Boomshots

Category: Foundation

Classics

  • HEAR THIS: Jimmy Cliff “One More”

    Download The First Single From The New Album Rebirth

    With all due respect to the Gully Gaad, Jimmy Cliff is the original Starbwoy. We’re talking about the man who auditioned Bob Marley, starred in Perry Henzel’s seminal flick The Harder They Come, and was rightfully inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. Now he’s back with a brand new album at age 64, produced by  Tim Armstrong, the same punk rocker who was responsible for Cliff’s outstanding Sacred Fire EP. The first single off Rebirth is a hard-driving ska number called “One More.” Cliff sings it like it’s the last tune on earth.

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  • Flinging Down Father’s Day Selections

    Big Request To All The Daddies Round The World

    Reggae music has no shortage of tunes bigging up the mothers of creation. So whappen to the fathers? No love for Papa? With Father’s Day right around the corner, we did some digging and the results were mixed. Most of these sound like they’re really more about God than dear old Dad, but work with it father… (more…)

  • HEAR THIS: Freddie McGregor “You Won’t See Me”

    First Single From The New Big Ship Album “The Captain”

    These days the name “Big Ship” brings to mind the cutting-edge dancehall productions of Stephen and Chino McGregor, but make no mistake, father Freddie is the captain of the ship. In case you didn’t know, the studio was named for one of Freddie’s best loved hits—”Big ship sailing on the ocean / We don’t need no commotion.” Just in time for Father’s Day, Freddie has come back with a nice new reggae-matic cover of a classic Beatles selection. Check it out after the jump. (more…)

  • Interview: Reasoning With Clive Chin

     Remembering Randy’s Records, Bob Marley, And Playing Rhythms On A Cheese Grater

    Tonight in Brooklyn NYC, legendary reggae producer Clive Chin will premiere some exclusive scorchers from deep inside the vaults of Randy’s Records that have scarcely been heard since they were first laid down inside the studio at 17 North Parade in Kingston, Jamaica. “I unraveled around pretty close to 600 odd tapes that were buried in the studio during the exodus coming to New York back in 1977—So hold tight, whole heap of good tunes. When I say good tunes, solid tunes, authentic tunes. Some of them have never been released. Tunes from Dennis Brown, Gregory Isaacs, Max Romeo. A couple Wailers too. Just to let you know that there is plenty arsenal in the Randy’s vaults—Ha-ha-ha-ha!” (more…)

  • Brigadier Jerry Live & Direct

    On This Monday’s Strictly Boomshots Show, RadioLily.com Welcomes The Original Dancehall General

    This past Monday Romain Virgo niced up the Strictly Boomshots show with some sweet vocals and slick selecting skills. Virgo was a hard act to follow, but we found somebody who’s up to the challenge. And so this coming Monday we’re taking it back to the foundation as we welcome the original dancehall General, Brigadier Jerry. When you talk about the greatest, most influential DJs in dancehall culture, Briggy’s name has to appear right up near the top of the list. And for all the great records he’s made, Briggy is at his best when he’s flinging down lyrics live & direct. There’s no telling exactly what will happen this Monday, but it’s sure to be crucial. (more…)

  • The Wisdom Of Lee “Scratch” Perry

    Win Tickets To See The Artist Formerly Known As Pipecock Jaxson in NYC This Thursday

    Long before Lil Wayne started proclaiming that he was “not a human being,” Lee “Scratch” Perry had the whole self-mythologizing thing down to a science. Unfortunately Scratch the character—order your limited edition vinyl… action figure before midnight tonight!—has very nearly eclipsed Lee “Scratch” Perry the man, who just happens to be a bonafide musical genius. His influence on legendary artists ranging from Bob Marley to The Beastie Boys has been well documented, still the cult of personality persists. But when Scratch takes the stage to perform live tonight in Washington D.C., he might just remind a few people what all the fuss is about. (Check the tour dates below.) If you happen to be in New York City tomorrow night, answer our million-dollar question for a chance to win tickets to the May 17th show at NYC’s Gramercy Theatre. And even if you can’t make it to any of these gigs, read on to pick up some pearls of Perry wisdom, as reported by the man called Emch, whose Subatomic Sound System has toured the world with Scratch.

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  • HEAR THIS: Sizzla “Mama Mek Me Deya So”

    For Sizzla Kalonji Every Day Is Mothers’s Day

    Who bigs up the mothers of creation more than Sizzla? From his mid ’90s breakthrough album Black Woman & Child straight straight through to his latest cut on Breadback Productions’ crucial “Long Life” Riddim, Sizzla represents for the divine empresses every time.  (more…)

  • WATCH THIS: Stephen Marley ft. Wale & The Cast of Fela “Made In Africa” Video

    Ragga Marley Takes It Back To The Motherland In His Epic New Video

    Walking back through Goree Island’s infamous Door of No Return, Stephen Marley flips the script on his epic video for “Made In Africa,” the opening track from his Grammy-winning album Revelation Part 1: The Root of Life. Shot on location in Ethiopia and Senegal, the cinematic video blends historic and modern footage to majestic effect. If this is the Root, we can’t wait for the fruit. (more…)

  • HEAR THIS: Busy Signal “Reggae Music Again”

    Pree The Title Track From Busy’s Refreshingly Rootical New Album

    “A different vibe is in the air” for real. Busy’s gone back to his roots with his much buzzed-about new album, impacting itunes on April 10. The title track says it all, the DJ is singing and the vibes are right. (more…)

  • WATCH THIS: Kevin MacDonald On Making “Marley”

    Check Out This Inteview With The Director Of The New Documentary, Which Debuts On 4/20

    The long-awaited documentary Marley hits theaters and VOD outlets in just over two weeks. But we know you don’t want to wait in vain. So just to hold you over, here’s an interview with director Kevin MacDonald (who also directed The Last King of Scotland). He says his goal was to get beyond the legend and show us the Marley the man. “I think people have a very wrong idea of Bob,” he says. “Yes he smoked a lot of herb, as they called it in Jamaica. But he was also incredibly hard-working. In one way he’s a very conservative role-model because he shows that you have to work very very very hard to be successful. Everyone thinks he just smoked and the inspiration came to him and he strummed his guitar. No–he worked hard hard hard…. I think the reason the original Wailers split up—which was him, Peter Tosh and Bunny Livingston—is that the other two weren’t that ambitious. Bob was ambitious. He worked incredibly hard to get where he got to.” (more…)

  • Reasoning With Monty Alexander

    The Grammy-Nominated Jamaican Jazz Master Nices Up The Blue Note

    With 50 years of making music and some 70 records under his belt, the Jamaican-born and world-renowned pianist Monty Alexander has finally received his first Grammy nomination. His live album Harlem-Kingston Express got the nod for the Best Reggae Album this year. Alexander is considered a first-rate pianist in international jazz circles, yet he got his start sitting in with mento bands on accordion, or recording for Coxsone Dodd and Randy Chin. He went on to play with Dizzy Gillespie, record with Quincy Jones, and accompany Frank Sinatra when he passed through Jilly’s on West 52nd Street. In other words—Monty bust big a farin’. Yet instead of turning his back on the Jamaican music that shaped him, he took it back to the foundation and found ways to blend the two with one sound coming through pure and true. That’s just what Monty has been doing during his two-week residency at NYC’s Blue Note, inviting 50 years’ worth of friends from the worlds of jazz and reggae to jam side by side, giving his lucky listeners “The Full Monty.”
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  • HEAR THIS: Clive Chin’s Pure Scorcher Mix

    Rinsing Randy’s Rarities At The Radio Lily Launch January 28, 2012

    The very first night Radio Lily began broadcasting the people’s music from Miss Lily’s Variety at the corner of Houston and Sullivan Streets in New York City, we had to come with something special. So we sent for the inimitable Mr. Clive Chin of Randy’s Records fame. The same one who designed the Impact! records logo. He showed up on a cold January night with a dapper tweed jacket and a briefcase full of dubplates and 45s. He promised to play one hour of “pure scorcher” but he ended up staying for 2 and a half hours, flinging down selections that ran the gamut from ska to rock steady to roots, rock, reggae, dubwise and otherwise. We’re talking rare and unreleased cuts from the likes of the Skatalites, Randy’s All-Stars, The Wailers Band, and Al & The Vibrators not to mention Delroy Wilson, Dennis Brown, Gregory Isaacs, Errol Dunkley, I-Roy, Augustus Pablo, The Heptones and so much more. (He even previewed some new rock steady songs sung in Cantonese that he recorded during a recent trip to China.) (more…)