News
Pass Out Remixes
March 9, 2010
Big up Tinie Tempah, who went straight in at UK number one this week with his debut single, “Pass Out“. Big up to Labrinth too, who produced the track and sings a wicked chorus on it. I put together a couple of mash-ups over the beat – a medley by Capleton and Richie Spice’s “Marijuana” (yeah I know it’s been remixed a load of times before, but it works). Download them in the Remix section… Gappy Ranks has also voiced a tuff freestyle over the beat – “All The While”. Download Gappy’s version here. Maaad!
Heart On Your Sleeve Wallpaper
February 12, 2010
Not quite sure what to get that special somebody for Valentine’s day? Look no further than this romantic desktop wallpaper, featuring heart-inspired album and 12″ artwork. Now available for iPhone! Check the graphics section for free download.
Music Quote Screen-Prints
February 12, 2010
I’ve silkscreen-printed a few music-themed art prints (A2 & A3) which I’ll be selling at an art fair this valentine’s day at Jaguar Shoes, 34–36 Kingland Rd, London E2. Come down between 11am and 6pm if you fancy grabbing one.
Tahuna Breaks – Black Brown & White Remix
February 5, 2010
New Zealand band Tahuna Breaks asked me to remix “Black Brown & White”, the title track from their recent album. Big up James and the rest of the band.
Cocoa Tea Sings For Buju
January 30, 2010
Cocoa Tea’s wicked re-lick of the Heptones’ 1976 classic, Country Boy, dedicated to Buju Banton, whose cocaine trial begins in Florida at the beginning of March. According to the Jamaica Gleaner, Buju’s lawyers are set to use entrapment as their defence, claiming that a “paid government informant” persistently pestered Buju to buy cocaine after befriending him on a flight from Madrid to Miami in July 2009. I’m not sure how much that could help his case but hey.
Produced by Roaring Lion.
Busy Signal Inna Gary Mix Up
January 25, 2010
Vybz Kartel may have been 2009’s deejay of the year, but Busy Signal wasn’t far off, and judging by some of his recent tunes (check You Never Knew and his three versions over Shane Brown’s re-lick of the Boops riddim), 2010 is going to be a Busy year. Right now though, he’s in the middle of a strange mix up. Read more
Top 100 Reggae & Dancehall Tunes Of The 2000’s
January 5, 2010
There are various top tunes of the decade lists on the web, like Pitchforkmedia’s Decade In Music, but I haven’t seen a good reggae/dancehall one yet, so I put together a Top 100 Reggae & Dancehall Tunes Of The Noughties. Big up to Pierre, JP, Randy and Dub Vendor for the arguments.
Overall, Sizzla – my artist of the decade – came out on top with six tunes, followed by Beres Hammond, Vegas, Busy Signal, Jah Cure and Elephant Man with five each, and Mavado, Richie Spice and Sean Paul with four each. Tunes with homophobic lyrics were left out of the list – like “Log On” by Elephant Man and “Frenzy” by Sanchez, although would otherwise have been included. Also left out were tunes that blew up in the 2000s but were originally released in the 1990s, like Richie Spice’s “Earth A Run Red” (1998) and Jah Mason’s “Princess Gawn” (1999).
While the list only relects my personal preference I think in general it shows that the Noughties were not a great decade for reggae & dancehall, compared say to the Nineties, which had much bigger tunes: Buju classics like “Hills And Valleys”, “Untold Stories”, “Champion”, “Rampage”, etc, Garnett Silk classics like “Splashing Dashing”, “Lord Watch Over Our Shoulder”, “Kingly Character”, Capleton’s “Jah Jah City” and “Never Dis Trinity”, Sizzla’s “Black Woman & Child”, “Holding Firm”, “Praise Ye Jah”, “Good Ways” etc, Luciano’s “It’s Me Again Jah” and “Sweep Over My Soul”, Anthony B’s “Raid Di Barn” and “Fire Pon Rome”, Beenie Man’s “Who Am I” and “Slam”, “Heads High” by Vegas, “Murder She Wrote” by Chaka Demus & Pliers, “Traffic Blocking” by Degree, “Bandelero” by Pinchers, “A Who Seh Me Dun” by Cutty Ranks, an a whole heap more.
Pat Metheny vs Kenny G
January 2, 2010
Kenny G gets a critical beatdown from Pat Metheny in this interview on jazzoasis.com. Yeah, Kenny deserves it, but he does have one massive soul weekender tune – 1982’s Hi How Ya Doin (Youtube link here) – whereas Pat doesn’t. On the same site, Wynton Marsalis gets dissed pretty bad by Keith Jarrett (here). Who ever said there was love between jazzers?
Best Reggae Lyric Of 2009?
December 30, 2009
Jamaican crooner Terry Linen was in fine songwriting form when he penned his tune “Holiday Inn”, the title track to a Joe Frasier riddim from summer 2009.
“Rolling the hips, shaking the tits, bouncing, bouncing, bouncing.
How could I resist a lady like this? Bouncing, bouncing, bouncing.
She just drop it like it’s hot, inna Holiday Inn.”
Holiday Inn should use the tune for their next campaign!
I Can Transform Ya
December 19, 2009
There are some wicked new versions over the Chris Brown/Lil Wayne “I Can Transform Ya” instrumental (produced by Swizz Beatz). My favourite is the Gappy Ranks, although Assassin, Demarco (who voices a medley of his recent hits) and Mr Lexx all sound tuff.
GAPPY RANKS – “Nothing From Dem”
ASSASSIN – “Warning”
MR LEXX – “Watch Me Transform Ya”
DEMARCO – “Transformers Medley”
- 76 Creative
- 80 Blocks From Tiffany's
- Adam Curtis – Century Of The Self
- Adam Curtis – Power Of Nightmares
- Jack Baker Trio
- Jaguar Skills
- John Pilger – The War On Democracy
- Kate Gibb
- Mr. Dupes
- Neil Stewart Photography
- Pinkyvision
- Rotter & Friends
- Sam Burdge
- Shariff Miller
- Smutlee
- Special Delivery Music
- Style Wars
- Wax Poetics
- Zakee Shariff
