Due to the holidays, work, family obligations, procrastination, etc, blah, blah, The Duff Guide to Ska is seriously behind on reviewing music. Here is what's in our "to review" stack:
King Hammond - Jacuzzi CD (N.1. Records)
Green Room Rockers - s/t LP (Jump Up Records)
Babyhead - Heavy Weather CD (Rockers Revolt Records)
The Caroloregians - Funkify Your Reggae CD/LP (Grover Records)
The Revivers - "Come Into My Parlour" 10" vinyl (Jump Up Records)
The Aggrolites - "Trial and Error" b/w "Enemy Dub" 7" single (Young Cub Records)
The Aggrolites - "Dreaming on Erie" b/w "Eye of Obarbas" 7" single (Young Cub Records)
The Forthrights - Camp Birdman 7" EP (Panic State Records)
So keep an eye out for upcoming Duff Guide to Ska write-ups for these releases and more! Soon!
Showing posts with label Babyhead. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Babyhead. Show all posts
Friday, January 14, 2011
Friday, December 24, 2010
The Best Ska Singles of 2010
Editor's note: Despite what our fans and boosters may say about us, The Duff Guide to Ska is not omniscient (we're quite imperfect and fallible, trust us!). We're ashamed to admit that didn't get our sweaty hands on every ska 7", 10", 12", LP, CD, and digital track released in 2010 (though we wish we had!). So, despite our shortcomings, below please find our thoroughly unscientific, highly biased, and most incomplete "Best Ska Singles of 2010" list:- Babyhead: "Jungle Law" b/w "Jungle Lore" (two track vinyl single; Rockers Revolt Records). Read The Duff Guide to Ska review here.
- Club Moonstomp, featuring Roy Ellis, Eastern Standard Time, Mr. T Bone, and Green Room Rockers (four track color vinyl single, Jump Up Records).
- The Crabs Corporation Meets King Hammond: "Bring Down the Birds" (one track vinyl single; Record Kicks). Read The Duff Guide to Ska review here.
- King Hammond: "Riot in London Town" (four track vinyl single; N.1. Records). Read The Duff Guide to Ska review here.
- The Hard Times: "Two Bucks for Bob" (three track digital EP; Whatevski Records). Read The Duff Guide to Ska review here.
- Buford O'Sullivan: L.R.T.R. (three track vinyl single and eight track digital EP; Megalith Records). Read The Duff Guide to Ska review here.
- Tin Roots: Set Sail (four track digital EP; self-released). Read The Duff Guide to Ska review here.
+ + + +
Up next: The Best Ska 10" and 12" Records!
Monday, September 13, 2010
New Pama Intl Album and Tour with Mad Professor--Then Goodbye? Plus the New Babyhead Record!
Pama Intl will be releasing Pama Intl Meet Mad Professor--Rewired in Dub on November 4, 2010 (the CD can be pre-ordered here and the vinyl here from Rockers Revolt Records). This record is the dub version of the band's terrific Outernational release.In October, Pama Intl will be hitting the road in the UK with Mad Professor (and specials guests!) in support of the record--here are the dates and details:
Pama Intl & Mad Professor Oct. 2010 UK Tour
10/07/10 Cardiff @ The Globe
10/09/10 Bristol @ Fiddlers w/Babyhead, Downbeat Melody & DJ John Stapleton
10/10/10 Norwich Arts Centre
10/15/10 Liverpool @ Eat Your Greens @ Masque w/Dub Terror and Henry & Louis
10/16/10 Newcastle @ The Cluny w/Dave Barker
10/17/10 London @ Dingwalls w/Maroon Town, The Sidewalk Doctors & Tighten Up Crew
10/21/10 Brighton @ Coalition w/Roots Garden Sound System
10/22/10 Exeter @ Cavern
10/23/10 Guildford @ Boileroom
The big shocker is that Pama Intl will be taking an extended hiatus at the end of the year (no doubt Sean Flowerdew will have his hands full for much of early 2011 putting together the London International Ska Festival--and practicing with The Loafers!). Here is the band's statement:
Pama Intl will be performing our last shows for the foreseeable future at the end of 2010.It's a shame that we never had the chance to see them in the States! (Maybe if/when they regroup?)
The last 10 years have been an unbelievable time for us. We've released 8 albums and collaborated with some amazing people; Lynval & Horace (The Specials), Lee Thompson (Madness), Billy Bragg, Michie One, Groove Corp, Wrongtom, Ernie McKone (Galliano), Manasseh, Fuzz Townsend (PWEI/Bentley Rhythm Ace), Gary Alesbrook (Kasabian/Noel Gallagher), Neol Davies (The Selecter), Mungos Hi Fi, reggae legends; Dennis Alcapone, Derrick Morgan, Rico Rodriguez, Dave Barker & Ansell Collins, Dawn Penn, AJ Franklin, Winston Francis and of course Mad Professor, plus members from Big Boss Man, Intensified, Steel Pulse and The Lee Perry Band. We've had the honour of supporting; Toots & The Maytals, Prince Buster, Jimmy Cliff, Lee Perry, Madness, The Specials, Mick Jones' Carbon/Silicon, Third World and played Glastonbury, Womad, Vintage, The Big Chill, Beautiful Days, Bestival, Guilfest & many other superb festivals. We became the first band in 30 years to sign to Trojan Records in 2006 and launched our own Rockers Revolt label in 2008. It has all been a pretty fantastic decade, with each year out doing the last.
After 10 years of working solidly on Pama Intl, time has come for an extended break. It certainly won't be the last you hear of Pama Intl. For the immediate future we're out promoting the Pama Intl meet Mad Professor-Rewired! In Dub album and tour In Oct'10, plus we've almost got the Pama Intl meet Wrongtom album finished (which will come out in the new year). As a proper chance to say thank you for all your support, we'll be doing a number of shows in Nov and Dec'10, which will see some very special guests appearing in the Pama Intl line up. Dates to be announced very soon, but these and the dates with Mad Professor will be the last Pama Intl perform live, so if you'd like to see the band anytime soon please come along in Oct/Nov/Dec'10. It'd be wonderful to see you!
Not all is gloom as 2011 is set to be busier then ever with our involvement in the relaunch of The London Intl Ska Festival, reformation of The Loafers (albeit just for one show), the label stepping up it's release schedule to an album a month and Sean Flowerdew working on 2 new very exciting writing projects.
We'd like to thank everyone that has been part of Pama Intl, or supported us over the last 10 years and hope to see you very soon.
+ + + +
In other Rockers Revolt news, Babyhead's third record Heavy Weather will be coming down the pipeline on October 25, 2010 and can be pre-ordered here. (Read our review of the stunning album single "Jungle Law" here.) Babyhead will also be touring England this fall:
9/17/10 Brighton @ Coalition
9/23/10 Plymouth @ Ride Cafe
10/01/10 Bracknell @ South Hill Park Arts
10/09/10 Bristol @ Fiddlers w/ Pama Intl & Mad Professor, Downbeat Melody
10/22/10 Newcastle @ The Cluny
10/24/10 Leeds @ The Hi Fi Club
11/12/10 London @ Jazz Cafe
11/26/10 Norwich Arts Centre
12/10/10 Oxford @ The Cellar
Tuesday, May 4, 2010
Duff Review: Babyhead "Jungle Law (Radio Edit)" b/w "Jungle Lore (Lupo's Dub Mix)"
Rockers Revolt Records2010
Bristol, UK's Babyhead combines big band vintage ska and old school dub with a modern hip-hop sensibility for a heavy, potent sound full of dread--think The Streets meet Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra. This single, from their forthcoming album Heavy Weather (release date September 10, 2010 on Rockers Revolt Records), features "Jungle Law," a sinister, swaggering, and seductive tune (great bass and horn riffs here) that delineates the rules for surviving the mean streets in nothing but the bluntest terms: "Here is the law of the jungle/that's as old and as true as the sky/He that keep it shall prosper so/he that break it must die/As the streets that crisscross the city/the law runs forward and back/The strength of the pack is the wolf now/the wolf is the strength of the pack." What's particularly striking about this cut is that its sound manages to be both full and expansive, while being minimal and sparse and still able to land a powerful punch (like The Specials' "Ghost Town"). Lure Mad Professor into the studio with the master tapes and you can imagine what the superb versioning of this track-- "Jungle Lore (Lupo's Dub Mix)"--might sound like.
This is ska for the 21st century--completely cognizant of its roots and history, yet re-defined and re-imagined with contemporary and relevant attitudes and sounds. Babyhead's "Jungle Law" single is essential ska music for our future times--get it now!
[Both the limited edition 7" vinyl single and digital download of "Jungle Law" b/w "Jungle Lore (Lupo's Dub Mix)" will be released on June 1, 2010.]
The Duff Guide to Ska Grade: A
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
