Duff Review: DJ Spooky "Phantom Dancehall" (2018 RSD Release)

VP Records
Clear red vinyl LP
2018

(Review by Steve Shafer)

I was really intrigued by this 2018 Record Store Day release after having reviewed (and loving!) DJ Spooky's Creation Rebel--his stellar 2008 CD of re-mixes and mash-ups of classic tracks from Trojan's vaults by Lee “Scratch” Perry, Augustus Pablo, Bob Marley, Tapper Zukie, Wayne Smith, Dawn Penn, and more (read The Duff Guide to Ska Review of Creation Rebel; by the way, this absolutely deserves to be issued on vinyl someday). This time out, DJ Spooky (AKA Paul Miller) is working with material from VP Records and legendary UK label Greensleeves (now owned by VP), and with collaborator Apple Juice Kid (Stephen Levitin) has created an album of both original electro-dancehall (see their epic "Enter the Arena"!) as well as early '80s-sounding dancehall tracks that build upon snippets or larger elements of productions by Henry “Junjo” Lawes, Linval Thompson, Lloyd “Prince Jammy” James, and others to form something radically new (and oftentimes spectacular).

The cuts on side A skew toward modern dancehall, including "Hot Gal," which samples Busy Signal's "Da Style Deh"--there's a telephone busy signal sound in the mix, naturally; "Why I Come" makes good use of Lady Saw's "Walk Out" for a full-on club track; and Miller's and Levity's terrific "Dash It in the Mirror" might remind one of a stripped down Massive Attack-like take on dancehall. I'll cop to being partial to the early dancehall-ish tracks on the remainder of the album, such as the wonderfully heavy "No Return," which versions the Ranking Joe and Jah Screw written/produced "Country Gal Dub" from 1981's King Tubby Meets Roots Radics' Dangerous Dub; the menacing, yet fantastically majestic "Phantom in The Dancehall" (which I think incorporates Eek-A-Mouse's "Sensee Party" as part of its foundation); the mellow keyboard line from Eek-A-Mouse's "Ganja Smuggling" floats over a busy rhythm track on "Showtime (Dynamite Selection)"; and "Music of the Time" utilizes Prince Jammy's "Auto Rhythm" from Computerized Dub and is just this shy of being a digital ska cut. The album finishes with the magnificent "Jah Dub," whose distinctive and dramatic piano riff comes from Black Uhuru's cover of Bob Marley's "Natural Mystic." At first, many of the tracks on Phantom Dancehall might seem pretty uncomplicated, but this is a very smart, inventive, and well-crafted album that gains strength and depth with repeated listens. (And you can definitely dance to it!)

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Record Store Day 2018: US and UK Ska and Reggae Releases!

As always, the UK Record Store Day ska and reggae offerings outshine their US counterparts (I'm looking at you, Madness, Jackie Mittoo, and Prince Fatty!). Good luck tracking these down if you're not in the UK--they're gonna be pricey (and then there's the shipping...).

I do want to highlight that Chuck Wren's Jump Up Records is participating in the US RSD and issuing The Skatalites' 1994 album Hi-Bop Ska for the first time on vinyl! This is a big deal! Congrats, Chuck! And the fantastic DC-area indie record shop Crooked Beat is releasing the second volume of Recutting the Crap (read The Duff Guide to Ska review of Recutting the Crap, Volume 1).

Record Store Day 2018 is taking place on Saturday, April 21, which gives you some time to stockpile some cash for when you hit the shops and (hopefully) buy some of these beauties.


Record Store Day 2018 UK

Bim Sherman: "Lightning and Thunder (Mungo's Hi Fi remix)" 10" (Scotch Bonnet Records)

Black Slate: "Peaceful Demonstration"/"Redemption Song"/"Should I Go or Should I Stay" 12" (Slate Records)

Bunny Striker Lee: Reggae Going International 1967-76 2xLP (Kingston Sounds)

Creation Rebel: Dub from Creation LP (On-U Sound)

DJ Spooky: Phantom Dancehall LP (VP Records)

Duke Reid All Stars/Roland Alphonso: "Judge Sympathy" b/w "Never To Be Mine" 7" single (Trojan)

Eek-A-Mouse: "Ganja Smuggling" b/w "Smuggling Version" 7" single (Greensleeves)

The Hempolics: "Riding for a Fall" b/w "Come As You Are" 12" (Shark Free Records)

Madness: I Do Like To Be B-side The A-side 12" heavyweight black vinyl (Universal) -- This is a compilation of their b sides, includes "Madness," "In The City," and "Mistakes."

The Maytones: Only Your Picture LP (Burning Sounds)

Jackie Mittoo: Showcase ("Disco Jack," "Earthquake,"Brain Mark," "Drum Song") 7" (VP/17 North Parade)

Prince Fatty: "Sunshine (featuring Omar and Fatlip)" 7" (Evergreen Recordings)

V/A: Rock Steady Box 7" box set (Trojan)

V/A: Soul Jazz Records Presents Studio One Dubplate Special 7" box set (Soul Jazz) -- This features eight singles featuring Alton Ellis, Cedric Brooks, Brentford Road All Stars, Jacob Miller, and more!


Record Store Day 2018 USA

Creation Rebel: Dub from Creation LP (On-U Sound)

DJ Spooky: Phantom Dancehall LP (VP Records)

Duke Reid All Stars/Roland Alphonso: "Judge Sympathy" b/w "Never To Be Mine" 7" single (Trojan)

Eek-A-Mouse: "Ganja Smuggling" b/w "Smuggling Version" 7" single (Greensleeves)

The Maytones: Only Your Picture LP (Burning Sounds)

The Skatalites: Hi-Bop Ska LP (Jump Up/Shanachie)

V/A: Natural High: The Bongo Man Collection 2xLP (Studio One)

V/A: Recutting the Crap, Volume 2 2xLP (Crooked Beat Records)

V/A: Soul Jazz Records Presents Studio One Dubplate Special 7" box set (Soul Jazz) -- This features eight singles featuring Alton Ellis, Cedric Brooks, Brentford Road All Stars, Jacob Miller, and more!

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Happy hunting!

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Duff Review: DJ Spooky "Creation Rebel"

Trojan/Sanctuary
CD
2007

(Review by Steve Shafer)

Even if DJ Spooky’s most excellent romp through Trojan Record's vaults wasn’t so damn good, Creation Rebel would be notable just for the fact that it’s not a rehash of the same classic reggae and skinhead reggae tracks that seem to appear on reshuffled Trojan compilations every few years. (Seriously, how many times can “Young, Gifted and Black” appear and re-appear on their comps?) And unlike the recent Trojan compilations of cuts selected by DJ Spooky (DJ Spooky Presents - In Fine Style: 50,000 Volts of Trojan Records), Radiohead’s Johnny Greenwood (Johnny Greenwood is the Controller), and Super Furry Animals (Furry Selection: Luxury Cuts Of Trojan Chosen By A Super Furry Animal) which were interesting for what they revealed about their individual tastes, Creation Rebel features truly new material of sorts: DJ Spooky's top-shelf re-mixes and mash-ups (vocals from one song married to music from another) of songs by Lee “Scratch” Perry, Augustus Pablo, Bob Marley, Tapper Zukie, Wayne Smith, Dawn Penn, and more.

If you are a ska and reggae purist, this ain’t for you. Stop reading now. Scroll down to the next post. However, if you’re musically open-minded (and I’m not condemning you if you’re not), Creation Rebel is a compelling mix of roots reggae, dub, dee-jay/toasting, dancehall, and hip-hop (which, if you didn't know, was created by DJ Kool Herc, a Jamaican who moved to the Bronx when he was 12 and built rap/hip-hop on such reggae traditions as toasting over a rhythm track blasting on a sound system), as processed through the mind (and computer) of the master turntablist. In many ways, this record perfectly illustrates the evolution of Jamaican music and culture—how it constantly “versions” itself (re-using rhythm tracks from popular songs behind new vocals, or remixing just the rhythm tracks to create a dub version), mining its incredibly rich musical past to create a new sound for the future.

While there is not a bum cut on Creation Rebel (of course, the source material is spectacular, but in a lesser DJ’s hands this album could have turned out very poorly), some cuts are truly inspired, such as the brilliant mash-up of Mutabaruka’s spoken word poem with a sample of the Lee Perry produced “I Killed the Barber” by Dr. Alimantado (which itself uses the rhythm of John Holt’s “Ali Baba”) on “Dis Poem Burns Babylon v2”; the re-mixing and roughing up of the instrumental track of "No, No, No" (where the bass is distorted to the point where it’s lost its tone and become a percussive instrument) under Dawn Penn’s silky vocals; and Augustus Pablo’s "Far East sound" classic “East of the River Nile” is partially transformed into a track you would expect to hear booming out of a hip-hopper’s Escalade. Bob Marley’s “Soul Rebel” is given an upbeat percussive underpinning, while the Lee Perry/Tapper Zukie “Revolution Dub” has a chugging Eurotrash disco beat prodding you on to dance on the way to smash the barricades (sounds much better coming out of your speakers/earbuds than it does in print). And the choice sampling throughout this album (particularly on the awesomely dense title cut) will send you scrambling through your record collection to identify the original cuts.

The spirit—and in many cases the songs or productions—of Lee Perry flows throughout this record, which makes sense: both Scratch and DJ Spooky are sonic innovators—madly tinkering in the studio as they completely deconstruct and reassemble music in order to capture the version of a track they hear in their heads and lay it down on tape or a hard drive. Like many of Scratch's best creations, you need to approach Creation Rebel with a mind open to new possibilities. If you do, the rewards to the listener are great. (A)

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