CD Review: Tommy McCook, Dubbing With Horns

[Jamaican Recordings, 2011]

Sure, you probably know the name Tommy McCook from his days in ska, but you may not have heard much about him post-Skatalites. Fortunately, though, he did move onward, and I daresay upward, settling comfortably into the rich reggae of the 1970s – which is the period represented on Dubbing With Horns. Naturally McCook’s tenor sax remained as sophisticated, as jazz-influenced as ever, which these 18 dub tracks do nothing to disguise. In fact I’d say his playing doesn’t merely shine through the dub, loud and clear, but illuminates it – something to do with the dub genre’s improvisational approach that happens to be shared with ska and jazz.  Read more... (261 words + 1 image)

CD Review: Easy Star All-Stars, First Light

[Easy Star, 2011]

We all know the NYC-based Easy Star All-Stars are unbeatable when it comes to providing backup for reggae vets like the Meditations, Sister Carol or Sugar Minott (may he rest in peace). And sure, their remakes of classic albums Dark Side of the Moon and Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts Club Band in reggae style as Dub Side of the Moon and Easy Star’s Lonely Hearts Dub Band are pretty ingenious. (I never heard their Radiohead remake or the original, so nah know ‘bout dat one.) But now they’ve taken a step that’s  bold for them: a new album of original material.  Read more... (364 words + 1 image)

CD Review: David Solid Gould vs. Bill Laswell, Dub of the Passover

[Tzadik, 2011]

Among several breakaways from John Brown’s Body is bassist David “Solid” Gould, who, like former JBB frontman Kevin Kinsella, often has spiritual matters in mind when he makes music. Gould and his Temple Rockers band created one of reggae’s most intriguing pieces of cross-religious syncretism a couple of years ago with Feast of the Passover, a blend of Jewish and Rasta mysticism set on a foundation of reggae as deep as the Old Testament is old. The original’s not-of-this-world vibe is recaptured and in ways accentuated on the killer dub version, even though the cantor-like vocals that characterized much of the first album are minimal or merely implied here.  Read more... (246 words + 1 image)

David Rodigan In His Own Words

The reggae selector releases a CD for London's hip Fabric Nightclub

David Rodigan

David Rodigan turns 60 this year. He’s spent the majority of it utterly in the grip of reggaemylitis.  Read more... (4751 words + 2 images)

CD Reviews: Predator Dub Assassins and P-Dub

Predator Dub Assassins – “Fully Qualified” [P Dub Records, 2009] P-Dub – “Frontline” [P Dub Records, 2010]

I first got to know New York City-based Predator Dub Assassins through the 2007 album “The Hardest.” It was as solid as the title suggested, a combination of roots rock reggae with a sprinkling of ska, a dash of dancehall, a pinch of pop. “Fully Qualified” is likewise true to its moniker, with PDA jamming strong under the guidance of P-Dub, a dreadlocked singer and multi-instrumentalist who can testify like a rootsman or mellow the vibe like any of the best lovers rock crooners.  Read more... (329 words + 5 images)

CD Review: Dubblestandart, Marijuana Dreams

Dubblestandart: Marijuana Dreams [Collision Cause of Chapter 3, 2010]

The cover promo blurb said “feat. Anthony B., Elephant Man, Lee Scratch Perry, William S. Burroughs, David Lynch, a.o.!”, therefore I approached this latest Dubblestandart release with some foreboding. No, it’s not Elephant Man I fear, scary though he tries to be. It’s Scratch. Last time out with Dubblestandart, he was ridiculously and childishly profane, a tiresome caricature of his former self, thus a disappointment. Not that the others involved with that last one were inspired either.  Read more... (311 words + 1 image)

CD Review: Chet Singh, Recessionary Revolutionaries

Chet Singh, Recessionary Revolutionaries, 2010
www.myspace.com/chetsingh

Perhaps revolution itself is in a recession these days. There are so many significant problems requiring revolutionary solutions, but it’s difficult to demonstrate that great strides are being made with any regularity or promise of lasting success. Not that intelligent, concerned, talented people aren’t involving themselves in the struggle. It’s just that the issues are so numerous and complex, and that the forces for the ultimately destructive status quo are so entrenched. Or so it seems to some of us.  Read more... (278 words + 1 image)

CD Review: Fat Freddy’s Drop, Live at Roundhouse

Fat Freddy’s Drop, Live at Roundhouse [The Drop, 2010]

Not strictly a reggae band, New Zealanders Fat Freddy’s Drop also know their way around funk, soul, dub, Afrobeat, downtempo chill and several levels of jazz. Nonetheless, reggae fans and music lovers of all stripes have taken to this low key collective. Perhaps it’s something to do with how unpretentiously cool their music sounds.  Read more... (348 words + 1 image)