uncarved.org blog

UNIT – Rock In Opposition (Phase One) (DNA CD) 

This is the 6th UNIT album which builds on the lyrical themes and musical styles of previous releases, but provides some surprises into the bargain as well.

The band’s tradition of reworking previous songs is present and correct. I feel this works best with the new version of “Science and Magick” - a song which I enjoyed so much when I first heard the Academy 23 version that I seriously considered having it played at my funeral alongside Hopeton Lewis’ “Take It Easy”.

The usual score-settling occurs on “Sick Scum”, in which people who have given the band unwarranted (and downright bigoted) bad reviews are taken to task. Don’t mess!

Whilst I like UNIT’s songs, I was beginning to miss the more experimental numbers which some of the band had produced under the Academy 23 banner, so I was pleased to see that this album marks the return of some soundscapes accompanied by spoken word. “The Blue Funnel” is a definite highlight, telling the story of 4,000 Chinese sailors in Liverpool who were used in the British war effort and then cruelly cast aside.

The album marks a noticeable return to a concern with global politics. This is a theme which had always been present, but was perhaps submerged under a cynicism with anarchist and leftist politics and activists (often entirely justifiably). Themes such as globalisation and war permeate the lyrics, with an analysis far deeper than your run of the mill punk band.

“The Last 10′ of a Tyrant” deals with the actions of Pinochet on the 11th of September 1973 – the other 9/11? Other topics include Baader Meinhof and the Hungarian uprising of 1956. Alternative media is bigged up throughout – whatreallyhappened.com and indymedia especially, and “The Clear Spot” is named after and dedicated to a show on Resonance FM.

The instrumentation is intriguingly diverse – the addition of a bit of clarinet squawking alto saxophone underline the more vocally aggressive tracks really effectively.

The CD comes with a full colour 16 page booklet with photos, lyrics etc, AND a 40 page A5 booklet with texts, rants etc (including the shock revelation that Andy Martin was a raver in the mid to late 90s!).

I only have one major reservation about the album…

UNIT are known for not shying away from unpopular views and controversial lyrics. This is easy for me to swallow when they are being cynical about peace protestors and this cynicism leads them to posing the question “if wars are so unpopular, why do they continue?”. But Rock In Opposition steps over the line in one section of the otherwise excellent 9 minutes long “Middle East Panorama”.

The track begins with a great pastiche of voiceover from a martial arts film and gives way to Andy Martin’s vocal on the subject of the Palestinian conflict. Whilst obviously I’d endorse things like:

“Terrorism comes in many different types
but it’s usually controlled by the stars and stripes”

I take issue with:

“[...] brutal jewish crimes against humanity”

“[...]Kick out every jew
Tell them where to go
Victory to the PLO”

“[...]Ask for our compassion
because you are jew
yet you want to do to arabs
what the nazis did to you”

I feel that this racialises the conflict unnecessarily.

Aside from that it is completely counterproductive for two reasons. Firstly it allows defenders of the Zionist state and its occupation to continue to paint its critics as being anti-semitic. Secondly it implicitly places all jews in the category of supporters of Zionism, which is of course some way from being the case.

For example hacidic jews where I live are at pains to distance themselves from the Zionist state on the grounds that it derives from a misinterpretation of the Torah. There is a street near Stamford Hill called West Bank and hacidic jews have burnt the Israeli flag there in protest.

More promisingly I’ve personally met people born in Israel who are far from supporters of “their” government. Similarly, whilst they are currently small, it is clear that there are some elements within the conflict which are developing a class consciousness, or at the very least a perspective which is more complex than a binary “arabs vs jews” one. Couching the issue in these terms probably makes for an easier song lyric, but it can’t help our understanding of the situation. And in any case I like UNIT precisely because they usually aren’t afraid of moving away from simplistic sloganeering. I should add that I would be very surprised if any member of the band did actually harbour anti-semitic thoughts – if they did I wouldn’t be publicising their work, of course.

Thankfully the remainder of the track is up to the usual high level of musical quality and lyrical insight. An internationalist perspective is introduced which includes an attack on Belmarsh Prison – “our very own Guantanamo Bay”. I owe Andy Martin a long letter (if you’ve ever had a letter from Andy Martin you will undertand this!) and I’ll include a printout of this review and ask for his comments.

Overall Rock In Opposition is yet another excellent album from UNIT, which is unfortunately marred by about 2 minutes of ill-thought out lyrics. With that proviso aired, I’d still recommend that people check it out.

Available for £10 (including postage and packing worldwide) from: UNIT HQ, PO BOX 45885, LONDON E11 1UW, UK. Please make cheques/postal/money orders payable to YM Cheung.

See http://www.unit-united.co.uk/ for further information and mp3s.

T-WOC – Reign Blood (ABCEP005 CD EP)
Nice 7 tracker out of Dublin. I wonder if any Slayer fans with pick it up by mistake and realise the error of their ways?

It’s a bit eclectic in focus. The first couple of tracks are mindfuck mash up beaty affairs which bring early Squarepusher to mind.
(Glastonbury, 1997? on my birthday, we get up and go to see Squarepusher. He’s off his head. “Hands up everyone whose been up all night drinking! Right – the rest of you lot can fuck off…” It’s the only time I’ve ever been to Glastonbury “oh bollocks, I forgot to play my bass”)

Yiks has lots going on and a lot of it is mentalist. I didn’t like this too much at first but it’s grown on me after a few listens – especially the slightly jarring keyboards which come in about halfway through and dominate the rest of the track. Mad organist in haunted chapel stylee.

Badu is even more mash up breakbeat bizness with little hints of that mad gabba “bassline” noise. Robotic big band drummers malfunctioning in an abandoned spacestation.

Furball and its accompanying dub are my favourites. Some kind of “stadium hip hop” loop on top of two sets of interlocking breakbeats. Love this. There’s a great violin gliding through the middle of it and a nice bit of the old skankin going on alongside air raid sirens. All the ingredients, perfectly mixed for a tasty treat. The dub ramps up the echo chamber and siren. T-woc knows his dub for sure – a great use of space and subtraction here to give the crucial (de)emphasis on hidden parts of the original.

Twins is those big band robotic drummers getting their shit together because Fuzzy Jones has docked with the spacestation and they want to impress him so much he’ll stay. I reckon he’ll dig it, but it’s good to see our automated friends giving it their all anyway.

Simmons SE has some ace squiddly synths going. Iration with flashes of jittery techno. East From Vibro is steppers on a sunday afternoon, ambling along rather than sprinting. Great intro with some glitched up oriental plucky stuff given the treatment.

T-woc is definitely someone to keep an eye on- check out the mp3s and invest in a copy if you like the tunes as much as I do.

Running time 33 minutes. Available from http://t-woc.alphabetset.net/

Various Artists – ARIWA 81 Sessions (Ariwa CD)

This CD is the first in a series which acts as a counterpart to the recent Method to the Madness compilation put out by Trojan. Tracks from the vaults which have either been completely ignored for years, or have achieved classic status and now instigate serious competition on ebay.

Ariwa set up in 1979 on a shoestring budget with a 4 track tape deck and lot of ideas. Despite being told not to bother with music after his first record by the usual purist cynics, Mad Professor built himself a fanbase from the off. 1981 was the year that Ariwa used their meagre profits to install a 16 track machine in the front room of their HQ at 19 Bruce Road, SE 25.

Aquizim are best known for their take of the classic soundsystem dubplate tune Kunte Kinte, which is included here (in a different mix to the Trojan comp) along with three of their other tunes. “The System” is a propah sufferah’s lament – London style. It is also 600% better than every song recorded by Crass which featured the word “system” in the shouty lyrics (i.e. everything they did). On a less “conscious” level, their tribute to a girl named Deidre makes me wonder about womankind in 1981 if they were knocking back a bloke with a voice like that.

Yeah – Lovers! The seemingly unrevivable sister-subgenre to Roots. Collectors have entirely bypassed Lovers Rock in the “15 year rule” (the point at which reggae can be repackaged for hipsters – see all the early digi ragga compilations?). Although I guess Soul Jazz have done a Studio One Lovers set, so perhaps there’s a 30 year rule for this stuff instead?

Needless to say, this music already has an audience which is unbothered by what the taste-makers deem to be the next big thing (or indeed about matrix numbers!). I’m sure Ariwa was driven as much by business sense as by love, and I’d be amazed if Davina Stone’s “Lonely” didn’t shift serious units back in the day. Her voice is clear as a bell and the song is tip top stuff, perfectly complemented by the tuff deejay version by Ranking Ann which follows it.

“Me and You” is a mad name for a group… “who is that record by?” but they’re sound enough. In fact they are completely sincere in their suggestion that they’re not looking for a casual affair and the tune makes me feel like I’m in a warm bath – even when the snow is coming down on the bus stop on the way to work. This is no mean feat.

I’ve never heard of Errol Sly before. Sorry Errol, but Google has let me down as well. Respect for recording “Tumbledown”, though. Massive tune, which finds me singing “If you’re going to run run run… you’re going to tumble down” at the most inappropriate moments in the office. And respect once again to Mad Prof for including an awesome extended version on this one which slides into a gorgeous dub mix.

All this and some nice sleevenotes which give a bit of biographical information on the artists as well. The first chapter in what promises to be an essential history lesson of a much underexposed part of UK Reggae.

Available on Ariwa LP (with 10 tracks) and CD (17 tracks!) from all good reggae stockists…

Horace Andy, Mad Professor & Joe Ariwa – Rewired For Dub (Ariwa CD)

Horace Andy’s From The Roots album for Ariwa was apparently such a stormer that people have been begging for this dub set for some time now. Mad Professor gives the people what they want, they just have to wait a while sometimes!

I’ve not heard the original LP, but that doesn’t detract in any way from enjoying this – in fact I love discovering the full vocal after having caned its “shadow” in the dub for ages – there’s a real jolt from hearing those chopped up sylables forming actual words and sentences…

So, to business then. FFWD to Dub is Horace Andy coming in and out of the same riddim to Aisha’s stone cold classic “The Creator”. The Coolest Dub really benefits from the instrumentation and vocals being stripped right back and the live horn section gliding over the top of it all… A nice bit of sax on there – and it isnt often you’ll hear me say that.

Dub Her For Me sounds like it’s on a particularly teasing rendition of the hot milk riddim which leaves Horace stranded in the echo chamber, not able to tell her his feelings because Mad Prof keeps chucking in his entire armoury of effects. One of those dubs which has your entire mind reaching out for the 30% of the track that you know is just around the corner, but always stays out of reach. A load of producers could learn a lot from listening to this one…

Nuff tricks still under wraps in the Mad Professor’s lab. Cavernous harsh bass on some tracks, warm soothing bass on others. Vocals telling a story on some tracks, voices reduced to jittery alien noises on others… “street every day – the youth congregate… gah/gah/gah/gah/gah/…..”

The variety isn’t just down to production though, Ariwa have gone to the trouble of working with some serious names to back up a legend like Horace Andy. Mafia and Fluxy are UK stalwarts who don’t get the credit they deserve, but Sly and Robbie also lay down some of the tracks, and it seems like legendary vocal group Knowledge (see reissues on Blood & Fire and Makasound of their 70s material) serve as backing vocalists?

This is getting serious rotation ’round here at the moment – check it out if you get the chance.

Available on Ariwa LP (with 10 tracks) and CD (14 tracks!) from all good reggae stockists…

Niceness in the place – from the moment we entered Paul Meme got overexcited because Loefah was doing the door. After Paul’s finished bigging him up we head inside to find Sgt Pokes laying down a fine fine roots set including the Mighty Diamonds, Dennis Brown and Johnny Clarke. He’s clearly having a Good Time as the place fills up. It’s infectious.

There’s a great vibe to the crowd, people chatting and getting the beers in, no po-faced bizness. A few people comment that it’s like a house party with a really good soundsystem, or like they hoped their living room would be on a really good night…

Next up is Kode9. Now… when a bit boxed in your living room, you might play a load of records just cos you felt like it, because in your head they have their own connections and logic. Maye you’d play Cornell Campbell on Burial Mix and then some early digi ragga, followed by a jungle lick-over of the My Conversation riddim followed by “I’m in Love with a Dreadlocks” followed by “Warrior Charge”…

You might do that in the privacy of your own home, but Kode9 had the crowd eating out of his hand with that selection. Which says a lot for both the punters and him – and what I guess Bash is all about. Pokes tears across the dancefloor and reaches over the decks to do his own rewind, and Kode9 looks completely unphased. Maybe that happens to him all the time, I dunno. An MC who might be Space Ape comes across with some nice poetics. KNine brings Cutty Ranks into the equation. And on and on…

Tactical Thursdays – how long can you hang on? How far can you push it and still deal with work on Friday? The arrival of The Bug and crew puts paid to those kind of considerations… a man with a big box of tunes and effects, some geezers with a load of energy and rhymes. Yeah. Fuck yeah. Sleng teng, street sweeper, Papa Levi, Warrior Charge relick. The MCs go completely hell for leather over the Eighty Five riddim. Ras B ramps up the consciousness, Ricky Ranking chats larger than life, Seanie T does his thing…

The Bug’s own riddims get an airing towards the end of the set, taking it up another notch on the Richter Scale. If I was going to sort out a club of my own it would be… exactly like this. It feels like coming home or something. Does that sound corny? Were you there, tho? Did you see it all going off? By this point there’s nobody lurking about in the sofas area, everybody has either fucked off or is ramming out the dancefloor.

Loefah takes over with a tune that might be digidub or dubstep. I dunno, but it sounds good to me. He goes on to play some brittle ragga. By this time Paul has gone and I’m worse for wear, but it doesn’t matter. Loefah drops “Ghetto Story” by Cham and a load of killer tunes… finishes up with “Ring The Alarm”, Bushman’s “Too Much Violence” on stalag and then Johnny Osbourne’s “Buddy Bye Bye” on sleng teng. The lights go up and there’s no more. Everybody still there is going to tell all their mates, but you never forget your first time.

Mad Professor – Method to the Madness (Trojan double CD, 2005)
“Two Decades of Crazy Dubs: A Trip Hop, Techno, Dubwize Vibe”

Mad Prof is well overdue for a decent retrospective and this one goes some way to covering the vast amount of his output since setting up in 1979. Much of the material here is culled from early Ariwa 12″ which now go for a bomb on ebay. Indeed, my main reason for buying it was to get hold of a copy of Aisha’s “The Creator” – a spell-bindingly great female roots vocal which was the origin of the “ah wah ooh wah ooh wah” sample in The Orb’s “Blue Room” track.

In fact it is the female vocals on here which are the real surprise – top notch stuff which is all to easily overlooked in the scramble for better known bloke-tracks. Sandra Cross’ “Country Living” includes some wonderful soaring double-tracked vocals about getting away from London. Ranking Ann’s “Feminine Gender” ponders the merits of being thought of as a feminist and fits right in with the UK fast deejay stuff on Lyric Maker. Queen Omega’s “Wicked Man” is a powerful roots denouncement. And Kofi is still in love with a dreadlocks after all these years, with Macka B cheering her on…

Instrumentals and dub cuts are well represented. Kunte Kinte is well known to junglists and dub heads alike. The version here will satisfy you thoroughly unless you are a proud owner of the original dubplate. It gets licked over later on by none other than Horace Andy. One a more up to date tip, 50pence dub is culled from the Crazy Caribs album and takes 50cent to the beach with some steel pan sounds.

Other JA artists include Johnny Clarke (whose “Nuclear Weapon” is also hugely sought after – and rightly so), Earl 16 and U Roy.

The 2nd disc includes a number of Mad Professsor’s remixes and is, I have to say, a mixed bag (ho ho). For example I was suprisingly disappointed by his version of The Orb’s “Towers of Dub”. Similarly, remixes of Brilliant and Jamiroquai didn’t do that much for me but perhaps the constraints of the original combined with dealing with major record labels meant that nobody was able to do their best.

Having said that, the mixes for Perry Farrell, Young Gods and Massive Attack are all amazing and bear repeated listens to get the best out of them.

Farrell’s “King Z” features the piano of Lonnie Jordan in the foreground and is a really elegant, gentle piece. The dub version of Young Gods’ “Kissing The Sun” has a wonderful hallucinongenic, waking dream quality to it. And Mad Prof makes Massive Attack become themselves to an even greater degree, if that makes sense.

Finally, people always seem to be slagging off Mad Professor’s collaborations with Lee Perry, but “Mad Man Dubwise” on the 2nd disc is a great melodica-driven excursion so some reappraisal is clearly required on that count.

This compilation manages to do what it says on the tin – all bases are adequately covered and short of someone coming up with several seperate 2 disc sets for dub, lovers, remixes, roots etc of Mad Professor material this is your best introduction. Get it and then seek further…

Various Artists – Night of the Living Dread (Sonarcotik / Marseille City Pressure CD, 2005)
“15 tracks of mutant dubs & digital lo-fi from Marseille City Pressure”

Never heard of this outfit before and was pleasantly surprised to be sent a review copy. This is a various artists compilation which includes some real treats. The cover imagery and some of the tunes are full of zombie/horror imagery which possibly originates with the more “dread” end of jungle. I would guess that a reference point would be the Crooklyn Dub Consortium compilations on Wordsound, but this is very much its own beast.

The actual sounds move between reggae, uk dub, and more downtempo stylings. There is a darkness here which is almost as if dub’s sorcery has invoked some serious duppy business rather than opening up the “elect of god and the light of the world”. An all too common escape route for those not wanting to be accused of fake rasterism, but when it works, it’s fine by me.

“Meditation Urbaine” by Izmo (featuring Richie) – has some nice traditional percussion and is almost like a classic UK Dub cut from the mid-90s. There’s some excellent twiddly touches and a bit of flute which raise this way above the level of the ordinary. Nice!

“Dubblegum” by Yobz kicks off with a long intro of synth washes includes before bringing in a rasta sample about da ‘erb. The beats are nice and minimal, sort of a laidback trip hoppy stuff but still sounding fresh.

“Murder Mile” by Troma may or may not be a tribute to Clapton, written by a cultish director of schlock monster movies. It includes a great sound effect which reminds me of all the telephones going off at the same time on Dreams Less Sweet, only more discordant. Very effective when combined with the abstract beats and alien insectoid scampering noises.

“Me & The Devil” by Onkle Akai (these boys are obsessed with their toys!) is nice “downtempo” (as in the genre) filmic businsess, heavy on the dialogue samples from some horror movie. It reminded me to dig out Marc Dauncey’s wicked Darkest Before Dawn mix.

“Decoction” by Rzo is about as dark as it gets – full of evil buzzing atmospherics.

In short, a great start. My only criticism is that some of the other tracks are a bit too “tracky”, with unvaried looping stuff losing my interest after a few bars.

Check the mainly not working http://sonarcotik.free.fr/ for more info. Or see this page on Versionist for some mp3s.

Dub Syndicate – Research & Development (On-U Sound CD, 1996)
“A Selection of Dub Syndicate Remixes

A retrospective of Dub Syndicate tracks – remixed by various UK Dub producers. An absolutely excellent idea and one that has completely paid off. This album completely passed me by when it came out 9 years ago and I couldn’t quite believe it existed when I saw it in the Rough Guide to Reggae.

“Dubadisababa (Soundclash remix)” kicks off with Big Ben chiming and has some nice gentle griding sounds running through it with tablas from Goldfinger of (Detri/Funda)mental. A great looooong groove for openers.

I’ve had Iration Steppas take on “2001 Love” and Ruts DC’s “Ezy Take it Ezy” on 12″ for ages and they are bonafide classics. The former got some serious outings during DJ sets for the Association of Autonomous Astronauts and the latter was on my Shake the Foundations volume 1 mix. Ruff!

DJ Scruff I assume is now Mr Scruff. His take on “Mafia” is one of the best things on here (and that is saying something because there isn’t a bad tune) and is approximately 650 million times better than the absolute shite which constitutes his Trouser Jazz album. Bim Sherman’s vocals and a great melancholic refrain make this a hugely satisfying.

“Bedward” is probably one of the most well known Dub Syndicate tunes because of its inclusion on the classic Pay It All Back sampler LP. Zion Train do a good job beefing the track up and adding a few dubby touches, but are ultimately perhaps a bit too respectful.

The Disciples were on fire around 1996 with releases on their own Boomshakalacka label and Russ D goes to town with “Jungle”, adding some bonkers tweaky acid business.

Dougie Wardrop aka Conscious Sounds aka Centry can always be relied on to come up with the goods and his take on “2003 Struggle” is all minor key synths, steppers and horns – exactly the way some of us like it.

“Ravi Shankar” was tailor-made for a re-rub by Rootsman and he doesn’t disappoint. An absolutely solid foundation leaves room for all sorts of stuff going on at the top end to wig your head out. This is huge.

This LP captures a moment when the UK Dub scene was producing a load of really exciting records that managed to combine reggae and electronics in a distinct, dark edgy way. Much of this has subsequently solidified into a series of cliches, but most of these producers have avoided this by either moving into live instrumentation or just being one step ahead of the competition in terms of imagination. Needless to say this style still does the business for me, especially at high volumes.

All in all, an outstanding project which should be repeated for more recent On-U material.

BROTHER CULTURE – FOUNDATION ROCKERS (M RECORDS 10 INCH)

”Foundation style… Foundation rockers…”

Brother Culture first came to my attention on 2002′s excellent Mungo’s Hi Fi meets Brother Culture LP on Dubhead – tunes like “Ing” and “Jah Comes to I” are absolute gems – UK (Scottish!) classics in the making…

Ryan Moore of Twilight Circus saw Brother Culture chatting on Mannaseh’s sound and then recorded him in Brixton. Side 1 of this EP is a dense percussive affair with Culture chanting up righteously. The sound is seriously atmospheric, bringing to mind early African Head Charge releases – that dread filmic claustrophobia permeates the room… dub and acapella versions add to the feeling.

The Disciples give the vibe a nice tune up on Side 2. A touch of classic soundsystem, with sirens and echo aplenty, and even a bit of melodica. We are spoilt rotten with two cavernous dubs which hark back to Russ’ electronic steppers heyday in the mid 90s. Proper techno skank and no mistaking! Whilst The Disciples aren’t content to merely regurgitate their past (moving onto more orthodox reggae productions, as stated in this interview) they can certainly still pull a hardcore stomper out of the bag if asked nicely.

Once again Twilight Circus and M Records come up with the goods where so many have failed. This EP is perhaps less immediate than the Mannaseh/Blood & Fire one reviewed below, but repeated hearings show it to be just as crucial.

MANASSEH MEETS BLOOD AND FIRE (M Records 10 INCH)

An absolutely outstanding release from Holland’s Twilight Circus, ably helped by some big big names.

Manasseh are absolutely at the top of their game at the moment – check their remix of Emiliana Torrini’s “Rocky Roads” also.

Here TC’s recording of Michael Rose is given a breathtakingly simple treatment, just the right level of tweaky bleeps, skanking beats and live horns. Michael Rose floats above the music giving us a great reworking of Prince Alla’s “Funeral” and deejay Brother Culture even pops his head round the corner for a few bars. The dub coasts along gently with the bassline doing nice things on the nastiest of mornings. TUNE!!!

On the flipside the Blood & Fire soundsystem (i.e. B&F in its live/deejay incarnation) hooks up with Wai Wan (who I thought did House?!). A bizarre combination, to say the least. Of course, when the track kicked off, it all made sense. B&F’s keen feel for classic 70s reggae combined with a bit of dancefloor knowledge, leads neatly to… some funky breakbeat business with Ranking Joe (himself stranger to B&F live or on CD) brocking out in fine style above the occasional phrase from Mr Rose. And Ranking Joe rides a breakbeat waaaaaay better than most of the drum ‘n’ bass MCs I’ve had the misfortune to endure… (new broom sweep clean, but old broom know all the corners!)

I’m not easily blown away by contemporary roots and dub, but this is total quality from start to finish, me olde muckers…

It’s fair to say that Bob Marley had a load of kids. It’s probably only slightly contentious to point out that, whilst many of them have entered the record industry, not many of them have produced anything of much cop. Chalk one up for nurture in the great reggae genetics debate…

However, I was somewhat chuffed to come across Maestro’s “I’m a Dad” single a while back, on the Ghetto Youths United label, which apparently has some kind of Marley connection. A nice bouncy do-over riddim (yeah yeah I’ll get back to you on which one, it’s late!) with a gruff voice on the pleasures of fatherhood – without sounding too trite about it. Nice!

Anyway, if that was a pleasant surprise, my jaw totally dropped to the floor when I first heard Rodigan play “Welcome to Jamrock”. Easily my favourite for 2005 so far, this is going to be MASSIVE!

Great reality ranty lyris: “come on let’s face it, a ghetto education’s basic, and most of the youth dem waste it…”. HUGE HUGE riddim based around and old Ini Kamoze tune with Ini in the mix: “down in the streets, they call it MURDER”

You need this. Unbelievably there is also a Ray Keith drum ‘n’ bass mix in the offing (allegedly).

Aaaaaand it looks like someone is really getting behind this one for a change. Reggae on the up, hey there’s even a great video you can download from here. Check it aaaaaaht.

Alright, Pete has been putting great stuff in the comments boxes for ages and even sent me a great CD of stuff a while back. And I still haven’t bigged him up properly on here! Time to make amends…

First up, a great interview with Russ D of The Disciples. Nice and in depth about his musical progression from the early days onwards – some interesting stuff for fans and people who make music alike, I would say.

Secondly you absolutely have to check Pete’s Murder Tone Productions, which are available for streaming or download on the versionist site. This tune features the vocals of none other than Mikey Murka, ex of Unity Sound and featured on the Honest Jon’s “Watch How the People Dancing” compilation.

Coming up, part two of the Russ D interview and no doubt more tunes.

One to watch, you heard it here… belatedly!