US Theatrical Premiere of "Babylon" at Brooklyn Academy of Music, March 7-14, 2019!

Released in 1980 and celebrated as a British entry into the specialized genre of reggae music/culture films (joining, of course, Jamaican movies "The Harder They Come" from 1972 and "Rockers" from 1978) but never shown before in the US (see below for why), "Babylon" finally has its American premiere at the Brooklyn Academy of Music, from March 7 through 14, 2019.

BAM's promotional copy about "Babylon" provides all the reasons why you need to see this film:

"Banned from the New York Film Festival for “being too controversial, and likely to incite racial tension” (Vivien Goldman, Time Out) and never released in the US, Franco Rosso’s incendiary 1980 film follows a young dancehall DJ (Brinsley Forde, frontman of landmark British reggae group Aswad) in Thatcher-era South London as he pursues his musical ambitions while battling fiercely against the racism and xenophobia of employers, neighbors, police, and the National Front. Written by Martin Stellman (Quadrophenia) with beautiful, smoky cinematography by two-time Oscar winner Chris Menges (The Killing Fields), Babylon is fearless and unsentimental, tempered by the hazy bliss of the dancehall and set to a blistering reggae, dub, and lovers rock soundtrack anchored by Dennis Bovell."

A few of the screenings have Q and As with Brinsley Forde and Dennis Bovell (tonight's session after the 7:30 screening with punk journalist and NYU professor Vivien Goldman is sold out, but tomorrow's with Carter Van Pelt of WKCR and Coney Island Reggae on the Boardwalk still has tix).

The New York Times reviewed "Babylon" in today's print edition and Brinsley Forde and Dennis Bovell were interviewed on WNYC (which can be listened to here).

While copies of the film's 1980 soundtrack can still be found on the web, Dennis Bovell recently released his original score for "Babylon" as a digital album (which contains music not included on the original soundtrack LP).

After its NYC screenings, "Babylon" will play various art house theaters in major metropolitan areas across the US from March through June (check out the full list of showings here).

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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.

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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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: Earl Zero "None Shall Escape the Judgement" b/w " Judgement Version"

Channel Tubes
2011
7" vinyl single and digital download

(Review by Steve Shafer)

Diligent students of reggae will know of Earl "Zero" Johnson and the cruel twist of fate that was visited upon him early in his career. For those of you not in the know (like me, until I researched him a bit), this story is worth recounting as an example of how brutal and hit-or-miss the music business can be.

In 1975, producer Bunny Lee came across Earl Zero performing his self-penned song "None Shall Escape the Judgement" and had him cut a recording of it at Treasure Isle. The record was given a limited release and for whatever reason went nowhere. Sensing that this song deserved to be a hit, Lee took another stab at it and had newcomer Johnny Clarke record new vocals--and the track went on to become the biggest selling single in Jamaica in 1975, launching Clarke into superstardom and establishing the track as a roots classic. To make matters worse for Zero, he (mistakenly) wasn't given writing credit on the label (which went to Clarke), so many people never realized he had created this massive hit. (Zero did score a hit later that year with "Righteous Works," which kick started his career...)

Zero re-recorded "None Shall Escape the Judgement" several times over the years (a few examples of which can be found on the albums Visions of Love from 1980, as well as And God Said to Man from 2010--both of which are available from Ernie B's Reggae), but to this listener none of these quite captures the Revelations end-of-days urgency and dread--as well as the bliss of deliverance--as this new version produced by Brett Tubin.

Zero sings:

"None shall escape the judgement in this time
These words I sing to all mankind
None shall escape the judgement in this time
These words I sing to all mankind

Arise black one
Jah Jah is our god and king
Jah will declare equal rights
and justice among the heathen

The wicked must fall
Only the righteous shall stand
In this congregation of King Selassie I
Anything Jah say, I and I will always do
Anything Jah say, I and I will always obey
Because I love Jah"

Tubin recruited a stellar band to record the new rhythm track (with Eddie Ocampo on drums, Steve Capecci on bass, Victor "Ticklah" Axelrod on keys, Andy Bassford on lead guitar, and Brett himself on rhythm guitar) and arranged for Zero to lay down new vocals. The results are phenomenal. The mega-tight performances, brisk tempo, and almost militant tone perfectly reflect the song's lyrical content (particularly compared with several previous versions which didn't convey the dire warning of the song: soon Jah is sending the four horsemen of the apocalypse to mete out justice to the evildoers in Babylon...so repent now). This very well may turn out to be the definitive version of this song and honors Earl Zero's musical legacy extraordinarily well.

Preview both tracks here.

Duff Guide to Ska Grade: A