Ska Blah Blah

More Ska Deprication

Posted on July 3rd, 2008 by JJ Loy.
Categories: Ska Link.

The good news is that Ska is still big enough to piss it’s nay-sayers off.  The bad news is that everyone’s laughing at us. Ska Geeks have never been discouraged by our scene’s unpopularity, but rarely are we subjected to such accute scrutiny.

Over at Your Scene Sucks, recent American Ska fashion is being picked apart with sharp accuracy.  The accompanying text goes on to declare that Ska is dead, but we know better.  This is more a condemnation of the 3rd Wave fashion and music.  As a Trad loving, non-uniformed Ska Kid, I neither resemble nor resent this characterization.

the rude boy was never good at any sports, so instead he opted to join the marching band which, incidentally, led to the formation of his own group. the band enjoyed their biggest success at a recent high school battle of the bands, where they showcased their originality by covering the reel big fish cover of a-ha’s “take on me”.

How about you?  Is this your look? Does this burn your britches a little?  Check out some of the other scenes covered at Your Scene Sucks to cheer you up a little.  Everyone looks silly when they play dress up.  Click the image to visit the Rude Boy page at Your Scene Sucks:

Thanks to Lawless over at Dancin Mood for hipping me to this.

Check out more Ska Deprication from Ska Blah Blah:

- Spot Shitty Ska Band Names

- Ska vs. Ska-Punk: The Debate Continues

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How to Spot a Shitty Ska Band Name

Posted on July 2nd, 2008 by JJ Loy.
Categories: Ska Link.

Fan of the show, and cryptic emailer, John, reminded me of this embarrassingly effective formula for judging a Ska band solely by their name.  Adam Coozer’s list of violations goes a bit far, but his talent for creating phony shitty ska band names is where this link really shines.  It’s as if MAD Magazine was sending up Ska.

Here’s just a few of my favorites, but you should check out the whole post at ReadJunk.  Link

International Pancake House of Rhythm

The Go Go Bots

Jerks Like Us

Obi-Wan Ska-Nobi

The Skinhead Oi 2Tone 10 Year Olds

The Honda Accords

Mento Commercials

Skinhead Kickboxer 7

Spider Nick & the Italians

The Utah Mormon Ska-Crap Ensemble

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3 comments.

Ska Blah Blah: Small Talk - Episode 4 - The Impalers

Posted on June 26th, 2008 by JJ Loy.
Categories: podcasts.

Lars Nylander, once the great valve T-bone player for Skankin’ Pickle and now the (even greater) keyboadist to the Impalers, talked to me at length for this episode of Small Talk.  We discuss the maturation of his music as well as the production techniques that distinguish The Impalers from their Skinhead Reggae brothers, The Aggrolites.

The Impalers are an impressive band and Axe Records is a quality label, I encourage everyone to check them out.

Links:

Axe Records Link

Impalers MySpace Link

Buy Blood, Rum & Reggae from iTunes Link

Bobby Bobson’s review at Musical Occupation Link

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2 comments.

Dub Online: The Drastics In STL

Posted on June 5th, 2008 by JJ Loy.
Categories: Ska Online.

The Drastics have posted a live cut of Prophet Song on their MySpace. Recorded by Ron from Green Room Rockers during their last trip to St. Louis, a few weeks ago. I was five feet from the band during this recording- what a great show.

Also, Anthony from The Drastics recently spun an all dub set for the podcast Echo Beach. It features The Drastics, Deals Gone Bad and Victor Rice- as well as Dub legends, Augustus Pablo, King Tubby and King Stitt.

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2 comments.

Ska vs Ska-Punk; The Debate Continues

Posted on June 5th, 2008 by JJ Loy.
Categories: ska.

In my most recent episode with Babylon Party Machine’s Matt Wixson, he said that Ska-Punk was “loosing ground” in the mid-west and predicted that the style of music was not long for this world. Mark from The Green Room Rockers made a similar sentiment in the episode before it, and you’ll be hearing a little more criticism form The Impaler’s Lars Nylander in next weeks episode.

All of this Punk-Ska nay-saying didn’t sit right with my new listener, Steve. He wrote:

I’m not sure Punk-ska is going away any time soon. I’m a bit confused as to why traditional ska fans dislike punk ska. I liked (didn’t love) Bid D’s last album, and don’t see them going away.

I can’t answer for all of you, but I formed a few thoughts on the matter and sent it off to Steve in the hopes of enlivening a debate. I responded:

I appreciate you listening and especially commenting. I really don’t hear enough from my subscribers.

I’m not going to tell you that you are wrong. Tone can be misinterpreted in emails, so I don’t want to sound argumentative- I just want to state my point and ask a few more questions.

I was brought up on Ska-Punk. MU 330 and The Urge are big 3rd Wave style Ska bands from my city, St. Louis. I still love Skankin Pickle, The Bosstones… too many to mention. However, I realized around ‘98 that there was a huge deficit between Ska-influenced and traditional style ska. As the Ska-Punk bands stopped touring around the same time, I started looking back on older recordings. Discovering what was special about two-tone (no pun intended) also made me appreciate the distinctions between Ska and Ska-influenced. This older music spoke to me on a much deeper level than any ironic “ska” cover that Big D will ever crank out.

It wasn’t just the older ska that stuck with me after the third wave; bands like The Slackers and other bands playing in the traditional style were giving me something new to enjoy while staying authentic. I noticed that most of the newer bands were playing this True Revivalist Ska, Jump Ups catalog started filling up with neo-Trad artists, The Aggrolites hit the scene- I wanted to start a website with a focus on Trad, and I new that there would be an audience for it. I was correct.

I’m not trying to be divisive, but I am critical. I don’t want to run a site that simply loves all things ska, I want a site that recommends good music- that has interviews with great artists. I’m not going to listen to another Big D record- I’m not going to interview a guy from Less Than Jake- because I don’t like it. And I’ve found that there are a few hundred people in the world that seem to agree with me.

There are TONS of Ska sites that love everything Ska. Checkerboard this, and Rude Boy that, and Ska-Punk all over the place. Check out Silly Gillman, Ska Skank Radio or Just Add Ska for people doing cool things with a broader focus.

But tell me your story. You’ve made the move to defend this music, and I’d love to give you an opportunity. What’s good about Ska-Punk now? Am I wrong, and there are some Trad respecting Punks playing still? If you didn’t exactly love the new Big D album- are there any other new releases that you do love?

Write back. Tell me I’m wrong. Write me a new asshole if you want- I’ll publish our correspondence on SBB and see what people think.

-JJ

Steve responds:

“The Shit is Goin’ to the Dogs” –The Supaflies

Hey JJ,

I appreciate your e-mail back. I was under the assumption that your blog/site encompassed all aspects of ska, but it seems like in your response that your site is more towards trad ska. Which is fine, I personally like both types, or all types for that matter..

I have been a ska fan for years. It is all I listen too (aside from some hardcore), and all I will listen to. I vividly remember the first time I heard “ska”. I made a painting about it. It affected me that much. (I’ve attached the pic.)

This was my senior year of high school, so we are talking ’89. Bloomington Illinois (not too far away from st. louis) I was hanging out with some “punk rockers”, although how punk rock can someone from the Midwest be? Someone put Operation Ivy on the turn table and the rest is history. I now live in Evanston with a wife and two kids, but I’ve never let go of ska.

My experience is not “special”, there are thousands of little suburbanites who listen to Op Ivy. But the hectic tempo effected me like heroin, and I’ve tried to match that hectic beat since. Some bands have it, most do not.

For me, ska is about the beat. Either trad ska or punk ska, I’ve tried to gather music that makes you jump. It can be heard on “Do the Dog”, “Too Much Too Young” but I’ve found that the punk ska captured closer to the initial feeling. Bands like MU330, Slapstick, and Suicide Machines come close.

This is just my opinion, but a lot of the trad ska right now is too groove oriented. It doesn’t sound like a beat you can dance to. It sounds like reggae. In my opinion, ska should be danced to. Now, it’s hard to dance to punk ska, but a lot of it makes me jump.

I don’t want to go on too long, but there is a lot of trad ska that I love. Recent stuff that makes me dance include “reggae hit la” and “lucky Streak”. But a lot of it is instrumental, which makes me want to slit my wrist. “Strictly Rude” was uneven, but for some reason the beat on “Shining on” makes me jump more than any of Dr. Ring Ding’s latest.

It’s all about the beat.

I could go on and on. But It’s just my opinion.

Steve

What do you guys think? Are you a fan of both styles? Do you love one and not the other? Does Neo-Trad need to overpower Ska-Punk to be successful or can they both exist in harmony? Leave your thoughts in the comments section.

Thanks again, Steve, for sharing your thoughts and art with all of us- I hope you find your dancin’ groove in some of the music here on Ska Blah Blah.

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13 comments.

Ska Blah Blah: Small Talk Episode 03 - Babylon Party Machine

Posted on May 29th, 2008 by JJ Loy.
Categories: interviews, podcasts.

This episode, Matt Wixson- former keyboardist to the Flaming Tsunamis. He’s the one and only member of Babylon Party Machine, an electro-Ska experiment who (last year) released two albums online. For free. At once, Wixson’s music can seem contradictory and more than a little controversial, but then all forward thinking music is.

Link to Babylon Party Machine MySpace

Link to Matt Wixson’s MySpace

Link to Free Copy of The Back of My Hand EP

Link to Free Copy of God Hates Babylon Party Machine

Link to Free Copy of Matt Wixson’s solo album, Best Intentions

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4 comments.

Rude Boy for President

Posted on May 28th, 2008 by JJ Loy.
Categories: news, video.

I can’t find any evidence that the future President of the US enjoys Reggae or Island music, but Jamaica is behind him anyways.  I can’t say that I really enjoy any of the songs for the various candidates- and I know they aren’t all meant to be enjoyed, some of them are jokes- but I’m impressed that Reggae hasn’t missed the train on the most socially conscious hopeful in decades.

Obama embodies many of the ideals espoused in Reggae Music. His calls for drastic reform, an end to the war, transparency in the government, and support and compassion for the least of us is decidedly anti-Babylon.

Here’s a big roundup of Obama themed music videos- some Reggae, one calypso tune from the legendary Mighty Sparrow, and one that has nothing to do Ska or Reggae but is simply irresistible.

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Rumor Becomes News - Specials Will Reunite

Posted on May 27th, 2008 by JJ Loy.
Categories: news.

You’ve no doubt heard the rumors buzzing around the past few months regarding a full reunion of the Two Tone legends, The Specials.  I had always heard that any Specials reunion will never be complete due to longstanding personal feuds that go back nearly 30 years.  I’ve seen Golding fronted reunions dissolve into screaming matches with the crowd;  I’ve heard unimpressive live stuff from the Special Beat, in recent years; and who could forget the train wreck that was Today’s Specials- but a full member reunion might recapture that magic of ‘79- maybe.

This video has given me a pinch of hope:

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Vic Online - Full Live Set on YouTube

Posted on May 27th, 2008 by JJ Loy.
Categories: Ska Online, video.

These vids were recorded a little over a year ago, at The Elbow Room, but they are new to me.  Maybe they’re new to you too.  This set is automatically better than your average Ruggiero live video set, in that you can actually hear the music and see the artist.  This is Vic in full One-Man-Band mode, playing mostly stuff from his solo songbook, and a little bit from The Slackers’ cannon.  Please enjoy:  Link to The Entire Set

Here’s a sample from the set in question, California:

Bonus!  Not from the Elbow Room set- but what a great performance:

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On the Subject of Me

Posted on May 20th, 2008 by JJ Loy.
Categories: off topic.

No, this is not a personal Blog. You don’t come to my feed to learn more about me as a person. You want to read about new and strange pieces on the subject of Ska.

Tough taffy, my friends.

The truth is, I’m proud of a lot of my non-Ska projects and I won’t tie my own hands for the sake of consistency.

A few years back, my comedic collaborator, Daniel Waxler and I shot a short film here in St. Louis. The premise revolves around two corporate lemonade salesmen and their attempted takeover of a local independent competitor, two little girls across the street.

MiniMovie.com, a new embedded video upstart was eager to license the short- and LemCon is now available for your viewing pleasure. MiniMovie’s embedding options are very limiting, click here to Watch LemCon.

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