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All posts for the month July, 2014

The 25 best reggae songs of 2014 so far

Published July 31, 2014 by soundquake

Who’s in your top 5?

Reggaemani

As 2014 now has passed its midpoint Reggaemani has collected 25 reggae and dancehall favourites so far. It can be hard to grasp just how much great music that is released every day and every week. It’s tons. So the list below might be of some help to navigate in the heavily competitive and extremely productive reggae industry.

The past six months have been great and lots of tunes have lingered in my memory for weeks, for example Zagga’s uplifting Attitude of Gratitude, Protoje & Chronixx’ hip-hop flavoured Who Knows and Morgan Heritage’s soulful Put it On Me.

Half year 1

If I was to select only one favourite song and only one favourite riddim it would have to be Cornell Campbell & Burro Banton’s Pressure and Jugglerz’Penthouse riddim. Luckily I’m not a victim of such limitations.

The list below is presented in no particular order and the songs included…

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Well-deserved reissue of rare Alborosie album

Published July 31, 2014 by soundquake

Reggaemani

unnamedIt’s not often contemporary reggae albums gets reissued, but reggae powerhouse VP/Greensleeves have recently re-released Alborosie & Specialist’s duets album, a 24 track set originally issued in 2010 in a limited edition.

The album is produced by Alborosie and his collaborator Clifton “Specialist” Dillion, the renowned producer and manager behind 90s dancehall stars like Patra, Shabba Ranks and Mad Cobra.

Alborosie rose to prominence in 2007 with his Kingston Town, later followed by a string of hits, including Herbalist and Rastafari Anthem. He’s probably the most successful European reggae artist ever, and for a number of years he has been a Jamaican citizen living in Kingston, Jamaica.

This singer, songwriter, mixing engineer, producer and multi-instrumentalist is well-respected within the reggae community, as shown on this duets album. Plenty of reggae stars take turns on the microphone with Alborosie – Mykal Rose, Sizzla, David Hinds from Steel…

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Who was the first Jamaican musician to introduce a digital riddim into a song?

Published July 15, 2014 by soundquake

So much value in the history and the stories. Thanks for sharing midnightraver as always

LEGENDARY REGGAE

King Jammy, Winston “Steely” Johnson and Cleveland “Clevie” Brown, and Bobby “Digital” Dixon are generally credited with ushering in the digital revolution of reggae music, they were far from the first to use a digital riddim for a song.  Who then was the very first jamaican musician to use a digital riddim in a song?  Bob Marley.

Yes, it is true.  Bob Marley, the charismatic soul-rebel with the kinky afro and million-dollar smile – the man who took the reggae beat from the hills and gullies of the land of look behind to every corner of the earth, carrying the heavy weight of its message on his shoulders for a decade, first used a digital riddim for several tunes on the Natty Dread LP.  The description of the actual instrument varies from person-to-person.  David Katz refers to it as a “primitive rhythm box” that was used solely as a “percussive…

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Lutan Fyah fights for peace and unity on new album

Published July 8, 2014 by soundquake

New LP from Lutan Fyah

Reggaemani

LUTAN_FYAH_GET_RID_A_DI_WICKEDJamaican chanter Lutan Fyah is one of the most successful contemporary Jamaican artists with over 200 singles and twelve albums under his belt. On his 13th album Get Rid a di Wicked he has teamed up with Grammy Award nominated producer Richard “Breadback” Bramwell.

This 15 track set – 16 if you count the closing interview with Lutan Fyah – has Lutan Fyah spitting lyrics with messages of peace, passion, ambition and inequity on tracks like Tired a di Suffering, This Love, which features veteran deejay Lady G, and Children Safe. He also shows affection for all mothers on the heartfelt My Mother, pays tribute to The Gaylads on Jamaican Girl and borrows from the mighty Herbman Hustling on Ganja Man.

Lutan Fyah is one of the most productive Jamaican artists, not matching the insanely prolific Sizzla, but close. And Get Rid of…

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