UK reggae has seemed increasingly detached from current affairs in recent years, but anyone who’s checked my eighties mixes will know it hasn’t always been this way. I guess the focus has moved to a more international market which means the particularities of life in specific areas of London or Birmingham don’t get a look …
Continue reading ‘2011 London Riot Songs (Reggae roundup)’ »
Second issue of this great zine – now out, bigger and even better than the debut! Same bad-ass bashment attitude! Great interviews with Dr Carolyn Cooper (author of the book “Sound Clash: Jamaican Dancehall Culture At Large”) on her lucidly academic take on bashment, Solo Banton on working with Jahtari, Ward 21 on starting out …
Stamford Hill is right at the northern end of the London Borough of Hackney, bordering Haringey/Tottenham. I’ve lived around there for about 15 years now and have always had an interest in its history. Last May, Richie (Maharishi Hi-Fi / Musical Fever) hosted another one of his excellent nights, this time at the Mascara Bar …
Continue reading ‘The secret Ska history of Stamford Hill by Malcolm Imrie’ »
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=PCbMuqo9ZLA I wrote quite a lot about UK policing earlier in the year in relation to the failure of policing (at best) that lead to the death of Smiley Culture. News about that case was always going to ebb and flow, not least because it is now in the bureaucratic hands of the Independent Police …
Continue reading ‘Bars For Change: who polices the police?’ »
Carnival warm up time in London town! Check out these events in the next few weeks: First up some sweet FREE madness in Kings Cross organised by Whydelila and The Large. Great line up with foundation UK dancehall represented by Saxon and a more contemporary take on those sounds by the man like Wrongtom amongst …
This just in from Nik at Housmans – sounds good, but I’m not too sure about the claim that Pauline was “the only woman in a movement dominated by men”. What about The Bodysnatchers, an all-girl band on the Two Tone label? The group included Rhoda Dakar, whose harrowing solo-single “The Boiler” I’ve written about …
Continue reading ‘Pauline Black and “2-Tone London” at Housmans’ »
“I dub from inner to outer space. The sound I get out of Black Ark studio, I don’t really get it out of no other studio. It was like a space craft. You could hear the space in the tracks.” Lee Perry Kevin Martin (The Bug, King Midas Sound) and Stuart Baker (Soul Jazz, 100% …
Continue reading ‘Invasion of the Mysteron Killer Sounds radio play and interviews’ »
This is the first proper mix I ever did, back in those pre-blog times of 2002. I was interested in tracks that blurred the lines between reggae, dub, electronica and dance music. I still am, but it seems harder to find interesting angles on it these days. Thanks to Kate Bakhaus for helping me out …
I’ve reviewed both these books in the new issue of The Wire (with Roy Harper on the front and an ace advert for the new Bug/Soul Jazz bashment riddims comp “Invasion of the Mysteron Killer Sounds on the back). Both books are produced by independent publishers – and are available by clicking on the covers …