record is on Silver Kamel, a label I have been curious about for a while but never picked anything up on. They have a couple of sweet looking collections of discomixes IIRC.

i've never heard of the auralux label before this most recent set of listening-club selections (either that or i never paid attention to it).

this is another reason i love this thread. there are a lot of questionable, seemingly shady labels churning out roots reggae music. you have to have guidance about who to trust (especially in the post BAF world (rip)). in that regard, this thread helps me tremendously.

and now, off to emusic to explore the auralux catalog.

This Ranking Dread record really is something else!

Got the Ranking Dread in Dub on this morning. Enjoying it with my morning coffee. Roots Radics, Scientist, Tubby. So good. Haven't played this more than once so I really appreciate it getting called to attention this week.

If Austin Powers ever went to Jamaica, his theme song would most likely be 'Yes Yes Yes Dub'. I know that rhythm and melody but need to find other songs that use it.

"No No No" Dawn Penn.

Haha I should have guessed that even before listening to it.

any of the auralux stuff is good

trying to hit this tonight, hopefully they'll have tix at the door

http://dccaribbeanconnection.com/Upload/images/cables.bmp

also gonna see yellowman for free next weekend

I should have known that too but the horns on the Ranking Dread cut just sound so uplifting and I associate No No No with a slower, more sombre mood.

Whip Them King Tubby! is indeed great, just picked it up a couple of days ago; it's Linval Thompson productions plus their Tubby dubs. It's not quite as, uh, lacerating as the title makes it sound but like others have said, you can't go wrong with auralux though I think I just slightly prefer their other Thompson reissue, Roots of Dancehall.

really, really enjoying sufferation. there's an edgy, menacing vibe to some of these tracks (e.g., gregory issacs' sly, slack delivery on rock on).

this here listening club thread is deader than dead but return of summer heat (cue "City's Too Hot") means reggae return:

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_DbAWRuR6Ilc/S30WasmBF9I/AAAAAAAABPE/UAC-vqfwXU8/s400/FRONT.jpg
Lovejoys: Lovers Rock
Actually wanted to post this one when last I listed my favorite reggae discs. My favorite Bullwackies production, something i also spin with Grace Jones and other dark electro reggae cuts. the lovers rock cuts are pretty cool too. "Long Lost Lover" still devastates me years later.

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/_ffK-z668P14/TCY6RemsU8I/AAAAAAAAAVE/l_YJHyjMeDQ/s400/2vkxk7l.jpg
VA: Mrs. Pottinger's High Note and Gay Feet Label Musical Feast
Back in the early 90s, when i worked at a college radio station, i stole this disc on a whim, and still return to it, over a decade on. my favorite rocksteady comp by a longshot. it was slightly awesome when Vice Magazine wrote about Mrs. Pottinger a few years back.

http://3.bp.blogspot.com/_GQtuh1Q_luQ/SGmglJDHeuI/AAAAAAAACl4/3IpWCiHaxEI/s400/Andy,+Horace+-+In+The+Light+%2B+Dub+-.jpg
Horace Andy: In the Light Dub
weird to not have any Horace Andy albums up for discussion here so far, but this one is so sweet, with effervescent Prince Jammy dubs. also love the Bullwackies one, and hell, dig almost everyone i've ever heard.

i love, love, love horace andy's voice. i don't have that disc, tho. will solve that ASAP, in honor of its selection on this thread.

Those are three great albums.

oh, wow -- that horace andy album is gone from emusic!

Lovers Rock is a personal favorite. How is Reggae Vibes?

here's the vocal version of In the Light. no dub tho.
that said, tons of sweet Horace Andy albums there. I can vouch for the sublimity of this one, this one, this one, and this one.

dance hall style may be the greatest record ever, so yeah.

I love Reggae Vibes.

funny, i never got around to hearing Reggae Vibes.

How do people feel about the guitar on Andy's "Do You Love My Music?"