Willie Williams - One Love

Willie Williams - One Love
DUBROOM ALBUM REVIEW



There are many names in Reggae that are not as known as they should be. Take Willie Williams, for example. He is the one who created great tracks like Messenger Man and the great Ammagideon Time, a Conscious Reggae Classic containing the following words:

"Lots of people won't get no supper tonight, Lots of people going to stand up for their right. Just remember, To praise Jahovah, And He will guide us in this Iration Cause the battle is getting hotter, in this Iration, it's ammagideon...."

Ring a bell? The track has even been played by the well-known british Punk-Rock band "The Clash", according to the official Willie Williams Website. As with many Jamaican Reggae artists, the brother started his runnings in the famous Studio One. This studio gave birth to many riddims, used unto this very day! A if not The perfect foundation for a Reggae Carriere as I would say.

If there is one word to describe Willie's music, it must be the word consciousness. And to proof this statement, one only has to check out this Smugg Records release containing a lot of rare and even previously unreleased tracks by this Reggae Prophet. Sixteen tracks of pure consciousness! And the music rocks too, well versatile I would say as the major styles of Reggae are present on the album. Tight Rub a Dub, skanking Roots music, Dub Effects and Full Instrumentation: it's all there. It even has a few "digi-tunes", to make the dancehall fan move and groove to this One Love album as well.

Various - Triple Dons 1

Various - Triple Dons 1
DUBROOM ALBUM REVIEW




Under the slogan "Roots Revival, Dancehall Survival", UK based Record Label SMUGG RECORDS releases quite some interesting material from respected artists such as Willy Williams and Horace Andy. The latter is prominently present on one of their latest releases, a rubadub/dancehall compilation called Triple Dons 1. Triple Dons? Yes I! This album contains 18 great tracks from Frankie Paul, Johnny Osbourne and Horace Andy. They are "dons" all right! And the ones who have been selecting tunes for this compilation are also dons. What to say about Bunny Lee? This is a legendary producer who has released many hard rocking tunes over the years. He was involved! Over one hour of highly danceable material which will be enjoyed to the fullness when the volume is set on max. You'll find a lot tunes from the early days of digital dancehall, but this material will proof to be interesting at least for the "analogue puritans" too.

Listen to the mighty, mighty Frankie Paul as he makes a heartical plea to stop the war, for example. Feel Horace Andy singing about love and relationships, a major theme in Dance Hall music, as only he can do it. Experience Johnny Osbourne's Juggling, as his soulful voice rides a highly danceable digital rhythm.

Most of the tracks on the album come from the days when the drum computer entered the Jamaican Studio's. There was a lot of protest about it, then. But listening back, you can hear a lot of creativity in the programmed drums. Digitality was a novelty in that days, and novelties can work inspiring. I believe that this creativity is caught on Triple Dons 1.

Various - We Are Getting Bad - The Sound Of Phase One

Various - We Are Getting Bad - The Sound Of Phase One
DUBROOM ALBUM REVIEW



Motion Records starts off the year 2003 with a high quality collection of Hard Rocking Reggae Riddims originally released by Jamaican Label "Phase One" in the late 1970's. "We Are Getting Bad" contains almost 75 minutes of material never released on CD and even more, two previously unreleased killer DJ tracks! Obscure tracks, as the name(s) of the DJ('s) are not even known! Where Phase One never wanted to license their tunes to the more established Reggae companies, they teamed up with UK based Motion Records for this one. The album contains much variety: Dubs, DJ'ing, Vocals, and Maxi Singles. All tracks are Hard Stepping tunes: well produced, well played, well sung. This is definitely a release in the category "All Killer, No Filler". Hear vocal groups as the Chantells and the Heptones. DJ's such as U Brown and Jah Berry. Dean Fraser's saxophone play. Superb Dub Mixing by such as Ernest Hoo Kim.

This release shows how much great music is made in Jamaica. Everytime, another vault opens and timeless music comes out. It's a shame, that the majority of these tracks never found their way to a bigger audience in the times they were created, but it shows just how much Jamaican music was ahead of it's time in the 1970's.

Completely in the tradition of Quality re-releases, "We Are Getting Bad" comes with a mini booklet written by a respected writer. For Motion Records, this is Lee Perry biographer David Katz. The booklet contains an interview with the head of Phase One, who currently (January 2003) runs things at the famous Mixing Lab studios. Katz uses the interview as a framework for his very interesting description of the culture in which the music came to existence.

All in all, I would say that this release should be in your Roots Reggae and Dub collections. When you respect yourself, that is. The music is simply great and the booklet gives enough inside information to enjoy the music into a deeper level. Buy!

Alpha & Omega - Serious Joke

Alpha & Omega - Serious Joke
DUBROOM ALBUM REVIEW


Heavyweight Dub coming your way! Leading UK Dub Duo Alpha and Omega coming with 2 vocals and 10 Dub Shots to enhance the musical atmosphere with their mystical vibes and to make you move and groove from the top to the very last drop. It's their 19th album and this one has the potential to appeal to a broader public the "just" the Dub lovers. Serious Joke stands out among other current Dub releases. On many tracks, Alpha and Omega created a middle-eastern atmosphere by using melody lines and structures from that region, and integrated it into the concept of DUB without any problem. The basses remain very heavy, the drums stay on top, effects are galore. The riddims are catchy and original. Many Reggae and Dub albums are in fact a collection of singles, but this album is one complete thing. So when the whole record is played, the experience is the strongest. It's a good experience.

Another nice thing, is that on this album you can also find the voice of Messian Dread. As a part of a small collaboration project in which the two Dub Producers made a completely new riddim around just a vocal track from the other, Alpha and Omega re-did "Wolves", and dubbed it in their own style.

An intense style. If there is one thing that would describe Alpha and Omega, it would be their intense dubs. Regardless as to whether they use the militant rhythm of the steppers drums, or the more relaxed two drop, it stays intense. When you put on Alpha and Omega, they are there. You can't really use their music as "sound-wallpaper", it has to be played loud.

Clint Eastwood - Real Clint Eastwood

Clint Eastwood - Real Clint Eastwood
DUBROOM ALBUM REVIEW



Reggae Culture is very rich in traditions and expressions. One aspect of Reggae Culture, is that in the Dance Halls, where DJ's are toasting (Reggae Rapping), some have chosen the same name as a movie star. Lee Van Cleef. Charlie Chaplin. And of course, Clint Eastwood. He is the younger brother of well-known Roots DJ Trinity and a good friend of Dillinger, another famous name in the genre of Reggae DJ. Together with General Saint he scored a world hit with their rendering of "Stop That Train". With these things in mind, the title of the album is funny. Cause the Real Clint Eastwood is a DJ that make you rock and swing on some of the greatest music from the 1970's! Some facts: Most tracks are produced by Bunny Lee and all of them are mixed by King Tubby. The music was played by the Aggrovators (Sly And Robbie) in 1979. Fourteen tunes, with a total playing time of just over 52 minutes.

On this album, you'll hear very hard and deep roots tunes. The kind of tunes that make you turn up the volume until the place starts to shake and thing. When the Aggrovators play and the Godfather of DUB, King Tubby, mixes it up for the DJ to chat over, a lot of musical hearts start to beat faster. Including mine. Sly and Robbie show why they are called the rhythm twins: super tight Drum and Bass Lines as I would say! Clint Eastwood has his own style of toasting. It is influenced by his elder brother Trinity, but definitely he's got his own. His rolling pronunciation of the "R', Kung-Fu style of breathing (in the style of Dillinger) and variety of subjects make this record a very welcome addition to your Roots and Culture collection.

Tappa Zukie - MPLA

Tappa Zukie - MPLA

DUBROOM ALBUM REVIEW



Those of you who like to listen to Dubroom Radio, must be aware of my personal gladness when it comes to Roots Reggae in DJ Style. Reggae rhythms, mixed in Dub style, while DJ's are rhythmically chanting on top of it. It's a genre known as "toasting", which has been the foundation for a popular style such as Hip-Hop.

M.P.L.A. is an album which you can let people listen to, when they want to know some more about Toasting. Originally, the music on M.P.L.A. was released in 1978. VIRGIN RECORDS, the publisher of this great material, has been releasing crucial Reggae music since the 1970's, and many of their releases are strong until this day. This album is no exception. Unfortunately, the album contains just ten tracks, but the fact that the disc is in mid-price compensates it.

The record starts with PICK UP THE ROCKERS. "Rockers today, you will love it tomorrow", Tapper chants on top of a tight One Drop riddim, with sparse guitars and other instruments dropping in and out while the drum and the bass play on.

The second one is one of Tapper's best known tracks, the title track for this one. A militant steppers rhythm, a great horn section dubbed perfectly, and an incredibly strong bassline form the main ingredients for this killer track. M.P.L.A., one of Tapper's best tracks indeed!

After a storm there must be a calm, they say. On this album, the calm comes in the form of DON'T GET CRAZY: a one drop with some very prominent echo's. The recording is very lo-fi on this one.

The fourth track, GO DEH NATTY is more up tempo. Riding on a well known bassline which keeps the track going on like a train!

After this one, Tappa rides over a dub from Horace Andy's hit Skylarking. STOP THE GUN SHOOTING contains a heartical call on the people to stop fighting and shooting each other. A theme which you can see many times within Reggae. Where there is poverty and social injustice, the poor people start to fight each other too and many Reggae Musical works to make the people unite and fight against injustice instead of each other.

ITAL POT is the next one. A One Drop rhythm with the famous Flying Cymbals style, where the Hi Hat opens on the same time as the skanks of the guitar and piano. It's a dub from Johnny Clarke's rendering of "Creation Rebel".

After this, track called MARCUS. Marcus Garvey, the Jamaican black freedom fighter. He is highly respected in Jamaica and many Reggae Artists have made one or more tributes to him. This track contains some beautiful horn licks, fragments of Johnnie Clarke's voice with echo added to it, while Tappa Zukie chants on top with his very special voice.

Track number 8 is called Challis to Challis. Again, the flying cymbals enter. The rhythm is relaxed yet intense. Fragments of guitar play enter the track like a cutting razor, parts in which you only hear the singer singing, and then echo's come in while the drum and the bass start playing again. Nice One!

DON'T DEAL WITH BABYLON is next. An intense track, Tappa's messaging voice crying heartically about the things Babylon does to keep down the Natty Dreads. Even when Dread don't deal with Babylon, them still come to mash it down.

The last track of the album is called FREEDOM. It contains all the necessary ingredients for a good Roots DJ track: consciousness, solid bass and drum, great Dub mixing.

MPLA is a great album when you want to hear some conscious toasting. Although Tappa Zukie has released "slackness", this album only contains "conscious tracks". They all have a social or spiritual subject and that is a good thing.

Various - Ready When You Ready

Various - Ready When You Ready
DUBROOM ALBUM REVIEW



This is the second edition of a series of Rub a Dub sounds re-released by the UK label SMUGG RECORDS. Where other labels who specialized themselves in re-releasing Reggae tend to lean more towards the more Rootsy Reggae from the 70's, this label also acknowledges the quality and timelessness of Jamaican dancehall music. Rub a Dub music, as early dancehall was called, is the keyword for this album. An album containing 19 tracks with a total length of 66:05. A compilation, with an impressive line-up: Don Carlos, Frankie Paul, Gregory Isaacs, Horace Andy, Johnny Clarke, and many more. All tracks are highly danceable, and show the many sides of Rub a Dub as well. Some tracks are mixed heavily in Dub style, with long parts of drum and bass, some are programmed, or a combination. And even the most stiff-necked haters of programmed music would admit, that in the majority of tracks the singing is simply beautiful. Specially nice are the openings track (Danny Vergo - Champion Sound), the well-known Don Carlos track Mr. Big Man and Barry Brown's Next Door Girl. And not all tracks a voiced by singers, Danny Dread's Ginal Girl is a nice example of some rub a dub toasting ("Reggae Rapping").

Do I have only positive things to say? Well, in general, yes. It's a really good compilation of tunes. Ofcourse, not all tracks could move me. The amount of albums that deserve the three star "All Killer No Filler" mark are not many anyway so that wouldn't make this album exceptionally. But for those who like to dance on Rub a Dub tunes: this album is recommended for your collection. And it would also serve as an introduction to this style of music to your friends.

All in all, this album is the one you play hard at parties, most of the tracks will make people jump up for some heavy skanking. And don't let the cover art make you think that it's only love-songs on the album, as there's a significant portion of conscious lyrics on the compilation.

Brigadier Jerry - Jamaica, Jamaica

Brigadier Jerry - Jamaica, Jamaica
DUBROOM ALBUM REVIEW



Many people speak about Roots Reggae and how they love it. Many, many Roots Reggae classics are being re-released by such labels as Blood And Fire: a true Labour of Love.

And for many, Reggae stopped somewhere in the end of the 1970's. The re-issues surely give that impression a bit.

On the Internet I have seen complaints about that, because there is so much emphasis on the era of Rockers, that the Reggae created afterwards is ignored, where it could really cater to a Roots Audience.

I am talking about the RUB A DUB Style, as Dancehall Reggae was called in the end of the 1970's, early 1980's. Cool and laid back rhythms accompanied by Dub and Dubby effects.

One of the true Dub Masters in that genre must be the Scientist. This protégée of the legendary King Tubby his mixed an incredible amount of Dubs in Channel One Studio's. And not only Dub albums on his own name, he worked on many more albums.

Including this one, the 1985 debut album from "fast toaster" Brigadier Jerry, a member of the Rastafarian organization 12 Tribes of Israel, since 1978.

As a Toaster ("Reggae Rapper"), he started his musical career in this same year. Why it took him so long before his first album was released, nobody knows. But when it arrived, in the last days of Rub a Dub (perhaps), it was a welcome addition and alternative to the then rising Dance Hall Style of Ragga.

The set starts of with the title track, in extended style. Dubwise music from the top to the very last drop. Hear scientist use the digital echo and other effects to enhance Briggie's lyrics and the riddim of the drum and bassline.

The second track "Jah Jah Move" is a little more energetic and hails up Jah and the Bible in which you can "find the truth for yourselves", as Brigadier Jerry says.

After this comes the track called "Jah Love Music", with Scientist creating a lot of heavy and long echo's on the drum and the horn section.

Track number four contains another meditation of worship to Jah, "Give Thanks And Praise", in which Briggy does a little singing and more melodic style of toasting every now and then.

Track five speak about daily life, "Everyman A Mi Bredrin", one of the lesser strong tracks in my opinion. "Kushungpeng", the track after that, is also not one of the strongest tracks. It could have been improved by some wild Dub mixing, but for some reason the Scientist choose to do otherwise. A

fter this, strength comes again in a beautiful rendering of Bunny Wailer's classic "Armagideon" on which Briggy Jerry chants words from the Bible and from own observation and reading out of the book of Revelation, out of the Bible.

The album closes of with "Three Blind Mice", in which Brigadier Jerry gives a demonstration in Rub a Dub toasting, he chants all kinds of words that have not a meaning but sound very rhythmical and are very difficult to do yourself. Or in other words: Don't try this at home.

And as the album started, it also closes: with an extended version. Three blind mice goes over from vocal into Dub with some nice works from Scientist at the Control tower.

I would definitely recommend this album to Rub a Dub fans, to fans of Reggae Toasting, and to fans of DUB music in general.

It is one of the rare Brigadier Jerry albums that there are, and that is a true shame, because he surely remains to be one of the most talent full DJ's. Most of his tunes are straight on conscious tracks with an uplifting message to read scripture and find out for yourself, a teaching often heard in the 12 Tribes of Israel Organization.