December 2009

  • Trinity: Nice Threads

    By cobwebsandstrange on 12/27/09 12:06pm
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    The transitions that the JA music industry underwent over time – both musically and lyrically – didn’t always come off with some clear demarcation point. The difference between the ska and rock steady periods are rendered clear in musical terms, but lyrically there wasn’t a tremendous shift. Perhaps the most noticeable difference was a drawing down of religious fervor – the Old Testament at least. And since the shift from rock steady to reggae became most pronounced during the early ‘70s, by the second half of that decade JA was ready for a new music.

    Subsequent to reggae’s dominance, the inventiveness of sparse dubs grabbed a hold of the populace. Along with that, though, would be a spate of deejay centric albums that made use of those versions in order for toasters to ramble off extemporaneous couplets touching on everything from physical possessions to woman and how to keep a hold on them.

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  • Natural Born California Reggae Sound

    By selecter on 12/22/09 4:06pm
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    Silverback Management: driving a native born Reggae movement.Silverback Management: driving a native born Reggae movement.The marriage between punk and reggae goes back to the London days when the Jamaican sound was inspiring all kinds of different musicians, from UB40 to The Police. Known as the 1st wave (Original Jamaican) 2nd Wave (60s 70s) and 3rd Wave Ska (80s 90s) movements, Controlled Substance and Silverback Management could be helping to introduce a new wave in the marriage between Jamaican reggae/ska and American mainstream music: Full Infection.

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  • Laruel Aitken: Island to Island Ska

    By cobwebsandstrange on 12/13/09 12:20pm
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    It’s easy to forget that Jamaican music has as much to do with its neighboring islands as with JA culture itself. Of course, the music would evolve uniquely in JA over time, but the influence of Cuba can’t be understated in anyway as it gave the world Laurel Aitken.

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  • Prince Far I: Reggae Music Moves in His Bones

    By cobwebsandstrange on 12/11/09 9:17pm
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    Defining music genres, whether it’s as a part of JA’s music culture or otherwise, presents a spate of problems. Does time play a role? Or the players involved? What if two disparate aspects of a music come together in a single place seemingly creating a new music? What then?

    Regardless of the answer to any of those questions, Prince Far I (bka Michael James Williams) didn’t think that he was a deejay or a toaster. Instead, he fancied himself a chanter. That’s actually a pretty adept summation of his style. Prince Far I certainly didn’t sing.

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  • Leonard Dillon's Ethiopians

    By cobwebsandstrange on 12/8/09 9:54pm
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    Led by Leonard Dillon and reflecting his shifting interests over a multi-decade spanning career, the Ethiopians have remained atop of any and all JA music genres when the group’s seen fit to traffic in a specific sound.

    Beginning in the mid ‘60s, Dillon and company first worked in ska that so utterly captured the island’s imagination. But as that decade was coming to a close, the sounds of what would eventually be referred as rock steady emerged - and of course after that the international sound of reggae. But during its formative musical stages, the island and the Ethiopians worked in concert to create one of the most enduring catalogs from the period – and that includes the likes of the Wailers and Burning Spear.

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  • Jah Woosh: An Average Version

    By cobwebsandstrange on 12/5/09 1:53pm
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    It’s funny that early career failures wind up being simply harbingers of latter day success.

    After converting to Rastafarianism subsequent to Haile Selassie’s visit to Jamaica in 1966, Neville Beckford attempted to form a singing group. The early auditions failed to impress any of the island’s music impresarios prompting Beckford to head out on his own under the name of Jah Woosh – and no, there aren’t too many more silly names out there in the field of reggae music.

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  • Clancy Eccles - "Ganja Free" (Video)

    By cobwebsandstrange on 12/3/09 11:24pm
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    Clancy has the right idea.

  • King Tubby & Jacob Miller & DJ Cam - "Ganja Man" (Video)

    By cobwebsandstrange on 12/3/09 11:03pm
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    I have no idea how this track came about, but it's boss. Two Jamaicans plus a French producer apparently makes for good music...

  • The Mighty Sparrow: A Calypso

    By cobwebsandstrange on 12/2/09 8:47pm
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    Helming a radio show on WRUW, a station run by Cleveland’s Case Western Reserve University, I was privy to the vinyl library that the joint amassed over its decades of existence. Purportedly, WRUW possesses the largest collection of music held by an academic entity in Ohio. It seemed like it even if that wasn’t the truth.

    My show, Cobwebs and Strange, focused mostly on JA related musics. Occasionally, the playlists would be dominated by bop and free jazz stuffs, but for the most part it was all riddims and toasts. Some early ska tracks worked themselves in nicely, but as I delved further and further into the station’s library, it became very clear to me that while my knowledge was more than passable in generally society, I didn’t know too much about Caribbean music.

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