Been salivating at the prospect since he happened to mention it in passing… – please mention the names of the riddims in future if you know them, Matt!
Can’t wait to get home and fire up my edwardian computer and internet connection and leave it on all night so I can download the thing there is to download.
Sizzla – I do prefer his earlier stuff, tho he can still pull the goods out the bag these days as well. I think it was someone on the Blood & Fire Board who said that Capleton was the de facto king of modern roots deejaying, but that Sizzla should be. Too many tunes, too little quality control.
In terms of the subject matter, I think it’s difficult to maintain that righteous fire and brimstone ranting in perpetuity. I suppose that goes for punks as well as rastas. People playing the long game, like Luciano (who cites Sizzla’s “fiya bun” vibe as being a significant factor in him leaving Xterminator) tend to be less overtly confrontational.
As for Buju, I was listening to some tracks off Til Shiloh last night and thought they were pretty good! A friend who is really into his african music (and indeed, african reggae) really rates the very LPs which Matt slates, so I can’t help feeling that it’s merely a question of personal taste – if you want rough chew your own face off ‘ardcore then obviously Battyrider (“Big it Up!…. Murder!”) is your flava. If you are looking for something, shall we say, more conventionally spiritual and introspective, then it’s the LPs.
Personally I think both have their place, tho I prefer the harder, more earthy (as opposed to ‘airey’) roots stuff like the collaboration with Gregory Isaacs which is on my mix.
Anyway – great start to a new blog for Matt.