For you review:
Original Minha Menina MP3 link
Later English Version MP3 link

So thanks again, citizens of Sao Paulo for your continued interest in my project.

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Although the track I’m sharing with you now is not the final edit, the guys from Radio Ska thought it would be fun for me to show it off.

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I was most interested in the first episode which dealt mostly with the early ska days. The film takes us to the Alpha Boys School, and introduces us to the nun that helped raise the Skatalites, as well as many other notable Jamaican musicians. The cameras travel down the neighborhoods of Kingston where the original studios and clubs have been left to rot. We hear from likes of Lord Creator, and the then Prime Minister of Jamaica, before the film follows ska’s path to the UK, where we are privy to interviews with UB40, Paul Simonon, and many others.

If you have friends that need a good primer on Jamaican Roots music, I highly recomend this show. My only complaint is that the narrator states outright that Ska is Jamaica’s first type of music, even though the guests anecdotally refer to both Mento and Nyahbinghi in the interviews.

Here now, is the first episode of this great series, broken into four parts (as per Daily Motion rules)

UPDATE 05/10/08: DailyMotion is not cooperating with my embed plugin, but the links are still active:

Part 1

Part 2

Part 3

Part 4

P.S. DailyMotion is a great site. They let you upload longer segments than YouTube, and I love the way they display their tags, making the more popular tags more prominent than the others. Try searching for obvious tags: Ska, Reggae, or your favorite band. But given their constant embedding issues and increasingly limited content, I don’t really advocate the site any longer.

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It seems that in the late 1980’s, while Acid House was blowing up, several DJ’s attempted to add a little ska influence into the mix. The result is very silly as is most house and techno from that era. But it’s very catchy in places, and recognizing familiar hooks is always fun for me. You can also hear how the ground is being laid for Jungle and Drum & Bass which would dominate the scene, 10 years later. A couple of the DJ’s featured on the Ska Rap album would go on to change their names and become huge in the Jungle world.

Some of the Tracks:
MP3’s REMOVED

Videos of Interst:

Longsy D’s static video, This is Ska:

VIDEO REMOVED

Wyclef Jean and the Rock lay down some Ska Rap:

I’m not posting this as an endorsement of this music. I’m a big believer that Ska can mix well with almost any kind of music, but this is an interesting failure.

I have some more Ska Rap/Ska Electronica tracks that I will post in the near future, so check back. Also, if anyone has more info on these DJ’s or the music, I’d love to hear from you.

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Greenstar is very cool, as far as I can tell. They have a very keen take on promoting culture, as well as commerce, education and agriculture. They find towns that are down on their luck and bring in Portable Community Centers:

“Using solar power generated by large photovoltaic panels, the center can drive a water purifier, a small clinic, a vaccine cooler, a classroom, a digital studio and a satellite or wireless link to the Internet. We work with the people of each village to develop an ecommerce website, employing local musicians, teachers and art professionals to record the voice of the community. Greenstar packages the materials for various markets, both direct to the consumer, and through licensing to businesses.”

This helps bring in money for the town, and gives them a way to show their cultural distinctiveness to the whole world.Greenstar has photos, art and music posted on their site. In fact the main reason I’m posting this is to point a few of you to the great collection of mp3’s. The people of Swift River have passed on the musical traditions of Mento and Nyahbinghi music through the generations. Here are a few from the Greenstar mp3 page:

- Mento tune, Banana
- Nyahbinghi version of Nobody’s Business
- Swift River child gives some solid advice, No Drugs
- A capella toasting from a local man, Skatel

Check out these and others at the Swift River, Greenstar site.

If you want to support this town, bring your business to it. Not far from Swift River is the Rio Vista Resort. An alternative to the sheltering Club Med style resort, Rio Vista is locally run, with authentic cooking and proximity to rural Jamaican life.

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It took a band like The Aggrolites to help Armstrong realize his Reggae dreams. This Hellcat team-up has just released, A Poet’s Life, evidence that Armstrong is capable of making the big leap from Ska influenced Punk to Punk influenced Reggae. The Aggro’s hard rhythms and grease bubbling organ are a nice compliment to Tim’s, mouth-full-of-marbles vocals.

The CD itself comes with a ton of music videos, they made one for every track.
- Buy A Poet’s Life from Amazon

I found a few of the above mentioned videos on YouTube:
- Hold On
- Translator
- Take This City
- Inner City Violence
- Among the Dead
- Oh No
- Cold Blooded

And while I’m on a recommendation roll, don’t forget to check out The Aggrolites new (Armstrong Free) album, Reggae Hit LA.
- Buy Reggae Hit LA from Amazon

Links of Interest:
- A collection of officially recorded Rancid Live Sets – dead link
- A video of The Aggrolites Live in the Studio

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The album was from Tono Quirazco, who’s fan-run-MySpace page, touts as “El Byron Lee Mexicano.” An apt comparison for sure. There isn’t much information online that is in English, but from what I gather Quirazco was a very popular guitarist in 1960’s Mexico. Not only was he a fan and contemporary of the Skatalites, but his guitar style is clearly Hawaiian influenced.

Links:
- Merida Ska.mp3
- La Mucura.mp3
- Pepe el Navaja.mp3
- The above mentioned MySpace page has more songs for download.

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