September 2009

Deejay, producer, toaster, religious adherent, all around good guy, Jah Shaka has maintained his individual notion of how a man should live and work since the early ‘70s. Inspired by the big names in the business, Jah Shaka began running his own sound system in London. Having gained the respect of all in the scene – and even those in electronic music – the singer and producer watched as the musical, political and religious landscape of reggae related musics changed over time. Being a devout believer in Rasta ideologies, though, Jah Shaka refused to alter his philosophical approach to life and work. It could have spelled the end of his career, but due simply to his overwhelming talents, Jah Shaka has remained an integral force in not just the sound system game, but in music.

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Aight. No one likes the word Ska. ‘Cept me and some dudes that still wear pork pie hats and get crazy looks as they walk down the street. That doesn’t mean that the genre’s invalid. It’s not. Ska has as rich a heritage as any other western music, it just took the spate of pretend bands from the ‘90s to ruin it for everyone. Those guys, obviously, have the right to appropriate what they want from wherever, but to masquerade around the world and eventually make it impossible for other ska-related acts to get real gigs is shameful. There’s nothing to do about it now, but listen to some of these here discs and you’ll hear/see what I mean.

The Skatalites – Stretching Out

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Whatever that little box is, it did it's job.

Entrance into any genre can be a daunting task. But if anyone out there has given reggae a real try, the name Lee Perry most likely has cropped up more than just a few times in any exploration of the genre. Perry might get over hyped at times – and certainly a great deal of his newer material should be left alone – but during the late ‘70s the producer, functioning out of his Black Ark Studio, crafted a succession of discs that would change reggae and give dub a new perspective. The following list of his better works can, of course, be disputed, but that doesn’t mean that any of the discs mentioned below are short of astoundingly composed and a pleasure to listen to.

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The sophomore slump isn’t some new concoction by which the media can easily dispense criticism. That woulda been a good guess, but it’s just not the case. Certainly since the beginning of recorded sound, fans of this or that have been at once invigorated by a recording only to rush out to purchase whatever following release was slated only to be a bit let down. The slump might be as much of a personal creation as anything else, but it exists none the less. It often serves to end a career – fortunately or not. But that’s just the business, I suppose.

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Don't really know anything about this gent right here, but this is a tough rock steady track...