NYC Ska Calendar #3 Spring/Summer 2022

Sister Nancy

Friday, May 13, 2022 @ 10:00 pm

Brooklyn Dub Club, Chapter IV: What a Bam Bam!

Sister Nancy (JA), Mungo's HiFi featuring Gardna (Scotland), Bukkah (Spain), Bent Backs Sound featuring JonnyGo Figure (BK), El Grand Latido Sound System (Colombia), Dub-Stuy & Hilla Bundem (NYC)

Brooklyn Monarch
23 Meadow Street
Brooklyn, NY
Tix: $20

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Saturday, May 14, 2022 @ 7:00 pm

Playing Dead, War Honey, Barbicide, Skappository

Ridgewood Presbyterian Church
59-14 70th Ave
Queens, NY
(Closest subway stops are the Forest Ave. M line or the Halsey St. L line)
$10/All ages

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Friday, May 20, 2022 @ 8:00 pm

DJ Gorilla & Scenic present: Beat Brigade, Eastern Function, Sweet Babylon, Eye Defy

Bushwick Party House
1288 Myrtle Avenue
Brooklyn, NY
$10 in advance/$12 day of show
21+

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Saturday, May 21, 2022 @ 7:00 pm

Authentic Productions NYC & The Kingsland present: Hub City Stompers, The Prowlers (Montreal), The Press, The Ladrones, Execütors

Sovereign SmokeHouse
173 Morgan Ave
Brooklyn, NY
$20 adv / $25 dos
18+

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Sunday, May 22, 2022 @ 5:00 pm

The Apple Stomp presents: Big D & the Kids Table, J Navarro & The Traitors, Sgt. Scag, Brunt of It, The Pandemics

The Gramercy Theatre
127 East 23rd Street
Manhattan, NY
Tix: $25/16+

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Friday, May 27, 2022 @ 8:00 pm

Subway to Skaville presents: Stop the Presses, Flying Racoon Suit, Stuck Lucky, Megawatt (plus DJ Ryan Midnight)

Otto's Shrunken Head
538 East 14th Street (between Avenues A & B)
Manhattan/Alphabet City
21+/No cover, but bring $ for band bucket

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Friday, June 17, 2022 @ 8:00 pm

Subway to Skaville presents: The Freecoasters, Beat Brigade, Donut City (plus DJ Ryan Midnight & DJ Duff Guy)

Otto's Shrunken Head
538 East 14th Street (between Avenues A & B)
Manhattan/Alphabet City
21+/No cover, but bring $ for band bucket

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Ska and Reggae Record Store Day 2021 Releases of Note: Jerry Dammers, Desmond Dekker, LKJ, Madness, The Selecter, Blue Beat, Jump Up, Studio One, and More!

As always, the Record Store Day offerings for ska and reggae fans in the UK are simply better and more plentiful that they are in the US. And with the insane cost of shipping LPs from the UK to the US these days, even if you are able to track down a UK-only RSD release you want for more that you want to spend, you're going to get absolutely killed by postage.

The only bright spots for US fans are domestic releases from The Selecter, Desmond Dekker, and two Soul Jazz Studio One compilations.

Please note that Drop 1 is on June 12 and Drop 2 is on July 17.

Blackbeard (Dennis Bovell): I Wah Dub (LP, PLG, UK only, Drop 1)

Joseph Cotton, Winston Reedy, Barry Isaacs, Vin Gordon: Kiki Kiki EP (7" single, Room in the Sky Records, UK only, Drop 1)

Jerry Dammers: At The Home Organ: Demos 1980-82 "Ghost Town (Original Demo) b/w "Theme from The Boiler" (10" single, 2 Tone/Chrysalis, UK only, Drop 2) These two previously unreleased tracks are Jerry’s home recordings made on cassette in 1980/1982. This is a rare glimpse into his working practice, including The Specials' most famous recording "Ghost Town," which celebrates its 40th Anniversary in July this year (and is being reissued by 2 Tone in both 7" and 12" formats).

Desmond Dekker: The King of Ska Live at Dingwalls (2xLP, Burning Sound, UK only, Drop 1)

Desmond Dekker: King Of Ska - The Ska Singles Collection (10 x 7” box set, BMG/Trojan, US & UK, Drop 1)

George Dekker: "Run Dem" b/w "Foey Man" (7" single, G.D. Records, UK only, Drop 1)

George Dekker & The Inn House Crew: "Nana" (7" single, Room In The Sky Records, UK only, Drop 1)

Jah Floyd: "20 Years Inna Leaky Boat" (7" single, Jamaican Recordings, UK only, Drop 1)

Owen Gray: Sings (LP, Burning Sound, UK only, Drop 1)

Linton Kwesi Johnson: Making History (Color vinyl LP, UMC, UK only, Drop 1)

Jump Up Records: Chuck Wren is releasing four LPs for RSD: Bim Skala Bim's new album Sonic Tonic; a reissue of The Skatalites' Bashaka; an anthology from Skanking Lizard; and the first-ever vinyl edition of The Scofflaws' fantastic debut album originally released on Moon Records in 1991!

Madness: I Do Like To Be B-Side The A-Side Vol 2 (LP, BMG, UK only, Drop 1)

Freddie McGregor: "Never Run Away" (12", Greensleeves, UK only, Drop 1)

Mungo's Hi Fi: Antidote (LP, Scotch Bonnet Records, UK only, Drop 1)

Lee "Scratch" Perry: Roast Fish Collie Weed & Corn Bread (LP, VP Records, US & UK, Drop 1)

The Selecter: Live In Coventry ’79 (Clear vinyl LP, 2 Tone/Chrysalis, US & UK, Drop 1) This is the vinyl version of the live concert included in the forthcoming 3xCD reissue of Too Much Pressure. Read about this concert and this reissue here.

Millie Small: "My Boy Lollipop"/"Something's Gotta Be Done"/"Don't You Know It"/"Until You're Mine" (7" Island/UMC, UK only, Drop 2)

Toots & The Maytals: Funky Kingston (LP, Get On Down, US & UK, Drop 1)

Various Artists: Legends of Blue Beat: The Blue Beat Label (LP, Blue Beat Records, UK, Drop 2)

Various Artists: Soul Jazz Records Presents Studio One Ska Fire! (5 x 7" box set, Soul Jazz Records, US & UK, Drop 2)

A: Bob Marley and The Wailers – "Rude Boy"
AA: Derrick Morgan – "It’s Alright"

A: Don Drummond – "Don D Special"
AA: The Maytals – "A Man Who Knows"

A: The Skatalites – "Something Special"
AA: Lee Perry – "Open Up (aka Cook Book)"

A: The Regals – "Shammy Back"
AA: Bob Marley and The Wailers – "Diamond Baby"

A: Jackie Opel – "The Mill Man"
AA: Ethiopians – "I Am Free"

Various Artists: Studio One Soul (2 x LP, Soul Jazz Records, US & UK, Drop 2)

Wailers & U-ROY: My Cup Runneth Over (LP, Tsosume Records, UK only Drop 2)

Wailing Souls: Wailing (2 x LP, 17 North Parade, US & UK, Drop 2)

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Updated 4/8/2021.

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Duff Guide to Ska Bullet Points: The Bakesys, Eric Blowtorch and the Bodyguards, The Man on the Bridge (AKA Dave Clifton)

(Reviews by Steve Shafer)

• The Bakesys' awesome "Rainy Day Dub" is being offered as a free download in advance of their forthcoming More Bakesys full-length vinyl album (which was previously issued as a CD EP--my review of it is here). This track is the dub version of their haunting "Anything and Everything" ("...is falling down"), which sounds like More Specials-era Specials produced by Prince Fatty or Mungo's Hi-Fi, and is about the devastating impact of mass unemployment paired government cutbacks to public services. It was originally written in response to Teresa May's austerity measures, but it's equally relevant in this Covid-19 lockdown era. 

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   Eric Blowtorch and the Bodyguards' excellent new 2 Tone-ish ska single "Mercy" (digital, self-released, 2020) is a plea for the salvation of humanity, a mantra for our thoroughly horrific times, particularly in these fragmented United States of ours: "Mercy in destabilizer stormtroop’s face/Mercy, mercy when your blood boils over/Mercy to the driver in the bulldozer." It's a mournful track, like something off the Ghost Town EP, but interspersed with joyous and hopeful funk-soul breaks in the choruses. And it's protest music that's not about casting blame, but searching for something that can heal what's broken inside of us, so we won't be at each other's throats, and might even be able to begin to start caring for one other again. (If you like this cut, also be sure to check out my review of Eric Blowtorch's 12" single from a few years ago: Horace Andy backed by Welders "Straight To Hell" and Big Youth backed by Welders "Pair of Dice" b/w Horace Andy v. Big Youth "Asylum Seekers" and Eric Blowtorch "Christmas in Ladbroke Grove.")
  

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   The Man on the Bridge is guitarist, singer, and songwriter Dave Clifton of the '80s UK ska act The Hotknives, who's been a member of the stellar Erin Bardwell Collective as of late. This six-track EP Million Miles Away (CD/digital, Pop-A-Top Records, 2020) is a collection of new studio recordings engineered by Erin Bardwell, who gives Clifton's terrific mood and memory evoking (rather than storytelling) songs a touch of his "dream-ska" sound (Bardwell plays keys and sings, too). Hotknives fans will hone in on "Don't Blame Me," a great Marley-ish reggae track known as "Dave's Song" that was in that band's live set in the '80s but never recorded in the studio, and the heartbreaking she's-leaving-me "Believe It" (from their 1990 debut album on Unicorn Records, The Way Things Are) with Pat Powell of the Melbourne Ska Orchestra on guest vocals. "Looking Over the Land" is a rather upbeat Madness-like cut (music hall piano, sax courtesy of Paul Mumford from Too Many Crooks and The Hotknives) with lyrics by Bardwell about repeatedly encountering a seemingly lost older man all around Swindon who was apparently suffering from dementia or Alzheimer's ("I tried to talk, he walked away/Where did he used to live/That man on the bridge"). "Just Dreaming" is a fantastic rootsy dub cut featuring an ethereal flute line that soars over the rhythm track (bass by Pete Fitzsimmons, drums by Pete O'Driscoll). "Never Say Never" is a lovely, hopeful pop-reggae song about letting go of what might or might not be someday, and trying to be happy in the now ("Stumble across the front room floor/To the window on the other side/I'm looking down the garden path/That's my heart hanging on the line/Please don't give me up/(No no no)/Let's just live it up/(Yeah yeah yeah)...Let's treasure this time we got together"). The title track--my favorite on the EP--is not a Plimsouls cover, but rather a brilliant Celtic-tinged ska song about being a certain (middle) age in life and longing for what you can never have again ("I remember those nights at the fairground/'Double Barrel' playin' on the sound system/This big wheel keeps turning 'round/Switch back screams the smell of candyfloss/Somebody calls out your name/You look around, but its from above/Now the O'Jays are singing 'Love Train'/You know your life will never be the same"). This is highly recommended--don't miss it!

Megative Release Video in Support of Black Lives Matter (and a New Single is Forthcoming)

In case you missed it, Megative's self-titled debut album was one of the best ska-related releases of 2018 (this now hard-to-find LP is available through Soulbeats Records). Need a Megative teaser or refresher? Here's the first paragraph of The Duff Guide to Ska review of it from November 2018:

"Megative's tremendously good and absolutely searing self-titled debut is a concept album of sorts, focused on the breakdown or end, really the death, of everything--your own body and consciousness; inter-personal relationships; society/civilization; the sum of humanity; and the very planet that sustains us. These bleak Armagideon Time anxieties are expressed within a sparse, but powerfully realized and incredibly appealing mix of modern minor-key ska and dubby reggae (think of a mash-up of The Specials' Ghost Town EP with the Gorillaz's Demon Days or 2 Tone and punky-reggae Clash tracks given a modern, juiced-up Danger Mouse/Prince Fatty/Mungo's Hi-Fi production)."

While the band was largely off the radar during 2019, Megative had planned to release their new single "The Lunatics Have Taken Over the Asylum) this June 5 (Soulbeats Records), but delayed it until July 15, due to the worldwide anti-racist/anti-police brutality protests that erupted in reaction to the outrageous police killing of George Floyd. In its stead, Megative has issued a new video in support of Black Lives Matter--a "Lockdown" version of their incredible and highly relevant "Yeah Yeah Yeah (Yeah Yeah)" cut, which can be viewed below. Here's what we wrote about this track back in 2018:

"The one joyful and truly blissed-out moment on the entire album comes in the "They Live" referencing "Yeah Yeah Yeah (Yeah Yeah)." The verses of the song are in a minor key (as is almost every song on the record)--"The maniacs are in control/Aliens in human bodies without souls/We watch them on our screens like they're gods/And we smile while they feed us to the dogs/Now I fear I might do something rash/Watching lunatics build towers doomed to crash/They divide us up against our friends/How I long for the days when we'll all sing again..."--but everything abruptly shifts to a bright major key during the you-can't-resist-singing-along chorus of solidarity and rebellion against oppression: "yeah, yeah, yeah (yeah, yeah)!""



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Duff Guide to Ska Fast Takes: Prince Fatty featuring Shniece Mcmenamin "Disco Deception" EP

Evergreen Recordings
Vinyl/digital
2020

(Review by Steve Shafer)

As of late, Prince Fatty has been mining his and his collaborators' shared love of soul music (for instance, see the awesome covers of The Temptations' "Get Ready" and William DeVaughn's "Be Thankful for What You've Got"). Of course, since black American musical forms like rhythm and blues, soul, gospel, and early rock 'n' roll significantly influenced the Jamaican musicians who created ska and its descendants (and there were a host of soulful rocksteady and reggae singers, like Alton Ellis, Ken Boothe, Delroy Wilson, Phyllis Dillon, Susan Cadogan, Marcia Griffiths, Jimmy Cliff, Toots Hibbert, and many more), it makes sense that many soul songs are ripe for being repurposed as reggae cuts (and there are numerous examples of such from the '60s onward). Rocksteady and reggae's slower tempos open up the space for soul singers to do their thing over tight, propulsive Jamaican grooves custom-made to pack dance floors--and the tracks on Disco Deception will do just that. For his latest release, Prince Fatty and singer Shniece Mcmenamin (of The Drizabone Soul Family, who's also worked with Chaka Kahn, Chic and Nile Rodgers, Sister Sledge, Aswad, Mungo's Hi-Fi, and The Last Poets) select some incredible tracks to cover: Lyn Collins' 1974 hit "Take Me Just as I Am," Gwen McCrae's 1974 single "90% of Me Is You," LaVern Baker's "Love Me Right" from 1957, "Fever"--first recorded by Little Willie John in 1953 who had a #1 hit with it, and Tina Turner's "You Got What You Wanted" from 1968. As always, all of the performances captured on Disco Deception are top-notch; Shniece's singing is never short of spectacular (and she makes it seem so effortless); and Fatty's production is impeccable. "Take Me Just as I Am" (with the great Horseman toasting), "90% of Me Is You," and "Love Me Right" are particularly wonderful and effective, though their stellar version of "You Got What You Wanted" ("...now you don't want what you got") has moments that will make the hair on the back of your neck stand on end. It's hard to match Turner's heart-wrenching performance (and, given her abusive relationship with Ike Turner at the time, horrifically true to life), but Shniece comes tantalizingly close.

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Duff Review: Megative "Megative"

Last Gang Records
White vinyl LP/digital
2018

(Review by Steve Shafer)

Megative's tremendously good and absolutely searing self-titled debut is a concept album of sorts, focused on the breakdown or end, really the death, of everything--your own body and consciousness; inter-personal relationships; society/civilization; the sum of humanity; and the very planet that sustains us. These bleak Armagideon Time anxieties are expressed within a sparse, but powerfully realized and incredibly appealing mix of modern minor-key ska and dubby reggae (think of a mash-up of The Specials' Ghost Town EP with the Gorillaz's Demon Days or 2 Tone and punky-reggae Clash tracks given a modern, juiced-up Danger Mouse/Prince Fatty/Mungo's Hi-Fi production).

The album is bookended by tracks that incorporate the ominous wail of air-raid sirens (which, depending on your age, may remind one of the heavy "Two Tribes"-like 1980's Cold War trepidation of perishing in a nuclear holocaust that everyone carried with them daily). The opener, "Have Mercy," begs forgiveness for our accumulated sins over the ages that we now must pay for in a major Old Testament way ("There's something strange coming over this land/It don't have a face, still stares you down/Maybe it's the bloody history coming back and seeking revenge"). While the eerie final track "One Day...All This Will Be Gone," with its horror/sci-fi B-movie spoken intro (from the made-for-TV post-nuclear war movie "In the Year 2889": "Maybe there's no one left to hear my voice, no living being to record the end of the world...Down through the ages, the prophets forewarned us that in one day thousands of years of accomplishments would be wiped away by the destructive hand of power. Now that day has come..."), is about personal, emotional, and global apocalypse--from the perspective that everything is fated/designed to be impermanent, transitory, fleeting and we can't do a damn thing about it ("I never thought I was a fool for love/Until you broke my heart/And now I wonder if the end was not/Built into the stars" and "But monoliths will never last forever/Pyramids decay and weather/We scramble for eternal life anyway/I lie awake staring up at the ceiling/See the cracks and the dark gray feeling/We run from fear/But all our schemes are in vain"). It also may be about the terror of dying alone.

The songs that fill the grooves between are equally filled with dread.

In the shadow of looming mortality, the singer realizes in "More Time" that there are more days behind him than ahead--and regrets that he hasn't spent his time better ("Oh, I never gave a fuck about the youth I wasted/Oh, thought I had more time/Now I only seem to dream about/The fruits I tasted/Oh, can I get more time?"). It's an eventual lament for everyone living, but you'll sing with that chorus wherever you are in life. Fast-forward 10-15 years or so from Terry Hall's "Friday Night/Saturday Morning" and you have the protagonist of the very catchy "Can't Do Drugs (Like I Used To)," whose body is wearing out, expressing worries about the decline to come: "I can't do drugs/Like I used to/'Cause I know too much/And I might blow a fuse...I used to think I would live forever/They said that I was crazy/But when I dream of the future now/I wake up.../The sweat is dripping off me" (Screechy Dan hammers it home: "I remember when you used to be wilding/Club after club every night until morning...Time after time/You did line after line/To get dime after dime/It's crime after crime..."). The complete lack of empathy and failure/inability to recognize people as they actually are is portrayed in "She's Not Real" (with its echoes of "Stereotype"): "What she is/Is not what he sees/She's a figment/He wants to believe/Desire unquestioned/His heart is deceived/He wants to make her/Into all that he needs..."

The post-apocalyptic spaghetti Western reggae-ish "Beneath the Sun" (which features a fantastic Rico-like trombone solo) depicts a not-too-distant future when planetary climate change of our own making (that we failed to mitigate or reverse!) has transformed Earth into an unrecognizable hellish landscape of nothing but desert and salty sea--and triggered the disintegration of society and decimation of humanity. Extreme economic inequality at its ugliest plays out in "Can't Get Away," as the wealthiest have the resources to escape "a world charred to a crisp," leaving the desperate masses behind with no option but to face oblivion: "Oh, we watch those lucky few/Fly off into the stars/Never to return, while we cried/"Gotta get away!/Oh, can't get away!" (Think it's far-fetched scenario? What about the tech billionaires today developing their own private rocket programs?)

The one joyful and truly blissed-out moment on the entire album comes in the "They Live" referencing "Yeah Yeah Yeah (Yeah Yeah)." The verses of the song are in a minor key (as is almost every song on the record)--"The maniacs are in control/Aliens in human bodies without souls/We watch them on our screens like they're gods/And we smile while they feed us to the dogs/Now I fear I might do something rash/Watching lunatics build towers doomed to crash/They divide us up against our friends/How I long for the days when we'll all sing again..."--but everything abruptly shifts to a bright major key during the you-can't-resist-singing-along chorus of solidarity and rebellion against oppression: "yeah, yeah, yeah (yeah, yeah)!" Judge Screechy condemns the oppressors to death by guillotine for "crimes against humanity"--even though the end times are already here as a "wave of blood with crush the Earth." At least, humanity will be free to stand on their feet when Doomsday arrives.

Megative--vocalist Tim Fletcher (The Stills), producer/bassist Gus Van Go (Me, Mom and Morgentaler), producer/mixer/songwriting tandem Likeminds, AKA Jesse Singer and Chris Soper, and dancehall veteran Screechy Dan (Ruff Entry Crew)--have created a brilliant, if not deeply dark and profoundly disturbing vision of what's lurking on our horizon. The question is if we'll heed the alarm to change what we can (and even enjoy ourselves!) before it's too late.

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The Duff Guide to Ska Year in Ska Reviews 2017, Part 2!

From The Duff Guide to Ska patch collection (click on image to enlarge).

(Reviews by Steve Shafer)

The Applecores The Applecores EP (Five-track digital EP, self released, 2017): This female-fronted reggae-rock-pop NYC outfit (think Sublime crossed with No Doubt) delivers some fine originals on their debut--the break-up cut "Holding Hands" is particularly affecting--plus they do a great cover of Drake's "One Dance."

The Bakesys "Golden Brown Slices of Toast" (free digital single, Do the Dog Music, 2017): Read The Duff Guide to Ska review here.

The Bakesys More Bakesys (CD EP, Do the Dog Music, 2017): Read The Duff Guide to Ska review here.

The Bakesys Studio Selections 1991-1995 (CD, Do the Dog Music, 2017): Read The Duff Guide to Ska review here.

Beat Brigade Tomorrow's News (Three-track digital EP, Buddahbug Records, 2017): OG NYC ska kings (and contemporaries of The Toasters) Beat Brigade keep the aggressive and gritty '80s Big Apple ska sound alive on this really fantastic new EP. The protagonist in the dangerous, film-noir-ish ska-jazz cut "You Charming Thing" ("Every day is Christmas/Every night is New Year's eve...you tease me until I come undone") knows he's on the road to perdition, but can't resist her. "Bomb Squad" is from the (cynical) POV of someone on that detail ("You're gonna have to hose my bloody guts away!") and appropriates the great riff from Devo's "It's Not Right." The roots reggae rebel track "Battle Cry" ("This is not a warning/This is not a test/Armageddon's coming...") has one seriously good groove in its call for solidarity in the face of injustice ("No matter where you're from/No matter where you stand/Together we are strong/Together we are one"). Much more of this please.

Ken Boothe, Dillinger, Leroy Smart, Delroy Wilson White Man in Hammersmith Palais EP (limited edition RSD 7" vinyl four-track EP with mini-poster, Greensleeves Records, 2017): Read The Duff Guide to Ska review here.

The Brooklyn Attractors Xmas in Babylon, Volume II (red or green vinyl PS single, Jump Up Records, 2017): This single by this NYC area supergroup features top-notch rocksteady arrangements of two Christmas classics (a spirited cover of "Up on the Rooftop" and a melancholy version of "Jolly Old St. Nick" retitled "Ras Nick"). Pure class, this one. Play it to impress the relatives when they visit.

Johnny Clarke "Highest Region" b/w Flying Vipers "Highest Version" (green 7" vinyl single, Jump Up Records, 2017): Read The Duff Guide to Ska review here.

Dub Natty Sessions and Dennis Bovell featuring Matic Horns and Mad Professor DNS and Friends (CD/digital download, available through Bovell's Old School Records, 2017): Read The Duff Guide to Ska review here.

Flying Vipers The Copper Tape (cassette/digital, Music A. D. D.,  2017): Read The Duff Guide to Ska review here.

Hopeton Lewis "There She Goes" b/w Vin Gordon and The Supersonics"Reggay Trombone" (heavyweight 7" vinyl single, Trojan Records, 2017): Read The Duff Guide to Ska review here.

Lee "Scratch" Perry and the Full Experiences Disco Devil (red 12" vinyl, Trojan/Get On Down, 2017 Black Friday Record Store re-issue; originally released in 1977 on the Upsetter label): For whatever odd reason (legal matters with Marley's estate?), this re-issue jettisons the awesome Bob Marley and Wong Chu "Keep On Moving" b side for the 7" mix of "Disco Devil" (which is, of course, a version of Max Romeo's phenomenal "Chase the Devil" from War Ina Babylon). Nonetheless, this is still a gift for Perry fans--original copies of Disco Devil go for $350 and more, while the 2003 Trojan reissue fetches around $50 and up. (If you're in the NYC area, as of this posting, Rock and Soul still has copies in stock.)

Lee "Scratch" Perry and Subatomic Sound System Super Ape Returns to Conquer (CD/LP/digital, Subatomic Sound, 2017): Read The Duff Guide to Ska review here.

Mungo's Hi Fi featuring Johnny Clarke "Rain Keeps Falling" b/w "Spring Shower Dub" (7" vinyl single, Scotch Bonnet Records, 2017): Read The Duff Guide to Ska review here.

The New Limits "Every Day Will Be Like A Holiday" (digital single, self-released, 2017): Considering the hellish year we've been through in the USA and the ongoing BS about the ginned-up, so-called "War on Christmas," it helps to shore up your faith in humanity to know that The New Limits chose a holiday classic to cover specifically for its message of love, companionship, and inclusiveness (since no specific holiday/religion is referred to in the lyrics, anyone from any religion--even atheists--can relate to it). Stax artist William Bell's wonderful "Every Day Will Be Like A Holiday" is given a terrific rocksteady treatment by The New Limits here. Maybe this version can find its way to wax some day? 

The Skatalites Foundation Ska (CD/2xLP, Studio One, 2017 reissue; originally released in 1997 on Heartbeat Records): Read The Duff Guide to Ska review here.

The Toasters Skaboom! (blue heavyweight vinyl/cassette, Jump Up Records/Megalith Records, 2016 reissue; originally released in 1987 in the USA on Moving Target/Celluloid and in a slightly altered form in the UK on Unicorn as Pool Shark): Read The Duff Guide to Ska appreciation here.

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Read The Duff Guide to Ska Year in Ska Reviews 2017, Part 1!

Read The Duff Guide to Ska Year in Ska Reviews 2017, Part 3!

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Duff Guide to Ska Fast Takes: Hopeton Lewis "There She Goes" b/w Vin Gordon and The Supersonics "Reggay Trombone," Johnny Clarke and the Flying Vipers "Highest Region" b/w "Highest Version," Mungo's Hi Fi featuring Johnny Clarke "Rain Keeps Falling" b/w "Spring Shower Dub"

(Reviews by Steve Shafer)

Hopeton Lewis "There She Goes" b/w Vin Gordon and The Supersonics "Reggay Trombone" (heavyweight 7" vinyl single, Trojan Records, 2017): This limited edition Record Store Day 2017 release boasts two unreleased Duke Reid productions from Treasure Island's archives. As both cuts are fantastic, one wonders why they lay hidden until now (perhaps the almost ridiculous abundance of incredible music in JA at the time made it difficult to choose what to release?). Lewis' sprightly rocksteady track (love the combination of flute and sax here) masks the heartache of the lyrics: "There she goes/And I'm lonely once again/There she goes/And I don't know where she's going/But she's gone, gone, gone." "Reggay Trombone" spotlights Vin Gordon's t-bone chops as he's backed by Tommy McCook's Supersonics on this cheerful and lively early/skinhead reggae instrumental. (Copies are still out there to be had at reasonable prices.)

Johnny Clarke "Highest Region" b/w Flying Vipers "Highest Version" (green 7" vinyl single, Jump Up Records, 2017): Phenomenal roots singer Johnny Clarke is supported by Boston's reggae/dub masters Flying Vipers on this excellent single (unofficially titled Johnny Clarke Meets Flying Vipers). The atypical and unsettling beat and stripped-to-the-bone dubby instrumental backing on "Highest Region" provides a sharp contrast to Clarke's plaintive chant of "We want, we want, we want to go home/To Zion, away from Babylon" (the restlessness and unease in the music won't be calmed until there's deliverance from evil). Its dub "Highest Version" is even further deconstructed to great effect. This is definitely one of the more unusual dub releases you'll find this year and very much worth owning.

Mungo's Hi Fi featuring Johnny Clarke "Rain Keeps Falling" b/w "Spring Shower Dub" (7" vinyl single, Scotch Bonnet Records, 2017): For Record Store Day 2017, Glasgow-based Mungo's Hi Fi created a fantastically spare and seductive new roots riddim track for Johnny Clarke to sing his message of love over ("Rain keeps falling/And my body is calling/You're my one and only/I don't want to be lonely/You're my pride and joy/We were meant to be/Life is just for living/Love is what I'm giving"). Notably, this cut and its great dub version feature the "flying cymbals" that harken back to Clarke's first hit in 1974 with Bunny Lee, Earl Zero's "None Shall Escape the Judgement." As to be expected, Mungo's Hi Fi and Clarke deliver nothing short of the best.

New Selecter/Beat Split 7" Vinyl Single!

In recognition/celebration of their string of upcoming appearances together, Pauline Black's and Gaps Hendrickson's version of The Selecter is releasing a split 7" vinyl single with Ranking Roger's version of The Beat. This double A sided 45--out December 16, 2016 and available for order here--features The Selecter's "Breakdown" (about the unjustified police killings of unarmed black men and women from their recent Subculture album) and The Beat's "Side By Side" (from Bounce).

Both bands are performing at the BBC Radio 6 Music Christmas Ska Party at Maida Vale Studios on Tuesday, December 13th along with Mungo’s Hi Fi and David ‘Ram Jam’ Rodigan. The Selecter and Beat are then scheduled to tour the UK together in spring 2017:

Friday 31 March – Glasgow O2 ABC
Saturday 1 April – Manchester Old Granada Studios
Friday 7 April – Nottingham Rock City
Saturday 8 April – Bristol O2 Academy
Friday 28 April – -Birmingham O2 Institute
Saturday 29 April – London O2 Shepherds Bush Empire

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Duff Interview: Barney Boom of Sonic Boom Six!

Barney Boom, bassist, vocalist, and lyricist for the Sonic Boom Six was kind enough to take the time to answer some of our questions below about the band's extraordinary new album, "The F-Bomb" (Phoenix City Records/Cherry Red). We think it's probably the best ska release of the year (read The Duff Guide to Ska review of "The F-Bomb" here to see how we back up our bold claim)!  

The Duff Guide to Ska: What range of reactions has "The F-Bomb's" cover photograph elicited so far (and are they what you expected)?

Barney Boom: I think at the moment it's largely been only in and around our own fan base, so people have generally got it and loved it. With the video for 'From The Fire To The Frying Pan', I think we've given people another lens to look at the cover through, to flesh out the point we are trying to make. Observing the reaction when the cover has been posted on sites like Rock Sound and seeing the comments, it's obvious that the world at large will react differently to it than our fans, but that's the point. Like our videos and our music it's meant to provoke discussion, it's meant to prod a finger on convention and the status quo and say, 'is this OK?' The only reaction that surprised me was a few that thought that the 'Bomb' in 'F-Bomb' was purely a Muslim fundamentalist/terrorist pun and it was a shock jock thing to provoke, with no actual substance beyond that. I think that without the 'F', on a purely visual level, I can get that, but when you throw in the 'F' there and consider that these ideas and associations are overlapping with another concept, the whole thing is a lot more interesting than us going 'this album will go with a BOOM!' or anything like that.

DGTS: In my review, I've guessed at what the F in "F-Bomb" signifies, but what does it mean to you?

BB: It's only when we finished the album that we noticed the streak that ran through it that prompted that title. I think Dan Weller actually came up with it. The whole thing happened this way because I'd made a conscious decision to write songs from Laila's perspective, and that entailed a female perspective. So, a lot of the social issues we'd been exploring from a third person point of view on previous records, we were now drilling down on a bit more personally. Something like 'All The Same To Me' might have previously been a song like 'F.U.C.K' off our first album; a sideswipe at the sickly, aspirational side of social media and TV. Whereas on this record it's a girl watching it and feeling the pressure it puts out there for her. So, I think that's where it came from. Certainly, to me, the 'F' in the 'F-Bomb' stands for female. There was something in the air last year and feminism was a hugely hot topic. It just permeated the whole record without us being aware of it when writing the lyrics.

DGTS: I recently about one of the 2 Tone-era musicians, how they were approached years later by fans who told them that their music and message made them think about and then alter their racist behavior--the music kept them from becoming life-long racists! Do you feel that the Sonic Boom Six's politically progressive songs are having this kind of impact? Are you reaching the people who might change their attitudes and behavior for the better?

BB: Yeah, I've had anecdotal evidence of exactly the same thing. We've had kids come up and tell them we've been a conduit to change their attitude to racism. We've had kids come up and tell them we've been a conduit to change their attitude towards rap and grime music, or dance music, and that could well be the first step to opening their minds up to everything else. I mean, changing attitudes 'for the better' is subjective. Certainly, if you read YouTube comments on our videos, a lot of people think we're changing attitudes for the worst! But our form of activism has always been velvet glove. Our gigs are a party and there is stuff in the lyrics we're happy for people to take or leave or disagree with. That being said, unlike some bands in the 2 Tone era--who were probably too young to understand the implications of what they were saying--we don't leave politics at the door. Racism or sexism or anything that flies in the face of what we're about is not welcome at our shows. We'd definitely take a stand for that.

Barney Boom in action!

DGTS: Several of the songs on "The F-Bomb" seem like they're based on real people/experiences. For instance, is there an actual Joanna?

BB: 'Joanna' is about Laura Jane Grace of Against Me! I consider myself a progressive person, but apart from a transsexual woman at work years ago, I hadn't had any direct experience with transsexual people. One of the women at work didn't want her using the same toilets and I didn't have much of an opinion on it. After Laura Jane Grace, I would have a strong opinion on it. Her publicly transitioning in the way she did put that whole issue in front of me and lit the way for both Laila and I to consider the implications of that, so it's life-changing and we wanted to capture that. But elsewhere on the album there are certainly a lot of parts that relate real experiences. 'From The Fire To The Frying Pan' is about a fan of ours that went from innocent kid to mouth-foaming immigrant-hater in the space of months on social media; 'Worship Yourself' is about a friend of ours who was in an emotionally abusive relationship for years on end; 'Do What You Wanna Do' is about moving to London from Manchester and the negativity that caused among certain friends and family... It's all mired in real life.

DGTS: The harrowing, but inspiring "Echoes in the Dark" appears to be about a woman who had been sexually assaulted as a teen finally finding the strength to reclaim her life. What compelled you to write this song?

BB: I think at the point that I'd written a few songs on the album, a theme was emerging, so I wanted to explore it in a way that was consistent with the idea of 'The F-Bomb', but ended the album on a note of hope. Obviously, this is a hugely sensitive subject but the title came to me and the music sounded so dark and open that it lead me to explore these issues. No matter what shit people go through, human beings have an incredible ability to move past trauma. 'Sexually assaulted' might be a bit strong, but it's up to the listener to decide that. Certainly I was thinking about an older lad using and preying upon a girl that's under 16, so legally I guess that's accurate, but in my head the girl was in love with him and he had his way with her in a way she only just understood, then he rejected her, and it's years later she's considering the hugely problematic implications of it, and how much it affected her, and how she's ultimately moved past it. I grew up with girls that when we were 14 running round in parks were sleeping with men, and for some that's fine, but for others it has lasting negative effects. I've known Laila since we were kids and certainly this song is -- if not about a specific person -- a definite exploration of what could have happened. I think 'Echoes In The Dark' is ending the album on a note that says that no matter what is going on in the world, especially as it pertains to females and the pressure that society puts on them, that we're headed in the right direction as human beings and we're going to get through it.

DGTS: The Specials and Dexys Midnight Runners clearly influenced the sound and message of this album. What else were you listening to/reading/watching that helped shape the writing and recording of these tracks?

Sonic Boom Six

BB: Oh wow, I mean, bands like The Specials and Dexys and The Clash were always there, but this album we were really thinking of ways of how we could do the ska thing without sounding like a 'ska band' per se with bass, drums and choppy guitars. So, definitely dance and pop and reggae productions we enjoyed had a huge influence. We had a Spotify Playlist when we recorded the album that we referenced for mixes and tone and vibes, which included stuff like Dub Pistols, modern-era No Doubt, Skool Of Thought, The B-52s, Lily Allen, Santigold, Major Lazer, Rodney P, Mungo's Hifi, Hollie Cook, Kelis, Bruno Mars, Jamie T... those acts are a good indicator of the mix of sounds we were really referencing.

In terms of watching and reading, unlike previous albums, where I'm quoting swathes of books and putting literary puns in there, there wasn't a huge amount of influence from fiction and films this time. Really it was our real life observations and experiences that were driving what we were talking about. 'L.O.V.E' was about what we were seeing on the news on planet earth rather than what we were watching on Game Of Thrones to be honest. It's a very grounded album in that sense.

DGTS: Are there any plans to tour parts of the US for "The F-Bomb"?

BB: We'd love to, and we're going to release the album on vinyl over there at least, so that would be great. Maybe a festival or two--the difficult thing is getting booked, to be honest. Keep spreading the word and keep on to promoters to book us and perhaps we'll get a chance to come back. We'd absolutely love to but it's really just a financial thing; if we can make it without losing dollar, we'll be over!

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Sonic Boom Six's summer 2016 UK dates in support of The F-Bomb can be found here.

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Record Store Day 2016: US and UK Ska and Reggae Releases!

It's springtime again, which means that Record Store Day (Saturday, April 16) is just around the corner. While I will leave others to debate the merits of this day, I do want to highlight the US releases that may be of interest to ska and reggae fans:

African Head Charge - Super Mystic Breaks 10" EP (On-U Sound)

Bitty McLean/Bunny Rugs - Taxi Records Split EP  7" (Taxi)

Roots Radics - World Cup 12" (Greensleeves)

Joe Strummer - Gangsterville 12" (Legacy)

Sublime - Jah Won't Pay the Bills LP/cassette (UMe/Geffen)

Various Artists - First Class Rock Steady 7" singles box set (VP Records); features The Jupiters, Honey Boy Martin, Carlton Manning, The Gaylads, Val Bennet, Derrick Morgan, The Melodians, Hopeton Lewis, The Sensations, and Errol Dunkley.

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The UK Record Store Day features the following AMAZING releases not available (URGH!) in America:

Desmond Dekker - Rude Boy Ska LP (Secret Records)

Johnny Clarke - Natty Roots Session LP (Jamaican Recordings)

Max Romeo - Give Thanks 12" EP (Nu Roots)

Mungo's Hi Fi/Mungo's Hi Fi featuring Mikey Murka - "Jump in Line" b/w "Send di Water" (Scotch Bonnet)

The Ruts DC - Live On Stage 2xLP (Let Them Eat Vinyl)

The Skatalites - Independence Ska and the Far East Sound 7" box set (Soul Jazz)

The Slits - I Heard It Through the Grapevine 10" EP (UMC)

V/A - This Is Trojan 6 x double LP set (Sanctuary)

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Happy shopping...

Duff Review: "Prince Fatty vs. Mungo's Hi-Fi"

Mr. Bongo Records
LP/CD (several tracks released as 7" singles, too)
2014

(Review by Steve Shafer)

If you're wondering whether or not to pick up the new Prince Fatty vs. Mungo's Hi-Fi soundclash album featuring what have to be the two best reggae producers/collectives/sound systems today, it's a no-brainer--this is unquestionably one of the top reggae releases of 2014. Yes, all of the songs from both crews have been previously released--but the raw material used here is incredibly good (Mungo's Hi-Fi tracks come from their albums Sound System Champions from 2008 and their Forward Ever from 2011 and feature Sugar Minott, Top Cat, Soom T and Marina P, while the Prince Fatty cuts are from various releases featuring Hollie Cook, Winston Francis, Horseman, and The Pioneers' George Dekker--most notably Cook's debut album, Prince Fatty's Supersize, and Prince Fatty Versus the Drunken Gambler) and what each producer does with their allotment of tracks is nothing short of phenomenal.

The brilliant twist here is that Prince Fatty and Mungo's Hi-Fi have versioned each other's songs in their own particular style--and both, in many ways, have improved upon (and not merely re-fashioned) the other's work. I'm a bit embarrassed not to know the Scottish (!) sound system Mungo's Hi-Fi better; I had to look up samples of the original tracks in order to be able to compare them to Prince Fatty's versions. But, I discovered that the Mungo's Hi-Fi source tracks vary between loose, late-70s roots reggae to early, computer-y dancehall. In Prince Fatty's hands, everything is tightened and revved-up, and given a full, rich, warm aural sheen. I particularly liked Prince Fatty's versions of "Herbalist" (with Top Cat), "Scrub a Dub Style" (with the great, late Sugar Minott and Horseman), and "Under Arrest" (with MC Ishu)--which features the terrific lyric, "Hands up a Babylon/You're under arrest!/Selassie are ya victim/Haile Haile the best!" that turn these driving-while-black/stop-and-frisk times on their head.

Mungo's Hi-Fi take Prince Fatty's highly polished tracks and bring them back to the future of early 80s Prince Jammy-style dancehall. Since I'm very familiar with all of the Prince Fatty songs here, I particularly appreciate and love their transformation via Mungo's Hi-Fi imagination in the control room. Hollie Cook's haunting "Sugar Water" (one of my favorite songs ever) now floats above a fantastic propulsive bass and drum track, George Dekker's "Say What You're Saying" sports these Inspector Gadget-like keyboard lines, and Winston Francis' "Dry Your Tears," and Horseman's "Horsemove" receive equally as cool and inventive treatments.

Fans of both Prince Fatty and Mungo's Hi-Fi are really going to dig this album--but even if you've never heard a track from either group, this is an essential purchase for all fans of ska, roots reggae, dub, and dancehall.

If we're lucky, the gods of music will permit/facilitate another collaboration like this between Prince Fatty and Mungo's Hi-Fi in the near future...

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