Poster

Sizzla - ‘Soul Deep’

(Greensleeves)

Following on from the excellent ‘Rise To The Occasion’ comes another commanding, hot new release from the prolific and prodigious Sizzla Kalonji. Produced by the infamous Donovan “Vendetta” Bennett (creator of this year’s hugely popular and most talked about rhythm ‘Drop Leaf’), ‘Soul Deep’ emerges from the chemically electric relationship in the studio between these two maestros. Coming into his own in a previously unheard way, here Sizzla opens up completely and talks of love, mankind and life. Bursting with the raw power of Sizzla’s Bobo Ashanti faith, this collection of songs is enough to bring fire ‘pon any Babylon device that may come in it’s way. Perhaps the most outstanding tune on the album, ‘Be Strong’ is currently blasting streets and dance floors everywhere with its unceasingly defiant and spiritually uplifting vibe. One Love! Yes I!t.

Madness - ‘The Dangermen Sessions volume One’

(Live & Intensified Records)

Steve dub and Segs (also guitarist with The Alabama 3) do much of the production on this latest ska-fest from the mad gentlemen, but we’re also blessed with the producing abilities of Mr. Dennis Bovell. It’s a mixture of the more classical ska style of old and the inimitable cockney influence of Suggs & co. that we all remember so well from the late sevs and early 80’s. There are a few surprises, however, with tracks such as ‘John Jones’ written by Derrick Harriot. Sugg’s version of ‘The Israelites’ doesn’t quite match Mr. Dekka’s but there is a nice version of ‘Lola’ by The Kinks, which is more suited to the cockney tone. It’s not a groundbreaker but if you are a fan of the old Two Tone vibe, this won’t be a disappointment.

Noodreem - ‘One Love’

(Sangitasounds)

This collection of sonic poojas (prayer), the first release from Noodreem and friends, is a passionately avid and heady, well chilled out flight into India with all its sounds, images, feelings and wisdom. All psychedelically conjured by classic instrumentation of sitar, tabla, flute and other percussion fused with trippy effected electronica and spoken word inserts and mantra. The eight-verse album moves through changes in pace and style from the

HOT WAX

By Kaz Peet

A STONED SELECTION

drifting, invocational uplift of ‘Cosmic Jam’ and ‘City of Lights’ through the bass heavy dub tones of ‘Phoenix Dub’ (Solstice Remix) and into the middle pillar bound meditative and harmonic resonance of ‘Leafy’ (featuring Sukhdev) and ‘Kafi’ by Ranajit Sengupta. This is a fine piece of ambience. www.sangitasounds.co.uk.

Mad Professor - ‘Method to the Madness’

(Trojan)

This superb 2 cd. package of dub experimentation compiles the work of the one and only Mad Professor and his South London based Ariwa (a Yoruba word for communication) Sounds stable. It was the inauspicious instigation at his mothers house in Thornton Heath with a four track and various other bits and pieces acquired from around the manor, attracting the likes of yard artists such as Congo Ashanti, Johnny Clarke and Mikey Dread, that was to lead him to his position of revered notoriety. It was in these early days that the mighty ‘Kunte Kinte’ by guitarist/vocalist Aquizim and ‘Pleasures Of The Dance’ by punk rockers The Ruts were recorded - both these blinding tunes are included on this album. Following a move to Peckham in 1982, a whole spectrum of reggae luminaries, including Horace Andy, Max Romeo, Earl 16 and Pato Banton were to record alongside the crazed genius. Massively inspired by the King Tubby sound, Mad Professor takes his childhood love of electronic gadgetry and mixes it with his deep love of roots music and commitment to social change to produce some of the most uniquely revolutionary, transcendental and powerful dub music ever recorded. Always moving with the times with his finger firmly on the pulse, Mad Professor recorded the classic and well loved tune - ‘Towers Of Dub’ with The Orb and ‘Sly (Eternal Feedback Dub) with Massive Attack, again both included on this album. This is an excellent compilation where we are treated to not just a sprinkling of a few good tunes, instead, a full whack dosage of this infamous laboratories concoction.

Can Remastered Editions - ‘Future Days’, ‘Landed’, ‘Soon Over Babaluma’, ‘Unlimited Edition’

(Mute)

Excellent news for both aficionados and the uninitiated, who enjoy having their minds blown, comes the release of these four remastered Can albums with the sound restored to how it was on the original vinyl and how the band always intended to sound. Instigators Holger Czukay and Irmin Schmidt along with Jono Podmore oversaw this process. Seeded in their student days with avant-garde composer Stockhausen and fired by the sounds of Jimi Hendrix, Captain Beefheart and The Velvet Underground, Czukayand Schmidt abandoned their careers in academia to form a group that was to be like no other. Beyond definition, the Can experience is challenging yet blissful and beautiful, incorporating an omnifarious composition of sounds that defies space and time. Even though it is now over three decades old, compelling rhythms, spaced out electronica and psychedelic vocals take it into, uncharted territories. Suspend all belief, open the Can and expect the unexpected. This is the second phase of Can re-releases and follows the recent success of the first four remastered editions ‘Tago Mago’. ‘Monster Movie’, ‘Bamyasi’ and ‘Soundtracks’.

Compilation - ‘Suited & Booted- essential mod & ska’

(V2)

This compilation album is jam packed full of gems covering the whole gamut of the 1960’s Mod movement and the late 1970’s revival. Nearly forty tracks that make you want to step out on the floor and dance from start to finish. Traversing through Northern Soul, Blue Beat, Ska and Two Tone, scorchers such as ‘Seven Days Too Long’ by Chuck Woods, ‘I’m On My Way - Dean Parish, Althea and Donna’s ‘Uptown Top Ranking’, ‘54-46(That’s My Number)’ from Toots And The Maytals and ‘The Lunatics (Have Taken Over The Asylum)” - Fun Boy Three are but a few of the inclusions on a release where really every tune deserves a mention. However it is interesting to cite that the under sung and often forgotten Dexy’s Midnight

Dwight Trible and the Life Force Trio - ‘Love Is The Answer’

(Ninja Tune)

This recently harvested crop of tunes from Dwight Trible, visionary in concept, is fresh and innovative as well as rich in respect for its musical influences. Sun-Ra style jazz, Last Poet’s hiphop, the funk of Parliament and a taste of Chicago garage-house can all be heard in this lovingly created album. An esteemed elder statesman of the L.A. music scene, Trible has worked with greats such as Bobby Hutcherson, Charles Lloyd and Harry Belafonte. He is the vocalist with the Pharaoh Sanders Quartet and is also the vocal director for the Horace Tapscott Pan African Peoples Arkestra, a Los Angeles institution with a history stretching back forty years and an active engagement in the city’s Black community since the Watts Uprising. Completely free form throughout, the album moves from the 80’s synth funk sound of ‘Equipose’ and the laid back disco vibe of the title track-’Love Is The Answer’, with its looping guitars, mellow percussion and soulful vocals, through to the pure avant-garde scratch and rap strangeness of ‘Waves of Infinite Harmony’ onto the radical rhythms and rap poetry of ‘I Was Born On Planet Rock’ and ‘Antiquity’, finally resting with the beautiful ‘Constellations’ and spiritual guidance of ‘Celestial Blues’. Equally brilliant vocals, instrumentation, percussion and arrangements pervade this lyrically and musically elevating, highly enjoyable and conscience uplifting work.

Zion Train - ‘Original Sounds Of The Zion-Remixed

(Universal Egg)

This recent release from the stables of the mighty Zion Train consists of fifteen remixes of tracks first released in 2002 on the album “Original Sounds Of The Zion”. Engaged since then in building a new studio and other musical projects, the tunes were passed around musical friends and peers around the planet resulting in this collection of re-workings from bands and artists including Twilight Circus, Rob Smith, Unity Sound, Vibronics and Balafonic. In ‘Love Revolutionary” - Love Grocer, a seventies style King Tubby dub underlies an almost spaghetti western film score trumpet line to great effect in this instrumental version. By contrast Pier Paolo Polcari delivers a very funky and steppin’ right up high version with its toast lines and psychedelic wahwah guitar. Two other versions of this classic appear on the album, one from Dub Creator, the other from LBJ vs. Bommitomni with its techno bass and sounds. A touch of Bhangra moves down the dub sidewalk in Transglobal Underground’s version of ‘Zion High”. The striking, soulful impact of Molara’s voice is at full power in “Beautiful Children”, with a splendid version from Speedwell closing the album.