The Reggae & Ska Recommendation Thread

[jackhammer]

Originally Posted by crazed

V/A Punky Reggae Party

One of the better Trojan label reggae comps. Many of the songs here don't duplicate on other Trojan collections. A good selection of socially conscious songs as well as some fine dub tracks. The usual suspects are featured here: Marley, Ken Boothe, Gregory Isaacs, Dennis Brown, Sugar Minott plus some not-so-familiar names. Worth hunting down.

Very decent comp.

As for my recent listening this is phenomenal but it does incorporate Old school Jungle and Dub but it's a sign that Reggae music wants to reclaim back it's authority since Dubstep has all but obliterated it's roots.

Skip to 1:40 if ya like for the start.

[Gavin B.]

Thanks for the post of the amazing Naftali. Kenya is the mother lode of talented African musicians... most of whom are still working their day jobs as farm laborers or fishermen.

Most of the music of Kenya has yet to fall on the ears of Westerners because very few international record labels are scouting this relatively remote region of Eastern Africa. It's a pretty dangerous assignment in a very volatile region of the world. Kenya is a functioning democracy but Western tourists frequently get kidnapped for ransom by tribal gangs.

I'd volunteer to do field recordings of Kenyan artists in a matter of a minute, but no record label will underwrite the trip to Africa.

[Gavin B.]

I've really become obsessed with the London rapper Ghostpoet who uses elements of reggae, dubstep, jazz and trip hop. His new album Some Say I So I Say Light is my favorite release of 2013.



Did you notice any resemblance to Linton Kwesi Johnson in his vocals? I sure did.... I also noticed an eerie physical resemblance of Ghostpoet to LKJ in photos of him. (See below photos)


Ghostpoet


Linton Kwesi Johnson

[jackhammer]

Originally Posted by Gavin B.

I've really become obsessed with the London rapper Ghostpoet who uses elements of reggae, dubstep, jazz and trip hop. His new album Some Say I So I Say Light is my favorite release of 2013.



Did you notice any resemblance to Linton Kwesi Johnson in his vocals? I sure did.... I also noticed an eerie physical resemblance of Ghostpoet to LKJ in photos of him. (See below photos)


Ghostpoet


Linton Kwesi Johnson

The YT vid didn't work over here but navigated to a few tunes and me likey. Going to check him out for sure and yes LKJ is a definite influence.

[Gavin B.]

Ghostpoet goes acoustic on this Mahogany video session version of Us Against Whatever. The guy has a heartful of soul.

[jackhammer]

One of the finest Reggae bands ever with the best rhythm section ever- of course!

[Gavin B.]

Black Uhuru is still touring with founding member Derrick "Duckie" Simpson, along with two recruited vocalists, Andrew Bees, Kaye Starr. In August they played a half a dozen festivals in England, Spain and Ireland. Sly and Robbie are no longer with the band but I've read positive reviews of their shows.

In their prime Black Uhuru was a beast of a band. I saw them at the Boston Convention Center with King Sunny Ade in 1984 when the album Anthem was released. The lineup included Michael Rose, Puma Jones, Duckie with Sly and Robbie.

It was too bad for King Sunny that Black Uhuru opened because Uhuru blew everyone away. A lot of people left the show when King Sunny's band failed to establish a vibe with audience members who were completely exhausted after Black Uhuru's sledgehammer set. Under ordinary circumstances, I probably would have loved King Sunny's live show but he choose an opening act that made him sound anemic by comparison.

[slints]

The Skints!

[Psychedub Dude]

All Reggae fans (or just music fans in general) should listen to these guys. Really great collective of musicians with one of the coolest and unique sounds in the world.

[badweatha]

Check out Ken & Keith. They're awesome. Also, The Blues Busters. There's a great selection of playlists littered throughout YouTube.