Monday, October 11, 2010

New Albums from The Moon Invaders and The Caroloregians--plus Babylove & the van Dangos, the Club Moonstomp 7", and Trojan Skinhead Reggae!

The word from Chuck Wren at Jump Up Records is that he has the new live CD from the awesome ska-soul Belgian act The Moon Invaders, Live at the AB Club (Grover)--and that The Moon Invaders' skinhead reggae alter ego, The Caroloregians, have a new CD/LP, Funkify Your Reggae, coming down the pipeline soon! I have a feeling that both of these albums are going to be vital additions to The Duff Guide to Ska collection.

If you were fortunate enough to catch both of these bands on tour of the USA this past summer (read The Duff Guide to Ska review of this show--and watch video footage of both bands in action--here), you know these bands are incredibly good (their absolutely sensational split CD, Hot Blood, Cold Weather is essential!).

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Speaking of Euro ska-soul acts, I just picked up and listened to the new Babylove & the van Dangos LP, The Money & The Time (Jump Up) on my cheap-but-good Vestax Handy Trax record player (I've actually used it in a Fat Albert/MacGyver DJ set-up and it worked really well). We'll review The Money & The Time soon, but can tell you now that it's stellar.

Even though I was hundreds of miles away when Club Moonstomp happened, I feel like I was kind of there after playing the Jump Up commemorative colored vinyl single, featuring new and rare material from Roy Ellis (Symarip), Eastern Standard Time, Mr. T-Bone, and Green Room Rockers. Not sure how many of these Chuck has left after offering them at the gig, but they're worth tracking down.

Lastly, I mail-ordered The Trojan Skinhead Reggae Collection from Ernie B's Reggae (a double-CD set for $8.99, so I figured how could I go wrong?). It turns out that is it an abridged version (40 out of 50 tracks) of the four-CD Trojan Skinhead Reggae Box Set--which I don't have--and has many cuts from 1968-1972 that were new to me, like Lloyd Charmers' "Dollars and Bonds" and Derrick Morgan's "Copy Cat." Good stuff.

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