TURNTABLIST

DIPLO'S MAJOR LAZER is amusing in that Saturday morning cartoon way. Fun with cornflakes. His work on M.I.A.'s sophomore release, KALA, on the other hand gave my mind blisters. But this leaves me feeling cautious for all the wrong reasons.

What does DIPLO do here other than select some choice cuts?

This is being crazy hyped all over the network hoping to crossover into uncharted pop territory.

Is it just me or is DIPLO shooting blanks here! I mean the chosen tracks are already known killers...it's like he's aiming with the safety still on.

Sweet LORD of MERCY... check those names!

Now this CD from TROJAN plays out like a musical massacre. "CREATION REBEL" is a crime scene with DJ SPOOKY"S fingerprints all over the mix. The record company man claims Trojan Records: re-mixed, re-visioned, re-versioned for their 40th anniversary.

Under the influence of heavy DUBS!

A split second into this CD and your ear's will tell ya something ain't right, not that there is anything wrong going on here; it's that DJ SPOOKY takes the all too familiar and makes something new to discover. Sure the idea for this CD was probably a marketing ploy but Mr. Spooky doesn't operate here as just another paying gig, he turns it into a labor of love. 

A quick note about TROJAN RECORDS...The main bulk of their catalog is back issued Ska, Rocksteady and early Roots. Their big pay day is the tapes of Bob Marley and the Wailers that Lee "Scratch" Perry secretly delivered to 'em.  

A quick note about DJ SPOOKY aka THAT SUBLIMINAL KID, real name Paul D. Miller... he takes TURNTABLISM way beyond merely spinning choice records. Sure he is no stranger to the club scene, but he is one of the few that is viewed as a valid composer. He peers group includes several AVANT GARDE and JAZZ musicians as well as the usual HIP-HOP suspects. 

Honestly, when I treat myself to vintage MARLEY and the WAILERS, I usually spin SPOOKY'S version of MR. BROWN for starters. Actually, two takes, one apparently wasn't enough. His first version amps the organ riff for maximum creepy effect with BOB'S haunting vocals echoing in and out of the thick as sugar-cane syrup mix. Tons of reverb! The second which comes toward the end is of the disc is an stripped down acapella mix that's even more creeped out. It buries the organ riff six feet under in the mix with BOB and PETER'S voices floating like DUPPY SPIRITS over a grave. 

DJ SPOOKY borrows the RIDDIM from one tune and then he'll drop an entirely different set of vocals on top. This musical slice and dice is performed as seamless as cosmetic surgery! Need proof...check the remix of BOB MARLEY'S SOUL REBEL. It's simply fucking cool. 

SPOOKY isn't afraid to give some of genres most massive classics a fresh spin around the old retirement home. DAWN PENN'S one hit wonder NO-NO-NO is given it's third chance at life (she charted with that big tune in the late 1960's and again with it in the early 1980's). He sets fire to BARRINGTON LEVY'S ganja anthem UNDER MI SENSI till the smoke pours out your speakers. He puts an open flame under WAYNE SMITH'S ganja anthem UNDER MI SLENG TEN till your eyes bloodshot red. I think the mix would make original producer KING JAMMY smile. SPOOKY takes the extremely riff heavy AUGUSTUS PABLO rocker EAST OF THE RIVER NILE and works it out till it's solid muscle. This disc also gives SPOOKY the honor to lay down some musical tributes to a couple of his heroes that hide behind the mixing boards, MAD PROFESSOR and SCIENTIST. 

SPOOKY has U-ROY chanting introductions. He has TAPPER ZUKIE inciting the people. And he has Dub Poet MUTABARUKA dropping information. Twice, SPOOKY utilizes MUTABURKA'S willfully spoken words. At times his mixes are heavily psychedelic, tastefully dance grooved or mentally disturbed. That is a good thing! The bands laying down these RIDDIMS for the most part, are THE UPSETTERS and THE OBSERVERS. Another dusty relic is MICHAEL ROSE, I'm guessing before he joined BLACK UHURU. Does SPOOKY'S mixes defile the originals? Nah, SPOOKY raids TROJAN'S vaults with reverence for its' past. The verdict? 5 out of 5.

Tonight my turntable belongs to Mr. Gregory Isaacs

Damn good thing my daily position in life is not that of a blogger. Umm, what has it been? Almost a month? My family would of starved! This morning while I was trying to look interested and upright sitting on those hard wooden benches at the traffic tribunal, my mind was drifting on soft lovers rock riddims. It was two stiff hours before my wife’s name was called. She pleaded guilty to speeding and asked for leniency with her good driving record. I was busy running my blog over in my head. Today would be the day I finish up those “book reports” and 12-inch rulers posts I started. Sadly, not to be…



…A tiny blurb in the BBC News caught my eye; “ Reggae star Isaacs dies aged 59.” What?! Mister Gregory Isaacs passed away after battling lung cancer.



He was correctly nick named Cool Ruler. The Lovers Rock phenomenon is basically his creation. And if you argue against that theory at least I know you will agree that he perfected it.



Don't have any Cool Ruler in your CD selection to spin? This Trojan collection is great place to begin. I believe it is still being issued. I know the Cool Ruler Virgin Lp is long outta print. Extra Classic rolls up to the starting line with the smoking Dread anthem "Mr. Cop." That tune is a Lee Perry production filled with the Black Ark sound. One classic after another till ya reach halfway thru, and "I'm alright (loving pauper)", greets your ears. That tune should send shivers. Trojan fills the last half with the B-side dub versions. All killer cuts. A 5 outta 5.



The heavy roots era is when Isaac’s star shone super nova bright. Not that the 80’s decade gave him a cold shoulder, because he dropped his biggest seller, “Night Nurse” in 1982. This record's relaxed vibe will take you to the warm waters of sunny beaches even if your stuck in the middle of nowhere. So metaphorically get sand between your toes and sip a cup. Soak it in.

Every couple of years the Cool Ruler makes a small comeback. Maybe he drops a new record. For the most part, they're all good. Maybe he even does a greatest hits tour. It was about that time and I figured he would be gracing a festival somewhere close this coming summer.



Speaking of those best of hits discs, it seems like every Reggae record company under Jah's blue sky has pressed a version of their own Gregory's Greatest. Same goes for Dennis Brown. Be wary, there appears to be infinite number of duplication. So buy wise.



Tonight my turntable belongs to Mr. Gregory Isaacs.

Robert Nesta Marley and the Wailers

A few things first.... I hope my last post makes it's point. Or at least makes sense! My Marley choice -The Lee Perry produced Wailers will always be my favourite Marley records.



The story goes that Lee Perry stole the master takes and sold them to Trojan Records...



...who in return keep releasing the Soul Revolution and Soul Revolution Part II albums under different disguises.



No matter what picture of Bob fronts the cover, I have to say they are all good. Okay, Soul Rebels don't sport a smiling Bob on its cover but it does take the best goods from the two Soul Revolutions and condenses them to one convenient disc. African Herbsman takes those best goods and adds some DeeJay cuts along with a few Augustus Pablo deep dub mixes. A win win situation. The last release is a mighty four disc collection of everything including studio table scraps. Tasty scraps. These cuts all have that Kingston hometown feel to 'em. The vibe coming out of the speaker is more intimate. Bob was a couple of decades away from having his face and name decorating t-shirts at every mall store. Not to mention the million plus posters wallpapering dorm rooms across the world. Bob was still a Jamaican local boy then and not quite the international King of the Arena yet.


A smiling Bob

Mr COOL RULER!

No waxing poetics today. No picking up the pieces today. Just rolling the stone nice and lazy like. Not an ounce of animosity shaking my bones. Today is a hazy humid day overshadowed by a thunder head leering off in the distance. I got my fingers crossed it blows in soon. I am hoping it splits open the sky above my home. That would be a sigh of relief. The much needed rain bouncing off my roof.



Extra Classic is an album's worth of A side singles and their flip B side dubs. Each tune is gold spun from different producers controlling different studios. If you have never heard a Gregory Isaacs record before then prepare to slow time down. Not stop it, just lay the groove so far back that the clock seems to tic the minutes off a few seconds late. Gregory delivers his words with the patience of a Saint. Gregory sings songs filled with love. Deepest affection for Jah. Brotherly respect for his fellow sufferah, and big romantic gestures towards the ladies. Gregory could be called a Rastaman cupid-his arrows strike their bullseyes straight thru the heart, but his arrows float in the air a little longer than gravity usually allows. That is Gregory's gift. Defying laws graciously.

Dennis Emmanuel Brown

Lets go back in time, maybe not too far, so well stop at the middle to late 70's. Dennis Brown was Jamaica's national treasure. Dennis had recorded hundreds of hits with every producer that shined under the Caribbean sun. Mr. Brown started at the tender age of eleven and continued chart topping until his death at forty two years old. Sniffing the wrong stuff got his health ill and when he turned to the pipe, his lungs stopped. Between 1973 and 1999, Dennis released an earth shattering 75 studio albums. After his death, money seekers hoped to cash in with an abundance of best ofs. I choose this one because Niney the Observer is the common denominator that holds all these loose tracks tight. This best of set lives up to the boasts. Trojan can also claim bragging rights with their Money In My Pocket set. This one is a little tighter though.



If you thought you never heard Dennis Brown before, your wrong, you have and you just did not know it. It is amazing how many of his riddims live on!

Forty days and forty nights adrift the Black Ark

Lee "Scratch" Perry took the title Upsetter while his contemporiaries chose royal Titles like King Tubby or Prince Jammy. "Scratch" the man is half flesh and half myth. Sometimes the actual person is stranger than the fiction. Lee Perry is a brilliant but maniacal producer of sounds.



This is a whole made of sums. This nicely collects togther choice singles, album sides and dubs from "Scratch" the solo performer and "Scratch" the genious behind the controls. Passengers on his Black Ark may of found themselves bewildered but also found themselves at the top of the charts. Check the names. All seventies superstars! What? Out of print? Morons! Allright, try this one...



This is a great overall sampling of Scratch's legacy.

Disc one begins Scratch's history with head strong but straight forward productions of ska and rocksteady singers. These tunes are great long lost treasures that hopefully will never be buried again.

Disc two is where that outerworldly sound started leaking from Scratch's pysche. This is the Scratch as a genius or certifiable madman emerging! His touch at the controls was as important as the band playing the music.

Disc three is Scratch as Jamaica's Native Son swallowed up into the belly of the beast! He is living in Babylon (America, then Europe). You can accuse Scratch of having an avant-garde approach, maybe because of the bone-chilling cold winters, his touch at the controls changed. Some of this stuff would give the shivers to German electronic pioneers Kraftwerk. Like disc two, it still has that outerworldly vibe, only now it is more like a ghost in the machine.



I don't sing to my plants when I water them, I spin Super Ape. To get a jungle you need the Full Experience. Seeps down deep to reach the Underground Root. If you don't own this, your garden won't grow.



There is something so ethereal about this record. It could be Junior's falsetto. It could be that the tracks were looped through Lee Perry's frontal lobes!



Lee Scratch Perry helped Bob find himself vocally, but Lee's hand is all in the band's sound as well. Most Marley fans consider these original versions collected here, to be his and the Wailer's greatest effort. Most of these were later reproduced for Blackwell's label Island and became Reggae standards. Nothing tho, as they say, is better than the original! Includes extra tracks (Upsetter dubs)-all necessary.



Lee Perry's backing band would be thieved away by Bob and rechristened the Wailers. This is a late 70's edition of that band. The long lanky gentleman standing up on the left is Cedric Myton. Which is a nice lead into the next up band...



Cedric's falsetto took this earth rooted harmony trio to the heavens. So perfect was this debut, that everything released after was judged unfairly against it. Everybody wanted more of the same and with Perry absent at the controls for subsequent releases, the Congos moved into other directions. Thankfully, Cedric is still hitting high notes that only dogs can hear!



The VP Records version of the release with a slightly different mix.