Wednesday, June 26, 2019

Fat Freddy's Drop - Based On A True Story


These bringers of splendid grooves really lit up the Odeon theatre Hobart when they played here earlier in the year. They have no conventional rhythm section and just rely on someone with a turntable. I was standing there thinking, this is too good to be true. I was hoping they would have an encore. No band has ever impressed me so much that I did not want them to finish and go on longer. They did play for about 2-3 hours and their performance was immense. The trombonist could charge a small village with his efforts emitted. They are just a very soulful and jazz-inspired dub jam collective from Aotearoa. Their music is drawn out over several minutes and they keep the groove motoring on.

Sunday, June 16, 2019

Various Artists - Stirring Up Some Ska: The Original Sound Of UK Club Land


Prince Buster features on this compilation and on the front cover, a massive influence on the ska revival of two-tone later on in the UK. Prince Buster was openly Muslim and spent a lot of his free time helping out at his local Mosque. If I had to pick a favourite reggae musician, it would be Prince Buster. I spent a long time listening to him on my travels around Italy. His music hasn't aged a day. It is still fresh, funny and simple. He is known to have plenty of horns in his music and incredible vocals. The day Prince Buster died was when ska died, as he passed in 2016.