Check Yourself

Roots time, with a cool Horace Andy tune and a wicked deejay version thereof by wildman Jah Woosh. Check out that wonderful deep bass, my brethren. To be found on an amazing collection of Keith Hudson productions called Studio Kinda Cloudy.

Horace Andy - Don't Think About Me
Jah Woosh - I'm Alright

Wild Weekend Vol. 9

Number 9, number 9, number 9... It´s Wild Weekend time again. Musical revolution. As an alternative to all them discjockey types polluting the airwaves out there, we´ve got the iPod on shuffle. Once more it spins an eclectic six pack of tunes for the music-hungry masses, so tune in. This just might be on your wavelength.

Have been playing a lot of Kristofferson lately. So it´s only fitting that the ghost in the machine picked one of his classic songs to start off this edition. To Beat The Devil, featuring a spoken intro dedicated to his mentor Johnny Cash, gives some sound advice to all you aspiring songwriters out there. "I ain't sayin' I beat the devil, but I drank his beer for nothing... then I stole his song." Which is followed by another songsmith par excellence, mister Tom Waits, who meets Bette Midler in a bar somewhere. Says Bette: "Your life's a dimestore novel, this town is full of guys like you..." Mutters Tom: "Ain´t that cold..." Red coincidence alert: both songs feature the line "you´ve been reading my mail". Spooky that.

Kris Kristofferson - To Beat The Devil MP3

Tom Waits - I Never Talk To Strangers MP3

Up next is a track from a cd I bought only last week: Keith Hudson´s Brand, aka The Joint. Originally from ´77, and finally re-released on the mighty Pressure Sounds label a couple of years ago, it´s one of them hard-hitting dub classics I never get tired of. Turn it up. Some typical eighties industrial postpunk up next: Adi Newton and his Clock DVA. Dark stuff from Advantage (´83), with a funky bass and screeching horns. Stood the test of time surprisingly well.

Keith Hudson - Image Dub MP3

Clock DVA - Beautiful Losers MP3

"Just a little lovin', early in the morning, that little extra something, to kinda see them through..." Some good advice from Dusty Springfield, from the still utterly amazing Dusty In Memphis. Best soul album ever to be sung by whitey, hands down. Having the Memphis Cats as her backing band and Jerry Wexler, Tom Dowd and Arif Mardin in the producer´s chairs certainly helped of course. And we call it a day with the dream pairing of tenor greats Coleman Hawkins and Ben Webster. Here they tackle Duke Ellington´s Don´t Get Around Much Anymore in grand style.

Dusty Springfield - Just A Little Lovin´ MP3

Coleman Hawkins & Ben Webster - Don´t Get Around Much Anymore MP3

Keep On Dubbing

Dread at the controls taking over... High time to dub it to the top here a bit. One of my fave musical genres, dub basically means stripped-down, instrumental versions of regular reggae songs. Featuring heavy, heavy bass, snippets of vocals, and tons of added sound effects. From echo, tape delay and reverb to animal sounds, ringing telephones, crying babies, gunfire and blaring sirens... Everything goes really, just as long as it pleases Jah.

The legendary Osbourne Ruddock alias King Tubby remains the undisputed master of dub, but other producers such as Lee "Scratch" Perry, Joe Gibbs, Erroll Brown, Herman Chin Loy and Keith Hudson - to name but a few - mixed some mean ones too in their time. And the realization that all these amazing tracks were made with rather limited means, as Jamaican studios didn´t exactly feature state of the art equipment, makes their soundboard wizardry all the more impressive.

The players vary, but often feature reggae revolutionaries Sly Dunbar on drums and Robbie Shakespeare on bass. Without further ado, here´s a well charged dub ten pack for all you brethren out there. No recent stuff here mind, all strickly roots, ´cause that´s the way I like it. Seen?

Herman Chin Loy - Jah Jah Dub MP3

King Tubby - Satta Dread Dub MP3

Augustus Pablo - Keep On Dubbing MP3

Aggrovators - Rockers Almighty Dub MP3

Upsetters - Black Panta MP3

The Revolutionaries - M.P.L.A. MP3

Joe Gibbs & The Professionals - Freedom Call MP3

Vital Dub - Roof Top Dub MP3

Keith Hudson - Black Right MP3

Scientist - Babylon Fight Dub MP3

If The Rain Comes...

Winter´s coming... and me no like. After more than five months of sunshine, wearing shorts and flipflops at all times, it´s kinda hard to adjust. Today was the first day I had to put on my trusted leather jacket, while inside the heater had to be turned on again. Last Saturday, it proved still possible to enjoy lunch outside, in shirtsleeves while sporting sunglasses, but now the weather has definitely turned. Living in a mediterranean climate, it would be hard to maintain that it´s colder than a witch´s tit, or even a well digger´s ass out there, but it sure feels that way to me at the moment. Oh well, at least the mozzies are a goner.

Another drop in temperature is expected, and the weatherman says it´s going to pour tomorrow. Which gives me an excellent opportunity to provide you with a musical ten pack about the rain. I´ve left out the most obvious ones, so no Beatles (you´ll get a fun cover version though), Temptations or Ann Peebles this time around. Now where´s that umbrella again...

Meat Puppets - Look At The Rain MP3

Keith Hudson - In The Rain MP3

Beatle Hans & The Paisley Perverts - Rain MP3

The Velvet Underground - Hey Mr. Rain MP3

The Pogues - Rain Street MP3

Lonnie Johnson - Pouring Down Rain MP3

Townes Van Zandt - None But The Rain MP3

Prince Far I - Rain A Fall MP3

The Rising Storm - The Rain Falls Down MP3

Blacktop - I Think It´s Going To Rain MP3