something specials

2011-05-09 by The Mighty Alboy

Suspicious Stench – “Ghost Town”

V quick post while I have 5 mins

Came across this the other day and it’s been straining the speakers in me car ever since- a dubstep rework of Ghost Town by the Specials.

The nice fellas from Suspicious Stench have also kindly made available a free album (linked below) with further fatness:

“as even arseholes like us can be nice, we think everyone should follow this trend, so therefore by downoading this album you are legally obliging to do one random act of kindness for someone today.”

Bless.

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Rewind and come again

2011-02-22 by The Mighty Alboy

Original Rockers- “Sexy Selector”

We’ve had this one before at DC (see link below from Squeaker), but it’s just so good, it’ll certainly stand a re-up.

It was originally released in 1993, and posted here in 2007 when it was a nice blast from the past

Since then, the whole dubstep thing has blown up, and it sounds like it could’ve been made this week.

(or as the Double K may well point out- it sounds better than almost anything that was released this week, or indeed the last few years)

Sit back, spark up & enjoy…

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Junior Byles Style

2010-03-30 by The Mighty Alboy

Junior Byles- “Pretty Fe True/Pretty Dub”

A beaut of a tune from the man Kerrie “Junior” Byles (also known as “King Chubby”, apparently).

Junior Byles was Bob Marley’s successor in receiving the production talents of Lee Perry, and a bunch of other top ranking producers. He had a string of solo hits thanks to his sweet vocal tones and many buckets of talent, but Byles sadly suffered from a depressive condition. He was badly effected by the death of Haile Selassie in 1975, and his depression grew worse resulting in a huge decline in fortunes, numerous personal set backs and very little recording output over the next ten years.

He has recovered enough to put out some work in more recent years, but his output in the early-mid seventies stands as testament to the talent of the man, and all that could have been.

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Weatherall version

2009-03-25 by The Mighty Alboy

st.etienne – “only love can break your heart” (andy weatherall mix in two halves)

Here’s that weatherall remix

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1990 "Dub"-style Pop Cover Versions [1]

2009-03-23 by The Double K

Saint Etienne – Only Love Can Break Your Heart

For some strange reason I got a real urge to hear this track over the weekend – it’s been a long time, and so I dug out my dusty old copy of Foxbase Alpha to give it a whirl. I’d totally forgotten what a total gem the LP is – a completely of-its-time innovative mix of girlie indie pop, dub, house and ambient flavours that still sounds great today. This Neil Young cover version isn’t the only highlight – the completely feel-good Nothing Can Stop Us and deep house of Stoned To Say The Least also stand out for me.

I don’t know any of their later stuff at all – and a quick look at Discogs shows they have kept themselves plenty busy over the years. I did hear 2005’s Tales From Turnpike House a year or so ago, but it didn’t do it for me at all.

Still, after unearthing Foxbase Alpha I might have a dig round some of their older stuff to see if there are a few more gems to be found.

It seems they have a brand-new Greatest Hits box-set out London Conversations – you can get it at the links below.

1990 "Dub"-style Pop Cover Versions [2]

2009-03-23 by The Double K

Beats International – Dub Be Good To Me

Hearing Only Love Can Break Your Heart again reminded me of this track, which also falls into the very specific genre of “Dub” style pop cover versions from 1990. As far as I can think (and I haven’t thought very hard at all about this!) these may even be the only two tracks in existence that fit the genre. If you can think of any others then leave a comment to let me know. Obviously there are hundreds of “proper” reggae dub cover versions about, but I’m thinking more of this dub-in-the-loosest-possible-sense-of-the-term-early-90s-pop type of cover version.

Anyway, this cover of The SOS Band’s Just Be Good To Me is from the time when Norman Cook was simply an ex-Housemartin dabbling with dance music, a good few years before he emerged as the fully-engorged knob Fatboy Slim. It’s not a bad track – I bought the 7” at the time.

'Me Chat 'Dem In The Bookie Shop'

2009-01-20 by P Rice

Mad Professor & Pato Banton – King Step

Back in the early 90’s, when I was a wastrel student, there was a time when the album ‘Mad Professor Captures Pato Banton’ was never far from the record deck in the houses of myself and my friends. I hadn’t listened to it for years until a few months ago, when I discovered that the intervening years had not diminished my affections.

Some years after recording this album Pato Banton went on to top the charts with UB40, but I don’t begrudge him his later pop endeavours. As this tune quickly shows, the man can really ride a tune. What’s more, his lyrics are both conscious (‘you know that slackness is a thing I man do not respect’) and fun in a cheeky kind of way. As for the Mad Professor, he can always be relied upon to provide a heavy and spaced out rhythm track.

I’m not sure what the King Step is though. Answers on a postcard please.

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Dubstep Killer

2008-04-18 by The Mighty Alboy

Benga & Coki – “Night” (Original Mix)

As far as I can recall, we havent had any dubstep at DC before.

I’m only just starting to get my head around the dubstep sound- which is pretty much a hybrid of dancehall rhythms and dub production techniques and good old UK Garage, 2-step and grime. It’s sparse and dark and rhythmically complex- like dub and jungle/breakbeat, it features heavy and dynamic bass-drops and often plays with half-time tempos.

The scene has been growing since it emerged in London in late 1999/2000, and has now crossed-over into international scenes in NYC, Baltimore, and European techno where it has found resonances with outfits like Berlin’s Basic Channel/Hardwax records.

The track featured here Night is pure South London, coming as it does from Coulsdon boy Benga Uthman and Norwood’s Coki (from DMZ). It was out in February, and is catchy as fuck. And to check how dubstep producers can work these rhythms, check out the Geenus remix here .

So now you know what the kids are up to these days…. :)

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RIP The Dread At The Control

2008-04-03 by P Rice

Mikey Dread – Everybody Needs A Proper Education

Apologies for a brief interruption to the piano anthems madness, but this one is a quick dedication to Mikey Dread, who died a few days ago. Mikey Dread was the DJ for the JBC’s (the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation) weekly reggae show, which was the popular show in Jamaica in the mid-70’s and which spawned a number of jingles that have been heavily used ever since. You may think you’ve never heard one, but I bet you have.

As well as holding down his radio show Mikey Dread released a number of fine albums, and also famously teamed up with the Clash to produce some of their material, including the tune ‘Bank Robber’. My favourite Mikey Dread album is ‘African Anthems’, but this tune is taken from his ‘Dread At The Control’ album. The vocal fades into a nice long dub, featuring some lovely organ work.

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Have yourselves a spacey little christmas (1)...

2007-12-23 by The Mighty Alboy

Yellow Magic Orchestra (The Orb Green Herbage Mix)- “Tong Poo”

Xmarse is traditionally a time of hassle and stress, so to provide you, dear DC reader, with the means of preserving a chilled-out demeanour through shopping trips, hangovers, bad presents and other seasonal stresses here are a few of the mellowest sounds around town…

Kicking off this spaced-out yuletide dubwise selection is an obscure remix by The Orb of Yellow Magic Orchestra’s Tong Poo from 1993. It’s about as spacey as they come- that is, until you check selection 2…

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