Pray for Sizzla

Controversial Reggae superstar Sizzla has been in an bike accident and has been seriously hurt, let's pray for his fast recovery. Get better soon!!!! Here's an link to Jamaica Star's coverage

http://jamaica-star.com/thestar/20110825/ent/ent1.html

The Maytones & Vernon Buckley

Out of the many great vocal groups that came in the late 60 ies and all throughout the 70 ies iv'e always felt that "The Maytones" where among the best and most underated. They originates from the May Pen area in Clarendon and consisted of Vernon Buckley and Gladstone Grant.

They got their start recording a few cuts for "Studio One" that never got released and moved on to record for Alvin Ranglin and his GG Records. The hits kept on coming throughout the 70ies but compared to the output from many other groups "The Maytones" never did release that many albums.

Fans of Roots Reggae should not be fooled by their clean cut looks, many of their tracks are str8 Rasta dealing with Zion, repatriation etc.... "You dont haffi dread to be a rasta" In 1980 Vernon Buckley moved to Canada and "The Maytones" split. I have no idea what happened to Gladstone Grant but Vernon Buckley has kept on recording and releasing albums, although very irregularly.

There's 3 albums i know of; Raw, Rocky road and the latest, Words of wisdom  who was just released on his label "Music Life". I just ordered the album and an review will follow, the samples iv'e heard sounds very positive. Time may have passed, Vernon may be getting older but his voice is still one of the best in Reggae music. You owe it to yourself to check "The Maytones" out, their music is too good to not be heard.



http://musiclifemovements.com/

Let's open our wallets.......

Everyone knows about the hunger crisis on the horn of Africa by now. I dont care who you are or how rich or broke you are, if you can get online and read this post it means you have the resources to give at least something.

Does not have to be much, i know i did not have a whole lot and im sure many of y'all are kinda broke as well. But please, skip buying that CD or vinyl u where planning to get and donate a few pennies. There's plenty of causes that i would never donate to (some of y'all might get offended if i mentioned which) but this is not one of them. Be as generous as y'all possibly can.

News from Cocoa Tea...

Been wondering for a while now whatever happened to "Cocoa Tea", his "Obama" album isn't exactly new anymore. As i was surfing around i found this article on "The Gleamer" where he reveals he got a new album coming, hopefully we will not have to wait till next year as he hints.

He's also droping a few lines on the current state of Reggae and it's future.

"....However, the overall project 'Whe De Reggae Deh?' speaks to something that he says people are asking about when he does performances outside Jamaica. "Everywhere I go in the world, people ask me where the reggae gone from in Jamaica. People are saying we are trying to export hip hop, rather than import hip hop and export reggae," Cocoa Tea said.

He said the queries have come across Europe, England, the USA and Canada, as well as Japan. "People used to the type of reggae that we sing. It is music that can inspire a people and a nation," Cocoa Tea said. That is in contrast to a lot of music being produced in Jamaica now, which Cocoa Tea said "is about dancing and the riddim."

Read the whole piece here:

http://jamaica-gleaner.com/gleaner/20110523/ent/ent1.html

Volcano revisited

Seem as if rite now is a good time for Reggae books, this one is brand new and seem very exciting with plenty of fancy photos and interesting interviews. This book is on it's way to me so expect an review as soon as iv'e got it and read it. Until then, here's the info from the publisher/author:

Tero Kaski – Pekka Vuorinen:
Volcano Revisited
Kingston Dancehall Scene 1983
Eronen, 2011 (company based in Finland)
208 pages, 4/4 colours
169 x 211 mm, 460 grams
ISBN 978-952-92-8643-0
R.r.p. 24 € / 33 $ / 20 £

" In September 1983 Kingston dancehall scene was full of energy and excitement.
New sound system Volcano was giving tough competition to established sounds like
Gemini, Lee’s Unlimited, Black Scorpio, Killamanjaro and others. Producer and
sound system owner Junjo Lawes had brand new equipment, best dubplates and a
talented crew led by deejay Burro Banton and selector Danny Dread with prominent
artists like Josey Wales, Charlie Chaplin, Barrington Levy and Tony Tuff. Night
after night Volcano Hi-Power was playing in and around Kingston for a loyal and
enthusiastic following.

The backbone of dancehall music is created inside the studios. At Channel One
where we meet Horace Andy, Johnny Clarke, Al Campbell and many others; at Harry
J we discuss with ‘the original Scientist’ Sylvan Morris and producer Roy
Cousins, and interview Prince Far I for the last time, a few days later he was
brutally murdered. King Tubby tells about his future plans - which were only
partly fulfilled. We meet Studio One veterans Devon Russell, Pablove Black and
Bagga Walker, and Jackie Mittoo reflects the past and future of Jamaican music
in a rare interview. And Brent Dowe smiles when Rivers Of Babylon comes to mind,
and gets us assured that dancehall is not a new thing but the very essence of
Jamaican music.

In 1983 Jamaican dancehall culture was rapidly changing: modern dancehall
music was born with Volcano. Volcano dancehall tape selection gives accurate
evidence of how many prominent artists passed through the Volcano stable in
1983.

Forward!"

Sugar Minott book

Let me revise the info, this book by Beth Lesser is already out and available to buy, it's 212 pages and contains photos (dunno how good the reproduction of them are) if youre outside of the UK it's £ 10.50  and that includes shipping. U order from Small Axe and they do accept paypal.

It seem as if this book is already out of print, at least for the moment (new copies is said to arrive shortly) but i will try my best to get me a copy and review it here. This is a book im very eager to get.

Irie Up so far......

 I've been reading "Irie Up" ever since it's first issue and have kept on buying every new magazine coming. I did an thorough review some time ago and as this is being written 8 issues have been produced. Perhaps it's time to take a look at the journey so far and asses what's good, what's bad, what needs to be changed and what's not. One thing needs to be stated and very clear before anyone continues reading, everything is written in good faith and im grateful that there's at least 1 English spoken magazine dedicated to our beloved genre and will keep on buying every new mag. as long as they are distributed in the country where i live.

In the review of the first issue i said it kinda lacked a structure, this have been worked on and the way the content is presented makes more sense now. It could be tightened up even more but it's not anything urgent. I mentioned that i was wanting a review section and there is one now. It's great that they review both vinyl and cd's (along with digital releases) but i wish they would cover a wider section of the market. Rite now it's mostly the small, local underground acts tht is featured, forget releases from VP, Greensleves or any of the bigger guys like Anthony B etc....

As far as articles go, what is covered? Just like the first issue they have continued to have a strong focus on the soundsystem scene and the promoters. There is interviews and features with artists and groups as well but nowhere near as many as i would like to see. To generalize it seem as if we are more likely to have a feature on a flyer distributor in (let's say) Bulgaria or a concert promoter in Cologne than an artist. I would love to see a more balanced magazine, keep the stuff that's in there but ad more artist coverage. When and if that is being done, feature all sub-genres. I wanna read about new and old acts, roots as well as dancehall/ragga and established artists as well as those who is barely starting out.

When it comes to the look of the magazine i have absolutely no complaints, it's gorgeous and professional looking whit nice color photos throughout the pages. Whit that being said, if there is a choice between producing a fancy magazine or a thick one with plenty content i would rather go for the later. If you could ad 20-30 pages by printing on paper of a lower quality and mix color pages with black and white ones i would rather go for that. Still, what you got going is flawless.
The passion from the first issue is still there and i comend you for not loosing interest or getting lazy, every issue oozes with love for Reggae. Seem as if plenty of folks are getting fed up with the scene nowadays and looses themselfes in nostalgia trips over how good it used to be way back when.

When talking paper magazines i guess the web presence is less important but their re-vamped website is looking a whole lota better than their old one (which was still good) but i would love a web-forum and perhaps a consignment shop selling material from all the obscure acts one reads about in the magazine. There is no convenient way of obtaining anything with all the local act's being mentioned. Also, a web directory would be great but not essential. Well, i guess that's it from me, i hope this wasn't to long and incomprehensible. I love the magazine, y'all are doing an important job and is filling a big void.

Is Buju innocent?

I read a piece on the re-trial of Buju Banton that was published by "Jamaica Observer" and it's very hard to make up your mind on what to think of things. Buju admits that he "talked the talk" and posed as a drug-dealer. They have him on camera when he tastes cocaine from a knife, Buju claims he was just goin along with things, kept up with the act and that he was scared of his life.

Judging from personal experience i know that he could very well tell the truth. One night (many years ago) i was approached by 2 junkies, felt very uneasy and pretended to be one myself just to get away from the situation. Then again, Buju boasted and claimed he was a bigtime drug-dealer on an airplane, where there was no danger.

We are talking bout a guy whit a very spiritual image, who sings bout justice and the hardships of the poor and who has a very successful career. The way i see it he's either guilty and a scumbag or immature whit some character flaws. I really want to believe he's innocent as he's from an artist point of view one of the best "modern" reggae artists ever with a slew of amazing albums behind him but i just don't know.....

Even his character wittnesses (Morgan Heritage & co.) admits he does a lot of talking but claims he's no drug-dealer. Should someone who either is or runs around and pretends he's a bigtime drug-dealer go into a studio and record all these spiritual and philosophical songs? While admitting to his genious i dunno if i will ever look at Buju in the same light again, regardless of his guilt or not......

New Alpheus coming soon

A new album from Brittish Alpheus is coming soon and there's a promo available before it's officialy released. His first album was okay, showed a lot of promise but wasn't amazing, his second album was a lot better and this seems to be absolutely amazing. In a recent interview (whit "United Reggae") he says he's kind afed up with modern reggae so he went back to the good ole days of ska and rocksteady. Well, nuff said, here's a few samples from his soon to be released album, i will certainly get it once it comes out.

Mystic Vision

Got a package with releases from Mystic Vision and associated artists today. For those who don't know them they are a deeply spiritual rootsreggae band with ties to Midnite and Benjamin Vaughn. Im very excited and the little iv'e heard sounds great. There will be a heavy Mystic Vision coverage on here in the days and weeks to come. Finaly som New Mexican reggae blastin from my speakers.

Go check their website, it's vastly improved from their old one and you can sign up to download a bunch of free mp3s (sign up and they mail u a link).

http://themysticvisionband.com/home.cfm

Ms.Tee, Queen of New Orleans RAP

When it comes to female New Orleans artists iv'e always considered "Ms.Tee" the queen (not Mia X) of Rap (and "Cheeky Black" perhaps the prinsses). I realy dig her albums but it was quite some time since i heard too much from her. Lately though iv'e noticed that several new songs have popped up on her myspace page (good ones) and there has been talk of a new album being in the makings. So, check out her page and keep your eyes/ears open for a new album (I realy hope there will be one).

http://www.myspace.com/msteegirltalk

NewBounce Documentary; Ya Heard Me

I got both good and bad news for you, the good is that there actually is a documentary about Bounce music out there, "Ya Heard Me". The bad news is that i know nothing about how you can watch this movie, unless you belong to the "movie festival crowd". In it you get to see legends like "Dj Jimi", "TTucker" and "Cheeky Blakk" among a buncha others like "Kilo" and old "No Limit" artist "Mia X".

Kilo really nails it down when he tries to describe Bounce by saying "It's not gangsta music, it's not R&B music, it's project music", a truer comment could not be said about this "sub genre", it's really not gangsta (although some artists do music they describe as "gangsta bounce") but it feels just about as ghetto as it possibly can. Well, in the documentary we get to see plenty of asses shaking and we get some time in the studio where they make bounce beats.

Damn, damn, damn, gosh darn it, I want to see this documentary. I will have to try and convince the maker of this movie that I'm important enough to be sent a screener copy of it. I know I will not be able to attend any screenings at festivals and I do not wanna wait until a DVD release is available.

http://www.yaheardmefilm.com/

New Orleans videos

Aint got too much to say other than that these be some tite rap videos from New Orleans artists....... Enjoy them.

A few things i don't like about Rap

I'm a major music nerd, i buy books, magazines and Cd's like there are no tomorrow and spend plenty of time finding obscure groups no one has ever heard of and my main genre (besides Reggae) is Rap/Hip hop. That does not have to mean that i like everything that goes on whit in the confines of this genre, consider this a list of things that annoys me, in no particular order.


1.Anniversary magazine issues
Seem like every major rap/urban magazine existing are very keen on finding 1 billion reasons to celebrate some sorta anniversary and look back at previous issues and pat themselves in the back (while they say the best is yet to come). This is starting to bug me, i mean there are legitimate reasons to celebrate, like for an example the 100th issue, 10 years in the industry or even your 1st year as a magazine but shit are starting to get a bit ridiculous now.......


2.Acronyms
One thing that really, really gets on my nerves is when artists claim to be a thug, gangsta, pimp or whatever and then flips the word into some bogus positive acronym (like T.H.U.G.=them healthy uplifting guys). It's like they think, "I'm gonna call myself all these cool street things and if someone criticise me for glorifying negative shit i can just claim it mean this........." Just give it up and represent what you are and nothing else. However, this is not to be mixed up whit for example religious artists who tries to camouflage their message to reach lost souls in the streets (like "I'm slanging the gospel to the Jesus fiends"), i consider that pretty clever.


3.Overused samples
Am I the only one seriously fed up whit folks who samples "Scarface" quotes in their songs? It seem like every rap album known to mankind have to include the lines "All i have in this world.....". Unf. I'm guilty myself of making beats whit samples from this movie, call it hypocritical or not but i can't stand hearing Al Pachino on every album i pick up, i way rather go whit James Brown or George Clinton samples (which is criminally overused in the sampling world as well).


4.Intros, skits etc....
De La Soul's "3 feet high and rising" may be one heck of a classic album and i absolutely love it but it was also the first Rap/Hip hop album to feature "skits" a plenty and these little things are something i hate whit a passion. Why do we have to put up whit all these phony radio broadcasts, news show segments and game shows whit lame attempts at humor? They're at the best of albums as well as the worst and are never funny so please quit it, NOW!!!!

5.Coming soon
This may not totaly fit the criteria as i don't disslike or hate this phenomenon but isn't it kinda funny looking at the inside booklet of many of the independent releases and see how many albums there is that is adverised as "coming soon" that never came for one reason or another. Seems like the rap game was not the "pot of gold" that so many thought it would be. I wonder what happened whit the folks behind all these failed labels whit grand plans that amounted to nothing......

Reggae Vinyls, R.I.P. ?

When i started buying music way back in the days, the only format that counted was Vinyl, casettes where availible but didn't feel as real so I never bought em (unless they where on sale, whit huge discounts). Time passes by and it was a long time since I stopped bying vinyl.

There has however, been a scene for vinyls long after i gave it up in the early 90' ies. The market for reggae on vinyl has been very strong among the more hardcore fans and soundsystems. Now it seem as if that is pretty much dying out, whit only extreme nostalgia buffs still being interested, or?

"The reduction in vinyl production in the West Indies has dramatically affected the way I access music," explains the legendary DJ - or selector - David Rodigan, host of the weekly Rodigan's Reggae show on London's Kiss 100 FM."

read article here:

http://music.guardian.co.uk/urban/story/0,,2242297,00.html

I miss "Pen and Pixels"

I know alot of folks tend to disslike the "over-the-top" bling bling covers from "Pen and Pixels" but oooh, how I loved them. They are getting more and more rare for each day that passes by but have they been replaced by anything better?

I dunno if it is because im kinda into graphic designing but covers play a large part in deciding what cd's i buy and i have bought countless albums, unheard simply because i loved the special fx laced "Pen and Pixel" cover whit it's cartoony Gangsta look.

That realy isn't happening too often whit todays mixtape covers or the overly airbrushed covers of recent years. Please, return "Pen and Pixel" cause i miss y'all

The blog previously known as "Vybes Central"

When I first started this blog i decided to exclusively dedicate it to Reggae and anything related to it, the thought was not to create the Ultimate blog read and debated on by everyone into Reggae. However, spending time creating a blog that hardly anyone reads or show any interest in is a waste of my (not always so precious) time.

This is why a change had to come, the old content will still be there and i will still cover Reggae music but hte focus has been expanded to cover everything i like and enjoy, such as movies, music, fashion, books, graphic design and whatever else I enjoy....... Hopefully this will boast the interest in this blog and motivate me to update it more often.

So, I hope y'all will enjoy the blog more now than y'all did before/Christoffer

African Movies

Many moons ago I visited Gambia, it was one of the most amazing experiences in my life and I could talk about it forever but I will resist the temptation. As a movie geek I was amazed to find African movies, I am not talking about boring, artsy movies made in French and backed by European intelectuals either. This is the real deal, made by Nigerians for the African market and covering all the genres Hollywood does.

You may wonder how this relates to Reggae and RastafarI and there is no direct links, we are not talking movies about Jah, Dreadlocks or Soundsistims but considering how Afrocentric Roots Reggae is, any fan of the genre should be interested in them.

For years you could not get ahold of these movies unless you lived in Ifrica but Internet makes the world smaller and Nigerian movies more accesible. So, soon I wills tart covering Nigerian movies here. I will focus on the "traditional" movies about tribal matters but basicaly anything except the "Adult" genre will be covered.

For more info and ordering, check out these pages (that I am not affiliated whit or take any responsibility of):
Afrikan DVD

African Movies Direct

Bob Marley, the king of Reggae, now and forever

When we enter the realms of serious "music-nerds" one of the main issues is the search for and discovery of the latest underground talent, the one no one but you and a few fellow "nerds" have heard about. Once that artist is located a massive grass-roots information campaign can start to inform the masses about this artists virtues and how unfair it is that he/she is not more known.

I am very much a part of this phenomenon, i love to dig in the underground for artists no one has ever heard about. But somewhere something goes terribly wrong for a lot of "nerds" and they start to look down at the more known acts and those who likes them. I would say Bob Marley is one of the top victims for this music elitISM.

This guy was and will always remain the KING OF REGGAE no matter how popular he is or will be and no matter how many folks who does not care about Reggae that you will see wear his t-shirts. I mean, how many of us would even have discovered this genre and even more important RastafarI if it was not for Bob Marley? There is many good Reggae artists out there but none except Bob has achieved prophet status.

If you're one of the Bob Marley dissers, ask yourself if you're about good music (& messages) or if your interest in this genre is just some stupid & elitist attempt at boosting your own status. I am not going to hold back, it makes me cringe every time I hear some newbie fan hating on Bob and praising Burru Banton or St.Croix reggae (i am not hating on Burru or St.Croix though) just to boost their own status as a "Reggae-know-it-all".

So please, a Reality check might be of interest for some of y'all!!!!

This is me

I am not on no ego trip or nothing posting a photo of me on this page but personally I always find it interesting to see an photo or something of the owner of sites or blogs. If you think otherwise, too bad, just ignore this.