reggae
EP- Kiwi artist Muroki woos us with the smooth roots sound of ‘Heading East’
Spring is here, the peach blossoms are starting to bloom and Aotearoa is finally free from Covid restrictions. Somehow, this is the perfect backdrop for the release of 21 year old New Zealand artist Muroki‘s second EP, Heading East. Picture yourself driving on an open road with the windows down, the sun on your face …
Live Review: The Black Seeds – Ngaio Marsh Theatre, Christchurch, 08.07.22
In the depths of a long, cold, Christchurch winter (and even longer pandemic), The Black Seeds arrived at the University of Canterbury’s Ngaio Marsh Theatre for a long-awaited album release and the opportunity for fans to connect, warm up and get their groove on. The challenges of making this show happen were significant, with three …
Meet: Barnaby Weir from The Black Seeds chats about hope, building grooves and finding meaning with their long awaited album “Love and Fire” and nationwide tour.
Aotearoa’s Barnaby Weir has earnt his place as the humble, iconic and supremely talented national treasure and “chef” to such epic musical projects as The Black Seeds and Fly my Pretties. “Love & Fire” is a long awaited and much welcomed gift created over a collectively challenging time. The release of the album and nationwide …
Meet: John Roy from ska/reggae supergroup Smoke and Mirrors Sound System
Smoke And Mirrors Sound System are an American ska, rocksteady and reggae supergroup put together during the pandemic by John Roy who had previously played in many other ska bands in California and also played with the English Beat for a while. He had no work in his day job supplying sound for concerts and …
Album Review: Various Artists: Hot Sauce 2 ; 14 gems from the vaults of Trojan Records’ labels 1965-1975
Harlem Shuffle are fast becoming one of our favourite labels specialists in killer reggae reissues and the brilliant Hot Sauce compilation we reviewed a while back. They’re back with a volume 2 of the series, this time dedicated to the Trojan label and its associated UK labels, namely Amalgamated, Beverley’s Records, Blue Cat, Clan Disk, …
Meet: We chat to Mr Williamz about his new album, his inspirations and his thoughts on Reggae today
Mr Williamz, real name Micah Williams, was born in London and moved to Jamaica as a small boy with his Dad. It is in Jamaica where he first picked up a microphone on sound system at the age of 8 years old and in doing so won a clash contest against another young deejay. Moving back to …
ALBUM REVIEW: Soothsayers – ‘We Are Many’: conscious beats science for straitened times
Soothsayers’ latest tickles your ears in all the right spots; the music evolves and shifts from a strong and aware roots through jazz and Afro and more, all the while softly educating you and guiding you and letting you know you have to be watchful, stay alert, and also stay strong and connected. That’s how we’re gonna get through all and any of this.
Album Review: Various Artists – Hot Sauce Volume 1
Subtitled as ‘14 gems from the vaults of Amalgamated, Black Swan, Blue Cat, Doctor Bird, High Note, Trojan and many more’, the new release from Harlem Shuffle Records has pulled together its first compilation, following on from the string of much needed reggae recordings from the 1960s onwards. Taken from releases dating from 1967 to …
TRACK: Liam Bailey – ‘Champion (Remix)’ feat. Black Thought: Roots man reprises for Notts reggae star
NOTTINGHAM’S Liam Bailey, who’s dropped some excellent singles throughout the summer ahead of the release of his forthcoming third album, Ekundayo, for New York’s cooler-than-you’ll-ever-be Big Crown, has shared a nicely dubby reversion of “Champion”, one of the album’s bangers. Take a listen below. The remix features the lyrical flow of Black Thought, rapper and co-founder …
TRACK: Liam Bailey – ‘Angel Dust’: digi-dancehall for a femme fatale
LIAM BAILEY is shaping up for the release of his debut album, Ekundayo, on Big Crown in November with another deep ‘n’ dirty single drop in the shape of “Angel Dust”: take a listen below. It’s a raw-edged nugget of digi-dancehall with a pleading reverbed vocal to a soured relationship with a femme fatale: “She …