idle thoughts for idle moments

blogariddims 3


pole 'rondell eins' (kiff 12”)

asa chung and jun ray – excerpt from a song from their first leaf lp

future 3 'reverberate' (april records 12”)

various productions ‘hater’ (various production 7”)

wasteland ‘wintermission’ (transparent cd)

funckarma ‘wiert’ (d.u.b. lp)

dj scud ‘no love’ (transparent 12”)

vex’d ‘gunman’ (planet mu 12”)

digital mystikz ‘anti war dub’ (dmz 12”)

danman & iration steppas ‘too much war’ (tandoori space 10”)
version 

hughie izachaar ‘mass destruction’ (dubwise 10”)
destruction dub

mark iration 'struggle' (scoops 10”)

barry brown & roots radics band ‘movements of jah’ (roots lp)

jackie mittoo ‘mash down babylon’ (basic replay 12”)

patrick anthony ‘ganja’ (forward 7”)

fantan ‘they don't care about us’ (in the streetz 7”)
lady g ‘what happen’ (in the streetz 7”)
sizzla ‘rock my world’ (in the streetz 7”)
lukie d 'in my soul' (in the streetz 7”)

junior reid ‘i want to love you’ (annex 7”)
sizzla & jiggsy king ‘see har deh’ (annex 7”)

turbulance ‘give her what she wants’ (xterminator 7”)

60mins 23 secs

this mix/ podcast started as an excuse/ experiment to show that dubstep would fit
just swimmingly next to a bit of uk-reggae*, as well as some older electronica that
takes at least some of its inspiration from similar sources.

so, this is in no way purist but hopefully is an enjoyable way to soundtrack an
hour of your life. no more, no less.

if you've not yet subscribed (fools!) its available at: http://feeds.feedburner.com/blogariddims/ 

*NOT digi-dub, as that seems to be used as a term somewhat like 'your mum...'
in certain circles at the moment.
probably circles that don't actually know what digidub is, but i'm not minded to get into that argument.
ever.
for an interesting discussion on dubstep's merits or otherwise, head over to
the uncarved comments boxes.

pole 'rondell eins' (kiff 12”)
future 3 'reverberate' (april records 12”)

two different examples of how reggae has influenced electronica- pole goes for the
ghostly crackles and cavourness bass of old dub lps (a link made even clearer by rhythm and sound),
whilst future 3- the hobby industries 'supergroup' take a more poppy take.

various productions ‘sir’ (various production 7”)

now signed to xl and reduced to various, which is a far inferior name.
from what i've heard- one 7” and a 12”- this lot have two sides to them.
this interesting (though hardly original) combination of  electronic beats and nice singing
and a slightly dated 'slap an accapela on something we made earlier'.
the artwork on the 7”s is lovely, mind.

wasteland ‘wintermission’ (transparent cd)
funckarma ‘wiert’ (d.u.b. lp)

the first contribution from dj scud (alongside i-sound). on whom, more later.
the synth half way through is straight from the cold vein, whilst funckarma focus
on bass pressure and some clever edits.

dj scud ‘no love’ (transparent 12”)

my favourite scud track. all the ingredients are present and correct, but slow cooked.
he was really onto something with this track, but seems to have left it all behind
to focus on wasteland

vex’d ‘gunman’ (planet mu 12”)

taking up the 'no love' baton?

digital mystikz ‘anti war dub’ (dmz 12”)
danman & iration steppas ‘too much war’ (tandoori space 10”)
version 

digital mystikz, of all the dubstep producers i've heard are the ones who seem to know their place in
uk-soundsystem history, which makes their output far more interesting than many of those
making outlandish claims about dubstep's originality (which, it needs re-stating is not
by definition a good thing).
their links to iration steppas are sonically obvious in these two tracks and they play together in leeds
on 11th of august on the iration steppas' soundsystem, which i will probably be able to feel from my tent
in holland. 

hughie izachaar ‘mass destruction’ (dubwise 10”)
destruction dub 

completes the 'war' theme...

mark iration 'struggle' (scoops 10”)

'so long we've been struggling, so long inna baby-wrong'. amazingly, mark iration's first official vocal
release, on vibronics' 'dub struggle' rhythm, but no suprise  for those who have attended an
iration dance.

barry brown & roots radics band ‘movements of jah’ (roots lp)

on the 'no, no, no' rhythm

jackie mittoo ‘mash down babylon’ (basic replay 12”)

heavy business form the tail end of the 1970s

patrick anthony ‘ganja’ (forward 7”)

i had a number of misgivings about including this tune, but it came in a job lot,
and i've done all i can to hide the totally pointless homophobic reference- quite why
some reggae artists feel the need to highlight their own ignorance is beyond me.
thankfully, people with influence, like david rodigan agree: http://www.dissensus.com/showthread.php?t=4216.
the rhythm is a stormer though.

fantan ‘they don't care about us’ (in the streetz 7”)
lady g ‘what happen’ (in the streetz 7”)
sizzla ‘rock my world’ (in the streetz 7”)
lukie d 'in my soul' (in the streetz 7”)

another studio one classic gets an update. this time 'if i were a carpenter' by ernest wilson.
fantan is obviously phantan mojah (he even says so in the intro...)

junior reid ‘i want to love you’ (annex 7”)
sizzla & jiggsy king ‘see har deh’ (annex 7”)

summer bounce rhythm. the line 'soul breaking / heart pulsating/  i've been thinking about creating' raises a smile.

turbulance ‘give her what she wants’ (xterminator 7”)
version

as does 'give her want she wants / give her what she ask for / nah' go bitey, bitey / offer me no dracula'.

i post here so irregularly, that i was somewhat apprehensive about mentioning another foreign jaunt that we'd been on, but what the hey.

sitting in a coffee shop on laugavegur (ironically the icelandic version of the 1 in 12 club, but in true reykjavik fashion, swapping pissed and puking anarcho-punks for pretty young things with laptops) , we were next to a meeting between a british music label a&r exec and 5 young men who looked like the arctic monkeys.

suddenly i flew back 10 years, to when i was living in nottingham and living / hanging out with people who were in bands being courted by record labels- the overly friendly demeanour, the big promises, the little lies, the 'i really, really care- we have your future mapped out' comments, the absence of 'units' and 'demographics'.

i almost leant over and hissed 'don't do it- your dreams will be unfulfilled, and you'll end up either bitter and disenchanted, or playing the game to the detriment of your soul'. but, as always the thought that maybe they could 'make it' and overcome the industry bollocks to create an interesting body of work without compromising the reasons why they started silenced me. that and the fine coffee that arrived in a thermos flask.

anyway, that evening we returned to the same coffee shop because there was a free show on, and because the heroin style screamo band from norway playing down the street were a decade too late to enjoy.

deciphering the flyer we worked out that the band playing were called ekkium. they had pretty female vocals and a violin, thus fitting all your icelandic band stereotypes. i guess they are part of what are known locally as 'krútt kids' (thanks http://www.grapevine.is), but for that moment, leaning on the bar, next to an array of organic cookies i could have cried. however, i thought i'd better save the tears for the wedding i was due to attend a fortnight later.

music being made for what appeared was the right reasons. without cynicism and for the simple pleasure of doing it. no sign of 'the next sigur ros' and their potential boss either. they finished, and we left to encounter the drunken chaos of friday night reykjavik, played to a soundtrack of (albeit fleetingly) classic studio one productions.

confusing place, iceland.

'city too hot' mix

a mix of recently bought and/or under-played records
(or, in the case of little roy's 'hurt not the earth', i wanted to hear it again and again...
it jumps in the middle, which is upsetting, but you may as well get used to it given the
quality of the presses i'll be focussing on for a while).
originally made for personal listening, but i thought i might as well post it on here.

horace andy 'wise man'(from: 'whip them king tubby! linval thompson and friends', auralux lp)
'a wiser version' (from: 'whip them king tubby! linval thompson and friends',  auralux lp)

symbols 'motherless children' (art & craft 12”)
ranking caretaker 'no dash it wey' (art & craft 12”)

sylford walker 'book of old testament' (art & craft 12”)
jah stitch 'jah spoke unto moses' (art & craft 12”)

eek-a-mouse 'creation' (eek-a-mouse records 7”)
'creation dub' (eek-a-mouse records 7”)

bob marley & wong chu 'keep on moving' (trojan 12”)

little roy 'hurt not the earth' (from: 'little roy and friends - packin house', pressure sounds lp)

prince alla 'daniel' (trojan 12”)
tappa zukie 'blackman' (trojan 12”)

wayne jarrett 'youth man' (wackies 12”)
augustus pablo – version (wackies 12”)

william shakepare (g. isaacs) 'late at night' (from: 'down santic way', pressure sounds lp)
i roy 'late hour' (from: 'down santic way', pressure sounds lp)
leonard santic all stars 'santic rock' (from: 'down santic way', pressure sounds lp)

joy card 'black girl' (wackies 12”)
'wackies rhythm force version' (wackies 12”)

1hr 9mins 47 secs

available here.

as always... contact if link broken / you want a hard copy.


symbols 'motherless children' (art & craft 12”)
ranking caretaker 'no dash it wey' (art & craft 12”)
sylford walker 'book of old testament' (art & craft 12”)
jah stitch 'jah spoke unto moses' (art & craft 12”)

these art & craft disco mixes were highly sought after until these somewhat dubious re-issues
popped up, and even now fetch a fair bit on e-bay
the originals have a far nicer cover, though possibly not £27.00 better.
ranking caretaker takes a very catholic line (literally)on birth control  on 'no dash it wey'
- romantic rastas take note.
sylford walker is that rarity- an under recorded reggae singer, and here he revisits his
deuteronomy lyrics, so maybe that suggests why. brilliant all the same.


eek-a-mouse 'creation' (eek-a-mouse records 7”)
'creation dub' (eek-a-mouse records 7”)

before he started binging and ribbiting eek-a-mouse was a roots crooner.
and a pretty good one at that.


bob marley & wong chu 'keep on moving' (trojan 12”)
prince alla 'daniel' (trojan 12”)
tappa zukie 'blackman' (trojan 12”)

the sanctuary purchase of trojan saw the re-issue of some ace sides before their stock went tits up.
the flip side to the essential 'disco devil';
“keep on moving [begins] innocuously enough: aside from a few honking bars of [...] sax,
nothing much seems amiss until, halfway through the song [...] the rhythm is stopped
and abruptly re-started.
then out of nowhere, wong chu, selector of tippertone sound bursts in through a wildly excessive
haze of delay to deliver a bewildering toast about all things straight and twisted.[...]
though, as ever, it is perry's boundless mixing that really [gives] the disc its outstanding qualities”
(katz, d (2000) 'people funny boy- the genius of lee”scratch” perry' payback press, edinburgh.)


i roy 'late hour'

my favourite deejay in all reggae. never disappoints.