Dub . Reggae . Dancehall . Ska . Rocksteady

WEEK STARTING 8 Nov

Genre pick of the week Cover of Broken Beauty by J-Walk.
As with most things, this project started with a conversation in the pub between me and Martin. As we discussed what J-Walk and BiD could do next we chatted about our mutual love of DIY, post-punk, reggae & (digi-)dub, how about using that feel as an initial jump off on the next thing and see how you get on? I suggested. As is his way Martin considered the suggestion, then promptly disappeared, 6 weeks later something landed in my inbox, it was titled “Broken Beauty” and the music contained embraced all those symbiotic ideals and culture.

Recorded entirely in Stockport using a mixed kit bag of cheap forgotten keyboards, guitar, bass and effects pedals, this LP takes the J-Walk aesthetic and applies the wider palette of these influences to create something unique, those past and present influences forged together to bring you something truly DIY - instructions below.

How To Make Such A Thing...

Deactivate social media. Ignore the internet, don't answer text messages, avoid other music, the telly and other people. This is a process where it's only you in the room with whatever's in your mind. You will be there for some time and the loneliness can hurt a little.

Forget any predetermined ideas. Forget everything you've ever done before. This is an opportunity to start from scratch, but with years of accumulated knowledge and craftsmanship. Trust yourself.
Be scared. Be excited about not knowing what will happen and what will result.

Don't use midi sequencing, virtual instruments or samples. Just plug a toy instrument into an amp, press a rhythm and play around to see what happens. If it sounds good and fresh then record it. Plug a bass in to jam around and you'll soon hear and feel what sits in the pocket of the beat. Record it as it is. Dirty is real and good. Cleanliness equals sterility. Loop the bassline. Plug a guitar in and do the same.

Don't think when doing any of this. Just experiment with interest and curiosity and the music will take care of itself. You will now have a groove which is also about half a song minimum. Play some keys from the toys on top of what you have. Put 'em through effects pedals. Again, don't overthink it and don't try to get it clean. Add sound effects in right and random places.

There you go. Something you've never made before. But more importantly, it's something you've never heard before.

You don't have to die to be reincarnated.

"Broken Beauty"...You can't be either without also having been the other. - Jason Boardman


STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: It's here! And it sounds bloody MARVELLOUS! Like a punky-dubby-tropical-disco party - and everyone's invited! I challenge even the grumpiest acid house casulty not to crack a smile or shake a tail feather to this understated BEAUT of an album. Brew's done it again! All hail the legend...

TRACK LISTING

A1. Bubbles On The Line
A2. Janky Waltz
A3. Spring Well, Wellspring
A4. Black Lion Passage
A5. A Vision In Jade

B1. African Custard
B2. Botox Fomo
B3. Walking In The Sunshine
B4. Siz Pap Brick
B5. Monotropicalia

D. D. Mirage Feat. Private Joy

Night Time

**Limited to 300 copies - housed in a kraftboard sleeve**

Lovers rock style soul runnings from Sydney, Australia on this debut 7” from D.D. Mirage featuring Manchester's Private Joy. The original has a true 80’s lovers vibe with sweet harmonies from Private Joy and the flipside features a dubbed version.

Labels and sticker designed by Bradley Pinkerton.

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Pops is back doing a bit of a lovers / street soul ting with Sydney's D. D. Mirage. Sounds like a lost classic, but is infact - brand spanking new! Yes mate.

TRACK LISTING

Night Time
Night Time Version

Fake Glasses / Noodleman

Dancehall / Acid Ting

Eddie C's ever reliable Red Motorbike is on the move again, packing a handy stash of Dragon Stout and 12"s in the sidecar for this 10th expedition. The Canadian disco expert hands over to a couple of his nearest and dearest this time with Fake Glasses and Noodleman each taking a side of Caribbean sunshine to warm us all up. "Dancehall" succinctly describes what's on offer on the A-side, as Fake Glasses knocks out a seriously heavy dubwise number for the swayers and one-foot skankers in the dance. The cut rolls along like a subby juggernaught while the producer drops echo-laced vocal snippets and scratchy guitar from the tweeters. As the track evolves, FG fires up his trusty hardware and drops a killer synth melody to take us home. On the flip Noodleman follows his acid tinged killer from the last 12" with another 303 laced gem for the spangled dancers out there. "Acid Ting" lilts out the soundsystem packing sun, sand and pure roots vibes, gently nudged towards the dancefloor thanks to a slo-mo house beat. By the sounds of the second half I think someone might have spiked the grape soda; a bubbling acid line riding the groove to the heart of the Carnival. Rev 'em up - next stop Kingston town


TRACK LISTING

Fake Glasses - Dancehall
Noodleman - Acid Ting

Smart Alex is the coming together of Laurant Webb and Dave Coker of Housey Doingz and now one of their best moments gets reissued by the good folks at Sushitech. This limited 12" kicks off with 'Specially Hot' which is a powerful house track that has long been a secret weapon for Fabric residents. The original has a freaky vocal and edgy pads and the version gets more percussive. On the flip side, the deep and dubby 'Blow Your Mind' is a real classic with wet hits and subtle spoken words over percolating bass. It's a great one for a left-of-centre closer and the version is even more mind-melting with extra synth madness.

TRACK LISTING

Side 1
1. Specially Hot
2. Specially Hot (Version)

Side 2
1. Blow Your Mind
2. Blow Your Mind (Version)

Youngsta & Mucky Update

Plenty

'Reggae dub vibes in dubstep culture shall not be forgotten!' - Youngsta & Mucky Update.

Trust Deep Medhi to come back full of rudeness and flavour. "Plenty", featuring the delicatable sound bwoy vox of Logan, is the perfect mix of dub-step pressure and roots reggae soul and culture. Logan seems natural apt at riding a dubstep riddim, and the two combine to create one of the most arresting bass n vocal soundsystem killers we've heard all year!



STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: Just before you pack away your subwoofers for Christmas - leading purveyors of bass and soundsystem pressure - Deep Medhi come through with one of the strongest amalgamations of dubstep and roots you're likely to hear. Totally arresting and destined for multiple pull-ups. I can't tell you how excited I am to rinse this one on a big rig.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Youngsta & Mucky Update Feat. Logan - Plenty
B1. Youngsta & Mucky Update - Plenty [Instrumental]

Diving deeper into the story of Japanese reggae pop, Tokyo Riddim Vol. 2 explores an electronic, new wave and often experimental sound unlike anything Japan or Jamaica had ever heard before.

The first time Ryuichi Sakamoto left Japan, he did not go to the United States or Europe - he went to Jamaica. It was 1978, YMO were about to release their debut album, but Sakamoto was in Kingston, invited to play synths for Japanese idol singer Teresa Noda at Dynamic Sound Studios in a band alongside Neville Hinds and none other than Rita Marley. It’s not a story many know, but one which would spark Sakamoto’s fascination with dub and mark a new chapter in the ongoing Japanese love affair with reggae.

The Teresa Noda tracks they cut - ‘Tropical Love’ and ‘Yellow Moon’ - bookend this second volume of Time Capsule’s Tokyo Riddim compilation, which tells the wider story of how a fascination with Jamrock swept Japan, adding a dash of lime to that sweet city pop sound, embracing a globalised musical palette and creating a whole new genre in the process.

For some, like Sakamoto, a diversion into reggae was part of broader fascination with new sounds and styles, tipped into the global disco of homage and appropriation that made Japanese music of the late ‘70s and early ‘80s some of the most creative and undefinable in the world.

You had iconic shape-shifter Yosui Inoue, who toyed with reggae, afro-beat and electro-Balearic, (and whose For Life Records released several tracks on this comp), and Kay Ishiguro, who enlisted J-reggae originator Pecker on the ambitious Stevie Wonder-esque ‘Red Drip’.

Then there were the Compass Point devotees - producers and musicians alike who were enthralled by the sound of the Bahamas studio and drew on the detached cool of Grace Jones - as heard in the music of Juicy Fruits, and the disco noir of Casablanca-signed femme fatale Yuki Nakayamate. Sometimes, as was the case with Risa Minami, the J-reggae influence said more about Japan than it did about Jamaica.

But where Tokyo Riddim Vol. 1 focused on the city pop sound, this compilation goes further, digging out the more experimental collaborations and hybrids exemplified by Tomoko Aran, who in working with Yusuaki Shimizu and Mariah emphasised just how far reggae had travelled to be recast into something entirely new on the other side of the world.

Perhaps more than anything, in connecting the dots between Tokyo and Kingston, between Jamaica and Japan, the Japanese reggae was building a musical language that existed outside of the paradigms of US and European cultural hegemony - an encounter shaped by commerce, capital and creativity that is now being recognised more broadly for the first time.

Compiled by Kay Suzuki
Artwork by Noncheleee
Liner notes by Anton Spice, Kay Suzuki & Ayana Honma
Coordinated by Ken Hidaka & Kay Suzuki
Mastered by Mike Hillier at Metropolis Studios, London, UK

STAFF COMMENTS

Matt says: A second instalment of this Time Capsule. The first one was incredibly well received and shone a spotlight on the unique cannon of Japanese reggae. Volume 2 picks up the baton and showcases more of this endearing style, highlighting some of the more experimental numbers.

TRACK LISTING

A1. Tropical Love
A2. Anata Wo Rikai
A3. Oshiete Ageru
A4. 3 -Trois
B1. Jamacian Blue
B2. Red Drip
B3. Kanashiki Vaudevillian
B4. Yellow Moon


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