Inna Reggae Style 003

Reggae cover versions abound again this week, and seeing as though this week sees the first anniversary of Michael Jacksons death, I thought I'd make it a special MJ themed Inna Reggae Style as a tribute.

Theres actually an astonishing amount of Reggae reworks of a huge range of MJ's tracks, and it was hard to narrow it down to just two, but I think the ones below are probably the very best in the crop. So hold your crotch, shout shamone, and skank out in memory of a legend.

Shangaan

I was on my usual tune hunting antics last week, and whilst checking out Boomkat came across their record of the week, a compilation released on Honest Jon's entitled ''Shangaan Electro - New Wave Dance Music From South Africa''.

After reading the praise laden review and listening to the three absolutely mental samples of the album I was really interested in finding out more about the style and what it is all about, and after a bit of investigation and scouting round Youtube the words the Boomkat reviewer rang true, as it all began to fall into place and make sense.

Like most people are pointing out, the comparisons between this style and the Juke sound coming out of Chicago can't be ignored, both in terms of the high speed tempo and in that both styles seem focused on making its listeners dance frenetically and more and more manic, with the main producer of the sound Nozinja, who's studio in Johannesburg is a creative hub for Shangaan artists summing it up well when he was quoted as saying "When you see them dance, you feel like they have got no bones".

Upon watching the video below I could not help but feel an overwhelming sense of joy and happiness that was being resonated through the dancers, who look quite simply like they don't have a care in the world bar making their dance moves even more intricate and amazing to watch. The sturdy stomping man who comes into play at 1:43 is my particular favorite, as he looks like he is completely and utterly immersed in a zone, just look at his expression.

There is no doubt there is a sense of madness running through the music, and some will argue that with its very high tempo and heavy use of Marimba's it can at times sound very cartoonish, however the same can not be said of many of the vocals, which, despite me not having a clue what most of the vocalists are singing about (only a few tracks are sung in English), sound absolutely incredible.

I haven't been this excited and moved by music in a good while, and the thing that excites me the most is that music hasn't lost the ability to surprise me in a way I wouldn't imagine possible, and that there are scenes like this and Juke popping up in specific areas across the world all the time, which are now much easier to discover thanks to the advance of the internet, and I can't wait to see what scene springs up next.

The ''Shangaan Electro - New Wave...'' album is released on July 6th on Honest Jon's records, you need to give it some of your time.

Skream - Freeizm

For such a big name producer, Skream has always been pretty kind with giving out the odd free tune here and there, and just in the last few months we have been treated to freebies such as his sultry remix of Chromeo and the 4x4 madness of 'Clap Your Hands'.

To see one freebie from Skream is always a nice and welcome surprise, so to discover that he has just given away 4 (!) tracks at once is a welcome surprise of epic proportions.

As you would expect from a producer with such a broad range of styles, the 4 tracks given away are of very differing styles indeed. The track that has me most excited is 'Pitfall', which I have wanted to have my mitts on for a couple of months now ever since hearing it on Skream & Bengas show on Rinse (where Benga christened it 'A Scouse House skanker', maybe thats why I like it so much).

Its this style that I really hope and wish Skream explores more, as along with 'Aggy Face' and 'Clap Your Hands' this 4x4 aggressive style he has going on really excites me and, put it this way, its advisable not to be on the same dance floor as me if I hear any of them.

The 3 other tracks include 'Minimool', which just like the title suggests is a much more stripped back and subtle affair as well as his popular remix of The Dead Weathers - Cut Like A Buffalo. There's also a remix of the insanely popular classic House track 'Show Me Love' by Robin S which I didn't enjoy too much but can see a lot of others loving.

Skream - Freeizm Volume 1 (Sendspace Zip Link)

These are definitely very exciting times for Skream, with some major releases to come soon, starting with the absolutely massive single 'I Need Air' he has produced as part of his Magnetic Man project along with Benga & Artwork, which is released on July 26th and is receiving absolutely massive Radio 1 support. 

Its not something I myself would want to play out, but I can appreciate its amazing crossover appeal, and I think we might be about to see our first Dubstep Top 10 single. Popstep has truly been born, which is no bad thing, and if its going to be done by anyone then Skream & Benga are definitely the ones to do it.

2 weeks after the release of that on August 9th, its then time for Skream's eagerly awaited 2nd album, entitled 'Outside The Box'. Released 4 years after his debut album 'Skream!' and packed full of eagerly awaited tracks such as 'Listening To The Records On My Wall', its proof that for Skream, its going to be a massive few months ahead.

Celestial Blues

I don't listen to enough Jazz type stuff. I'd love to but time spent on other genres restricts me being able to, and its a shame because I bet there is absolutely loads of it I would absolutely love.

I remember being put onto this by a friend of mine last year, and since then I think I have made sure to set aside 8 minutes and listen to it at least once a week, probably more. Its the definition of music sounding GLORIOUS.

Theres a comment on the video of this track on Youtube by a user called tizzy8031 which sums up my feelings on the track perfectly;
''This is one the funkiest, sweet sounding, moving tracks I've ever heard. The message is so positive and uplifting it just has to be heard. Also, the fact that the Sax is so in unison with the lyrics and also gives a message itself, its as though, within the call and response, the Sax is agreeing with and is enhancing the lyrical content to the point where it is saying a lot more than the voice. Total and utter pure ingenious music.''

Listen, and you will hear that its very hard to argue with tizzy's point.

Africa Oye

This weekend sees one of the UK's most unique festival's take place again in my home city of Liverpool. Now in its 19th year, Africa Oye is the UK's biggest free African music festival, and has seen its stature rise and rise to become one of the most looked forward to events in Liverpool's calender.

Taking place in one of Liverpool's most beautiful and idyllic areas Sefton Park, the festival is free to all with a huge number of activities and attracts a huge range of people each year, check the video from last years festival for an idea of what is on offer.

The musical highlight I am most looking forward to this year is Andrew Tosh, 3rd son of the legendary late Reggae star Peter Tosh, who will be performing late on Sunday afternoon. 
After stunning guests with his performance at his fathers funeral Andrew Tosh has carved out a successful career of his own and now performs regularly across the globe, and I am looking forward to his performance immensely, especially if he pulls out a few of his fathers classics!




With sunshine predicted all weekend there is no doubt this will be another amazing event, and if your in Liverpool or anywhere close by you should really get down to Sefton Park on one of the two days and enjoy a fantastic free festival like no other in Britain.

Inna Reggae Style 002

More cover versions Reggae'd up to the max again, and this time round its time for Coronation Street to move to Kingston and The Beatles to grow dreadlocks.

Nadastrom

I hate it when I discover great new producers and realise, that they aren't really that new at all and have been knocking about a while, forcing me to clamber about trying to catch up with what they have done previously, which is exactly what I am having to do now having discovered the American producers Nadastrom.

I had never heard of them before until hearing my boy Mele's mix for Sinden on Kiss Fm, where he started with their devastating remix of 'Bombay', which is an absolute certainty to be caned throughout the summer and will no doubt be a festival favourite.

After investigating a lot of their older stuff it became clear their past releases from 2007/2008 sounds pretty dated now, with a very big Fidget influence going on. However in the last 2 years Nadastrom seem to have grown into genre switching producers in fine style, with their fresh, modern sounding takes on various scenes, including their great remix of 'Juke Dat Girl' by Chicago Juke hero DJ Gant.



Nadastrom can certainly switch styles up and have a very clean sound to their production, and by the looks of it their profile has continued to rise and rise over the past 3 years, and they look well on their way to becoming big big names beyond their home country.

I've been looking high and low for some Nadastrom DJ mixes but they seem quite hard to come across, although I did manage to find this 30 minute mix taken from a live show at a night called Killer Kitsch held in Glasgow. Unfortunately theres only a quarter filled in tracklist to go with it that isn't really worth putting up, but its a great half hour indicator of Nadastroms sound.


Nadastrom - Live @ Killer Kitsch (Mediafire)