Professor Major - Meditation

Another music review while waiting for my African movies to arrive, as iv'e said before on here it's very pre-mature to declare the Reggae scene in Britain dead. While not being UK born this Jamaican imigrant is one of many reasons why i think it's very much alive. His brand of upbeat singjaying manages to stand out from the usual "Bobo Dread" artists who inhabits this subgenre and feels very fresh whit it's equal mix of love songs and RastafarI tunes.

We start out whit the title track, "Meditation" who is an introvert reflection over the trials and tribulations of his atempt at an career as an professional musician ( I shurely hopes he manages to become a household name among diehard Reggae fans because this guy got more talent than tons of his peers). It's like most of the songs on this album very catchy and whit a distinctive roots sound. Chances are this will find it's way into your head and stay there for weeks to come.

Next up is, "African empress" which start of a 6 song marathon dedication to proud, righteous nubian women. It's love songs for shure but whit a little more substance than your average R&B song and sung/chanted from a more spiritual perspective. They all sounds very rootsy and while all of them are good enough to listen to whitout skipping i'd say song 5, "You alone in my life" are the best of the 6. He has a flow that almost reminds me a lil bit of older toasters like "U-Roy" or perhaps "Tony Rebel", a very good and uplifting song!!! Perhaps 6 songs dedicated to the same subject is a little much but he does them good and get's away whit it.

By the time we reach track 8, "Nazarite vow" Proffesor Major is back in a more RastafaraI frame of mind  and tells us about how it realy does not matter what Babylon does or tries to do to him cause he's a Rasta and has taken the Nazarite vow. I like the trumpet in this song and enjoys this cd's return to a more spiritual vibe. Skip a few (excellent) songs and we get "Soon come", one of the albums highlights whit it's wonderfully repetitive chorus and lyrics about how Rastaman don't wear fashionable clothes like "Calvin Klein" etc but rather sticks to his turban and robe. What follows is the albums last song, "Ragga muffin" which is just one of many amazing and upbeat roots tracks on here, as always "Professor Major" has a flow to die for, he realy, realy has mastered his vocal talents.

Well, as you might have noticed i have nothing but praises for this album, it took me like 5 seconds of listening on cdbaby.com to make me realise i had to have this album. It seems to be a professionaly made cd-r and the price is a lil bit high (15$). In most cases i would be a bit dissapointed if i had spent that much on a cd-r but whit music this great i don't care. Lets just hope that "Professor Major" releases more albums, i would hate for this to be his only release.

African movies

A coupla million years ago I mentioned that i would start reviewing African movies on here but it never happened for some reason. I've just ordered a couple of Ghanian and Nigerian movies like "Spade" who seems to be an attempt at an American styled action movie and "Mountain of Evil" who seem to be a more horror themed movie and a few other titles.

I'm getting more and more into world cinema and is very excited to get these movies, one thing i think is very important is to order from a place only dealing whit legitimate releases. The African movie industry certainly is not Hollywood and needs all the financial support it can get. It's easy to find sites that sells bootlegs or to watch these movies free from streaming online sites but avoid that like the plague.

Go to sites like www.africamovies.com who guarantees that all the movies they sell are originals.

Future of this blog

Seem as if blogs not sharing 1 million mp3 files ain't being shown that much love or have that much reader participation, it would be cool to get some conversation and feedback going. If no one are that into the blog or what is on here I'm probably going to cut down on postings. It's not dead though, I'll keep things up.....

Outernational: A story about Trinity Sound System

 

As we all know by now, "Reggae" is a highly international genre nowadays and the days when 99% of all good Reggae came out of Jamaica is gone (although Jamaica still dominates). The culture of Jamaica has inspired millions over the globe, wheter it is music, religion or as whit the content of this book, "soundsystem culture", In this book we get to follow one of Sweden's premier soundsystems, "Trinity" and the 3 West Indian immigrants +1 Swede who runs it.

The focus of this book is on photos whit accompanying texts in both English and my native Swedish language, there is not a whole lot to read but whatever is there is well written and interesting whit individual chapters on the 4 members and some of their escapades such as a gig at a motorcycle club and a German club in Wupertal.One of hte guys in here, "Daddy Boastin" got his own musical career and has been a favorite of mine for over 10 years, something that def. ad's to the books value for me.I would not have minded more written content but whatever is there is good.

Technically speaking it's of an very high quality whit excellent color reproductions, great photos and the paper it's printed on almost feels like thin plastic sheets, have not come across anything like them in any of my other books. It's of course a hardcover book, no flimsy paperbacks on this book. Well, to sum things up, a nice and interesting book for anyone interested in Reggae culture worldwide, esp. if you're Swedish.

Outernational: A story about Trinity Sound System

Irie Up review

 

  

 

Finally got the "Irie Up" magazine in the mail and after having read it carefully I have the following to say about it. It's most def. good, you can tell that this is a "labour of love", coming from folks who are deeply immersed in the scene. It has a heavy focus on Soundsystems and the international, non-Jamaican part of the culture. There's features about German, Polish, Serbian and New Zealand Reggae and plenty of nostalgia about "the good old days" and a feature about reggae shops in Paris, France.

Over all i would say it's a high quality production (whit great layout and color pages) that is much recommended for the Reggae fanatics, if you just have a minor interest in the genre you might not like it quite as much as the die-hard fans out there. While being great and much recommended it's not 100% perfect, it lacks a bit of structure and I would have loved to see more artist features  and real articles that doesn't feel as much like a typed out conversations. More reviews would be great as well, there is some scattered through out the magazine but I would have preferred a regular review section.

But over all I would say this is a great effort and a very nice first issue, it has the enthusiasm of a "fanzine" but feels way more professional. Make sure to support "Irie Up", buy your copy of it and make sure to spread the word around, we need at least 1 English spoken magazine about Reggae. Iv'e scanned a few pages of the magazine so that y'all can make an informed decision on whether you should buy it or not, I have blurred out some of the texts though as I don't wanna share too much whit y'all. This is not a bootlegging blog.

My music

Iv'e been messing around in "Sony AcidPro" for some time now, doing beats/instrumentals or whatever you wanna call them but have not found anyone to sing or rap over them yet. Would love to hook up whit all artists out there, collaborate some and perhaps whip up a mixtape or a compilation or something....

There are no money involved what so ever (I charge nothing and won't pay u anything) so it's a "strictly for the love of music" project where talking about, check out my beats at my soundclick page and holla if you're interested.

http://www.soundclick.com/krikon

Lyrical Soldier - True soldier

There's plenty of tiny little places in the middle of nowhere here in New Mexico, one of these are Carlsbad who is about 1 hour away from where i live in Roswell. It's from there that "Lyrical Soldier" comes from. Knowing that my all-time favourite NM Rap album comes from a Carlsbad act i was excited to pop this one in the cd-player. Things start whit an intro where he says that he may not get rich and famous of this album but that he's not going nowhere and that this album might make it easier for the next artist to drop something.It's made like an short song whit some dramatic violins and sounds quote good for an intro (violins is something we will hear plenty of on this album).

First song is "Ride whit us", one of the most commercial songs on this noncommercial album. The beat is based on this simple toy piano loop (slightly reminiscent of the "forgot about dre" beat) and is an boastful track about coming up, trying to make it in this industry. Next is the nylon string (and toned down) laced "From the start" which is a "remembering a easier past" typa song but way deeper than just mentioning worry free days in the ghetto and how everything is tougher now. Lyrical Soldier is basically covering the same grounds as many before him but goes way deeper in exploring the underlying thoughts and feelings.behind the things he says. That's one thing i like about him, he has quite an dept to his lyrics and are able to turn what could just be rap cliche's into something more meaningful.

On a more lighthearted vibe we get "My Cd", a boastfull track where "Lyrical Soldier" let folks know that it doesn't matter if they are hating because the streets respects him and producers keep on giving him beats to rap over just on the strength of how he spits. The woman who sings the chorus makes it catchy and it kinda has some sorta cross-over quality, whit some luck and the right marketing im shure this could be quite a hit. On a way more serious level we get "True soldier" a coupla songs further in the cd and it's not what you might think at first. This is not a dedication to the thugs and O.G's populating our city streets, see "Lyrical Soldier" served in Iraq and this song is dedicated to all soldiers shipped overseas to do military service and who got their fellow soldiers back in thick and thin. It's backed by an "thugged out" beat whit a groovy piano and autotune processed synth. If you think he's blindly patriotic pro-war you better think twice though, he's getting quite critical on some of his closing tracks.

Things turn quick and dramatic on this cd, want proof just check out the next track, "Summertime" whit it's oldies soul/doo-wop sounding backing that could have came straight out of one of "Capon-E"'s "Dedicated to the oldies" albums. It's a very smooth and relaxed song full of lyrics about partying and chillin in the hot New Mexican summer breeze. While i gotta admit it's catchy as hell and very good it's also the most cliched song on the album, about a million of these songs have been made already and this one does notdiffer from any of these. I'm however a believer of that it's more important to do what you do good than always be 100% original, the wheel can only be invented so many times.... But as said, still a good song.

Skipping a few more songs we come to track 12, "Broken dreams" and as you can guess it's way more serious than the previous song that i mentioned and is about how folks tend to be quick to criticize you although they don't give a fuck about you. It's quite deep and emotional and dramatic whit some mellow strings and a dark melody. The song "Fake" surprises me, it starts out as being about selling out in order to get mass appeal and how he refuses to and quickly turns political, dealing whit discrimination of Latinos and racial prejudice, all this over some pretty smooth guitar vibes. This is one guy who has spent quite some time thinking bout stuff.

Things quickly gets even more political on the last song, "The masses" which is about the hypocrisy of USA, war criticism and observation on how America has money to bomb places, build prisons but not to feed the poor. As an soldier you would think he's unadulterated patriotic, flag waiving and pro war but things ain't quite that easy. I feel he's very much against this Iraq war while at the same time being very supportive of our troops and it's individual soldiers.

Well, as usual i could go on writing line after line but i will try to avoid my urges of verbal masturbation. I gotta say i liked this album, it provided some food for thought, complex lyrics, interesting subjects and some honest raw emotions. I liked how this album had an hardcore street feeling to it without ever being gangsta, "Lyrical Soldier" keeps it positive while at the same time showing he's not to be messed whit.

He's for sure lyrical but i would not say in an typical East-coast backpacker way, he do have his metaphors and rhymes but it's not because of any clever wordplay his lyrics are good but more for the dept and relevance they showcase. If you want something that is both street and thought provoking i def. recommend you to go and get this album, if you need easily chewed, Radio friendly rap, search elsewhere.

Lutan Fyah - The king's Son

 The King's SonThere seems to be an an never ending supply of young, militant chanters out there who never misses an opportunity to regurgitate old "Bobo Ashaniti" cliche's. Don't get me wrong, im a major fan of this subgenre (and buys quite a few singjay albums) but feels as if the scene can get a bit overcrowded sometimes. There is however always room for more "Lutan Fyah", even if he recorded songs in a tempo that made "Sizzla" seem lazy. I like his softer sounding approach to the genre and his less aggressive (but uncompromising) lyrics. A new album from "Lutan Fyah" is always a cause for celebration if u ask me.

First up is the tender love song "My love is running over", a soft and emotional song where he confesses how much he loves his woman. I've always liked his love songs and have been able to relate to them on a personal level. I guess I'm kinda a sensitive guy who has never been into this "Let's get laid" macho attitude so many men seem to have and judging from his songs "Lutan Fyah" is neither. For the next track, "Currupt life style" the tempo is upped considerably and the lyrics changed in favor of an more cultural vibe talking bout the virtues of the bobo lifestyle, Prince Emanuel etc...

More utempo Roots vibes are served on "The motherland calling", a duet whit the before mentioned "Ras Shiloh" and they complement each other very, very well, i could absolutely see the 2 being in a group together. Next up is the title track "The kings son" wich serves us more uptempo vibes and is among my favorites on here, it's a catchy song and Lutan's flow is quite perfect, needles to say the lyrics are top notch as usual.

A coupla songs later on we get "Jah works must be done" which is another stand out tune and a slightly more melancholic sounding one although it never reaches quite the "sufferers music" depths it could. It's basically a motivational tune tellin us to keep things going when everything seems dark because gods works still must be done no matter what. Towards the end of the album he returns to the lovers style that started the album up whit "Loved by you", a sweet and warm track about the heartaches of a love gone wrong. It's another one of "Lutan Fyah"'s signature love songs which i like so much.

Over all this is another high quality album from one modern Root's Reggae's brightest shining stars, i like it how Lutan Fyah manages to show a softer, more humble side than many Bobo dj's while still being just as unrepentantly Rasta as the most militant out there. For those of y'all who want an happy sounding Roots album this is a perfect choice. Much recommended.

The King's Son

Hi Fructose

Just got my first magazine of "Hi Fructose" and i gotta admit, I absolutely love it. Guess it's kinda similar to the better known magazine "Juxtapoz" since it covers the same kinda "under the counter culture", lowbrow art. Still, it's no copycat magazine and the quality of the printing, paper etc is excellent and very much do justice to the gorgeous paintings it covers. Y'all gotta have a look at it, shame that back issues are expensive and rare. Will absolutely get the book collecting the first 4 magazines.

Musically Mad

Been wanting to see this ever since it came out and finally it happened, it's a documentary about the soundsystem culture in England and features interviews from a whole heap a big names and plenty of material from dances and more. It's a very interesting subject that is made even more interesting to me knowing it's made by people from my native country Sweden.


My first impression after finishing it is that it is very well made, the folks behind it had a thought of what they wanted to accomplish and did not just put together random clips and interviews and threw it out there. The almost 60 minutes we get is the result of 4 years of fliming and almost 80 hours of material. Interesting material who did not fit into the documentary is provided as extras, a very good initiative indeed but im sure there's enough interesting material left to fill a dvd box-set.

However, what's in the movie itself feels pretty darn complete, we get interviews whit tons of big names, clips from more current dances as well as classic material from the early 80ies and material dealing whit the more technical side of things such as pre-amps, builders of speakers etc.... One thing that hits me is that many of the veterans in the game seems to be kinda pessimistic about the current situation, there are less places to perform, the youths ain't that into the culture anymore etc...

That's kinda funny because coming from a place and time where Reggae was 100% unpopular iv'e always looked to England as second only to Jamaica when it comes to Reggae and keeping "up-to-date" whit releases and stuff i still sees plenty of good things coming out of England. But I speak from a fans point of view, i dunno nothing about sales, promoting events etc.....

The true test of a music documentary is whether it will be of interest to people who is not fans of the music or the scene it documents (like how i absolutely loved "Heavy Metal in Bagdad" or "Heavy Metal Parking Lot" without being into that kind of music) and i would say that "Musically Mad" should appeal to anyone whit an interest in music. If you're into Reggae it's an added bonus and an must.