Toasters Pre-Show Party at Dusk Lounge

Thanks to everyone who came out for The Toasters' pre-show party at the Dusk Lounge yesterday afternoon/evening. We had a pretty good turn out (one fan who showed up was from Brisbane, Australia--she asked Buck to sign the Ska Records version of the Recriminations EP, which has the "bar scene" cover on the front and the "Pool Shark" jumping guitarist on the back).

A fair number of ska musicians were present to rub elbows with Bucket, including Dave Barry (The Toasters, Bigger Thomas, Beat Brigade, Second Step, etc.), Roy Radics (The Rudie Crew), Megg Howe (Across the Aisle), Jacob Wake Up! (Hey Stranger, The Hard Times), and Sammy Forthrights (who did a great DJ set, which allowed me to take a break and socialize a bit with friends and new acquaintances).

I wasn't able to make it to The Knitting Factory that night for the gig, but heard it was a terrific show (and we'll have some video soon, courtesy of Mike D!).

Here's something to put under yer hat: The Toasters are planning to be back in NYC early this summer and will have some big surprises in store for the fans...

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In honor and recognition of Martin Luther King, Jr. day...

Upcoming Duff Guide to Ska Reviews

Due to the holidays, work, family obligations, procrastination, etc, blah, blah, The Duff Guide to Ska is seriously behind on reviewing music. Here is what's in our "to review" stack:

King Hammond - Jacuzzi CD (N.1. Records)

Green Room Rockers - s/t LP (Jump Up Records)

Babyhead - Heavy Weather CD (Rockers Revolt Records)

The Caroloregians - Funkify Your Reggae CD/LP (Grover Records)

The Revivers - "Come Into My Parlour" 10" vinyl (Jump Up Records)

The Aggrolites - "Trial and Error" b/w "Enemy Dub" 7" single (Young Cub Records)

The Aggrolites - "Dreaming on Erie" b/w "Eye of Obarbas" 7" single (Young Cub Records)

The Forthrights - Camp Birdman 7" EP (Panic State Records)

So keep an eye out for upcoming Duff Guide to Ska write-ups for these releases and more! Soon!

The Time is Now to Pledge to the Reggae 69 Fan Club!

If you've paid any attention to the blog feed in the sidebar, you've noticed that Jason Lawless (of Lawless Street) is spearheading an effort to launch a record club called the Reggae 69 Fan Club. Their mission is this:

Our MAIN GOAL is simple: Release a limited edition collection of (6) 7" vinyl records to celebrate the music of Jamaica and UK sub-culture youth.

You can join the Reggae 69 Fan Clubs at different levels of support--at a basic level, you'll receive the vinyl singles; at a higher level, you're entitled to lots of extra goodies like exclusive club badges, a patch, a poster (by Chema Skandal, who also created the artwork for Jump Up Records'/Chuck Wren's Club Moonstomp and the cover of Pama Intl Meet Dub Professor's Rewired! in Dub), t-shirt, etc. (and the list of add-ons seems to grow daily!).

One of Reggae 69 Fan Club's first releases will be a double A side from the Irie Beats band of "lost" tracks produced by Brian "Boom Boom" Dixon of The Aggrolites! The flip side will be a vocal cut featuring Malik "The Freq" Moore, singer for The Lions and The Bullets!

Subsequent Reggae 69 Fan Club releases will be from the Impalers, Revivers, Ocean 11, Roger Rivas, and The Bullets.

To make all of this happen, reggae and ska fans need to pledge a total of $5,000 through Kickstarter. They are well on their way--but the deadline to get in on this deal is Saturday, January 15, 2011 at 11:00 pm (East Coast time). So you need to act RIGHT NOW!

For more info and/or to join the Reggae 69 Fan Club, click here!

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PS: One of the interesting things with Kickstarter is that you can see who has pledged to become a member of the Reggae 69 Fan Club (...like Victor Rice!).

Across the Aisle News and Gigs This Weekend!

Our awesome ska-pop-punk buds Across the Aisle (read The Duff Guide to Ska review of their debut EP here) are playing several upcoming gigs in the New York area that you should definitely consider attending if at all humanly possible:

Friday, January 14, 2011

Excuse Me
The Rudie Crew
Across the Aisle
Jahstix
45 Shootout
Last Shot Fired

Sullivan Hall
214 Sullivan St. (between Bleecker and W. 3rd)
Manhattan, NY

Doors @ 7:00 PM, $10, 18+
(ATA goes on around 9:30 pm.)


Saturday, January 15, 2011

The Toasters
Across the Aisle

The Basement
744 Broadway
Kingston, NY

Doors @ 8:30 PM, $9, 18+
(This show kicks-off The Toasters 30th Anniversary Tour of the USA!)


Saturday, February 5, 2011

Brooklyn Party Expo
929 Broadway
Brooklyn, NY

Doors@ 1:00 PM (matinee show!)
All ages!

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Also, in ATA band news, horn man/singer Jay Pintar is leaving the band to devote all of his considerable talent and energies to acting (good luck, Jay...never mention a certain Danish prince when on stage...always be ready for your close-up...there are no small parts, only small actors--called little people, I think!). Jay's last gig with ATA is the show at Sullivan Hall. The band is pleased to welcome new trombone player, Andrew "Houndstooth" Hagerty on t-bone, and they will be entering the studio in February/March to record some new cuts, which we can't wait to hear.

MOJO Does Pama Intl Meet Mad Professor and Pays Respect to Sonia Pottinger

The February issue of MOJO Magazine includes a terrific review of what may be the last release from Pama Intl for a very long time: Pama International Meet Mad Professor - Rewired! in Dub. Lee Perry expert/reggae reviewer David Katz gives the release four stars and writes:

Their previous album, Pama Outernational, was the best of the bunch [of their recent albums], and is now reconfigured on Rewired! by dub specialist Mad Professor, stripping the songs to their rhythmic core. Thus, Equality and Justice for All now centres on hidden bongo beats, while the poppy Happenstance is repositioned to highlight the sounds of a guiro. Bright horn lines and organ skanks dip in and out of the mix, and there are just enough vocals to remind us of the original tunes, rendering the whole set eminently listenable.

Mr. Katz also remembers reggae producer Sonia Pottinger in an obituary that notes that she was the sole female Jamaican music producer when she started out in 1965 (competing with the likes of heavyweights Duke Reid and Clement "Coxsone" Dodd) who, for the next two decades, worked with such greats as Ken Boothe, The Gaylads, The Melodians, Roland Alphonso, The Ethiopians, The Hippy Boys, Errol Dunkley, Alton Ellis, Toots and the Maytals, Bob Andy, Marcia Griffiths, U Roy, Big Youth, and Culture. Releases from these artists and more appeared on Pottinger's Gay Feet, Tip Top, Rainbow, and High Note labels.

Toasters Pre-Show Party This Sunday Afternoon!

To help celebrate The Toasters' 30th (!) Anniversary Tour, The Duff Guide to Ska and Marco on the Bass are co-hosting a pre-show party for their NYC gig this Sunday afternoon (1/16/11) at the Dusk Lounge in Manhattan (click on the poster for all the details).

Bucket and other members of the band will be on hand--and I'll be at the helm of the Fat Albert Sound System, which will be pumping out an awesome mix of vintage ska, skinhead reggae, 2 Tone, and modern ska (and word has it that Sammy Forthrights will spell me a bit, so I can down a pint or two).

So get yourself down to the Dusk Lounge in Chelsea (24th between 6th and 7th Avenues) to hang with Bucket and the boys this Sunday afternoon from 4:00-7:00 pm. Then, catch the L train to Brooklyn for The Toasters gig at The Knitting Factory that night with Royal City Riot, The Rudie Crew, and DJ Agent Jay.

Toasters New Yorker and WSJ Previews and 30th Anniversary Winter Tour Dates

Here's a nice preview in the New Yorker for The Toasters' upcoming 30th Anniversary Tour gig at The Knitting Factory this coming Sunday:

KNITTING FACTORY

361 Metropolitan Ave., Brooklyn (347-529-6696) — Jan. 16: The seminal Lower East Side ska act the Toasters. The British expat Rob (Bucket) Hingley has carried the torch of third-wave ska for thirty years now, both as the singer for this foundational band and as the originator of the now defunct Moon Records. His highly influential label ran for nearly twenty years before the bottom fell out, but Bucket continues to make ska his life’s work, and commands as much respect as his beloved genre has lost.

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Stay tuned for info later this week regarding a pre-show party with Bucket in Manhattan!

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Here are The Toasters' dates for their winter/30th Anniversary tour of the US:

January

Sat 15th Kingston, NY @ The Basement
Sun 16th Brooklyn, NY @ The Knitting Factory
Mon 17th Vienna, VA @ Jammin’ Java
Tue 18th Allentown, PA @ Crocodile Rock Café
Wed 19th Norfolk, VA @ Jewish Mother Backstage
Thurs 20th Charlotte, NC @ The Milestone Club
Fri 21st Nashville, TN @ The Muse
Sat 22nd Hot Springs, AR @ Low Key Arts
Sun 23rd Houston, TX @ Walter’s on Washington
Mon 24th Lubbock, TX @ Jake’s Backroom
Tue 25th El Paso, TX @ Lips Lounge
Wed 26th Albuquerque, NM @ The Launchpad
Thurs 27th Tempe, AZ @ The Clubhouse
Fri 28th Las Vegas, NV @ The Bunkhouse
Sat 29th Camarillo, CA @ Rock City
Sun 30th San Diego, CA @ SOMA
Mon 31st Fullerton, CA @ Slidebar

February

Tue 1st Sparks, NV @ The Alley
Wed 2nd San Jose, CA @ The Blank Club
Thurs 3rd San Francisco, CA @ Red Devil Lounge
Fri 4th Eureka, CA @ Red Fox Tavern
Sat 5th Portland, OR @ Plan B
Sun 6th Vancouver, BC @ The Venue
Mon 7th Seattle, WA @ Studio 7
Tue 8th Spokane, WA @ A Club
Wed 9th Boise, ID @ Shredder
Thurs 10th Salt Lake City, UT @ Burt’s Tiki Lounge
Fri 11th Casper, WY @ Downtown Grill & Venue
Sat 12th Colorado Springs, CO @ The Black Sheep
Sun 13th Denver, CO @ Marquis Theatre
Mon 14th Omaha, NE @ The Waiting Room
Tue 15th Iowa City, IA @ Gabe’s Oasis
Wed 16th Minneapolis, MN @ Triple Rock Social Club
Thurs 17th DeKalb, IL @ Otto’s
Fri 18th St. Louis, MO @ Firebird
Sat 19th Indianapolis, IN @ Melody Inn (Punk Rock Night)
Sun 20th Toledo, OH @ Frankie’s
Mon 21st Lansing, MI @ Mac’s Bar
Tue 22nd Akron, OH @ Musica
Wed 23rd Pittsburgh, PA @ Mr. Smalls Theatre
Thurs 24th Trenton, NJ @ Championship Bar & Grill
Fri 25th Ithaca, NY @ The Haunt
Sat 26th Providence, RI @ Club Hell
Sun 27th Cambridge, MA @ The Middle East

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Update: Here's a preview for The Toasters' show from the Wall Street Journal:

The Toasters started playing ska in New York in 1981, not long after a wave of English bands picked up on the precursor of reggae and celebrated its innate sense of community and joy. In the former context, ska stood for unity and thus folded itself into the progressive politics of punk. In the latter context, ska got by on simply being a blast to listen to. Here, the Toasters will celebrate their 30th anniversary with a show likely to make good on both aspects. Bandleader Robert "Bucket" Hingley has been an American ambassador for the style for a long time, and the Toasters play it devotedly down the middle, with an ear for the music's political elements as well as its roots as nourishing Jamaican dance music. What that means is the occasional insouciant snarl mixed in with lots of horns, bass-lines and upshot drums.

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Bigger Thomas and The English Beat at the Sellersville Theater, plus New Free Beat "Mirror" Remix!

Despite Google Map's attempt to get me lost on some dark, twisty back road in rural Pennsylvania (damn you, Google Maps!), I found my way down to the terrific Sellersville Theater yesterday for my DJ gig at the sold-out Bigger Thomas/English Beat show. For a trip that started out with a lot of wrong turns (in addition to the lack of clearly marked roads, the transformer on my mixer's power cord died--but the theater's awesomely nice sound guy Dan rigged things up so I could use his sound board as a substitute mixer), it ended up being a fantastic night.

Bigger Thomas (pictured here) is big in these here parts (their last gig at the Sellersville Theater, a benefit for Haiti this past spring, was also sold-out) and put on their usual spectacular show. The Rudie Crew's Roy Radics was also on hand to sing and chat, and he and Roger Apollon Jr. performed "Radics & Roger A Chat" (off Steal My Sound) live for the first time (it was so good that it deserves a regular spot in their set from now on).

I haven't seen Dave Wakeling perform since General Public debuted at the old Ritz in New York City ('84 or '85), so it was kind of surreal to catch up all these years later. (The Beat will always have a special place in my heart, as their music helped buoy me in my teen years when depression threatened to pull me under.) The ska fans attending the 2011 London International Ska Festival are in for an incredible show. Dave's backing band is exceptionally tight (they should be, since they've pretty much been touring the US non-stop over the last few years) and all the hits sound just as good and fresh as you want them to. For me, the neck-hair-standing-on-end moment of The English Beat's set was when "Hands Off She's Mine" segued into The Congos' "Children Crying" (which is one of the greatest songs in the history of music, hands down)--it was absolutely phenomenal. (And there is a cool Beat-Congos connection--The Beat's label Go Feet re-issued The Congos' Heart of the Congos in 1981, at a time when it was hard to come across copies of this reggae masterpiece--Island balked at releasing it in 1977, so producer/mad genius Lee Perry gave it a very limited release on his own label in JA; before the show, I had actually thought about playing "Children Crying" before The Beat's performance, which I had in my crate, but ran out of time...)

The English Beat are playing the Highline Ballroom in Manhattan this Sunday (1/9/11). WNYC has a preview of the show, as well as a free download of an exclusive, unreleased 2011 re-mix of "Mirror in the Bathroom" titled "Mirror Mirror." You can also listen to the track here:



(A big shout out of gratitude to Bigger Thomas for inviting me to tag along and DJ their party--and thanks to the Sellersville Theater staff and crew for being such kind and gracious hosts!)

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Update: here's a nice review of the show from the Tri-State Indie, plus a photo gallery of shots from the show.

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NYC Gig Alert: Version City Party with Westbound Train, Kevin Batchelor and Grand Concourse, The Forthrights, and Old Wives this Saturday Nite!

Version City Party!

When: Saturday, January 8, 2011

Westbound Train
Kevin Batchelor & Grand Concourse
The Forthrights (they have an amazing new four-track single out!)
Old Wives

Where: Knitting Factory Brooklyn

Doors: 7:00 pm/Show: 8:00 pm
$10.00/Advance - $12.00/Day of show

Duff Guide to Ska DJing The English Beat/Bigger Thomas Gig!

If you happen to have tickets to the sold-out Bigger Thomas/English Beat show this Thursday night (1/6/11) at the Sellersville Theater in Sellersville, PA, I'll be there spinning discs on my Fat Albert Soundsystem before and after each set. Should be cool to see what's going on in the Philly-area ska scene!

(And big thanks to the proud few who dared navigate our then still-crippled city--from that big ass blizzard that wolloped NYC the day after Xmas--to make it to The Duff Guide to Ska/Marco on the Bass ska party at the Dusk Lounge last week!)