2 highly recommended and essential CD’s I’ve been meaning to get around to drawing attention too…
Aston Familyman Barrett - Cobra Style
&
Familyman In Dub
Whilst Aston Barrett was bassist and musical director for The Wailers he also made his own productions released on Tuff Gong and his own Fams label.
Cobra Style features instrumentals such as Cobra Style and Well Pleased being the first reggae music to use an early electronic drum machine - called The Rhythm King which Familyman called his secret Rhythm Box - along with crack live musicians.
Vocal productions of artists like Senya, Jimmy Riley and a group called Brimstone which featured Brinsley Forde before the formation of Aswad.
The equally essential companion CD covers the dub versions of the tracks. Listening to these show how ahead of the times Familyman was with these productions which are simply awesome and to my ears stand head and shoulders above much of the current “digital” dub and still manage to sound fresh and contemporary.
Good SQ as usual from the Heartbeat label, these CD’s are not cheap on the collectors market for a near mint but still a bargain compared to the asking prices for original highly rare pressings that would make a banker tremble.
Dub Store Japan also recently put out a compilation of Fams productions but I haven’t heard it so cant vouch for SQ or probity of source material used.
Great night of reggae on Sky Arts channel tonight:
Toots & The Maytals Reggae Got Soul
Don Letts Dread Meets Punk
Bob Marley Live At The Rainbow
Noddy Holder on Two Tone
But the highlight has to be the new film Rudeboy The Story Of Trojan Records
Recent-ish album from the old man - produced (and with his usual throbbing bass) by Bill Laswell with a host of guest musicians including Sly Dunbar and Gigi. It ends up being a modern sound with all of the unique essence of Scratch.
Not sure if this would qualify as recentish but this latter LSP album from about 10 years back co produced by Andrew WK and released on Narnack Records stands out. Although some lyrics might raise eyebrows as on the track Babysucker.
Perhaps as a response to the current political climate, the Rock Against Racism movement is being celebrated at Brighton Dome rescheduled for 28 March with a great line up
Rock Against Racism with Misty in Roots, The Skatalites, Ruts DC & The Members
With politics in Europe leaning to the far right and with Racism ever more prevalent on the streets of Britain celebrate the times when Rock Against Racism (RAR) stood up and helped bring together black and white fans in their common love of music.
Rock Against Racism was a political and cultural movement that emerged in 1976 as reaction to a rise in racist attacks on the streets of the UK and increasing support for the neo-Nazi National Front at the ballot box. Between 1976 and 1982 RAR activists organised national Carnivals and tours, as well as local gigs and clubs throughout the country. The musicians came from all pop music genres, something reflected in one of RAR’s slogans: ‘Reggae, Soul, Ska, Rock’N’Roll, Jazz, Funk, and Punk’.
Some wonderful dub goodness on this, Alpha Steppa’s debut album, and this two disc set includes slightly deeper dub versions of the choons on disc 1, and, best of all, it’s on Tidal, so have a listen.
Had a quick look on the (new to me) Dub Vendor website, and though I don’t do vinyl, there’s loads of tasty CDs on there to tempt me … this could get expensive. … cheers.
Dub Vendor is legendary! I got my musical education there!
They started out as a mail order operation, then a market stall at Clapham Junction, Followed by the Dub Vendor Shop on Lavender Hill and the original earth shaking record shack outside Ladbroke Grove tube. Tiny place lined with speakers, standing crammed against the counter trying to grab the latest JA pre releases thundering from the boxes! Ah I’m getting all watery eyed now.
Sadly as JA pressed records started to fade away and I-tunes etc started to take hold Dub Vendors fortunes started to decline. They closed the record shack and during civil unrest in the Clapham area, a fire at the premises next door led to Dub Vendor getting seriously water flooded and stock destroyed due to the fire brigade tackling the blaze.
That was the last straw for John Mcgillivray the owner and they have now reverted to a mail order operation continuing to support vinyl wherever possible and especially the UK/Euro roots and dub scene.
Famously back in the eighties (I think, memory foggy these days) they built the A Class Studio in the basement of the Clapham Junction Shop, releasing their own distinctive sounds and style on the Fashion label, with both UK and visiting JA artists,including riding the top of the pop charts with Smiley Culture, who can forget Cockney Translation or Police Officer.
John is a great guy and I have a very fond memory of one visit where he showed me the downstairs studio facility. Papa Face who worked behind the counter recorded tunes on the label and also held a club night at Gossips in Dean st alongside some chap from Capital Radio called David Rodigan.
Do check this link and support them with some custom, we need shops like this to survive..
Hi Dave,
I have dabbled with Tidal, some great stuff on there but I found the whole streaming thing a bit distracting. I repeatedly found myself listening to a few tracks then getting up and playing around with the search seeing what else I could discover rather than spending time just listening.
I like to have something physical in hand (No! Dont titter!) especially being an anoraky knowledge hound, you cant beat reading a good CD booklet or vinyl sleeve notes. I believe in supporting real world record shops, especially the specialists like Dub Vendor. I worry sometimes about potentially giving corporate control over supply of music which could be damaging to musical freedom, choice and diversity if streaming becomes a monopoly and effectively kills off physical formats.
That said, I haven’t ruled out revisiting streaming some time in the near future though as I’m running short of space for Vinyl & CD, I just spent a back breaking Saturday carting 50 full CD storage cubes from 3 floors up down to a new home in the basement to make space!
Yes, I agree about supporting real world shops, and the recent posts featuring Steppas or Mungo’s hi-fi are all CDs purchased, then ripped and streamed.
I usually mention whether a particular album is available on Tidal, to try and encourage fellow forum members to have a listen to some new choons, rather than to expect them to take a punt on the cost of album based solely on my shout.
I know Tidal works for me, when it comes to broadening my music tastes.
It’s all good Dave, whatever floats one’s boat, I hope you didnt think I was being critical of your choice of format.
It’s great to hear what your enjoying
Nay lad, though on re-reading my post, I can see that I may have come across as a wee bit defensive.
Many of my recommendations also go into the general “What are you listening to” thread, and citing Tidal is just my way of trying to nudge folks into having a listen to this marvellous music.
It’s quite ironic really that a musical genre that used to be mostly all about 7" pre release 45"s, that JA used to pump out in the hundreds every week, has probably benefitted more than any other genre from the advent of digital formats.
On the one hand fans like me that were often left frustrated by the pressing quality of JA music loved the clean sound of CD. When CD was near its infancy previously rare and hard to find recordings were suddenly widely available and mostly in decent SQ. I remember going into a Virgin Store in Brighton and having a wander over to the Reggae section not expecting much and my jaw hitting the floor at the sight of racks full of original Studio One label albums that hadn’t seen the light of day for years! Reggae writer Lloyd Bradley even published a book “Reggae On CD”! I bought a CD player from Rega!
Digital streaming/downloading has also been a boon to ghetto artists and producers to distribute their own material without the trials and tribulation that sometimes goes with trying to get music manufactured and distributed through conventional networks.
I do have an increasing amount of downloaded music, as long as its decent resolution, but to date I burn them to CD. I expect that in the near future a streaming solution will be on the cards.
The negative side of the streaming story of course has been the decline in those valuable specialist record stores and the closure of pressing plants in JA.
