Absolutely awesome interview with Ras Kush about reggae in New York covering everything from the connections with hip hop, soundsystems, Wackies the underdog, Super Cat, Jammyland, binghi sessions and black consciousness. And also the long reach of sleng teng, Jah Shaka and Xterminator from overseas.
Essential reading and definitely one to print off for the bus/train/tube journey home.
Wackies and Jah Shaka are interviewed at length in this new publication: More Axe #2.
A 150 page perfectbound book featuring some nice archive interviews and writing. Of particular note is the piece on Peter King – Saxon soundsystem’s fast chat originator.
It’s slightly let down by its design and typesetting but is professional produced overall and very readable.
Books on rocksteady and deejays also available. Order via the link.
junior delahaye & jerry harris with original master tape reel
And if that’s not enough Wackies for ya, check out this recent Wackies Alumni radio show in NYC by the man Carter Van Pelt and featuring Jerry Harris, Junior Delahaye, and Prince Douglas reminiscing on their musical history and contributions to the Wackies sound.
Yeah it’s a bit incessant but there are so few releases right now that really excite me I’m going to roll with this for a bit!
The Hyperdub bash at the weekend was awesome, lots of nice people, lots of chat and catching up. Bit too rammed, great soundsystem.
King Midas Sound came on around midnight and were great. Kevin on the buttons, mixing it up like an old school On-U Sound session, tweaking the tracks in a raw dubwise style – harder than the album. Roger’s vocals were a bit more forthright onstage as well. They opened with “Cool Out” and it was much more directly in your face than the vinyl version – live and direct, in fact. Hitomi came out stage front a little later on and brought her own styles to the equation – each of the trio has great stage presence.
It was awesome stuff for a group who have only performed live once before, I can’t wait to see them again. The rest of the line up was of similar quality from what I saw – Kode9 and Spaceape live were verging on “stadium” with lots of funky stylings – manging to fill the room up with sound and voice without resorting to wobblers, natch. Which is possibly one of the unwritten laws of Hyperdub.
Mala‘s set in the small room was also a joy, lots of classics that even dubstep cynics like me knew and loved.
Then I got into wandering around, chatting and drinking territory so that’s yer review in full.
Shout out to they guy sitting next to me on the N253 at 3:30am who threw up all over the place. You twat.
Anyway, I daresay all you lot out there are weary of me banging on about KMS given that the album isn’t even out yet? Fair enough! Time for some audio…
Then head over to FACT Magazine and snaffle their exclusive King Midas Sound mix, which features their own tunes alongside some classic lovers rock, soul, arsequake and avant garde business. Mixed by Kevin Martin. Exclusive one-away vocals from Roger Robinson and Hitomi. Yes really. You need this.
Noel Hawks of ace reggae reissue label Pressure Sounds is interviewed and selects some tracks on a recent Resonance FM show by Derek from The Wire magazine.
Paul Meme performs his own mix and blend dubwise alchemy on Ryan Moore’s outstanding back-catalogue.
Features talents like Big Youth, Ranking Joe, Mykal Rose and Luciano.
Do yourself a favour and grab this now.
Then check Woofah issue 3 for a great interview with Ryan by me and Paul STN.
And also head over to twilightcircus.com for more info on Ryan’s back catalogue including the excellent Vocal Anthology and Michael Rose albums alongside dubs both seismic and atmospheric.
Heatwave Celebrate St George’s day on their Rinse show tonight by showcasing some UK talent. Before then you can download their mix of Necessary Mayhem tunes.
