ITT: late 80s, early digital dancehall

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Lots of action on various reggae threads this week (I guess it's summer officially now), and some people expressed interest in how to get into reggae beyond the roots/early dancehall stuff. Wayne Smith's "Under Mi Sleng Teng" is the obvious starting point, but this dark, slinky Tubby-produced track--Anthony Red Rose's "Tempo"--is what got me to investigate this stuff so I'm posting this first: http://soundcloud.com/adellestripe/tempo-by-anthony-red-rose

One caveat: like all reggae, this stuff really needs good bass, so online version aren't necessarily going to sound optimal. This track is on Pressure Sounds excellent "Firehouse Revolution" compilation, which is a great place to start.

rob, Wednesday, 22 June 2011 15:55 (thirteen years ago)

The only one I can suggest is that one that was/is in John Peel's box.

Paul Blake & The Blood Fire Posse: Every Posse Get Flat

Mark G, Wednesday, 22 June 2011 15:58 (thirteen years ago)

White Mice's "It's a Shame" (listen), which was reissued by the Basic Channel guys a few years ago: http://www.basicchannel.com/item/BRWMLP-1.

rob, Wednesday, 22 June 2011 16:07 (thirteen years ago)

One of the reasons I like this stuff is it brought back eros to JA music, contrasting with the aridity of Rasta-dominated lyrics. While this also eventually led to the cruder end of slackness (then again, Lee Perry has a song called "Rape Bait" from 1965, so “slackness” isn't totally unprecedented in JA music), you also got Cocoa Tea respecting the age of consent:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6v2GLjsGCCI

rob, Wednesday, 22 June 2011 16:33 (thirteen years ago)

Okay one more song, and then I'll stop bumping this thread. This is "Replay Version", produced by Prince Jazzbo, one of my favorite pieces of music in any genre. It sounds like a dub version of John Carpenter's "Assault on Precinct 13" soundtrack:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=TwazzbhEP3s

rob, Wednesday, 22 June 2011 19:40 (thirteen years ago)

There's a Trojan Box for this:
http://www.discogs.com/Various-Under-Me-Sleng-Teng-The-Dawning-Of-Digital-Reggae/release/2224770

it's a meme i made and i like (Steve Shasta), Wednesday, 22 June 2011 19:43 (thirteen years ago)

lots of good stuff on that, though I think it fell into a Trojan distribution problems hole at some point

rob, Wednesday, 22 June 2011 19:51 (thirteen years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k7EF6LHU5ps

brotherlovesdub, Wednesday, 22 June 2011 20:15 (thirteen years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h5ankySVRRo

the whole Basic Replay album is great.

not going to post youtubes from White Mice but just get the vocals/versions for the White Mice repressed by Basic Channel

brotherlovesdub, Wednesday, 22 June 2011 20:18 (thirteen years ago)

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

brotherlovesdub, Wednesday, 22 June 2011 20:19 (thirteen years ago)

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Vy4pK5Wt7A

find myself singing this one all the time

brotherlovesdub, Wednesday, 22 June 2011 20:22 (thirteen years ago)

was digging through the 7"s at a store near me and they had a bunch of this stuff for a buck. didn't think i "needed" any of it and left them all there. buncha bobby digital productions like this

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kwd2lWviojw

jaxon, Wednesday, 22 June 2011 20:25 (thirteen years ago)


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