Various - Caribbean Soul (2015)

01 - king stitt - sauvett (dance hall '63)

02 - the mighty sparrow & byron lee - try a little tenderness

03 - esso steel band - killing me softly

04 - lennie hibbert - twilight zone

05 - hopeton lewis - funky kingston

06 - tnt band - musica del alma

07 - the latin blues band feat. luis aviles - lay an oz on me baby

08 - jamaica's groove band - shaft

09 - the comancheros steel orchestra - shaft

10 - jackie mittoo - elenor rigby

11 - byron lee & the dragonaries - east to west

12 - the chosen few - people make the world go round

13 - harold butler - out of bondage

14 - the now generation - it's too late

15 - jimmy london - just my imagination

16 - jo jo bennett - canteloupe rock

17 - inner circle - jah music
18 - tommy mccook - sauvitt (bonus track)

Compilation of mostly mellow & soulful Reggae songs from Jamaica - and a bit of steels drums and Boogaloo thrown in for good measure. I made this compilation after Caribbean Soul, an old mixtape from Lars Vegas (with special guidance by Dagmar ''Dig A Little Deeper'' - who introduced me to a lot of good & new music through her record shop ''Dig A Little Deeper'' - first in Cologne - and later in Berlin). Hopefully this post marks the return to updating this blog more regularly. I'm not making lofty promises, but I would love to be more active on the site! Stay tuned & enjoy this mellow breeze of of Caribbean Soul, Summer & Sunshine!

DubMe

Various - Island Disco (Soca Fusion, Cadence Explosion & Steeldrum Grooves - 2014)

01 - safi allah abdullah - afrika is burning, and black man is doing the freak

02 - kassav - lague moin

03 - lord kitchener - sugar bum bum

04 - original tropicana steel band - spanish hustle

05 - the checkmates - disco groove

06 - calypso rose - have mercy

07 - colleen grant - latin parang (12inch - barbados island disco - 1980)

08 - ed watson - ain't no stopping us now

09 - wagadu gu - easy dancing

10 - original tropicana steel band - el prompompero

11 - merchant - instant funk

12 - bobby raven - soca fusion

13 - les aiglons - es zot tende (skit)

14 - nelson family - gimme love

15 - basso - socaland

Two weeks ago Tippa Irie & his Selecta JB Bakers came all the long way to perform in Chengdu/China. Really good night, great crowd, irie vibes all over… Tippa Irie delievering a stellar perfomance, riding some sweet Reggae & Dancehall riddims - and getting everyone excited. And the crowd returned the vibe… They were only booked for 90 minutes - but after their live show Tippa Irie & his Selector kept spinning 45's till 5:30 in the morning… Playing classic Reggae & Dancehall tunes from the 60ies - 10ies… Sweetness Galore! Don't get that in Chengdu that often. So I initially wanted to take this as a motivation to share a Reggae mix/compilation (which I will definitely do sometime soon!). But I am still flying high on the Disco/Balearic vibe - so here is ''Island Disco'' - some favourite tropical jams from the Caribbean...

I am opening this ''Island Disco'' compilation with the Disco Not Disco song Afrika Is Burning - And The Black Man Is Doing The Freak by Safi Aallah Abdullah. A song which is basically an attack on disco, on disco's hedonism: ''Under screams of a boiling overdose systematically controlled by idiots of the White House with twisted grins and stale peanuts. Africa is burning, and the Black Man is doing the Freak.'' It goes on to point a finger at party-goers and their ''tight jeans and Elton John sunglasses, Pierre Cardin sneakers and a bag of smoke.'' While the sermon is delivered in the finest Gil Scott-Heron tradition, ironically the music which is a glorious mix of reggae, calypso, funk, highlife and much more makes it a pretty unique disco classic itself." (via Your Heart Out). Great song which I got from the Soca compilation Rebel Soca. My father used to play this a lot when I was a kid - and my sister and me would hum along in the back of the car ''Africa is burning - and the black man is doing the freak...'' - not really understanding the lyrics - but definitely enjoying & feeling the groove. This rather ''grim'' opener is followed by Kassav's Lague Moin from their 1980 album of the same name. Sweet & uplifting grooves from the French West Indies with hypnotic keyboard loops & great discoid percussion. Parisian duo Jupiter did a electro-pop edit of this song a while ago: Kass Limon. Not bad - but I prefer the original. On track #7 we have got Colleen Grant - Latin Parang. Massive Barbados Island Disco CHRISTMAS song from 1980 with fat bass, handclaps, spacey female vocals, consistent synths... Dancefloor bomb! Track #8 keeps the heat with a killer Island Disco version of McFadden & Whitehead Ain't No Stopping Us Now: Ed Watson's very own Reggae-tinged Ain't No Stopping Us Now. I love every version of this song. On track #9 we are leaving the Caribbean for a short trip to Africa via London. London 1979 - that's where Wagadu Gu's delightful Easy Dancing was recorded - mixing highlife and soca elements. Feel Merchant's Instant Funk on track #11. Originally to be found on the super-rare LP Merchant’s Pilgrimage (1981) - this song luckily saw a re-release on Guts and Mambo's über-sweet compilation BEACH DIGGIN’. Go and get your own copy. The whole compilation is great! Let me share some info on Merchant and his song ''Instant Funk'' from the liner notes of BEACH DIGGIN: ''Orphaned at a young age and then caught up in drugs, shady affairs, prison and then more drugs. Then AIDS. And RIP. Total chaos. Yet in the midst of all these shocks, Dennis Williams Franklyn, the one-man band behind Merchant, learnt to play the guitar by ear along with the art of transcribing the songs he composed in his head for its six strings. He had no training to write or read music, only feel. And here there are brass, percussion, strings and a free bass, while a guitar revolves like a worm screw around a pulsing beat. In sum, a blazing disco-funk construction with something going on on every floor''. I am ending this compilation with Basso's edit of a secret Island (!?) gem named ''Socaland''. Get it on Blackdisco #8. Powerful edit which gets better every time I play it. Make sure to play it loud! Basso is one of the members of the blog The Growing Bin. Great blog which not only introduced me to a lot of amazing music - but also opened up new musical worlds to me which I didn't even know existed. Make sure to check it out - and you might even able to buy some rarities in his online shop Growing Bin Records - where he sells all kinds of great under the radar music. Prices are super fair. Well - back to ''Socaland'' - is it groovy now...?!

Enjoy! DubMe

Various - Safari Disco Club (2013)

01 - j.m. tim & foty - douala by night

02 - usje sukatma - waiting for your love

03 - esbee family - chics are magnets

04 - kiki gyan - disco dancer

05 - ray munnings - funky nassau

06 - lord shorty - sweet music (sofrito edit)

07 - tirogo - dancing machine

08 - guynamukat - full of african boogie spirit (re-edit)

09 - christy essien igbokwe - rumours

10 - guynamukat - ahhhh morfendu (afro disco edit)

11 - mombasa - anson edit

12 - sonny okosun - mother and child

13 - kassav’ - lague moin (les edits du golem - la toubana)

14 - kelenkye band - jungle music

15 - africa - a.i.e. - amwana (12inch version)

If you enjoyed the two Palmwine Grooves & Disco compilations I shared earlier here and here - then ''Safari Disco Club'' could just be the right follow-up for you! A selection of some of my favourite African Disco & Soul songs + a few disco flavored grooves from other tropikal regions thrown in for good measure.

I am starting this compilation with Douala By Night from JM Tim & Foty, who were a duo from Cameroon (playing together from 1977 to 1982). ''Douala by Night'' can be found on their debut album. With its disco beat and funky guitar riff, the song was an instant hit. ''Some 25 years later, Jean Marie Tiam aka Tim was in the studio in Paris working on a solo album (The duo had disbanded in 1982 but Tim had continued on a solo career) on which he planned to include a remake of ''Douala by Night''. Tim was shocked when the studio musicians informed him that the song was not his and that it belonged to American Hip Hop artist Missy Elliott who had released the song under the title Dog in Heat in her Timberland-produced 2002 album ''So Addictive''. (...) Tim filed a lawsuit against Moses Timberland in 2007 and on January 15, 2010, an out of court settlement was reached between the two, with Tim entitled to royalties beginning from 2009, along with a small monetary compensation. Tim says he was not really interested in the money and simply wanted to ''restore the historical truth [and] let intellectual honesty and intellectual property triumph.'' (via Bakwa Magazine) Track #5 is Ray Munnings' Funky Nassau - a ''superb disco/boogie version from 1979 of the classic Bahamas Funk song Funky Nassau by the Beginning Of The End. Ray Munnings, who wrote and recorded the original version as part of the group Beginning of the End in 1973, decided to rework his monster hit a few years later for a new audience and produced this sensational rendering, replacing the signature horns and Caribbean percusssion with fierce moog synths and super long funky drum breaks which made it hugely popular on both the boogie and breakbeat scenes'' (via Phonica Records). Personally, I am a bigger fan of the original version, but I think some people, especially those who are feeling "the boogie", will enjoy this discofied version with its long drum break + some slappin' synth bass! Get a tasty reissue of the orginal 12inch here! After a full dose of African & Tropikal Disco - I am ending this compilation with track #15: Africa - A.I.E. (12inch version). This is the Italo Disco version of the great funky Black Blood track from 1975. With the heavy bass line and the cool percussions, this track brings in the best from both worlds. (via Sleazybeach blogspot). Now hit the DL button & don't forget to leave a comment if you enjoy this compilation!

DubMe

PS: This compilation fits perfectly on one CD - just click "NO PAUSE BETWEEN TRACKS" when you are going to burn it - and the CD will be exactly 79:59 long...

The Reggae Disco Connection (2012)

01 - dennis brown - get high on your love (panama cardoon edit)

02 - derrick harriott - soul sister

03 - derrick harriott - dancing the reggae music (12inch)

04 - monyaka - go deh yaka (instrumental dub)

05 - peter tosh - dubbing buk-in-hamm

06 - richard ace - supernatural thing

07 - byron lee - the hustle

08 - beres hammond - music is a positive vibration

09 - the in crowd - back a yard (extented version)

10 - risco connection - ain't no stopping us now (version)

11 - la famille - all night long

12 - time unlimited - back fire (natural vibes intl.)

13 - jennifer lara - i am in love

14 - yellowman - world war (kill emil re-edit)

15 - willie lindo - drum song

Apart from the great SoulJazz compilation Hustle from a few years ago, Disco Reggae still seems to be a part of Reggae that is either frowned upon by Reggae purists - or has fallen under the radar of the many styles of DJ culture. I was planning to make this a compilation strictly showcasing some of the lost treasures of this "genre" - selecting some of my favourite Reggae songs in a Disco style. But actually I got carried away to include some soulful reggae grooves - as well as some Lovers Rock songs - smoothing out this compilation - and actually making it quite a nice player for your summer sunshine garden party, BBQ or beach day...

After finishing this compilation and having listened to a whole bunch of Reggae songs in a Disco fashion - I must say that the crown of Reggae Disco Grooves either goes to Joe Gibbs & his Disco Echo chamber - or the "more than soulful" Reggae producer and crooner Derrick Harriott, who was not only responsible for a series of classic Rocksteady productions in the late 60ies, but also for some grooving soulful and discofied Reggae songs in the 70ies, as you can hear on this compilation. I am opening this compilation with a Panama Cardoon edit of Get High On Your Love by Dennis Brown. Pure Disco Reggae with some good Greek bass & bounce! Find the Dennis Brown original here. Track #2 and #3: these two songs showcase some of Derrick Harriott's finest 70ies Reggae Soul and Pop sounds. Pure Reggae pop, love & groove. Derrick Harriott might also have been one of the first Reggae artists going Disco with his 1975 longplayer Reggae Disco Rockers, which includes the classic "Fly, Robin Fly", a cover of the Silver Convention original. Track #4 - Monyaka - Go Deh Yaka (Instrumental Dub) is a classic Easy Street Records disco reggae stomper from 1983. I prefer the Instrumental over the vocal version. The instrumental is heavily dubbed by legendary mixers Sergio Munzibal & John Morales. Monyaka was a funk group based out of Los Angeles, California, which among other great musicians had Reggae veteran Larry McDonald playing percussion and Val Douglas from the Skatalites playing bass. Track #5 "Dubbing Buk-In-Hamm" is the phenomenal dub remix of Peter Tosh's epic "Buk-in-Ham Palace" song over a bubbling disco rhythm, which was included on the 12inch of the same title. On the b-side of the same 12inch you will also find the prophetic The Day the Dollar Die, in which Tosh pleads his case for capitalism's demise over a shimmering reggae-pop groove. Track #7 takes things a little easier. Giving us an easy grooving cover version of Van McCoy's hit (Do) The Hustle. Pure 70s smooth-groove soul. Originally released on the Again! LP in 1975 on Dynamics Records. Track #8 is Music Is A Positive Vibration by Beres Hammond from his 1979 album Just A Man. Upbeat & Soulful. Can Disco Reggae get any better?! Track #9, the extended version of "Back A Yard" from The In Crowd Reggae band keeps things soulful and heartikal. A rejoiced Lovers Rock song about returning home to Jamaica to smoke some collie and celebrate love and life. Pure Chill-Out, love & sunshine sharing some "good time feelings". Track #10 is Ain't No Stopping Us Now by the Risco Connection. Already shared this song on the Palmwine Grooves & Disco compilation from 2011. But had to share it again. It just fits right into this selection. Risco Connection were a Jamaican band put together by Joe Isaacs (an original member of Jamaica's Studio One group "The Soul Vendors") in the late 1970s - which specialized in remakes of the hits of the day, with nice and dubby rhythms at the bottom, and some sweet moogy touches on the top! Another Risco Connection favourite of mine is their remake of Billy Stewart's "Sitting in the Park." Track #11, "All Night Long" by La Famille, gives us a lovers rock cover of All Night Long by the Mary Jane Girls. Track #13, I Am In Love by Jennifer Lara is a rare Studio One Disco joint produced by Coxsone Dodd in the early '80s. Check out the original by Evelyn "Champagne" King here. Track #15 - I am ending this compilation with Willie Lindo's cover of the classic Studio One Drum Song. Enjoy! DubMe

PS: This compilation fits perfectly on one CD - just click "NO PAUSE BETWEEN TRACKS" when you are going to burn it - and the CD will be exactly 79:57 long...

Various - Sweet Grooves & Sounds from the Antilles (2012)

01 - andre tanker and the mansa musa drummers - back home

02 - dolor et ses etoiles - bourrique la

03 - les rapaces - music passe partout

04 - guadafrica combo - moin ce roi roi

05 - eddy gustave - gazoline

06 - les leopards - incertitude

07 - les 8 trefles - tap tap

08 - les leopards - si ou dit ca ce ca

09 - ibo combo - rat la (coupe cloue)

10 - les leopards - playa de san luiz

11 - ry-co jazz - tu bois beaucoup (edit)

12 - les kings - oriza (abtomic edit)

13 - ti celeste - la guadeloupe mwen rive

14 - les loups noirs - pile ou face

15 - les aiglons - ail couyonner

16 - les docteurs du rythme - ce pas fot moin

17 - les shleu shleu - timidite

18 - eric cosaque - guadaloupe ile de mes amours

It's been a while since I updated my blog. Time just passed along, while life captivated me with all its facets. But today is a royal blue sunshine day - perfect to share a fresh compilation of music from the Caribbean - mainly music from the French Antilles: Compas. Cadence. Cadence Rampa. Biguine. Meringue. Mini-Jazz. Compas Direct. Gwo-Ka. All music which is part of the rich musical & cultural heritage of the Caribbean – and which I am still trying to „understand“ and get an ear for. Since I shared some of my favourite songs and sounds from the Antilles on the Where the Palm Trees shake at Night compilation here a few months ago, I have been busy listening to every record from the Caribbean – which wasn't Reggae or Calypso – and which was recorded somewhere between the early 60ies to mid-80ies – and here is Sweet Grooves & Sounds from the Antilles – a selection of songs that move & groove my soul. Enjoy!

DubMe

PS: Thanks to Duendiness for introducing me to „Guadaloupe Ile De Mes Amours“ (song #18). A tune recorded in 1978 by the gwo-ka master, Erick Cosaque, a percussionist and singer. Traditional gwo-ka mixed with a soul funk feeling and some deep, spiritual & beautiful saxophone playing...

And a big THANKS to Abtomic from Greece for contributing his beautiful edit of Les Kings – Oriza (song #12) to this compilation. Truely a nice edit of one of my favourite songs from the mighty Tumbele compilation on Soundway Records. Keeping the original flavour and laidbackness but adding a sweet bouncing beat... Summer is around the Corner. Be sure to check him out on soundcloud, some of his mixes full of grooves, beatz & sunshine on mixcloud or his weekly Green Room Show @ ParanoiseWebRadio (every Wednesday at 16:00-18:00 (GMT+02:00) live from Athens). Surely a lot of good music coming out of Greece lately. You can steal their money, but you can't take away their culture, their spirit, their soul... The wake up is globally approaching critical mass and starting to erupt in mainstream society. The walls are coming down. Babylon falling. Globally. Here in Japan – "Rage against Radiation": Frying Dutchman - humanERROR... Thank You! 

Various - Where the Palm Trees Shake at Night (2011)

 

01 - intro - andre tanker - our music

02 - wganda kenya - el evangelio (calypso)

03 - les vikings de la guadeloupe - do do l' enfant do

04 - tabou combo - alle lave

05 - barel coppet - vini vini missie

06 - daniel forestal - les coupeurs de canne

07 - duke - freedom in africa

08 - st. maarten's the rolling tones - it's a feeling

09 - ti celeste - misye dowle a yo la

10 - les vikings guadeloupe - ti tong ti tong

11 - la perfecta - toutt moune boule

12 - les rapaces - mpuli man muni

13 - henri salvador - j'aime tes genoux

14 - les difficiles de petion-ville - tue lamp

15 - dolor et ses etoiles - bourrique la

16 - super combo - cozando y bailando (merengue)

17 - les aiglons - ce rat la

18 - wganda kenya – yoro

This compilation, which I made some time ago, is mainly about the sounds from the islands of Guadeloupe, Martinique and Haiti. The release of „Tumbélé! Biguine, afro & latin sounds from the French Caribbean, 1963-74“ in 2009 on Soundway Records opened up a totally new musical world to me. Before that I basically didn't know about the beautiful and manifold sounds of the French Caribbean. So after listening many times to the mighty „Tumbele“ album - compiled by no one else then Hugo Mendez, I wanted more of these oh so sweet sounds. So I started listening to any album from the Caribbean, from Martinique, Haiti, Guadeloupe I could find. I must have listened to a hundred something albums. Most of the albums and compilations I listened to didn't come anywhere close to the music shared on the „Tumbele“ compilation. But I found a few songs which have the right mixture of sweet grooves, deep funkiness, tropical sunshine and rhythms to make my grandma dance. Listen yourself!

Peace; DubMe

Various - Calypso Party! (2011)

01 - cyril diaz & his orchestra - voodoo
02 - cyril diaz & his orchestra - taboo
03 - the gaylads - africa
04 - ella fitzgerald - stone cold dead in the market
05 - ella fitzgerald & louis jordan - stone cold dead in the market (ticklah remix)
06 - blind blake - de pig an' goat
07 - derrick harriott - monkey ska
08 - andrews sisters with vic schoen & his orchestra - rum and coca cola (1945)
09 - caresser - edward the 8th
10 - roaring lion - carnival long ago
11 - cyril diaz & his orchestra - chive soup merengue
12 - the talbot brothers - atomic nightmare
13 - the duke of iron - loving woman is a waste of time
14 - lord jellicoe - big bamboo
15 - louis jordan - run joe
16 - g-swing - run joe
17 - me and you - last night (last heads)
18 - lord cobra & pana afro sounds - rocombey
19 - orchestral overture - me ting is mine
20 - derrick harriott - john tom
21 - colin kelly - the snorkel song
22 - wilmoth houdini - uncle jo' gimme mo'!
23 - don cunningham - angelina
24 - rupert clemendore and band - mambo chop suey
25 - trinidad steel band - l'homme a la grosse tete

Back with a fresh compilation out of my musical treasure box: „Calypso Party!“. Since I started buying records when I was 12 years old I have always listened to Calypso a bit – but never really went crazy about it. Always found most songs to be too much on the vocal side – while usually when I listen to music I rather go for a good groove, riddim, beat, melody... I have had a folder of some 200-300 random Calypso songs which I have been collecting over the years hiding on my laptop – so this week I finally sat down and gave them all a good listen – and here are 25 favourites – some well-known ones – and maybe some lesser known ones as well. And beware – there are a few scorchers in there which could set your local tropical dance on fire! Starting this compilation with „Voodoo“ by the one and only Cyril Diaz hailing from Trinidad. Terrific 50ies upbeat Calypso song with some killer saxophone, horns and drums – and some wailing exotic vocals. To be found on a another niceee reissue by the mighty Soundway label. The second song again is from Cyril Diaz. His very own reworking of the traditional Cuban standard "Taboo" - the prototype for the third song: „Africa“ by the Gaylads. Studio One Classic from Jamaica. Now I am skipping a few songs on the tracklist. Not that they are not good – but I am in the mood for some more uptempo Calypso sounds to keep me on my dancing feet – and here the right medicine is: „Roaring Lion - Carnival Long Ago" – which you are lucky to find, without having to pay crazy bankster dollars on eBay, on the not so new anymore „Sofrito: Tropical Discotheque“ compilation – which was selected by our ever favourite Sofrito Crew and released on Strut Records last year. Like I said above – when it comes to Calypso – be prepared for some hilarious lyrics – either some social commentary or much more often just some silly and playful lyrics revolving around saucy or bawdy topics – which would put Mister Yellowman to shame. So the classic and endlessly covered song „Big Bamboo“ - this time in a version by Lord Jellicoe. Listen to it yourself – I don't want to spoil your surprise! Another Calypso song from the „lyrical side“ is the relentless „Atomic Nightmare“ by the Talbot Brothers which was inspired by the prospect of atomic war in the 1950ies. Now lets leave the lyrics aside and go back to some deep dancefloor madness: „Me Ting Is Mine“ by the Orchestral Overture, a hypnotical Calypso scorcher with some serious horns! I first heard this song on the Calypso vs Cumbias Mix by Frankie Francis. Took me quite awhile to track this beautiful gem down with my limited digital diggin' abilities in China. Towards the end of this compilation I am trying to slow things down a little bit – its time for some good Caribbean Rum at the bar. Perfect to play the song "Mambo Chop Suey" from Rupert Clemendore's album "Le Jazz Trinidad". An album that the liner notes refer to as "sophisticated jazz with a pixie beat". The music is somewhere between the sounds of Moondog and Sun Ra – music that is often very rhythmic at its core, but with an earthy sort of orientation that's quite unique. The song "Mambo Chop Suey" has a far eastern theme – let me just quote the liner notes from the original album cover: "What Rupert does with his voice in "Mambo Chop Suey" (...) must remain completely unclassified. Over a steel spring mambo rhythm he cavorts through some unlikely story dealing with an Oriental girl arguing with her Chinese father about marrying a Creole gentleman of doubtful antecedents. Rupert takes all the parts." After this song I am finally finishing "Calypso Party!" with the very very beautiful song "L'homme a la grosse tete" by the Trinidad Steel Band from their 1975 album "Magia Caribe". A steel band song that surprisingly has no steel drums in it – but some meditative drumming and a guitar gently playing along. This again is a song I heard on another tropical Sofrito mix: New Miles Cleret tropical DJ mix. Thanks to Indi-k (SoWhat Sessions) for making me happy and sharing this beautiful gem with me! Enjoy this compilation – and leave a little comment – it means the world to me ;-)

Peace; DubMe