Duff Review: Various Artists (Selected by Don Letts) "Version Excursion"

(Review by Steve Shafer)

For the uninitiated, Late Night Tales is a long-running series of compilations, each selected by a musician with the goal of creating what they consider to be their ultimate, mood-setting "late night mix." The latest release is Don Letts' mighty and marvelous Version Excursion (Heavyweight double LP, LateNightTales, 2021), which reflects his omnivorous musical tastes: '60s rock, Black American R&B and soul, punk and post-punk, and--of course--Jamaican and British reggae and dub. This is expressed through Letts' selection of dub covers (many of them exclusive remixes personally solicited by Letts) of songs by Aaron Neville, Jefferson Airplane, The Clash, Joy Division, Stevie Wonder, The Beach Boys, Lou Rawls, Marvin Gaye, Kool & The Gang, Bill Withers, Althea and Donna, Randy Newman, Merle Travis, The Bee Gees, War, The Beatles, and others.

Letts, the British-born son of Windrush generation Jamaican immigrants to the UK, grew up straddling the divide of white and Black music and culture--and during the advent of the mid-'70s punk scene, he was hired as the in-house DJ at London's infamous Roxy club (punk's ground zero), where he effectively introduced/turned on the British punk scene to reggae and dub in between sets by The Clash, Damned, Buzzcocks, Slits, Generation X, etc. (since so few punk records existed at the outset of his two-year DJ residency there in early 1977, he spun a lot of reggae!). Letts went on to film all of The Clash's music videos (as well as others for The Psychedelic Furs, Musical Youth, The Pretenders, The Undertones, Fun Boy Three, Eddy Grant,  Elvis Costello & The Attractions, Public Image Ltd., Bob Marley & The Wailers, and more); co-found Big Audio Dynamite (read my review of their reunion show in NYC in 2011) with The Clash's Mick Jones (he made BAD's music videos, too); direct many music documentaries, including The Clash: Westway to the World (which won him a Grammy), Soul Britannia, and The Story of Skinhead; and work as a DJ on BBC's Radio 6. Also his 2008 book Culture Clash, Dread Meets Punk Rockers is essential reading (and he has a new one out, too).

Many of the cuts Letts spotlights on Version Excursion are phenomenal reimaginings of their source material (though a few are so deconstructed as to be rendered almost unrecognizable, unless you consult the track listing--see Wrongton Meets The Rockers "Dub in the Supermarket" and Black Box Recorder's "Uptown Top Ranking"). Stand out tracks abound. Prince Fatty & Shniece McMenamin's "Black Rabbit" (their take on Jefferson Airplane's "White Rabbit," which I previously reviewed here) is an alluringly menacing dubby trip, while Zoe Devlin Love featuring (Dub Pistols') Tim Hutton's version of The Beach Boys' Pet Sounds track "Carolina No" is a gorgeous lover's rocker. The exclusive remix of Joy Division's "Love Will Tear Us Apart Again" by Capitol 1212 featuring Earl 16 is stellar and may even top their original (I reviewed that mix here). Cornell Campell's recasting of Marvin Gaye's "What's Going On" as "Ital City Dub" is mind-blowingly good, as is Dennis Bovell's new remix of his old band Matumbi's "(Can't Get Enough of) That Reggae Stuff," which is their read of Kool & The Gang's awesome "Funky Stuff."

According to Letts' track-by-track liner notes, The Clash used to warm-up in rehearsals to Ernie Ford's "16 Tons," which is given an incredibly dread spaghetti Western reggae dub by French act OBF. Japanese producer Yasushi Ide enlisted U-Roy for a wonderfully melancholy cover of Bill Withers' "Ain't No Sunshine" (love all those strings!). The Tamlins' read of Randy Newman's "Baltimore" (an indictment of everything that contributed to the decline of Black urban cities in the late '70s) is blistering. At one point in his teens, Letts had amassed an enormous collection of Beatles memorabilia, but once punk struck (The Clash: "No Elvis, Beatles, or Rolling Stones") he exchanged it all for a car (which he eventually got rid off, since the coppers kept pulling him over for Driving While Black). Having said all that, he never lost his love for the Fab Four and has included the Easy Star All-Stars featuring Matisyahu's wild dub of George Harrison's "Within You Without You."

The track that I keep coming back to here most is Gaudi Meets The Rebel Dread featuring Emily Capell's superb version of Big Audio Dynamite's "E = MC Squared" (which Letts co-wrote with Mick Jones). Part of it's nostalgia (it's a key cut from the soundtrack of late teens), but this mellow reworking is just perfect (the repeated descending piano riff toward the end of song is brilliant!).

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Duff Review: Dennis Bovell Dub Band "Get Up Stand Up" (featuring I-Roy) b/w "Stand Tall" and "Versatile Violin" (featuring Johnny T) b/w "Dangerous"

Old School
Digital singles
2020

(Review by Steve Shafer)

Dennis Bovell has been using his pandemic time productively, as shown by the release of these two terrific singles. "Get Up Stand Up" was recorded with I-Roy circa 1979, but, for reasons unclear, never issued. Bovell, who's known for mining and repurposing his extraordinary back catalogue, revisited the track and remixed it at Mad Professor's Ariwa Studios in July of 2020, and released it in both memory of the late I Roy and support of the Black Lives Matter movement (of course, Bovell's band Matumbi was actively involved in Rock Against Racism in the late '70s). The backing track is very much in line with the music Bovell was writing for Linton Kwesi Johnson, and, in fact, the horns in "Get Up Stand Up" might have been lifted from "Inglan Is a Bitch" (which was released on LKJ's 1980 album Bass Culture). Both the music and I-Roy's toasting are almost in a loop--with the results an hypnotic mantra to lend strength and focus to those determined to fight for racial equality ("Get up/Stand up/We can take it no longer...Stand up for your rights"). Its fierce dub version "Stand Tall" will stiffen spines marching into the thick of it.

The lovely "Versatile Violin" is a new and improved mix of "Vile and Versatile" featuring Johnny T on violin (which was released in 2008 on Bovell's Arawak Label Showcase). Both are permutations of "Dangerous," the fantastic instrumental version of Bovell and Janet Kay's 1979 Lovers Rock smash hit "Silly Games" (and "Dangerous" itself is the B-side to "Versatile Violin").

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Duff Guide to Ska Fast Takes: Dub Natty Sessions and Dennis Bovell "DNS and Friends" and V/A: "White Man in Hammersmith Palais" E

(Reviews by Steve Shafer)

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): This neat compilation EP features one song each from the reggae artists named-checked in the phenomenal Clash song of the same title (which, of course, was about Joe Strummer attending a concert at the Hammersmith Palais in London featuring these artists on June 5, 1977 and having his expectations dashed when it turned out that "...it was Four Tops all night...onstage they ain't got no roots rock rebel"). It's kind of surprising that no one's though of this cool concept previously, so hats off to Greensleeves for executing it so well. The EP features Dillinger's and Smart's fantastic 1976 UK hit tracks "Cokane in My Brain" and "Ballistic Affair," as well as Booth's 1973 cover of Detroit soul artist Sixto Rodriguez's "Silver Words," and a sweet rare cut from Delroy Wilson, "Rascal Man" (AKA "False Rasta"). The repro poster of the Hammersmith Palais bill advertises that the show ran from midnight to 6:00 am, which finally explains the first line of Strummer's song...

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): This is the second release from this Venezuelan, now UK-based roots reggae act Dub Natty Sessions. Their debut was mixed and produced by Bovell who makes a repeat appearance, this time on bass and behind the boards at Mad Professor's Ariwa studios (the Professor mixed the album). DNS and Friends is filled with catchy and dubby reggae instrumentals (featuring all the expert touches one expects of Bovell and the Mad Professor) that achieve real brilliance on tracks like "Un Amor" (which sounds like it could have come off Rico's Jama Rico) and "Plantation" (that recalls Bovell's incredible work with The 4th Street Orchestra). While Dub Natty Sessions lay down some seriously good and enjoyable grooves, their secret weapon on this album is the majestic Matic Horns (Bovell's Matumbi bandmate Henry “Buttons” Tenyue on trombone and Aswad members Eddie "Tan Tan" Thornton on trumpet and Michael "Bami" Rose on sax), who are put to amazing use here.

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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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The Duff Guide to Ska's 2015 Year in Review, Part 3!

LPs once came with dance instructions...

(By Steve Shafer)

I'm still playing catch up on all the releases that I meant to review in 2015. So, here's the latest batch of my quick takes on great ska albums from 2015...

Chris Murray Combo: Buckle Up CD (Unstrictly Roots) -- While one is more likely to catch Chris Murray doing his fantastic one-man ska band thing (at least beyond Southern California), it's a real treat to hear him backed once again by the tight rhythm section of Ben Farrar on drums and Eddie Lozoya on bass on the Chris Murray Combo's second album, Buckle Up (Unstrictly Roots). It's a carefully crafted album full of upbeat, warm, mostly sunny, and exceedingly catchy--love all of those vocal harmonies!--vintage-sounding ska songs about seeking, being in, or experiencing the pain of being without love (see "Toothbrush," "What Will Come," or "Forget Your Love"), as well as striving to navigate life with one's head high and soul intact ("Ready," "When Your Someday Come"). And even though the brilliant "Ain't No Joke Being Broke" sounds like it could be a Depression-era track from the American Songbook, its lyrics place it firmly in the 21st century: "I'm a King Cobra dreaming PBR, 7 Gs at 20 APR/Yes, indeed, the only thing I need is more mouths to feed/See, I'm down on my knees, 'cos praying's free/Ain't no joke being broke." Anytime you put it on, Buckle Up will lift you up if you're down and give you an excuse to dance with joy--get this album!

Dennis Bovell: Dub 4 Daze LP (Glitterbeat) -- This is a phenomenal new compilation of unreleased dub tracks and alternate mixes of old/classic cuts from the archives of the great Dennis Bovell, one of UK's premier roots reggae, dub, punk, and post-punk producers/songwriters/musicians (who was guitarist and songwriter for Matumbi, one of England's best reggae bands, and worked with Linton Kwesi Johnson, I-Roy, The Slits, Pop Group, Orange Juice, Madness, Viv Albertine, Joss Stone (!) and many others). What particularly sets Bovell apart as a dub creator is his method of deconstructing (and re-assembling) a song that always allows for crucial aspects of the original track's melody to survive and flourish in their new environment. Because of this, with some careful listening, you can discern which tracks are (superb) alternate versions of dubs from the late '70s and early '80s: "Dub Affair" is reconstructed from "The Grunwick Affair," "Zaion Dubb" is a take (duh) on "Zion Dub," "Top Level Dub" is sister to "Higher Ranking," "Physics of Dub" is related to "Scientific," and ""Tuned Dub" is descended from "Harmonizer Dub" (all of these are found on Pressure Sounds' fantastic Decibel: More Cuts from Dennis Bovell 1976-1983 compilation double LP). Of what I think is the unreleased material, "Tumbledown Dub's" almost spaghetti Western sounding piano and bass is a real standout. Depending on where you live, this LP (there's no CD or digital album) may be a bit hard to find--it's on a small German label--but Dub 4 Daze is a must-have for dub fans and worth every penny spent importing it!

Leo and the Lineup: Hit the Streets LP (Jump Up Records) -- I heard it straight from the man--Copenhagen's Leo and the Lineup are Chuck Wren's new favorite band, which is saying a lot, since he probably hears more ska from all corners of the globe than anyone else around in his roles as ska label head, radio and club DJ, and voracious record collector. The band's stellar, tightly-wound, soulful, dirty reggae, 2 Tone concoction--which places them in the same territory as bands like The Caroloregians, Babylove and the Van Dangos, and if your ska memory goes back that far, Napoleon Solo and The Deltones--is completely winning. The album is full of striking, instantly memorable songs like the gorgeous but melancholy "Life Goes By," the shimmering good times now painful gone in "Memories of Summer" ("I was the king, you were my queen/Now I'm the court jester...all that is left is a fool with memories of summer"), the fantastic Jackie Mittoo-ish instrumental "Dirty Pockets," "Baby Please" (which reminds me a bit of The Rolling Stones' "Miss You"), and a sincerely sweet ballad (complete with strings!) about a toddler named "Molly Girl" ("She's a chubby chunk of genuine love...walks right into your heart"). Fans of The Pietasters should be sure to check this one out, but ska fans of every persuasion will find a lot to like on Hit the Streets.

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Read The Duff Guide to Ska's Part 1 and Part 2 of this series! More reviews are to come!

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