Friday, October 28, 2016

David Katz Tribute to Prince Buster and More in November Issue of MOJO

The November 2016 issue of MOJO Magazine contains an excellent piece by reggae author/expert David Katz honoring Prince Buster's extraordinary career, his many musical achievements, and his impact on music worldwide. One of the interesting things I learned from the article was how Prince Buster and The Trojans' Gaz Mayall became fast friends and collaborators (they met when Prince Buster appeared with The Skatalites at the Reggae Sunsplash Festival at Crystal Palace FC's Selhurst Park in London in 1984, where Gaz convinced him to start performing regularly again; in fact, a few years later, Buster recorded the "Stack-O-Lee" single with The Trojans for Gaz's label and Gaz put together King of Ska in 1992, quite possibly the best Prince Buster compilation ever released).

Also within these pages are stellar reviews of The Frightnrs' Nothing More to Say ("...it's one of the most thrilling rocksteady albums to have been made since the genre emerged in the late '60s..."), Max Romeo's Horror Zone (which I reviewed for The Duff Guide to Ska in August), and the book "Walls Come Tumbling Down: The Music and Politics of Rock Against Racism, 2 Tone and Red Wedge 1976-1992" (which I'm planning to review once I've finished reading John Savage's lengthy tome "1966: The Year the Decade Exploded").

Thursday, October 27, 2016

The Duff Guide to Ska Fast Takes: New Secret Affair Single, Dennis Bovell's "Heaven" 12", and the "Skinhead Reggae 1969" Comp!

(Reviews by Steve Shafer)

Dennis Bovell "Heaven" (Four-track 12" vinyl EP, Optimo Music, 2016): The wonderful funky afro-beat title track of this EP comes from Dennis Bovell's 1981 genre-defying Brain Damage LP and concerns our elusive (and probably futile) struggle to live in peace and harmony ("On bombs and guns they spend their funds/Instead of investing in humanity... Tomorrow may one day too late/Now is the time to investigate/Heaven right here on Earth") and is accompanied by its club edit for your maximum dancing pleasure (both will remind anyone who was around in the early 1980s of the fantastic musical experimentation and hybrids of sounds that were a hallmark of the post-punk/New Wave era). The flip side of this EP contains Bovell's truly brilliant 1981 dub collaboration with American singer/songwriter Garland Jeffreys, "Escape Goat Dub"--a word play on "scapegoat"--which contains these toasts dropped in the mix: "I was walking down the road in the blistering heat/A bomb explode on a hot concrete/It can happen in the broad daylight...Separate a black from his rights/The like to separate a black from the white...I was walking down the road one afternoon/Feeling upset, no I'm not immune/What do you think of world like that? Think...think...think"). Epic had arranged for Bovell to produce several tracks for Jeffreys' new album (which would eventually become the Bob Clearmountain-produced Escape Artist), but since Jeffreys was a huge fan of reggae and dub, the duo ended up creating several dub tracks instead of the expected rock and reggae singer/songwriter cuts, much to Epic's displeasure. However, these dubs were released on the Escapades 7" EP that was included as a free single that came with the first pressing of Escape Artist. "Escape Goat Dub" (which is a version of Escapades' "Miami Beach" and featured Linton Kwesi Johnson) was relegated to the B side of Jeffreys' great cover of ? and the Mysterians' "96 Tears"--though the version here comes from a 12" promo that was only released in France.  A sunshine-y bright reggae instrumental called "Smouche," also from Brain Damage, closes out this must-have Bovell set.

Secret Affair "Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)" b/w "Crumble Gunn" (7" vinyl single, I-Spy Records, 2016): Many in the US may not be aware of it, but Secret Affair--with original members Ian Page and guitarist David Cairns--have been pretty active in the new millennium (first reuniting in 2002 after their 1982 break-up), touring extensively and recording a surprisingly good new album Soho Dreams in 2012. Their latest release for the mod faithful is an absolutely scorching cover of Frank Wilson's 1965 Motown rarity "Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)." Apparently Berry Gordy so disliked Wilson's vocals--and didn't want his producers to have recording careers--that he destroyed almost every promo copy of the single and nixed its release to the music-buying public. But, in one of those unusual twists of fate, years later Wilson's song became so popular at the famed Northern soul nightclub Wigan Casino whenever their very valuable copy was played that Tamla-Motown finally gave the people what they wanted and released the single in the UK in 1979. "Crumble Gunn" is an inspired organ-heavy instrumental mash-up of Henry Mancini's "Peter Gunn" with The Quik's 1967 mod fave "Bert's Apple Crumble" that shows off the re-constituted Secret Affairs' formidable chops. Both of these tracks must be something to behold whenever Secret Affair plays them live.

Various Artists Skinhead Reggae 1969 (CD/LP, Kingston Sounds/Jamaican Recordings, 2016): While virtually all of the tracks on Skinhead Reggae 1969 can be found Trojan's impressive double-CD Dancehall '69: 40 Skinhead Reggae Rarities (issued back in 2003), this particular comp is really worth acquiring on vinyl, as you would be hard-pressed to find any used copies of most of these original singles. (I immediately picked up this record when I saw that it included Max Romeo and The Hippy Boys' phenomenal "Clap Clap," which isn't for sale anywhere on Discogs.) In addition to their common musical sub-genre, what connects the songs on Skinhead Reggae 1969 is that all of them were produced or financed by Bunny "Striker" Lee in the late 60s/early 70s and oftentimes these recordings involved many of the same musicians. (It's also worth remembering that Bunny Lee co-wrote and produced Judge Dread's massive skinhead/rude reggae hit "Big Seven"--#8 on the UK charts in 1972.) Skinhead Reggae 1969's highlights include the Bunny Lee Allstars' "Warfare," "Annie Pama" (an instrumental version of The Maytals' "Monkey Man"), and "Revenge of Eastwood" (which versions Prince Buster's incredible "Drunkard Psalm" and is one of many skinhead reggae tracks that falls into the spaghetti Western reggae category--see The Hippy Boys below); King Horror's "Cutting Blade" (King Horror was Laurel Aitken's musical alter ego); Max Romeo's "Melting Pot" (a cover of Blue Mink's song which, as good intentioned as it was, ironically manages to be racist in its promotion of racial integration); The Des All Stars' "Walk with Des"; The Hippy Boys' "Peace Maker" and "Death Rides a Horse"; and Lloyd Charmers' "In The Spirit." Since we're on the topic of skinhead reggae, if you ever come across Dawning of a New Era: The Roots of Skinhead Reggae don't hesitate to buy it--most of these cuts don't appear on any other skinhead reggae comps, Trojan or otherwise.

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Friday, October 21, 2016

Madness Release New Video for "Herbert" from 11th Album "Can't Touch Us Now"!

With the UK release of Madness' 11th album Can't Touch Us Now just a week away (!), comes the second music video in support of the Nutty Boys' "Herbert" (which in the song's context refers to "a foolish or ridiculous man").  Make sure to check out the equally awesome first video from this record--"Mr. Apples"!

We'll have a review up of Can't Touch Us Now as soon as our imported copy arrives in the mail from England!



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The Specials Honor John Bradbury and Rico Rodriguez at Nottingham Rock City Show

Earlier this week, the remaining Specials, who are on a tour of the UK at the moment, paid a moving tribute to their late comrades John Bradbury and Rico Rodriguez at their Nottingham Rock City concert by performing Bob Marley's "Redemption Song" (which Lynval sang at Bradbury's funeral) and "We Have All the Time in the World," which was written by John Barry and Hal David and originally performed by Louis Armstrong for the 1969 James Bond film "On Her Majesty's Secret Service" (and is what George Lazenby's Bond says as he holds his dying wife Tracy, played by Diana Rigg).





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Thursday, October 20, 2016

The Duff Guide to Ska NYC Fall/Winter 2016 Ska Calendar #40

Linton Kwesi Johnson: Forces of Victory!
Saturday, October 22, 2016 @ 7:00 pm

DJ Gorilla Fest w/Beat Brigade, Raise the Kicks, Ras Majesty and the New Vibration Band, Escasos Recursos, Blaire Alise and The Bombshells, Bodega Satellite, PrinceLionSound, plus DJ Ryan Midnight

Don Pedro
90 Manhattan Avenue
Brooklyn, NY
$10/21+

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Wednesday, October 26, 2016 @ 7:00 pm

Vic Ruggiero and The Snails (Sam The Sham and The Pharaohs cover set), The Othermen

Don Pedro
90 Manhattan Avenue
Brooklyn, NY
$10/21+

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Thursday, October 27, 2016 @ 7:30 pm

Talking Dreads (with special appearance by Cindy Wilson of The B-52's), The Soul Junkies, The Pandemics, The Rudie Crew

American Beauty
251 West 30th Street
New York, NY
$10

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Sunday, October 30, 2016 @ 8:00 pm

5th Annual Devil's Night Danse w/Mephiskapheles, The Pietasters, The Brooklyn Attractors, and Murphy's Law!

Brooklyn Bowl
61 Wythe Ave
Brooklyn, NY
$15/21+

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Monday, October 31, 2016 @ 7:00 pm

The Interrupters, Bad Cop/Bad Cop, Joey Steel and the Attitude Adjusters

Highline Ballroom
431 West 16th Street
New York, NY
$12 in advance/$15 day of show
All ages

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Wednesday, November 2, 2016 @ 6:00 pm (doors)/8:00 pm (show)
and Thursday, November 3, 2016 @ 6:00 pm (doors)/8:00 pm (show)

Toots and the Maytals, Leba, Selectress Iriela

Brooklyn Bowl
61 Wythe Avenue
Brooklyn, NY
$28.50-$31.00/21+

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Monday, November 7, 2016 @ 9:00 pm

Yellowman

BB Kings Blues Club and Grill
237 West 42nd Street
New York, NY
$22.50 plus fees

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Friday, November 18, 2017 @7:30 pm

Full Watts Band with special guests Caz Gardiner (Checkered Cabs) and selector Grace of Spades!

C'mon Everybody
325 Franklin Avenue
Brooklyn, NY
$8 in advance/$10 at door
21+

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Friday, November 25, 2016 @ 7:00 pm

Rude Boy George, Lucy Adamas, Glass, Ourida

Pianos
158 Ludlow Street
New York, NY
$10

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Saturday, November 26, 2016 @ 9:30 pm (8:00 pm show sold out!)

Save the Cave Benefit Show w/Bigger Thomas

Randy Now's Man Cave
134 Farnsworth Avenue
Bordentown, NJ
$12 (very limited availability--buy in advance through the link above)

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Saturday, December 17, 2016 @ 9:00 pm

The Slackers, The Frightnrs, Full Watts, DJ John Glenn Soundsystem

Bell House
149 7th Street
Brooklyn, NY
$20/21+

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Thursday, December 29, 2016 @ 8:00 pm

The Skints, Rude Boy George, The Far East

Knitting Factory Brooklyn
361 Metropolitan Avenue
Brooklyn, NY
$15 in advance/$20 day of show
All ages

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Friday, December 30, 2016 @ 7:30 pm

The Porkers, The Pandemics, The Rudie Crew, Skarroneros

Knitting Factory Brooklyn
361 Metropolitan Avenue
Brooklyn, NY
$12 in advance/$15 day of show

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Wednesday, October 19, 2016

Rhoda Dakar Releases Bonus Digital Track As Preview of LoTek Four PledgeMusic Project!

If you're a supporter of Rhoda Dakar's LoTek Four PledgeMusic project (see our write-up about it here), you found an email in your inbox today announcing the release of a free digital track exclusively for pledgers, which will not be included on the band's forthcoming vinyl or CD.

Eager to hear what the LoTek Four have been working on in the studio, I downloaded the track and was really pleased to find a terrific rocksteady version of Dolly Parton's and Kenny Rogers' 1983 country hit (#1 on the pop charts in the USA) "Islands in the Stream," which was written by the Bee Gees! Since the Gibb brothers know their way around writing massively popular hooks, this track easily makes the jump to another musical genre--and Dakar and company (Louis Vause and Paul Tadman from Crunch aka the Nutty Boys/Lee Thompson Ska Orchestra; Lenny Bignell of Pama International and The Sidewalk Doctors; Mark Claydon from The Get Up; and Terry Edwards of The Higsons) deliver a really sweet version of this song.

I can't wait to hear what else Rhoda and her collaborators have in store for us!

(If you're interested, there is still time to support the LoTek Four project and pre-order a 7" vinyl EP or CD.)

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The Duff Guide to Ska Fast Takes: The Beat featuring Ranking Roger's "Bounce" and Scottish Ska Comp "Trembling Earth"!

(Reviews by Steve Shafer)

The Beat featuring Ranking Roger Bounce (CD, DMF Records, 2016): While it's completely understandable why one would want to continue using The Beat name and brand decades after the band broke up (after all, the original Beat was one of the best acts of the 2 Tone/post-punk/New Wave era; Just Can't Stop ItWha'ppen, and Special Beat Service are phenomenal albums; and Dave Wakeling tours the US almost non-stop as The English Beat), it's also an incredibly risky proposition, as the bar is set very, very high. As a Beat album, Bounce doesn't meet expectations (really, how could it?), but if it is considered on its own merits as a new Ranking Roger record, it's a good--sometimes really great--album of pop reggae and ska that is akin to UB40 and Beat-descendant General Public (oddly, one track, "Close the Door," is pretty much a re-write of General Public's "General Public"). Ranking Roger's voice is in fantastic shape, the musicians and production are top-notch, and everything comes together nicely on "Avoid the Obvious," "Walking on the Wrong Side" (which decries governmental surveillance of all its citizenry),  "On My Way," "My Dream" (nice Madness-y ska music hall here), "Fire Burn" (both a call for everyone to act on injustice and to close down Guantanamo Bay), and "Heaven Hiding."

Various Artists Trembling Earth: A Scottish Ska Compilation (Double CD and digital download, F and J Records, 2016): As someone who's produced a number of ska compilations (Skarmageddon 1-3, Ska UnitedThis Are Moon Ska, and others), I'm a big believer in their power to focus great attention on bands and scenes that are not as well-known or heralded as they should be. To be honest, apart from a few bands on Trembling Earth (The Amphetameanies, Bis, Capone and the Bullets--who were Laurel Aitken's backing band for a time--Bombskare, and Esperanza), I know squat about Scottish ska, so this is a very welcome guided listen, courtesy of Gordy Davidson of The Amphetameanies. (The CD booklet is an hilarious alphabet primer penned by Davidson used to introduce each band and features of the scene's landscape--for instance, Z is for "Zoot fanzine, the scene-defining A5 labor of love circulated by ska fan turned journalist George Marshall..."). In addition to fantastic songs from the marquee names, there are terrific contributions from The Cherry Reds, Victorian Trout Conspiracy, Joe Viterbo, Root System, The Newtown Grunts, Sea Bass Kid, The Cut Throat Razors, and Big Hand. For a compilation featuring 16 bands and 33 tracks, the quality control here is exceedingly high, which speaks volumes about the Scottish ska scene. Overall, Trembling Earth is pleasingly and relentlessly upbeat and offbeat, ranging in style from 2 Tone to modern and punky ska, often delivered tongue-firmly-in-cheek. Without a doubt, this is the best ska comp of 2016.

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Thursday, October 13, 2016

Pama International's "Love and Austerity" Vinyl PledgeMusic Campaign!

Pama International recently launched a new PledgeMusic campaign for the vinyl versions of their upcoming Love and Austerity album, which are slated to be sent out in February 2017 (the album also will be released on CD/digital by Cherry Red/Happy People in January 2017). As always with this type of fan crowdfunding, there are signed copies of the album available, as well as a very limited edition boxset (only 100 will be made) of the album's tracks released as a series of eight 7" singles. My pledge made today for the Love and Austerity LP just put them at exactly 50% of their project goal! (The campaign has 79 days left, but act now!)

Sadly, I won't be able to take advantage of a special offer currently extended to Pama pledgers this week--a free ticket to experience Pama International support Misty In Roots on November 26, 2016 at The Garage in London (dub legend Dennis "Blackbeard" Bovell will be mixing Pama live that night)! Now, if only I could score some free airline tix to the UK...

The digital version of the band's first single off the album, their reggae cover of Martha and Vandella's "Heatwave," will be available from iTunes and other digital retailers tomorrow, Friday, October 14 (and you can pre-order a "Heatwave" 7" through the PledgeMusic campaign now).

Here are Pama International's upcoming tour dates:

26.11.16 London: Garage - w/Misty In Roots and Dennis Bovell
09.12.16 London: Garage - w/King Prawn & Don Letts
06.04.17 Glasgow: O2 Academy 2 supporting The Dead 60s
07.04.17 Sheffield :O2 Academy 2 supporting The Dead 60s
08.04.17 Birmingham: Institute 2 supporting The Dead 60s
09.04.17 Brighton: Concorde 2 supporting The Dead 60s
13.04.17 London: Electric Ballroom supporting The Dead 60s (part of The London Intl Ska Festival)
14.04.17 Liverpool: O2 Academy supporting The Dead 60s

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The Duff Guide to Ska NYC Fall/Winter 2016 Ska Calendar #39

Laurel Aitken and Denise Butler (of The Loafers)
Sunday, October 16, 2016 @ 7:30 pm

Reggae Workers of the World, Coach 'n' Commando

Knitting Factory Brooklyn
361 Metropolitan Avenue
Brooklyn, NY
$10 in advance/$12 day of show
All ages

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Saturday, October 22, 2016 @ 7:00 pm

DJ Gorilla Fest w/Beat Brigade, Raise the Kicks, Ras Majesty and the New Vibration Band, Escasos Recursos, Blaire Alise and The Bombshells, Bodega Satellite, PrinceLionSound, plus DJ Ryan Midnight

Don Pedro
90 Manhattan Avenue
Brooklyn, NY
$10/21+

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Wednesday, October 26, 2016 @ 7:00 pm

Vic Ruggiero and The Snails (Sam The Sham and The Pharaohs cover set), The Othermen

Don Pedro
90 Manhattan Avenue
Brooklyn, NY
$10/21+

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Thursday, October 27, 2016 @ 7:30 pm

Talking Dreads (with special appearance by Cindy Wilson of The B-52's), The Soul Junkies, The Pandemics, The Rudie Crew

American Beauty
251 West 30th Street
New York, NY
$10

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Sunday, October 30, 2016 @ 8:00 pm

5th Annual Devil's Night Danse w/Mephiskapheles, The Pietasters, The Brooklyn Attractors, and Murphy's Law!

Brooklyn Bowl
61 Wythe Ave
Brooklyn, NY
$15/21+

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Wednesday, November 2, 2016 @ 6:00 pm (doors)/8:00 pm (show) 
and Thursday, November 3, 2016 @ 6:00 pm (doors)/8:00 pm (show)

Toots and the Maytals, Leba, Selectress Iriela

Brooklyn Bowl
61 Wythe Avenue
Brooklyn, NY
$28.50-$31.00/21+

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Monday, November 7, 2016 @ 9:00 pm

Yellowman

BB Kings Blues Club and Grill
237 West 42nd Street
New York, NY
$22.50 plus fees

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Saturday, November 26, 2016 @ 9:30 pm (8:00 pm show sold out!)

Save the Cave Benefit Show w/Bigger Thomas

Randy Now's Man Cave
134 Farnsworth Avenue
Bordentown, NJ
$12 (very limited availability--buy in advance through the link above)

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Thursday, December 29, 2016 @ 8:00 pm

The Skints

Knitting Factory Brooklyn
361 Metropolitan Avenue
Brooklyn, NY
$15 in advance/$20 day of show
All ages

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Saturday, October 8, 2016

Duff Review: The Selecter at The Gramercy Theatre, NYC (10/6/16)

(By Steve Shafer)

After being blindsided by their surprisingly great show in NYC three years ago, The Selecter featuring Pauline Black and Arthur "Gaps" Hendrickson drew out a wonderfully large contingent of old school stalwarts (Chris Acosta of The New York Citizens/Moon Records, Marc Wasserman of Bigger Thomas, Andre "The Nubian Nightmare" Worrell from Mephiskapheles, Checker Phil) as well as more recent fixtures of the NYC ska scene to Manhattan's Gramercy Theatre, all of whom were eager to hear the tracks from The Selecter's indispensable 2 Tone album Too Much Pressure that have been seared into our minds and held close in our hearts all of these years. I've seen different iterations of The Selecter three times--in September 1992 at Tramps for the Out on the Streets tour with Neol Davies and Pauline, who were backed by Nick Welsh and Martin Stewart from Bad Manners; then back in 2013; and again this week (I don't have a clear memory of catching The Selecter's set with Gaps and Pauline during the 1993 Skavoovee tour they did with the The Skatalites, Special Beat, and Toasters, though I was at the NYC show at the Hammerstein Ballroom and remember the floor actually bouncing while the crowd danced)--and each time The Selecter has put on a fantastic show, though this may have been the best one yet.

Prior to their set, Pauline, Gaps, and band member Neil Pyzer (who plays sax; recorded and produced their last three albums; and is a former member of post-punk band Spear of Destiny) were behind The Selecter merch table and more than happy to chat, sign anything (like the t-shirt I bought--Gaps even sought out Pauline to have her sign it), or pose for pictures (which were promptly posted on social media--see here and here). There is no better way to connect with fans, spread goodwill (we felt the love!), and promote the tour/band/release. Other ska bands take note: Give the people what they want. Fans just want a little bit of your time and attention--and in return they'll buy your stuff and be forever loyal.

Before The Selecter hit the stage, I caught a good portion of dirty Jersey's Hub City Stompers, who performed a great, energetic set of their punky ska and reggae, the highlight of which was their new song with a four-part vocal harmony opening, "Philly WTF"--which posits the question, what's up with their unusual accent? HCS also played a nice tribute--"Distance Water"--to Roy Radics of The Rudie Crew who passed away earlier this year, which had many in the crowd hoisting their tall boys of beer in the air in tribute.

As this was billed as the "Too Much Pressure Tour," The Selecter performed all of the tracks off that album, but not in tracklist order. I thought the renditions of "Out On the Streets," the underrated "Black and Blue," "Missing Words," "Street Feeling," "My Collie (Not a Dog)," and "Danger" were particularly powerful. "Too Much Pressure" segued into Toots and Maytals' "Pressure Drop" and back. One of the few non-Too Much Pressure album songs was "Breakdown" (an excellent "Ghost Town"-like track about societal disintegration that has led to the police killings of unarmed people of color in the US and UK from The Selecter's most recent album Subculture--read The Duff Guide to Ska review of it here), which ended with two snare drum hits that sounded like gun shots, immediately (and brilliantly) followed by the haunting guitar arpeggio that opens the anti-gun "Celebrate the Bullet." Gaps' moment in the spotlight was his song of regret over what might have been in "It Never Worked Out" (also from Subculture). Another high point was an epic version of The Ethiopians' "Train to Skaville" (from The Selecter's 1980 12" of the same name, with "The Whisper" and band's much preferred second studio version of "Street Feeling" on Side B). Pauline introduced "On My Radio" by noting that this hit single wasn't included on Too Much Pressure in the UK, but by the time the record was released in the US, it had been included (along with "They Make Me Mad"). The energy never flagged during The Selecter's hour and a half show and the vast majority of people on the floor danced the entire time (it would have been hard not to). They didn't rely on fan love and nostalgia to carry the night, but performed as if they had everything in the world to prove--and we appreciated The Selecter all the more for it.

At one point early in the Selecter's set, I looked over to my left and was stunned to find that I was dancing right next to music journalist and post-punk musician Vivien Goldman (for a time, she was Bob Marley's PR person at Island Records and was the author of his first biography; she wrote about punk, reggae, and post-punk for NME, Sounds, and Melody Maker; collaborated with a who's who of post-punk musicians on her own recordings and as a member of The Flying Lizards; and is currently an adjunct professor at NYU). I'm such a huge fan of her music and writing that I couldn't resist briefly introducing myself. I told her how much I love the recent compilation of her work and that I wrote a review of it for this blog (read The Duff Guide to Ska review of Vivien Goldman's Revolutionary (Songs 1979-1982) here). She was perfectly lovely and asked me to email her the link to the post (which I did!). Running into Ms. Goldman capped off an already fantastic night.

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Thanks to Bryan Kremkau of SkaPunkPhotos.com and ReadJunk.com for the use of his beautiful pix. On a related note, apparently 2 Tone photographer Chalkie Davies also was at The Selecter show taking shots!


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Tuesday, October 4, 2016

Reggae/Dub Producer/Performer Dennis Bovell Releases "A to Z" 40-Year Career Retrospective!

Dub master, Lover's Rock pioneer, sound system operator, producer, sound engineer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and performer Dennis Bovell has just released A to Z, a 26-track collection of his music from the past 40 years, through his Old School Bandcamp page. A to Z includes dub, roots reggae, Lovers Rock, ska, and soca tracks--some of which have never been previously released.

If you're unfamiliar with Bovell's career, he has performed and produced with such diverse and acclaimed artists as his band Matumbi, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Madness, Hollie Cook, Prince Fatty, Boy George, Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra, Alpha Blondy, Janet Kay, Errol Dunkley, Johnny Clarke, Riuchi Nakamoto, Fela Kuti, The Slits, Steel Pulse, Edwyn Collins, Arcade Fire, Joss Stone, The Pop Group, Golden Teacher, and many more.

If you're interested in collecting even more of his music, you should also seek out these relatively recent and all-out stellar compilations of Bovell's material: Mek it Run and Decibel: More Cuts and Dubs, 1976-1983 (both on Pressure Sounds) and Dub 4 Daze (Glitterbeat), which we reviewed earlier this year.

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Monday, October 3, 2016

The Selecter Perform "Too Much Pressure" at NYC's Gramercy Theatre This Thursday (10/6/16)!

Pauline Black's and Arthur "Gaps" Hentrickson's version of The Selecter are scheduled to play The Gramercy Theatre in Manhattan this Thursday night (10/6/16). While this date is part of the "Too Much Pressure Tour" of the USA, where they will play that iconic album in its entirety, I hope that they'll devote some stage time to songs from their most recent album, 2015's excellent Subculture (read The Duff Guide to Ska review of it here)--the third record of new material from this iteration of the band.

It's been three, long years since The Selecter were last here in NYC--and I'll be the first to admit how surprising good and fun that show was (they were NOT going through the motions). So, whether you're nostalgic for songs off Too Much Pressure or intrigued by the chance to catch live renditions of The Selecter's newer tracks, you don't want to miss this concert!

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Sunday, October 2, 2016

Duff Review: Lynval Golding and Contra Coup "Know Your Rights" EP

Cassette painting by Horace Panter over the names of
unarmed black men and women killed by the police.
Mossburg
Four track CD/12" vinyl/digital download
2016

(Review by Steve Shafer)

By the time The Clash released "Know Your Rights" in April 1982--the first single from their then forthcoming album Combat Rock--the notorious British Sus law, which gave police the right to racial profile and harass non-white Britons, had been repealed only about six months earlier. (Sus allowed the police to stop and search black and South Asian people on the flimsiest of pretenses, namely the officer's suspicion that someone is behaving like they might be a criminal and have the intent to commit an arrestable offense; outrage over the police's systemic racist treatment of non-white Britons helped fuel the Rock Against Racism movement in the late 70s--which was also an organized push-back to blunt the rise of the National Front as a political force in the UK, which worked!--and ongoing police oppression in black and Asian communities helped ignite widespread rioting in the late 70s/early 80s.) But this, of course, didn't mean that all the racist police brutality and violence had magically disappeared from England's green and pleasant land. Joe Strummer's first verse was still quite valid: "You have the right not to be killed/Murder is a crime!/Unless it was done/by a policeman/or an aristocrat." Keith Topping's book "The Complete Clash" posits that Strummer may have been thinking of the extrajudicial police killings of boxer Liddle Towers and anti-racist activist Blair Peach when he wrote this track. (In "Know Your Rights," Strummer asserts that the three basic human rights are the right to live, the right to basic necessities like food, and the right to free speech--but then notes all of society's exceptions to those rights, which render them meaningless.)

Thirty-four years later, the lyrics of Strummer's song remain painfully relevant and real for many people all over the world. In the US, ongoing police killings of unarmed people of color (as well as racist and unconstitutional police tactics like New York City's now discontinued "stop and frisk" policy or police stops of black, Native American, and Hispanic drivers across the country for "driving while black" or DWB) have outraged people of conscience and launched the Black Lives Matter movement (as I write this review, yet another unarmed black man, Alfred Olango, who was possibly suffering some sort of mental illness--the police were told in advance of that this person was experiencing an "emotional breakdown"--was tasered by one officer and shot and killed at the same time by another in El Cajon, CA). The Specials' guitarist Lynval Golding, who has lived in Seattle, WA for some time now, was compelled to protest the seemingly never-ending racial police violence/killings in his own way by recording and releasing a cover of Strummer's "Know Your Rights" with Austin, TX-based reggae band Contra Coup. Golding and The Specials (then known as the Special AKA) came to know Strummer during their support of The Clash on their "Out on Parole" tour of the UK in 1978. And Golding is no stranger to writing and performing songs that addressed police brutality and racial violence ("Do Nothing" and "Why?"--the later recounted the horrific, racially-motivated knife attack he endured in 1980 outside the Moonlight Club for walking and talking with two white women). Indeed, the last time I saw Golding and The Specials perform in NYC in July 2013, he aimed their cover of Dandy Livingstone's "A Message to You, Rudy" and The Specials' own "It Doesn't Make It Alright" at George Zimmerman and played "Why?" in honor and remembrance of young Trayvon Martin.

The Clash's original version of "Know Your Rights" is a skittery, stripped-down, post-punk rockabilly track (one could imagine Strummer singing it to a small crowd down a less-traveled side alley, while keeping an eye out for the brown-shirted thugs in the fascist takeover of the UK depicted in "English Civil War"), which is fantastically transformed into an urgent 70s-era roots reggae song (with echoes of Bob Marley and the Wailers' less cynical call to action "Get Up, Stand Up" in its arrangement and production--like the use of the instantly recognizable clavinet) by Golding and Contra Coup on this release. While I've always loved the message of the "Know Your Rights," the original version of the song has never felt fully formed--which is not the case here. Lynval Golding and Contra Coup's re-working of "Know Your Rights" fleshes out the song, finally giving the music a power that equals the still incendiary lyrics. Good and effective protest music requires both.

Contra Coup's "The Same" is great modern ska track (that might remind one of a Skaboom-era Toasters) which (I think) is about trying to do right and stand by a friend who can't recognize that they need help or that you're their ally. The EP includes cool remixes of both tracks by Specials Mark II member Mark Adams; "Know Your Rights" is given an interesting dubstep/dancehall treatment, while "The Same" is made-over into a dubby rocksteady cut.

I've read that Jerry Dammers has had fans approach him decades after the 2 Tone craze ended to tell him that The Specials' music and message led them to examine their racist beliefs and become anti-racist--which is extraordinary. (Dammers quoted in the May 2015 issue of MOJO: "I wanted to change all of society from within, which was a much harder and more risky thing to try and do. The amazing thing is that it worked at all, even to the small extent that some people say it did. I often meet people who tell me that if it wasn't for The Specials they would have been racists or whatever, and that they turned to more socialist ideas because of The Specials.") Obviously, the hope is that this new version of "Know Your' Rights" shakes us listeners out of our passivity and spurs us to some sort of action and involvement that helps bring about policies that end the unacceptable police killings of unarmed black people in the USA.

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