Music galore 2

Hello everyone,

Everyone is asleep at home, I have some fresh strawberries and blackberries straight from the garden and some drops of a delicious Port Mourant from 1997 alongside myself, seems like I'm ready to drop another "Music galore" post!

So, to start smoothly, first tune will be an old favourite jazz theme, bluesy till the last note. It's taken from Dave Brubeck's "Jazz impressions from Japan" LP and it's simply titled Fujiyama.
Not "tropical"at all but such a beautiful piece of music!

open the following link in your browser :

https://www.dropbox.com/s/1760f4885l9sfxu/Dave%20Brubeck%20quartet%20-%20Fujiyama.mp3

Let's now step into the tropical business with a very confidential LP extract from the Virgin Islands. The name of the band is Mal and the Imaginations, on the 88 music label. I found no information anywhere so here is the artwork which I am fond of and a side of the lyrics insert. The song gives a definition of terrorism which I quite like and blame all form of organised violence, from any side you look at it. Mid eighties calypso for summer!

Share Mal and the Imaginations - Terrorism.mp3 - 12 MB

More Caribbean islands vibes : a supacool cadence-lypso from Dominica island (not Dominican Republic). Let's introduce the Midnight Groovers of Dominica with this nice 12' titled "Africa". I do love this type of keyboard driven tune.

For more example of their skills, please refer to the excellent Sofrito Discotheque series, volume 2 :

http://www.sofrito.co.uk/releases/sofrito-international-soundclash-preview.html

Share Midnight groovers of Dominica - Africa 12'.mp3 - 10 MB

or 

https://www.dropbox.com/s/hi0e8mb2q8o3dbw/Midnight%20groovers%20of%20Dominica%20-%20Africa%2012.mp3?dl=0

Let's continue our trip tonight with what you know is to be my main interest, some cool reggae vibes!

Here is the disco 12' majestic version of "Mr Boss Man" from roots man Linval Thompson, n the Strong like Samson beautiful label. Pure roots business, and you get the BIG BIG version by Barnabous DJ and dubwise alongside :

Nice Company sleeve for this one!

Share Linval Thompson - Mr Boss man 12'.zip - 24 MB

Back to the roots of Africa, here is a tune taken from the first band (I think) of now famous Salif Keita : Les ambassadeurs du motel de Bamako. The song is an original composition of Salif Keita and is titled Mali Denou. This ame on the Sonafric label in 1977. Beautiful voice, superb horn harmonies, that special something of african melodies, 10 minutes and a half of enlightenment for your soul, sooooo good!

Salif Keita is easy to spot!

Share Les ambassadeurs du Motel de Bamako - Mali Denou.mp3 - 24 MB

Panama has been the home of nice and original music back in the late 60's, early 70's. Here is one good example of that with that nice 7' on the Tamayo label. Accordion driven cumbia by Claudina Vargas, titled "Lisy Gisela". If you like this one, you may search for the 3 volumes of Panama series on the always excellent Soundway label :

(http://www.soundwayrecords.com/release/va---panama-3/panama-3-calypso-panameo-guajira-jazz--cumbia-tpica-on-the-isthmus-1960-75-sndw018)

Share Claudina Varas - Lisy Gisela.mp3 - 6 MB

Hum, last picture was hazy, the Rum is starting to affect my abilities...

By the way, here is a picture of my drink for this post, very enjoyable one if you can spot it :

I'll continue the journey anyway, this time with some soul jazz. The guitar of O'Donel Levy delivers a nice and speedy interpretation of Al Green's classic "Let's stay together". This is from 1972 on the Groove Merchant imprint, the album is titled Breeding of mind and, well, it breeds mine...

Share O'Donel Levy - Let's stay together.mp3 - 7 MB

OK, it's getting late so I'm gonna drop one more and go make sweet dreams.

To match the hour I found a reggae favourite called "Midnight Rock". It's a song by early 80's singer General Plough and the album (which has the same title as the featured tune) came out on the mythical Clappers records label. Although Clappers aimed to promote "roots and culture" music, this one song is more like a lovers reggae vibe...still I man love it!

Share General Plough - Midnight Rock.mp3 - 9 MB

Well, that's all for tonight folks, hope you dig the features as much as I do. As I already said, feel free to comment, share, ask for more of this and that, and please respect the music and people who play it : go buy records!

Love,

Ben 

Junior West - Splash it out

Hello people,

I am still alive on the web and so here is a rare one for this summer to be played loud!
This is sound system material, with an harder than rock dub on B side.
This 7' comes on the Production label (on which you will also find the very enjoyable Junior Brown- Crying in your grave).

The title is misspelled, of course it is "splash it out".
The topic of the tune is to pay credit to all the sound system stars, both singers, deejays and producers, of the era (early eighties), that allow the singer to have  hell of a party every day of the week. You will ear him mention the names of Yellowman, Brigadier Jerry, Jack Ruby, Stereophonics, Lone ranger, Massive dread, Toyan, Ringo...

Conclusion : "that music got soul, yes I've got to move my feet, yes I have to hold that girl"

B-side...well, it's one of the hardest dubs ever in my opinion, sooooooo heavy stuff!

It's a pity the sound is not brilliant, but it's the better copy I could get in a 3 years search...
Any reissue label willing to do serious work : make this one available in a good shape to all reggae fans.
If I have courage and it's still not done, I may do it myself someday (if you know the artsist or producer,  please share some info).

As always, click on the blue link under the labels to get to mediafire and then hit the "download" button.

Peace to y'all, more to follow soon!

Share Junior West - Splash it out 7'.zip - 15 MB

Nice militant tune with Rasan I

Hello everyone,

I am aware posts here are quite elusive, but a wise man once said "better few but nice..." or something like that. Hope you will agree and continue to have a look from time to time.

Tonight feature is a very good and not much known tune by Rasan I and the freedom fighters, on the Jamaica sound label (Valdene productions), titled Arise he daughters.

I got this one from Graal Records, with a nice company sleeve, thanks again Greg!

I like the drumming in this one and the kind of feminist touch of the lyrics. The dub is also very good, it wouldn't feel ashamed in a hard core roots dance in London's end of the 70's. Turn the volume UUUUUPPPP!

As always, feel free to follow the download link by clicking on the blue text under the photos.

Have a nice listening time,

Peace,

Ben

Share Rasan I and the Freedom Fighters, Feat Jah Scott - Arise he daughters 12'.zip - 21 MB 

Alone tonight : music galore!

Hi ya'all,
My woman is out, kids are at sleep, I'm all yours.

Tonight, let's change the format : I will try to post many different things that I like, from different eras and places, with just few words, and let you enjoy.

First comes, from the magnificent "El triangulo des flamenco" project (Winter & Winter label), the opening tune of the first CD which is simply titled Marxa. I love the percussion / violin combination (violin is not so usual in Flamenco as far as I know, but I know few...).
Hear this and run buy you a copy of this great disc!

https://www.dropbox.com/s/qtos42ad1zn3v40/Raul%20Cantinazo%20%26%20Antonio%20Montiel%20-%20Marxa.mp3
(try open the link above in your browser, maybe this time it'll work...)

Next tune is one of my all time favourites of Brasilian music, taken from "Os Afro Sambas" LP, from Vinicius de Moraes and Baden Powell (and many top notch personnel). My copy is on the Barclay imprint and the song featured here is Canto de Iemanja. The tune is dedicated to the goddess of the seas and has beautiful harmonies by Quarteto en cy.

Share Vinicius de Moraes

Ok, let' move to our third feature which is a childish memory to me, as my dad used to listen to this LP on K7. And this proves I already had an ear for both jazz and reggae! It is the opening tune from Don Cherry's "Home boy" LP from 1985 and it's titled Butterfly friend. It is one of those cool cool tunes that warms your heart in a few seconds, nice and easy, even with that 80's sound that I usually disregard. Enjoy!

Share Don Cherry - Butterfly friend.mp3 - 9 MB

updated link...

Let's move on!

Next tune is for hip hop heads and is one little known tune by the legendary Cypress Hill, as a B side of the Lick a shot 12' and titled Scooby Doo. It features a simple but efficient beat made of a crazy double bass loop, finger snapping and "I don't know what the fuck is that brass" classic DJ Muggs productions sound the back. Killer tune and mad rap, pure west coast shit!

Share Cypress Hil - Scoby Doo.mp3 - 8 MB

OK, so next comes some reggae niceness as I think you understood this is my primary musical love...

The tune of the day is a classic from little known but much valued Reggae George (the author of the mythical fig root tune!). It is titled Three wicked men and the version here is teh canadian 12' on the S&W Soul King Records, which I got in a nice company sleeve. The tune is great and concious late 70s/early 80's sound (the JA print 7' on 56 Hope Road label seems to be from 1981...).

Share Reggae George - Three wicked men 12'.mp3 - 15 MB

Eh, wait, Three wicked men? Here is another one, from the late and great Sugar Minott called Three wise men, ah, ah, I can't resist to post it too (and one other day I'll post the Earth & Stone Three wise men, which is also great...). And it's the 7' version so you get the dub side as a bonus, early eighties killer deep roots, with nice label design with some kind of what would be a baby ganja plant...

Share Sugar Minott - Three wise men 7'.zip - 15 MB

Let's go latin for a while, but "con sabrosura"...here comes the Chicha moment with this nice tune from Humberto Caycho A. y Los Destellos titled Por las Mananas (in the morning). Love the 60's sound of the guitar in this Peruvian form of Cumbia, this is made to crowd the dancefloor! The 33 rpm 7' came as a bonus with the excellent El Sonido de Tupac Amaru comp, with nice fluo design. This was made in collaboration with the recommendable Masstropicas blog (masstropicas.blogspot.com).

Share Humberto Caycho A.

Last tune and I'll say good night, we'll finish with Guinean music from the 70's.

This one gives me goose bumps any time, so much feelings, so much sentiment, only African musics delivers like this! he tune is from "22 Novembre" Band and is titled Kouma. It is taken from the excellent Guinee 70, The Discotheque years, which digs deep in the Editions Syliphone Conakry label catalog. The whole comp is diamond in the rough beauty, but this one tune I can't get enough : there is hope, joy, faith, love, all at the same time : beautiful music indeed.

Share _22 Novembre_ band - Kouma.mp3 - 11 MB

Well that's all for today folks, I hope you'll make a nice trip in musicland with all this, as I did putting it together. as always, feel free to comment if you like, if you want more of this or that, etc.

Love music always,

Peace,

ben

All time roots anthem

Hi y'all,

It's been quite a long time, please apologize.
Today feature is a classic amongst classics, from one of my all time favorites band, authors of such classics as "Never get burn", "Miss laba laba", "Free Africa"and many more great tunes : the Twinkle brothers.

Their first great hit was that same tune featured today : Rasta 'pon top, from the eponym LP. But the 12' version here today is a "re-cut" from the early 80's on the Twinkle Label, distributed by Rough Trade, London.

Share Twinkle Bros. - Rasta p'on top 12'.mp3 - 14 MB

This one always move the roots heads to the dance floor, and when Shaka or King Earthquake plays an heavier dubplate of it, oh my goodness...!

As I said classic amongst classics, just play it loud and you will know why.

And if the Twinkle brothers ever come near to your place, please do yourself a favor and go hear them.

Have a nice evening,

Peace, 

Ben

It might as well be spring

Hi there,

Sun is back, flowers bloom, birds sing in the tree in front of my house, oh yeah, it might as well be spring.

So, to warm your ears too, here is some caribbean vibe from another island than the usual : Haiti.

Aside to be one of the poorest places on earth with a recent history made of corruption, violence and bad luck, Haiti is home to a very rich culture and was, until the sixties and the election of Papa Doc, the first touristic destination in the caribbean which explains the multitude of bands that existed in that time.

I like the music the island produced in those years (60s and 70s), with that slight latin touch, perfect to warm up a party alongside a drink of Barbancourt 15 ans (best and almost only rum produced there, thank you Vanessa for introducing me to this one!).

For those who know it, this album has a flavor  you may compare with the excellent Tumbele selection issued on the Soundway label few years ago : http://www.soundwayrecords.com/release/va---tumbl/tumbl-sndw017

So here it is, enjoy :

Share Les Vikings - Ce pas magie.zip - 91 MB

Hope the sun shine in your place too, have a nice day,

Peace,

Ben

Mighty Soul Rebels and Prince Lincoln!

Hi everyone,

Long time no post...my apologies.
To tell you the truth, the original post data is ready since a week ago.

It's this incredible 12', unknown to me until lately :

Share Prince Lincoln

It's a quite rare record on a quite rare label, ok, but the interest is the singer and group featured on it.

Prince Lincoln is one of my all time favourites and one of the first artists I listened to as a youth after my interest for reggae went broader than Bob Marley alone.

A friend of the family (Cochise, this is dedicated to you!) gave me many tapes of reggae mixes he made. Amongst them many tunes from the "True experience" album from PL & the Royal Rasses.

What a voice, what deep and soulful tunes!

The other interest in this 12 is the label and musicians : MSR stands for Mighty Soul Rebels, a inprint and band quite elusive but well known for hardcore roots fans, the later tune of this post shows why.

And yeah, I forgot, Tommy Mc Cook blow his saxophone as icing on the cake... You may have more of this on the dub side but the one copy I got is quite dirty and the first minute is hard to listen to so I won't share it (maybe one day when I'll own a good professional cleaning machine...).

So, the clash of those elements leads me to why it took so long to post this : I wanted to share more than this fabulous 12' and give you a glimpse of each group other productions.

First, a classic amongst classics from PL and his more regular band, Ther Royal Rasses. This legendary 7' is on PL's own jamaican label Godsent (I love the design!). Plus I give you the dub side, which crackles but is so nice (sorry but my copy is quite badly preserved...)

Share Prince Lincoln

Then the more known production on the MSR label, from the Mighty Soul Rebels themselves, this roots anthem "Jah Jah is no gimmick" (false dread beware!). This one was repressed by the Archive label 2 years ago I believe but with a poor design in my opinion compared to the original.

Share Mighty Soul Rebels - Jah Jah is no gimmick.mp3 - 6 MB

So, as usual, click on the "share" link, download the tunes, enjoy and please let me know what you think. I man feel it, do you?

Peace,

Ben