The Duff Guide to Ska: Duff Guide to Ska Best of 2009

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Duff Guide to Ska Best of 2009

Several Duff Guide to Ska readers have asked for me to come up with a summary of the "best ska releases for 2009," so please find my highly subjective list below. Please note that this is by no means comprehensive, as I'm sure there were ska albums and singles released last year that I never had a chance to hear. Having said that, everything on this list should be in your collection...

Duff Guide to Ska Fave New Releases in 2009

Across the Aisle: Change Nothing! EP (self-released)
The Amphetameanies: "Good One Go" b/w "Nothing's OK" 7" single (F&J Records/Rat Race Records)
The Bakesys: Return to the Planet of the Bakesys (Do the Dog)
Captain Black No Stars versus Rasta4Eyes: Boss Sounds of the Boom and Bust (Do the Dog)
Dendrites: Mountain Standard Time (Megalith Records)
The Drastics versus Michael Jackson: MJ A Rocker LP (bootleg)
The Forthrights/King Django: "Other People" b/w "Anywhere I Roam" 7" single (Stubborn Records)
Inspector: Inspector (Fonarte Latino)
Kid British: It Was This or Football (First Half) (Mercury Records)
Madness: The Liberty of Norton Folgate (Lucky Seven Records)
Rebelation: The Berlin Sessions (Do the Dog)
Resolution 242: Resolution 242 (Do the Dog)
Skaville UK: Devil Beat (N.1 Records)
The Stress: Muk! Muk! (Community Records)
Various Artists: 30 Years of Madness: A 30th Anniversary Tribute (Big 8 Records)

Duff Guide to Ska Fave 2009 Reissues

Jimmy Radway & The Fe Me Time All Stars: Dub I (Pressure Sounds)
King Tubby & The Clancy Eccles All Stars: Sound System International Dub (Pressure Sounds)
Laurel Aitken: The High Priest of Reggae (Cherry Red)
Laurel Aitken: Ska with Laurel (Cherry Red)
Laurel Aitken: Says Fire (Cherry Red)
Madness: One Step Beyond...(Salvo/Union Square Music)
Madness: Total Madness (Union Square Music)
Prince Buster: Sings His Hit Song "Ten Commandments" (Reel Music/Sony)
Various Artists: Every Mouth Must Be Fed, 1973 to 1976 (Pressure Sounds)

Duff Guide To Ska Fave 2009 Book

Terry Edwards: "One Step Beyond" (33 1/3 Series/Continuum Books)

Duff Guide to Ska Fave 2009 DVD

The Porkers: "Persistence is Futile" (Sound System)

Pick up all this stuff with your unused holiday gift cards!

8 comments:

Kames Jelly said...: glad to see that forthrights record on there, theyre definitely my favorite new band right now.; January 4, 2010 at 12:30 AM
Steve from Moon said...: KJ:

Thanks. I love their single (and will be posting a review of it very soon). If you dig The Forthrights, you gotta get The Stress' free EP, "Muk! Muk!" Info on how to download it is on their MySpace page.... Brilliant stuff!

Happy New Year!

Steve; January 4, 2010 at 1:48 PM
Adam Coozer said...: Once again, Rush is snubbed.; January 9, 2010 at 2:10 PM
Steve from Moon said...: D'oh! How could I ever forget them?

Add Rush's "Grace Under Pressure" to the list!; January 9, 2010 at 6:35 PM
Adam Coozer said...: Thanks Steve!! :); January 11, 2010 at 10:55 AM
Nik said...: Good call on the 'meanies, another top release from them; February 15, 2010 at 10:14 AM
Steve from Moon said...: Thanks for your comment, Nik!; February 15, 2010 at 11:42 AM
viagra price comparison said...: This comment has been removed by a blog administrator.; December 13, 2011 at 7:38 PM

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“An essential read…Stephen's eye for detail is incredible and his love for 2 Tone oozes from each page.” — Kevin Flowerdew, Do the Dog Skazine

“Written with a personal touch and with great passion about the bands and releases while giving a lot of emphasis to the lyrics, Stephen’s book is a great guiding hand to navigating your way to some great new music.” — Peter Walsh, 2-Tone.info

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"...Shafer has definitely not forgotten how socially conscious issues were at the root of Ska even from the beginning. He makes certain to thread the political issues that motivated the development of Ska throughout his narrative; painting a picture that took both the oppressive political environments and the often ecstatic musical content into account. And in that, he nails down for me what the enduring pull of Ska was to its many fans. Was there ever a more upbeat dance music that combined its boundless energy with a push for progressive social values and calling truth to power?" — Post-Punk Monk

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Steve Shafer/The Duff Guide to Ska
For most of the 1990s, I was the promotions, marketing, production guy for Moon Records (RIP). It was one of the best jobs I ever had. Seriously, I miss it badly. During 1999/2000, I ran 7 Wonders of the World Music, the first digital download-only ska label that was too ahead of the curve for its own good (RIP).

I filmed and edited this Toasters video for $2,500, which made its debut on MTV's 120 Minutes. I also put together these compilations for Moon: the first three Skarmageddons; Ska United: A Global Ska Sampler; Skank Down Under; This Are Moon Ska I, II, and III; and Moonshot!

Here's an old interview with Adam Monkey from Read Magazine that covers my days at Moon and 7 Wonders. I also did a somewhat more recent interview with Read Junk.

I've been interviewed about ska music and Moon Records for The New York Times, Heather Augustyn's "Ska: The Rhythm of Liberation," Aaron Carnes' "In Defense of Ska," Kenneth Partridge's "Hell of a Hat: The Rise of '90s Ska and Swing," and Marc Wasserman's "Ska Boom: An American Ska & Reggae Oral History" (I also wrote the introductory chapter "1985: The Year American Ska Broke" for Wasserman's book).

And I'm the author of "The Duff Guide to 2 Tone," which can be ordered from Amazon--and is available in the US from Jump Up Records, and in Europe from the 2 Tone Village Shop (Coventry, UK), Champion Sound Records (Hull, UK), Aggroshop (Nijmegen, Netherlands), and Copasetic Mailorder (Hamburg, Germany). Plus, my book was on sale in the museum shop for the "2 Tone: Lives & Legacies" exhibition (May 28 - September 12, 2021), curated by Simon Reynolds, Cory Barrett, Pete Chambers, Jennifer Otter Bickerdike and Daniel Rachel, at the Herbert Art Gallery Museum in Coventry, UK.

I'm now working on my next book, "Calling All the Rude Boys: The Duff Guide to The Toasters, 1981-1992," to be published in 2023.

If you have a ska or reggae release that you'd like me to consider reviewing, please send an e-mail to Steve at duffguidetoska@gmail.com. You should know that I am old school and prefer music in tangible formats (plus I might use your music when I DJ ska events). I'd also appreciate any news or tips you may have about bands.

All reviews and interviews posted on The Duff Guide to Ska are copyrighted and are the sole property of Steve Shafer. Please contact me for permission to reproduce anything on this blog.

Visit The Duff Guide to Ska Video Channel!

Check out The Duff Guide to Ska Video Channel for footage of ska bands in action in clubs around NYC, as well as unusual and rare ska videos from the 90s! Bands featured include The Toasters, The Bluebeats, The Forthrights, Across the Aisle, The Caroloregians, The Moon Invaders, The Rudie Crew, Tip the Van, Hey Stranger, Beat Brigade, Bigger Thomas, King Chango, The Scofflaws, UB40, The Hard Times, Jah Love and the Valentinians, The Shifters, Rudies Don't Care, Big Audio Dynamite, Stranger Cole and Patsy with Crazy Baldhead, Queen P of Ocean 11, King Hammond, The Snails, King Django, Doomsday! The Ultimate Tribute to Mephiskapheles Consisting of Former Members of Mephiskapheles, Destroy Babylon, The Frightnrs, The Pandemics, Los Skarroneros, The Bullbuckers, The Scofflaws, The Reggay Lords, The Copacetics, Rude Boy George, Dave Hillyard and the Rocksteady 7, Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, The Specials, Roddy Radiation and Lynval Golding, The Ladrones, Chris Murray, Radio Riddler, UB40 featuring Ali Campbell, Astro, and Mickey Virtue, Barbicide, The Twilights, Bim Skala Bim featuring John Bunkley (Gangster Fun), The Pomps, and more!

Sunday, January 3, 2010

Duff Guide to Ska Best of 2009

8 comments:

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