Enough Jamaica Already?

The Mustangs : The Time For Loving Is Now
taken from the album "The Wonderful Side Of The Mustangs" on GBI (1975)

Byron Lee & The Dragonaires : Rockers
taken from the album "Disco Reggae" on Dynamic Sounds (1975)

Born Jamericans : Wherever We Go
taken from the album "Yardcore" on Delicious Vinyl (1997)

First off, PROPS to Bryan Sawyer from Albany! Bluh Bluh! He was the first one to figure out the Scientist sample from last week... drumroll for you slowpokes... Madlib used that first 4 bars or so on a beat for Bay Area hip hop crew The Living Legends, the track is called "Blast Your Radio", a hot single on a not so hot album. But still, mad love for the Legends. And Many thanks to all the folks who wrote me e-mails because they couldn't post replies on my broke ass Haloscan. It'll get right eventually, but don't hold your breath.

More Caribbean music? Yep. Bop yer head and vibe out with a freshly sparked spliff resting on your lips. Go to the beach, roadtrip, sit on the couch in front of the fan with an iced beverage. Ahhh.

We start off with a funky rocksteady tune from the Bahamas actually. Can't tell you much about The Mustangs. I love this tune all the way through, banging break to final lovey-dove chorus; even with that unintentional vocal distortion. Sometimes we grow fond of defects. You can find the LP along with a bunch of other over priced drool enducing vinyl at Diaspora Records.

This Byron Lee record can leave you drooling for entirely different reasons. HA! The classic Jamaican poster girl, with wet tee, coming out of the water to greet you (the theme of minimally clothed women seems to be a common selling point for his LPs). Byron was (and still is) a highly prolific artist of the kitschy kind. Many of his albums feature cover versions galore- often cheesed up beyond tolerablility. But, to his credit, the man has orchestrated some serious groove construction in his day and helped pave the way for Jamaican music's international appeal while Bob Marley was still learning how to play a chord. This Rockers track is perfect midafternoon sweaty-bed soundtrack material.

Finally, a little more ragga hop- this time coming outta Connecticut. I had the great pleasure of actually kicking it with Notch (the singer of the group) this past week while picking out possible beats for his upcoming album (did I say that? shhh, I'll get myself in trouble). This group pretty much epitomized the classic reggae - meets - hip hop flavor that was boomin' in ya jeep during the mid 90's. Kids From Foreign, the group's debut, was notable in it's re-usage of many original reggae riddims. While lot of ragga heads steered towards straight ahead hip hop beats, Born Jamericans kept the classic basslines and made them sound fresh. "Wherever We Go" gets its groove from Dennis Brown's "Revolution" riddim produced originally by Aswad (I believe- maybe it was Sly & Robbie). Referencing that classic track is what made me pick "Wherever" over the brilliantly catchy "Send My Love" song from the same album- if only I had the capability to give you ALL THE MUSIC THAT IS DOPE. Until then, stay tuned...

Oh yeah, one last thing (courtesy of Moistworks), check out the sickest "Robot Dance" ever!