extraordinary reggae

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

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?