REGGAE RUNNINGS -- 7 December 2006

By Jesse I

 

Big news on the touring front this month, with some serious first-time acts confirmed to be heading our way. 2005 has been Damian Marley's year, and he'll be here in 2006 for the East Coast Blues and Roots festival in Byron Bay (hopefully with a side show here in Melbourne). Also on the same bill are the legendary Skatalites, perhaps the most important band in the history of Jamaican music. Easter is still a long way away, but thankfully we have more to look forward to in the meantime - the original "Dreadlocks Dread" Rasta chanter Big Youth will be in town on February 8 for a show at the Prince of Wales, backed by none other than the Third World band - a show no serious reggae fan should even consider missing! UB40 will be playing at the Palais the night before (don't laugh, their early albums are gold!), and the Channel One Soundsystem (UK) with Mikey Dread and Ras Kayleb will be playing the Big Day Out. As if all this wasn't enough, there are also rumours of a Cecile tour for late Feb...

Great to see two new reggae nights kick off with huge openings in the last month. Redda Red @ Bunker (first Saturday of every month) had people lined up down Swanston St to get in, while High Tide @ the Espy (every Thursday) packed out the Gershwin Room with pure good vibes. This month's More Fire session at the Mercat LG (Sat 10th Dec) looks set to be another rammed session, but the introduction of an open-air balcony area should help cool things down a little.

Jamaican soundsystems have always revolved around vinyl, even before reggae music existed - operators such as Coxsone Dodd and Duke Reid regularly traveled to the US in the 1950s to buy r&b records, scratching off the titles in order to keep their competitors in the dark. Even when the rest of the world was declaring vinyl dead in the 90s, in Jamaica it appeared as if the CD had never been invented. This whole time, it was the humble 7" single that ruled, rather than the LP that may have dominated the music industry elsewhere.

One of the things I love most about Jamaican music is how fiercely independent it is. Anyone with a little money can release a record in Jamaica (with or without talent!). Simply hire some studio time, pay a few session musicians, and then off you go to the pressing plant. As well as raw and uncensored messages, this system allowed artists and producers to release material so quickly that it could be as topical as the daily newspaper. In the 70s, Big Youth acquired the nickname "the human Gleaner" for his social commentary, while more recently Elephant Man released his tune "The Bombing" just days after September 11.

Sadly for vinyl fans like I, recent years have seen the CD make a big impact on Jamaican soundsystems. In my last three trips to Jamaica , I've actually witnessed quite a change, with more and more selectors moving to the format; presumably because the technology has become so cheap, and you can burn a new song onto a CD even quicker than pressing it onto vinyl.

However, the CD has a long way to go before it could possibly come close to threatening vinyl's place in the reggae world, especially when it comes to licensed releases. A huge percentage of today's reggae and dancehall is never released on CD, and those songs that are usually take several months, or in some cases, years.

Locally, it has never been easier to get a hold of Jamaican 7" singles. Going back a few years, it was virtually impossible to buy fresh tunes locally, but now there are several shops stocking recent releases. Licorice Pie (249A High St , Prahran) and Northside Records ( 236 Gertrude Street , Fitzroy) seem to be setting the pace, though Collectors Corner ( 240 Swanston St , City) and Central Station ( 2 Somerset Place , City) have both recently stepped up, and Slap Records ( 120 Gertrude St , Fitzroy) have always had a good selection. I also import Jamaican 7" singles, selling direct and via the web - I have nearly 4000 for sale at present, so email chantdownsound@yahoo.com for more info if interested.

For those unfamiliar with the way modern Jamaican music works, most labels simultaneously release multiple vocal cuts on the same backing track (known as a "riddim"). This means that 10 different singles might be released at the same time, allowing a selector to mix the particular tunes that he or she favors, and leave out the rest. Fresh dancehall riddims making big noise lately include the Concubine on the Rich House label, Raw Food on Taxi (a remake of the classic Murder She Wrote/Bam Bam riddim), Bang Bang on Massive B, No Tampering on Coppershot, and Insane on Rated R. Hot new roots riddims include I Hold The Handle on Free Willy, Lonley on Calibud, Real Time on Grillaras, Zion on Irie Ites, and Dream Path on MX. Go deh!