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! 

~ a month in tunes 24.0 (2011 shai'li) ~

I thought I just quickly share the ~ a month in tunes 24.0 ~ December 2011 favourites selection by fellow blogger Duendiness. It again is a treasure box full of good music - covering various styles, places & times: 1. 2. 3. 4. No tracklist this time – it's just too long. These are some of my favourites – enjoy:

fruko y sus tesos - sale el boogaloo

hedzoleh soundz - rekpete

jorge ben jor - o telefone tocou novamente (1970)

marvin gaye - it's a desperate situation (alkalino rework)

robert nesta marley - we jamming too (remix)

money mark - cry (1995)

mystikal - bouncin' back (bumpin' me against the wall 2001)

too short - blow the whistle (buzz-t redub)

afrosound - tiro al blanco

bob & gene - i can be cool

can - vitamin c

carol fran - i'm gonna try (jeremy sole remix)

cat power - king rides by

celph titled & buckwild - there will be blood

david mc williams - the days of pearly spencer

desmond dekker - fu man chu

ernesto djedje - zadie bobo (1977)

DubMe

Beatz & Carrots #5 (February 2012)

01 - mop mop - the return of the king

02 - buddy sativa - una peripecia

03 - jeremy sole's musaics - skalypso vamp (nickodemus remix)

04 - alberto beltran - cana brava

05 - anthony b - dem can't stop we from talk (bleepolar's bogota cumbia remix)

06 - badboe - one of those days (original mix)

07 - dj rudd - to the beats yall (old school edit)

08 - tommy mccook & the supersonics - testify

09 - mr scruff and quantic - its dancing time

10 - muddy waters - worried mind (jeremy sole remix)

11 - unknown - taganga soun final efectos

12 - chambaku - su majestad (dj.luk)

13 - jazzanova - i can see (doctor stereo - felipee - skazzanova edit)

14 - pedders - boma yea

15 - fort knox five - another message to rudy (fort knox five edit)

16 - syclops - where's jason's k

17 - beverly road all stars - im still in love

18 - aged in harmony - you’re a melody (extended disco)

19 - outro - peter tosh - bombaclaat

Here is Beatz & Carrots #5 for your musical pleasure. Starting with The Return of the King by Mop Mop - which serves as an intro to this months compilation. And what an intro! The second song is the brilliant Una Peripecia by Buddy Sativa, a bossa-swinging-jazz-exotique-jungle-latin tune – which takes over from Mop Mop's mysterious intro – and gives the listener a very first impression in which direction this compilation is heading... And bam! Track #3 takes no prisoners! The amazing "Skalypso Vamp" by Jeremy Sole's Musaics which got the right remix treatment by Nickodemus. Groovy. Swinging. Steel Drums. Discolypso. Global Grooves. Tropical Sunshine. Finally got myself a good copy of this song. This one can be played out loud! Track #5 is Bleepolar's Bogota Cumbia remix of Anthony B's Dem Can't Stop We From Talk from Subatomic Sound's "Dem Can't Stop We From Talk" remix album. Dancehall meets Cumbia – nothing new to us! Masterful remix straight outta Colombia. Heavy Banger! My favourite remix from that album – and luckily shared for free on their soundcloud page! So we can all listen to it now... Track #7 is DJ Rudd's To The Beats Y'all (Old School Edit) – a soulful groovin', kickin' & breaking song with some nice horn action! Which was finally made downloadable via Ghettofunk's Spinforths Weekly Soundcloud Scour. "Testify" - track #8 is by Tommy Mccook and the Supersonics. Cool Cool Rocksteady! And some masterful saxophone playing! On track #10 we get Jeremy Sole masterfully remixing Muddy Waters Worried Mind. I love his remixes. It's never too much and never too little... just the right amount of ingredients. I wrote about this remix in an earlier post here. The Pedders "Boma Yea" - track #14 was a real surprise! I came across it via DJ BushBeats very good Groove comes in many Colors mix on soundcloud. It's a remix of "Boma Yeah" by Ras Michael & The Sons of Negus. The Ras Michael song is a deep deep meditation. Beautiful and haunting. But I also really like the remix - which adds a new dimension to the song - deep heavy sounds for the good dancefloor! If you need an introduction to the Nyahbingi sounds of Ras Michael – check his brilliant masterpiece Dadawah -Peace and Love (1974) which just got re-released by Dug Out records. Track #15 is a Fort Knox Five Edit of the ever great song "A Message To Rudy" by the Specials. Another reason why I like this edit is because of the intro telling us "Roots Music can never die..." Track #16 is Syclops "Where's Jason's K" - a zany electronic dance song – "which is basically nothing more than an inspired and stupidly addictive bassline for most of the track's six and a bit minutes. In the middle there's a crescendo of floaty effects, weird shit and an electronic organ all reminiscent of ‘70s funk wigouts, but 'K' is all about wilfully being hammered by bassline" (residentadvisor.net). Track #18 is the extended Disco version of "Aged In Harmony – You're A Melody", which was released on the "deep in my crates" Under The Influence Vol. 1 CD, compiled by DJ Red Greg. This is what the liner notes say: "'Aged in Harmony' were a Detroit Michigan based group, who released a sequence of three great 45s on the short lived Mor-Tones record label all off which have become very desirable in recent years. The song was also recorded by Gary and The Browns simply entitled 'Melo Melody'. I remember seeing 'You're A Melody' on various occasions online only a few years ago going for very little money. Since then it has gained plenty of interest, which has caused the price to soar and it has been commanding a 3-figure price tag. Regardless of value, it's a very nice mid-tempo disco soul song..." - Yes! It's a very nice mid-tempo disco soul song that just has that little something special to it. And I love it!

DubMe

PS: This compilation fits perfectly on one CD – just click "NO PAUSE BETWEEN TRACKS" - and the CD will be exactly 79:38 long – so burn it & share it...

Beatz & Carrots #4 (January 2012)

Here finally is my January 2012 Beatz & Carrots #4 compilation. Some good songs in here, old and new. And it also flows quite nicely when you listen to the compilation in its entirety. Beatz & Carrots #5 is already compiled as well. Just need to write a few lines, upload it – and it should then be shared on this blog within the next few days. Until then – keep yourself busy with this tracklist:

01 - dedy dread - go miller

02 - sono rhizmo' - mambocito mio

03 - benny berigan - caravan

04 - little walter - up the line

05 - restless leg syndrome - hornrace

06 - nynfus corp. - yetti

07 - le grand orchestre de paul mauriat - vole, vole farandole

08 - tenoshi - monsta monche (tenoshi version)

09 - phyllis dillon - perfidia

10 - unknown - cumbia (soundcloud)

11 - stretch - why did you do it

12 - the electric sideshow soundsystem - give me your number

13 - culture - we a boss

14 - the soul session - root down

15 - discotech - the boss

16 - brooklyn shanti - rani rani

17 - the soul session - horse with no name suite (desert intro)

18 - the soul session - horse with no name suite (horse with no name)

19 - the soul session - horse with no name suite (out of the rain)

20 - ahmad zahir - che kelaf sar zad az mah

21 - dj catalist - everybody

22 - pan di-hua - midnight kiss

Giving some credits to all the artists and musicians out there who are enriching our lifes with grooves, musical sunshine and love everyday – The first song is Go Miller by Dedy Dread, which he shared as a little Christmas gift on his soundcloud page last year. Beautiful song – which seems to get better every time I listen to it. The intro is one of the best out there: "Hello and Greetings to all those Punks out there... 'coz I am the King of the Punks (What kind of records to you play for your own pleasure – as it were?) Generally I play Soul music, Jazz music, I love Calypso music. I love all type of music (inaudible). Generally listening to Jazz..." - "Generally listening to Jazz"... Ahhh! That line kills it for me. Beautiful! „Mambocito Mio“ - the second song is a tasty beefed up Latin/Mambo Groover by Sono Rhizmo'. That song got released on Resense records (# 004) back in 2007. But somehow I missed it. Resense records, which seems to be a sub-label (!?) of the equally great Agogo Records (check them out on soundcloud) is one of the top labels out there releasing groovy, funky, swinging, soulful music with all of our favorite artists out there! The third song Caravan by Benny Berigan is a brilliant take on the Jazz standard "Caravan", originally composed by Juan Tizol and first performed by Duke Ellington in 1937. That song (and its various covers) has always been a favorite of mine – and Benny Berigan definitely adds his own twist to it - making it a dirty whirling desert groover – or as someone on soundcloud put it "I feel like Alibaba traveling the desert at night!" - Jaaa! The next song "Up The Line" by Little Walter from 1963 was another surprice find. What a groover. While I was listening to this compilation a few times I caught myself wondering "What song is that?!" - having as much swing and raw power as Brenda Boykin's Hard Swing Travellin' Man – only to find out every time that it is that Little Walter song way back from 1963. Song #5 keeps the groove and the swing – going Cumbia: Restless Leg Syndrome – Hornrace and their version of "Cumbia en do menor" by Lito Barrientos – one of my Top 10 Cumbia songs of all time: heavy percussion, stomping horns, tropical madness! You can download the whole EP "name your price" on their bandcamp site. The remaining 17 songs are equally great and eclectic – but I now ought to do some more compiling - finish compiling questions for a survey on "Vegetarianism in China" which I need for my thesis.

The "cover" or rather image I shared with this compilation is a picture of a German "Sex" record called "St Pauli Nachrichten" on the Porno Records label (St Pauli being the Red Light District of Hamburg) which I bought many many years ago when I "got into" collecting "sex records". I can still remember when a friend first told me that he, beside collecting Exotica and Incredibly Strange Music records, also collects sex records. I was like "eh?!" - what are Sex records? Well, basically in the 50, 60 and 70... until we had Super 8mm film and video cassettes more generally available – records where still the format of the day – and so "Porn" was sold on record to some degree. I assume. It was a huge surprise when I first heard dialogues like "F##k me harder" on a German record from the 60ies. Don't know – maybe I was under the impression that people back then didn't have Sex or whatever... After this first "introduction" I surrendered myself to the mission of finding all these Sex records. And it was no easy task finding the real ones – or could you imagine your grandmother going to a second hand record shop saying "I here have some old records which me and my husband bought in the 60ies". But over the course of the years I found some records which were incredibly great and funny: sex plays with hilarious dialogues (who wrote them?!), 60 minutes of moaning over some African percussion, a record with just the sounds of a squeaking creaking bed, a porn version of Kafka's "The Trial" - which was so kafkaesque that I wanted to trash it after listening to it the first and only time... bahh! And records which just had great covers or other gimmicks – like the one I used for this post. Stay tuned and find out how the amazing 4x gatefold cover of this record opens up and reveals a secret place during the next few Beatz & Carrots posts...

DubMe

...Roots Music can never die: „Jamaican Harmony Trios - The Jewells“

01 - jewells - jah i (extended mix)
02 - porti - one lick
03 - jewells - i believe in love
04 - jewells - my little dream love
05 - jewells - dream love
06 - jewells - singing sweet harmony
07 - version - drum & bass (flabba & style)
08 - jewells - slave trade
09 - jewells - love and livity
10 - jewells - love & livety version
11 - big youth - political confusion - jewells - love & livity dub (extended)
12 - jewells - black is the highest culture
13 - the survivors - live out the 70s
14 - the survivors - leggo badness
15 - gladstone manning - prophesy call
16 - gladstone manning - prophesy call dub
17 - the palm threes - step it out version
18 - the palm threes - step it out
19 - the immortals - can't keep a good man down
## - bonus track - the immortals - can't keep a version

Jamaican Harmony Trios - The Jewells

Some 8-9 years ago I listened to the radio show Hidden Gems - The Jewells by the Australian Reggae website firecorner.com - introducing the Jamaican harmony trio „The Jewells“. I had to that point never heard of that band, but as a huge lover of deep 70ies roots music I was immediately struck by the beauty of their songs, the heavy roots riddims which set the background to their weaving harmonies (which were very much influenced by the Rocksteady style), the baritone of their lead singer Glasford Manning, their spiritual as well as provocative lyrics – as well as some of their more mellow, lovers rock influenced songs ridding drum and bass riddims in an early 80ies rub-a-dub style fashion! Beside the podcast about „The Jewells“, which is still available for download on the Firecorner website (plus many other great podcasts – well worth checking out!) - and the article „The Jewels In The Crown“, which Penny Reel wrote in 1985 for the NME, there was no other information on the Jewells available on the Internet or elsewhere at that time. I was lucky to find two 7inches by the Jewells, as well as a few songs which I found on Niney The Observer compilations. Beside that I digitally tracked down all the Jewells songs I could find on various blogs, soulseek – or which some nice reggae enthuasiast and collectors shared with me. While I am just now writing this blogpost and putting together the tracklist for this post – I discovered the very detailed article/interview Black is the Highest Culture –The Jewells by Peter I on his very nice website reggae-vibes.com. Good stuff – and according to the interview with Glasford Manning it seems that Leggo who ran Cash & Carry and Leggo Sounds records is still sitting on songs by the Jewells worth two albums! Lets hope there is gonna be a release of their songs some day – they deserve to be heard! Here is a copy of the Penny Reel article (which doesn't seem to be online on the Firecorner website anymore):

"The Jewels in the Crown" - by Penny Reel (NME / 9 November 1985)

The handful of records from The Jewels released towards the latter part of the '70s are among the final flourishes of a long standing tradition in Jamaican popular music.

The vocal group is a constant in the island's recorded music that extends back as far as the pre-ska Jiving Juniors and The Maytals, though it is during the rock steady era in the mid-'60s when the style comes properly into its own and provides much of the more memorable sounds of the time. Similarly, during the Ras Tafari resurgence of the '70s, the style is adapted by former rock steady outfits like The Wailers, Gladiators, Ethiopians, etc and newer groups such as the original Burning Spear, Culture, The Abyssinians and many more. With the advent of the dancehall genre in the '80s the solo singer has moved back into the ascendant and the vocal group all but vanished from the scene.

The first of the Jewels collection is itself a solo effort: Prophecy Call recorded by Glassford Manning, produced by the Sir Niney and issued in JA on the Observer imprint is a sufferers plaint rendered in the manner then favoured by the Freedom Sounds roster of artists operating out of Greenwich Farm in Kingston.

When I later ask Niney for details concerning this obscure side, he tells me that Manning is the lead singer of a vocal group, The Jewels, he has been recording, and shortly after this the first of the group's waxings surface in the London pre outlets: Jah I, credited to The Jewels and again released on Observer.

This first group effort is an ehortation in defence of Ras Tafari propelled along by the double drumming recently popularised by Sly. "Although the wicked they try to cramp 'gainst I and I", Manning warns, "they shall stumble and fall." The fourfold rhythm is expounded to even greater effect on the dub I Jah as performed by The Observer Wild. The song duly forms the A-side of their sole UK issue, on Observer discomix through the auspices of Count Shelley's Third World centre, and couple with a further Jewels title unissued in Jamaica, called Black Is The Highest Culture.

Their next and final three releases mark the group's sudden shift of allegiance from Niney to Leggo Beast's Cash and Carry label. The first of these, Love and Livity, is the Jewels' single gem. Penned jointly by B. Davis (presumable Bobby Davis, former singer with The Sensations rock steady vocal group) and Glassford Manning, the song is a lilting, humanitarian hymn with weaving harmonies, which harkens back to the rock steady style. Big Youth was moved sufficiently to toast a version.

Dream Lover Babe, which followed, was again evidence of the group's gentler side, and once more its debt to rock steady is marked in both use of harmonies and production. A dignified piece.

Their last was Slave Trade credited to just Jewels and released in 1979 on a new Cash and Carry imprint, with some polemic detailing inquity under the yoke as its title suggests. "They treated us with brutality, and they treated us with no humanity," are the last words from The Jewels as the song fades. Since when a silence.

Except for a single footnote: a solo effort released in 1981 on the Beast's eponymous Leggo Sounds label from one Porti Jewel entitled Staring At Me Girl, a further G. Manning composition. Are Porti and Glasford one and the same man? The vocal suggests as much.

The style of vocal groups like The Jewels may be obsolete in the current dancehall runnings but their message remains intact. (end of Penny Reel article)

As I only have 60 minutes of music by the Jewells – I added a few songs by other great Jamaican harmony trios that I believe suit this compilation. AND! If any of you dear readers got some more info or songs by the Jewells, please please please let me know, leave a comment and share it/them with us all :)

DubMe

~ a month in tunes 25.0 (2012 shai'li) ~

ambassadeurs - m.o.p.e

anthony hamilton - oh lord (the apple scruffs edit)

betty green - he's down on me

butch clancy - russian lullaby

citizens! - true romance

cunninLynguists - lynguistics

deloris ealy - deloris is back with jerome and his band

devendra banhart - shabop shalom

django django - default

electric guest - american dream

emiliana torrini - jungle drums

frankie lymon - itty bitty pretty one (prince of ballard edit)

freqnik & wdre - beatnuts off the books vs j rawls

hansi edit - hot pants road

hansi edit - humdinger

joder - palov ft ang.angelides (instr)

little sonny - the creeper returns

paul whire - doldrums

perrion - fire ant

phyllis dllon - perfidia

ralph mcdonald - the path

sir victor uwaifo - iye iye oh

the debonaires - in the rain (remix)

the decoders - hey there lonely boy ft coco owino

the montclairs - hung up on your loveeeeeee

twit one - do bem

twit one - tereza

wankelmut - one day

Here finally is another ~ a month in tunes 25.0 (2012 shai'li) ~ selection by my friend and fellow music/photo/picture/love/fun/art/life blogger Duendiness, who also shared the nice picture I used for this post. After I got back from my six week long holiday in Thailand and Malaysia – I was looking forward to Shai'li's latest musical discoveries – especially after he mentioned that he found a musical goldmine! And woah! quite some mighty tunes and other surprises in here. Let me share a few with you - the ones that hit me straight – love on first listening – yeah!: „In the Rain (remix)“ by The Debonaires, an old Harry Mudie production I have never heard off! It was originally released on a Tobin 7inch someday in the 1970ies. Who made the remix? Not much info available – but this song is a real gem – that just comes – keeps floating along – and then goes... Harry Mudie is one of my most favorite Jamaican producers (among the many other great producers!). His riddim tracks, often recorded at Studio One, are always heavy and strong - but at the same time also very melodic and well crafted. He is also responsible for some classic and often versioned Jamaican Riddims. Besides that he worked with some of the best Jamaican vocalists like John Holt, Dennis Walks, the Heptones, Ebony Sisters, The Eternals, Lloyd Jones and the late great Slim Smith - a sure win combination! After I listened to this song for the first time – I thought it sounded somewhat familiar – and yes! Its a cover of The Dramatics In The Rain from 1971 which some of you readers might also know. Another sweet surprise was the song „The Path“ by Ralph McDonald, which I think Beatconductor used for his song/edit/remix „Caribbean Path“. Its always nice when things begin to connect musically – and everything makes meaning on a deeper level. Next are two great edits/reworks by MPM producer Twit One. The first one „Do Bem“ is an edit of O Caminho do Bem from Tim Maia, an Brazilian artist worth checking out for his many great great songs – probably my biggest favorite is his often (!?) sampled 15+ minute long spiritual anthem Rational Culture from the album „Racional' Seroma“ (1974). „Tereza“ - the second tune by Twit One is an edit of another Brazilean Song: „Tereza Guerreira” from Antonio Carlos & Jocafi. Good sexy Latin music to play on your Sunday afternoon Bar-B-Q. Also check out Twit One's mixtape Discoe Cultura on soundcloud or his beatcamp site for more songs. Another favorite is „Shabop Shalom“ by Devendra Banhart. After I played this song twice today, my girlfriend kept humming it all the time – so this one is definitely a song for the ladies :) Should take my time to make a „Lady Mixtape“ sometime – which one of my favorite musical Bloggers out there - „The Prince of Ballard“ - did I while ago. Check out his „Lady Mix“ here. The intro of the song „Shabop Shalom“ reminds me a bit of Donavan's intro to his song Atlantis – a song my father had on one of the many mixtapes he played at home when I was still a little boy. The rest of the song „Shabop Shalom“ is equally great – sweeter than Elvis, Doo Wop(er) than Doo Wop... Did I just mentioned the „Prince“ somewhere? Well, I was lucky to find one of my most favorite songs of the last few months available for a free download on his soundcloud page a while ago – and if that isn't enough – Shai'li shares it again with us! I am talking about the Prince of Ballard edit of „Frankie Lymon - Itty Bitty Pretty One. This edit has been driving me crazy. Sooo sweet, sooo deep, sooo good... Not only my girlfriend was humming it for hours every time I played it. I didn't know that an edit can add such depth to a song! Hopefully there will be many more edits from the Prince of Ballard in 2012! Its seems to be impossible to post anything on my blog without mentioning the mighty Soundway label. This time it's the sweet song „Iye Iye Oh“ from the legendary Nigerian Guitar giant Sir Victor Uwaifo, which was released in 2008 on Soundways Sir Victor Uwaifo: Guitar Boy Superstar1970-76 album. Pure niceness – listen yourself! I am going to end my own list of favorites with the electronic, minimal and very soulful groover „Wankelmut - One Day“. And now you can download Shai'li's latest discoveries – and share your very own favorites in the comment section with us ;-) AND! This is only the January selection – I will hopefully get Shai'li's musical favorites from the month of December 2011 during the next few days – and share it here as well. Enjoy! DubMe

"Gaga vs Holy Warbles" - or - "Guilty until proven innocent?"

In today's post I want to link to the very well written article "Guilty until proven innocent" from the eclectic music blog Bodega Pop... Well, let's hope John Gilmore is right: "The Net interprets censorship as damage and routes around it."

DubMe