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Reggae - A daily blog

Reviews - Reggae

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Australian reggae hasn't been especially organised on the web in the past, but it is slowly coming along.

For radio, contemporary and reflective articles and info on their own events, Firecorner.com has been good for some time.

Rasta In Oz was pretty good for information, though a little bit all over the place. It has improved now and has a decent amount of Australia wide info.

One of the best relatively new sites is ozreggae.com, which has upcoming event posters on its main page and a fairly frequented discussion forum.

Of course, for Sydney info, don't forget dizzybeat.com.

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Dynamite Review

October 30th 2006 04:07

Went to Dynamite @ the Brighton Up Bar on Oxford St on Saturday night and there were generally mixed feelings from my friends and myself about the quality of the night.

The first thing I have to say is the night was advertised as playing a mix of music rather than previous night who focused on reggae. This was a bit disappointing in itself, but we also got there to find a lot of the music was pretty ordinary funk. The odd reggae track was played, but not enough for my personal tastes.

Whether this decision was made to increase the crowd - there were a lot of people, or whether this was a once off decision I don't know. It seemed to me a lot of the crowd were just walk-ins from Surry Hills out for pre-Halloween and that the broader music choice wouldn't have mattered.

We had a bit of a problem with the crowd when a couple of guys inappropriately grabbed a female friend, resulting in a bit of a scuffle between us and them. They were told to piss off and we continued on, but it put a dampener on the night. I will say that the organizers were apologetic (though it wasn't their fault) and are actually really good guys.

I can only compare it to past nights though and the night just wasn't as good as past events. I can understand wanting to maximise numbers, but there isn't a broad reggae night in this town and Dynamite had filled that void. It annoys me that they felt they needed to move away from that towards a mix you can find in pubs across the city and I hope they return to the reggae quickly, which I am told will happen.

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Reggae News UK

October 25th 2006 03:16

I frequently trawl the web to see what is going on around the world as well as what is going on in Australia just through interest and a little bit of jealousy. I must have been living under a rock however because I missed the website: http://www.reggaenews.co.uk. It gets a recommendation from the BBC site, which I must say has moved away from reggae more than I would like.

In a country such as the UK, there is a lot going on reggae-wise, so it would be a big job to keep a site up to date. My main criticism of the site woukd be that it just doesn't get updated frequently enough, at least in the news/events section.

That said, there are heaps of reviews, a guide to record shops and radio shows and the site has a great layout. Running a website myself, I know how difficult it is to keep a website going. Check it out, Reggae News UK.

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The Strange Tenants in Newcastle

October 21st 2006 06:50

I backed up seeing The Strange Tenants on Thursday night by heading to Newcastle to see them again. Five of us packed into a car for the longest trip to Newcastle one could imagine. Three and a half hours and we were finally there. We'd entertained ourselves well enough with a few bevvies and a band called The Levellers.

We were there early enough though, catching the awful Rubix Cuba playing to a entirely empty room. A cover of "You're the One That I Want" from Greece should say enough. Backy Skank were up next and there were a few more people in the room. Our designated driver was playing keys for Backy Skank that night and did a sterling job filling in.

It wasn't too much longer before The Strange Tenants came on and despite the very poor showing in the crowd, everyone had a great time. A great set was played by the boys, quite similar to that of the night before, but a few less. A group of about eight young lads yelled constant "go go gos" to anyone playing a solo - for the entire set, which was one of the more unusual sights I've seen at a ska gig.

The trip back home was a little arduous, but a top night in all.

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Strange Tenants Review

October 20th 2006 03:03

The Strange Tenants played at the Gaelic Club in Sydney last night with The Signals and Backy Skank and what a top night it was. The crowd wasn't huge, although for a Thursday night it was decent and by the time the Tenants came on it was a good showing.

The Strange Tenants were in Sydney to celebrate their 25th Birthday and to launch a a 4 CD set of new and live material. A top CD it is, with a good historical collection to have

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Pics from The Block Party in Redfern

October 16th 2006 04:08

It wasn't the best weather yesterday, but we headed down to the Block in Redfern to see some reggae music. I was interested to see what sort of reception there was going to be, having not gone to the first one. I was pleasantly surprised with a large amount of people attending. It was a diverse crowd, people were pretty happy and for the most part the rain held off. I don't like The Resurrectors, they are a little bit slow for me, but they got a lot of people dancing. A couple of locals got up to rap with the band, which I quite enjoyed and all in we went home quite happy.We only saw The Basslines crew and The Resurrectors, missing the Firehouse Crew and others, but not to worry. Here are some photos from the day.

The Resurrectors and guests. Photo: Gen Murray

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Strange Tenants – Rude Celebration

October 11th 2006 12:22

The Strange Tenants are about to go on tour in celebration of 25 years together and have also released a four CD set to mark the occasion. When I received it I was pleasantly surprised – beforehand I was thinking 4 CDs was a bit of overkill. That thought was quickly dismissed however. It is a great gatefold package with 4 CDs packed full of quality listening. They aren’t 4 half hour CDs either – the least is 14 songs on the first, but the most hits high at 22 songs on the third CD

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Review of The Beat in Sydney

October 9th 2006 10:59

It has been a bit quiet in Sydney in terms of ska shows so I was looking forward to seeing these guys play in Sydney. The lineup was only going to have two original members – Rankin’ Roger upfront and Everett Moreton on the drums. Dave Wakeling is doing his own show of Beat songs, while Saxa is retired, but there was Rankin’ Rogers’ son up there with him and together they put on a blinding show. You can’t have everything of all the time.

So the night came along and I was lucky enough to be in one of the supporting bands. We’d been informed there were 600 pre-sold tickets to the gig and we just hoped a good deal of them got down early enough to see us. Going on at 8-30 pm, we (The Signals) were pleased to have an excellent crowd watching us – it had been a while since we played to that many people. Our set was well received and then it was time for Sydney ska stalwarts Backy Skank. Entertaining as usual, they warmed up the crowd well for The Beat.
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Sydney weekend of reggae

September 5th 2006 11:30

Saturday night was a top night. We decided we were going to take in both Sydney nights playing the reggae and I am glad we did.

First up we headed over to The Brighton Up Bar for Dynamite - a strictly reggae night supported by Sound Jazz Records. I was pleased to score another CD as we headed in - very nice people supportive of their crowd

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Top weekend for ska and reggae

August 28th 2006 12:29

I had been looking forward to the week just gone for some time. Prior to this weekend the band hadn't played a gig for months, but also it had been quiet for ska and reggae gigs generally.

Friday nights started out with a few folk-punk bands at the Empire. Mutiny, the fantastic band from Melbourne were the headline act and were supported admirably by Sydney City Trash and the Corps. Not reggae, but entertaining music nonetheless

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Pama International - Trojan Sessions

August 18th 2006 09:53

It isn’t a lucky band which gets signed to Trojan Records, one of the most well known reggae labels in the world for many decades now. It isn’t as though Trojan has a huge roster of bands. In fact, Pama International is the only contemporary band signed to the label. They have done their time though, with a number of other releases on the Jamdown record label in the UK (as well as Do the Dog in the UK and Asian Man and Jump Up in the US) and played shows consistently with a huge range of artists while supporting their local ska and reggae scene. Members have also been in a bunch of previous ska bands (too many to mention). So they deserve this release on the very prestigious label.

This record starts out very strongly. The first number is an energy filled skanked up number featuring Rico Rodriguez called Disobedient Child. An album should start out with a song as good as this, and with the great horn line and fantastic drumming, you’ve got me in.
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Studio One Soul 2

August 8th 2006 11:40

Soul Jazz records have for some time now been putting out CDs of the old Studio One back catalogue, even while the great Coxsone Dodd, the man behind the Jamaican institution, was alive. The releases continue and one recent release is Studio One Soul 2

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Dancehall and ska dance steps

August 1st 2006 11:16

BBC Reggae website

I think I have found the best website from the most reputable of sources documenting the fashion and the dance of reggae music in all its forms. The BBC have long had quality content under their umbrella. I suppose it is the pride of place the BBC holds in the UK and the way it is funded, but it still amazes me the documentaries, books and the website they have for ska and reggae music. I imagine the place reggae has in recent UK music history contributes to the amount of content they produce too.

Anyway, the BBC Reggae website: http://www.bbc.co.uk/music/features/reggae/ includes sections on the history, the artists and fittingly for this blog fashion and dance.
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VP Records and Reggae Gold

July 27th 2006 08:46

I like dancehall. Not so much for the music – though I have great appreciation for certain tracks, but for the culture. I find dancehall culture an interesting social phenomenon. It interests me the direction Jamaican popular culture has gone. I think this is why I am not so into hip hop culture. Although there are many parallels between dancehall and hiphop, one of the differences, and the deciding difference in my case, is that it is Jamaican born and bred, just like ska and reggae.

VP records is one of the big reggae dancehall record labels. Rather than doing mostly reissues of sixties and seventies reggae like Blood & Fire or Trojan, VP is about putting out new records by current artists. Some of the artists on their roster include very big names of roots and dancehall such as Capleton, Beres Hammond, Luciano, Sasha and Lady Saw. They also press LPs too which gets my seal of approval.
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