Lee Perry Presents Megaton Dub Vol. 1

Certainly eccentric, Lee "Scratch" Perry is reggae's most influential producer, with a career that spans the entire history of the music.
He started at Coxsone Dodd's Studio One label, first as a talent scout, then as producer. Moving on to other labels, he recorded hit after hit for Jamaican artists, assembling the original Wailers and producing their earliest — some say best — tracks.

Perry has also done extensive solo work, composing, arranging and singing his own records. With the help of a studio band, the Upsetters (named for one of his aliases), Perry has forged a dub reggae style that's idiosyncratic and revolutionary — full of shifting, echoey rhythms and weird sound effects. His characteristic sound is unique — extended grooves layered like fog, with odd vocals and percussion shimmering in the dense mist.

This hard-to-find album collects 10 tracks of pure Scratch dub: Sometimes odd, sometimes wonderful and crucial.

Tracklist:
Dem No Know Dub
Conscious Man Dub
Such Is Dub
Corn Picker Dub
Rasta Dub
Freedom Dub
Megaton Dub
Dreamer Dub
School Girl Dub
Simon The Sorcerer

Lee Perry Presents Megaton Dub Vol. 1
(192 kbps)

James Booker - Junco Partner (1976)

This solo disc by arguably the most brilliant of New Orleans' resplendent pianists shows off all the edge and genius he possessed. There may be moments on other discs of slightly more inspired playing (and this is arguable), but for a whole disc this one stands far from the crowd. You can hear some of the most awe-inspiring playing here that reflects the extremely broad background that he could, and did, draw from.

You can hear his classical training and the brilliance of his interpretive skills in "Black Minute Waltz." He follows this with a version of Leadbelly's "Good Night Irene," which shows off his raucous bordello style of playing and voice. The disc goes on showing off the eclectic variety of influences that make up this man's music.

This disc also displays the man's prodigious composing and arranging talents. Though he was regarded as eccentric and crazy, even by New Orleans' accepting standards (he was a flamboyant, black substance abuser, and a homosexual, who spent time both in Angola State Prison and a mental institution), he was considered a musical genius and thus given a certain amount of leeway.

An absolute must if you like New Orleans music.      


Tracklist:

01. Black Minute Waltz
02. Good Night Irene
03. Pixie
04. On The Sunny Side of the Street
05. Make a Better World
06. Junco Partner
07. Put Out the Lights
08. Medley
09. Pop´s Dilemma
10. I´ll Be Seeing You

 
James Booker - Junco Partner (1976)     
(256 kbps, cover art included) 

VA - Original Jamaican Soundsystem Style - 21 R'n'B Scorchers

It'll take a while to explain this record to your friends, but what a concept. To be brief, Jamaican sound systems were once hungry for music (hard to imagine since rocksteady and reggae records would soon be issued as fast as newspapers), so the DJs turned to the world of American R&B.

"Original Jamaican Sound System Style" features many of the American tunes Jamaican DJs were spinning in the '50s, and it's evidence that they had excellent taste. The liner notes are fantastic, and you can't even pretend that every song on here isn't anything but jaunty and rollicking Friday night fish-fry fun. But don't forget that the sound systems overdrove these tracks through monolithic but cheap speakers; they mixed the tracks in with their own Jamaican R&B, and entranced audiences with shouts of babble. To hear it would be amazing but the ultraclean digital remasters here only hint at the experience. It's unfortunate that no one dug up a tape of the real deal, but this is evidence that someone should try.

Tracklist:
       1. Safronia B - Calvin Boze
2. Monkey Speaks His Mind - Dave Bartholomew
3. Live It Up - Ernie Freeman
4. Let's Make A Whole Lot Of Love - Dodgers
5. I'm Gone - Shirley & Lee
6. I'm In The Mood For Love - Fats Domino
7. Little Bitty Pretty One - Thurston Harris
8. Tears On My Pillow - Little Anthony & The Imperials
9. Strator-Cruiser - Joe Lutchers
10. Secretly - Jimmie Rodgers
11. Someone Like You - Faye Adams
12. It's Over - James 'SugarBoy' Crawford
13. The Vow - Gene & Eunice
14. If You Don't Want Me Baby - Ray Johnson
15. Blue Moon - Lynn Hope
16. One Scotch, One Bourbon, One Beer -Amos Milburn
17. Waiting & Drinking - Calvin Boze
18. One Night - Smiley Lewis
19. Be My Guest - Fats Domino
20. 3 x 7 = 21 - Jewel King
21. Return To Me - Ernie Freeman

VA - Original Jamaican Soundsystem Style - 21 R´n´B Scorchers
(192 kbps, cover art included)
                

Opal - Happy Nightmare Baby (1987)

The neo-psychedelic group Opal formed in the mid-'80s, featuring former Rain Parade guitarist David Roback and former Dream Syndicate bassist Kendra Smith. Initially, the group was called Clay Allison, but the group dropped the name after one single; Roback, Smith, and drummer Keith Mitchell released the remaining Clay Allison tracks under their own name in 1984 on the "Fell From the Sun" EP. After its release, the group adopted the name Opal and released an EP, "Northern Line", in 1985.

"Happy Nightmare Baby", their first full-length album, followed in 1987. Smith left the group during the "Happy Nightmare" tour, effectively putting an end to the band. Roback continued with vocalist Hope Sandoval; the group then metamorphosed into Mazzy Star.

At once drowsy, psychedelic, entrancing, and possessed of a sinuous spark, "Happy Nightmare Baby" may have been Opal's only album but deserves more attention than merely being a blueprint for Roback's later work in Mazzy Star. For one thing, Opal was very much its own band, with Kendra Smith's particular lyrical visions of mystic power and universe-scaling dreams and nightmares its own entity. As is her singing, though she's got less of Hope Sandoval's wistful drift and more focused control - check out the brief "A Falling Star," where the comparatively stripped-down arrangement places her singing in the foreground, notably without much in the way of echo. Roback's playing certainly won't surprise anyone per se who backtracks to this group from albums like "She Hangs Brightly", and the atmosphere of textured, moody power is evident right from the start with the wonderful early T. Rex tribute, "Rocket Machine." The compressed string swirl and steady stomp is pure Marc Bolan-via-Tony Visconti, though Smith avoids Bolan's style of warble for her own cool, something also quite evident on the slow-groove stomp of the great "She's a Diamond" and the concluding "Soul Giver." Meanwhile, other familiar elements Roback would later use are present aplenty - very Ray Manzarek-like organ lines on the mantra-chugs of "Magick Power" and "Siamese Trap," compressed acid rock solos and lots of reverb. The title track itself stands out a bit as being a bit more of a '60s Europop confection in a stripped-down 1968 setting - Roback's electric guitar adds some fire, but it's the slightly jazz-tinged rhythm and easy delivery from Smith that helps establish its own character. It's a release that stood out both in time and place (a 1987 release on SST Records, of all places!), but it stands up to future years and listens darn well.

Tracklist:

A1	Rocket Machine
A2	Magick Power
A3	Relevation
A4	A Falling Star
A5	She's A Diamond
B1	Supernova
B2	Siamese Trap
B3	Happy Nightmare Baby
B4	Soul Giver

Opal - Happy Nightmare Baby (1987)
(192 kbps, cover art included)

Paul Robeson - Sings Negro Spirituals (1962)

Paul Robeson excelled as an athlete, actor, singer, and activist, qualifying him as a contemporary renaissance man. His early accomplishments as a professional football player, Columbia law school graduate, and an actor on Broadway in the 1920s seemed but a prologue to even greater achievements to come. Involvement with the political left in the 1940s, however, led to a confrontation with the House of Un-American Activities Committee (HUAC) in the late 1940s. He was blacklisted, his passport was revoked, and his career came to a halt.              

"Sings Negro Spirituals" is an album showcasing Paul Robeson's inimitable baritone voice across a range of folksongs and spirituals with piano accompaniment from Alan Booth.

Tracklist:

A1	Swing Low, Sweet Chariot
A2	Scandalize My Name
A3	There Is A Balm I Giliead
A4	No More Auction Block For Me
A5	Bear The Burden In The Heat Of The Day
A6	Amazing Grace
A7	Who'll Be A Witnnes For Our Lord
A8	We Are Climbing Jacobs's Ladder
B1	There's A Man Goin' Round Takin' Names
B2	Didn't My Lord Deliver Daniel?
B3	On Our Knees
B4	The End Of My Journey
B5	I'm Gonna Let It Shine
B6	Unchanging Grace
B7	Stand Still, Jordan
B8	Mount Zion

Paul Robeson - Sings Negro Spirituals (1962)
(320 kbps, cover art included)