Boomshots

Tag: Lee “Scratch” Perry

  • WATCH THIS: Jack Johnson x Lee “Scratch” Perry “Traffic in the Sky” Official Music Video PREMIERE

    WATCH THIS: Jack Johnson x Lee “Scratch” Perry “Traffic in the Sky” Official Music Video PREMIERE

    From The Album In Between Dub

    Jack Johnson is not a reggae musician, but growing up in Hawaii he’s been immersed in the sound and the sensibility as long as he can remember. “Reggae music was kinda like mainstream here,” he recalls. “That was something that was always around. When you jump in someone’s truck to go drive or go surf it was mostly reggae records playing.” On June 2 the pro surfer turned multiplatinum recording artist, film maker, and environmental activist will release In Between Dub, a selection of tracks drawn from Johnson’s two decade-deep catalog, served up “with a dub twist.” While Johnson never aimed to play reggae music, he recognizes its influence on his folk rock aesthetic. “I always identified the tones that I’m shooting for,” he reflects. “On all my albums we kind of go for a nice round bass sound.” When you check it deeply, Johnson did once accompany the legendary Jimmy Cliff performing “The Harder They Come” at a European music festival. Johnson and Ben Harper also joined backed Hibbert while performing “Pressure Drop” on Saturday Night Live. And Johnson will make a guest appearance on Stephen Marley’s forthcoming solo album. So perhaps it was not such a crazy notion for him to reach out to dub visionary Lee “Scratch” Perry in 2020 to work on a kind of greatest hits in dub project. “It didn’t feel like it would be going outside of our natural zone,” he says. “I felt it would be interesting to hear the songs dubbed out even if they’re not straight reggae. I felt they might fit into that pretty nice.” Boomshots is proud to premiere the dubbed-out visuals for “Traffic in the Sky,” a gentle acoustic tune from Johnson’s 2003 album On & On, which Scratch transforms into a spongy slice of digital dub sport. The video of Scratch was culled from actual studio footage sent by his wife after his passing. Run it!  Video After the Jump… (more…)

  • Watch The Documentary ‘Studio 17: The Lost Reggae Tapes’

    Watch The Documentary ‘Studio 17: The Lost Reggae Tapes’

    New Doc Tells the Truth About Jamaica’s Recording Industry

    Lee “Scratch” Perry has seen it all. The notoriously eccentric reggae producer, vocalist, and visionary has created classics with artists ranging from Bob Marley & The Wailers to The Clash and The Beastie Boys. A literal living legend, he may be the only person on earth to have collaborated and quarreled with such iconic Jamaican producers as Coxsone Dodd, Joe Gibbs, and King Tubby—and outlived them all. When he burned his own Black Ark studio to the ground in 1979, people called him a madman, but Scratch just has his own way of doing things.

    One rainy night in the English countryside, the British filmmaker Reshma B sat with Scratch in a spooky old mansion, interviewing the man who’s also known as The Upsetter, The Super Ape, and Pipecock Jackxon for her film Studio 17: The Lost Reggae Tapes, which has its worldwide debut today on Quincy Jones’s Qwest.TV and Jay-Z’s Tidal. Video and Full Story After the Jump…
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  • Jah Bami 20/20 Album Review

    Jah Bami 20/20 Album Review

    Jah Bami Makes A New Album of Conscious Thought and Musical Arrangement

    After releasing the Suave mixtape, Jah Bami and Suns of Dub will release “Riddimentary” on April 28 with VP Records. In addition to this high output of music and preceding a tour of Europe and The United States, Jah Bami released one of his best solo albums to date, “20/20” this month. Album Review After The Jump

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  • Xana Romeo Talks About Her Debut Album “Wake Up” and Finding Her Own Way

    Xana Romeo Talks About Her Debut Album “Wake Up” and Finding Her Own Way

    A Reggae Legend’s Daughter Creating Conscious Reverberations

    Forty years ago Maxwell Livingston Smith, better known as Max Romeo, released his classic album War Inna Babylon on Island Records. The album featured classic hits like “Chase The Devil”  (which would later be sampled by Kanye West for Jay Z’s song “Lucifer”). This song sent fans into a frenzy with its balance of  spiritual and conscious lyrics over the Lee “Scratch” Perry–produced riddim. Max Romeo “put on his iron shirt” and chased the Devil out of Earth with his lyrical prowess—and he’s still making music to this day. Now, four decades later, it should come as no surprise that his daughter is stepping forward along a similar  path. Azana Makeeda Smith, aka Xana Romeo, brings a unique feminine fierceness with her incendiary lyrics. She has a great vocal range and her enunciation is clear and precise, adding to the palpable power of her music. With her  debut album, Wake Up releasing today, we linked with Xana Romeo, CEO of Charmax Music to discuss her debut album. Interview After The Jump…

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  • Ten Classic Rita Marley Tunes You Need To Stop Sleeping On

    Ten Classic Rita Marley Tunes You Need To Stop Sleeping On

    Half The Story Has Never Been Told

    The whole world knows the Bob Marley legend, but how many overstand the fact that his wife Rita is an accomplished singer in her own right? Alpharita Constantia “Rita” Anderson was born 70 years ago in Santiago, Cuba and raised in Kingston, Jamaica. She first met Robert Nesta Marley in the mid 1960s, when both were teenage recording artists at Sir Coxsone Dodd’s legendary Studio One, the “Motown Records” of Jamaica. Rita was lead vocalist for The Soulettes while Bob’s group was called The Wailing Wailers. The two would eventually get married and later tour the world, with Rita backing Bob as a member of his harmony section the I Three. Earlier this week Rita Marley was hospitalized after reportedly suffering a stroke. Our prayers go out to her family and fans around the world. In the meantime, let the music play. Audio After The Jump…
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  • WATCH THIS: Lee “Scratch” Perry “Jungle Safari” Live in NYC

    WATCH THIS: Lee “Scratch” Perry “Jungle Safari” Live in NYC

    The Upsetter and Subatomic Sound Soon Touch The Road

    Our bredren Emch of Subatomic Sound just blessed us with some never-before-seen footage of Lee “Scratch” Perry performing live in NYC back on May 17, 2012. This was his first time  performing with that lineup—Emch on the beats and mix, Larry McDonald on percussion. Paul Zasky of Dubblestandart on bass. That same crew is about to roll out a U.S. tour starting tomorrow in ATL and culminating with the mother of all 4/20 jams in Denver, Colorado—the mile high state. Video After The Jump…
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  • HEAR THIS: Suns of Dub Meets Mighty Crown “The Far East Mixtape” FREE DOWNLOAD

    HEAR THIS: Suns of Dub Meets Mighty Crown “The Far East Mixtape” FREE DOWNLOAD

    Addis Pablo and Ras Jammy Buck Up The Far East Rulers Inna Dubwise Extravaganja

    “We’ve pretty much been working on this forever,” says Addis Pablo, son of melodica master Augustus Pablo and co-founder of Suns of Dub, along with Ras Jammy, who is (contrary to popular belief) no relation to King Jammy nor—despite a striking similarity of appearance—to the elder Pablo’s frequent sparring partner Hugh Mundell. The pair first met at Rockers International Record Shop and began dubbing live—with Addis on melodica and Jammy mixing tunes and crucial sound effects—at Jamaican hotspots like Kingston Dub Club. Inspiration for this mixtape struck when the Suns traveled to Japan (Land of the Rising Sun) last October and linked with Cojie, Mighty Crown’s roots/foundation specialist, and began plotting their brand-new 40-track hour-plus excursion pon the version. The sounds thereon includes self-produced instrumental tracks and dubplate specials seasoned with vocals by the likes of Chronixx, Jesse Royal, Sizzla, Luciano, Lauryn Hill, and Mr. Williamz. Suns of Dub begins a UK tour today (see the full schedule below) and will tour Europe this summer as an onstage dub production team onstage with an expanded lineup (including Jah Bammy on vocals, Carlo on binghi drums and additional instrumentation courtesy of Dub Assassin) plus a 16-track mixing board to allow unique and precise mixes at each and every show. “We try to keep it spontaneous,” says Addis, “the next thing we could add a rock guitar or a violin or a tuba.” Ras Jammy agrees that audiences should expect the unexpected. “Last year we were playing the chalice onstage and smoke up the place.” Addis adds, laughing, “Steamers!” Audio & Interview After The Jump… (more…)

  • Reasoning with Adrian Sherwood: “What doesn’t Evolve Stays in the Realm of Nostalgia.”

    Reasoning with Adrian Sherwood:
    “What doesn’t Evolve Stays in the Realm of Nostalgia.”

    The UK Dub Master Breaks It All Down in this In-Depth Interview

    Dub was born in Jamaica where the bold audio experimentation of pioneers like King Tubby’s, Augustus Pablo, and Lee “Scratch” Perry shook the foundations of recorded music. These ideas spread around the globe and took root in fertile ground, places like the UK where many Caribbean immigrants brought sound system culture with them. Dub-minded youths like Adrian Sherwood began standing outside blues dances watching the walls shake and eventually got a chance to spin a few records himself—a bit of novelty reggae with James Brown and “Funky Nassau”—progressing and learning every day as he restlessly expanded his musical horizons. He would go on to tour as mix engineer for The Clash and The Slits, and found no fewer than four labels—Carib Gems (established in 1975 when he was 17 years of age), Hit Run, 4D, and the legendary On-U Sound. His mind-blowingly mic’d, mixed and mastered recordings with in-house groups like Singers and Players, African Head Charge, New Age Steppers, Creation Rebel, Scratch, and Bim Sherman and more are the stuff of legend. And he’s still at it, having just released a critically acclaimed album in collaboration with Pinch.This conversation took place some two years ago, but it’s still every bit as current as when it happened. Like a great dub track, Sherwood moves from deceptively simple to infinite depth in a flash. Interview After The Jump… (more…)

  • Legalize it! Wiz Khalifa, Queen Ifrica, Jr. Gong, Chronixx, Sizzla, Tarrus Riley and Lee “Scratch” Perry Chat ‘Bout Ganja Legalization and the Healing of the Nation

    Legalize it! Wiz Khalifa, Queen Ifrica, Jr. Gong, Chronixx, Sizzla, Tarrus Riley and Lee “Scratch” Perry Chat ‘Bout Ganja Legalization and the Healing of the Nation

    Could Legalizing Ganja Really Make It The Healing of The Nation At Last?

    Four decades ago Peter Tosh sang “Legalize It” and countless Rastafarians have suffered at the hands of the law for the sake of the holy sacremental herb. Now the Jamaican government is taking steps to decriminalize ganja with an eye to full legalization and industral production of medical marijuana. At this historic moment the Boomshots crew caught up with a few musicians in Jamaica who have been spreading the message on behalf of the “Healing of the Nation” to get their views on this big news for the Legalization movement Video After The Jump… (more…)

  • Ziggy Marley Wins Sixth Grammy, But Nobody Gets To See It

    Ziggy Marley Wins Sixth Grammy, But Nobody Gets To See It

    Three Decades Later, The Reggae Award Is Still NOT Televised

    Congratulations Ziggy Marley on your latest win at the Grammys. Fly Rasta Up Up Up… Way Up/. And just to make sure the ting STAY up, it’s time to revisit an important question. Why is the Best Reggae Album category STILL not being broadcast anywhere? It’s not like the world doesn’t love Reggae music. So what’s the problem? When will the reggae massive show some Unity and command respect like the hip-hop massive did back in 1989 before the music was a billion-dollar industry. U-N-I-T-Y is strength. Time to get up stand up for the good of the music. Uzeet. This year marks not only Bob Marley’s 70th birthday but also the 30th anniversary of the Best Reggae Album category. Details After The Jump… (more…)

  • Lee “Scratch” Perry Wants You To Stop Smoking Ganja

    Lee “Scratch” Perry Wants You To Stop Smoking Ganja

    The Reggae Pioneer Tells The Fader About New Music, Old Studios, and Negative Influence

    Lee “Scratch” Perry, who crafted sounds for Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and countless others while releasing genre-formative albums of his own, is relaxing in a grand old English guest house in Tewkesbury, Gloucestershire. He has just gotten through performing at the Lakefest Music Festival and is wearing a full red suit covered with dollar, pound, and Euro signs written in Magic Marker; his baseball cap is adorned with metallic badges, a large circular mirror, and a pinecone-shaped chunk of crystal perched on the brim. When he speaks, his words, like his clothes and his tunes, are freewheeling, arcane, and ceaseless. From a small settee, he holds forth on a wide range of subjects, including his new signee, Iguana, his return-to-form new album Back on the Controls, which he recorded in a replica of his legendary Black Ark recording studio, and why he feels guilty about the marijuana culture his art helped to spread to the masses. Video After The Jump…

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  • Full Moon Playlist

    Full Moon Playlist

     

    Ten Scary Selections for Your Halloween Party Playlist

    With fall comes one of the most festive holidays, Halloween. Elaborate costumes emulate scary and fictional characters; superheroes and sexy alter-egos. Children trick or treat for sweet candies and visit pumpkin patches. However, the holiday was created to remember the dead saints or “hallows.” This Boomshots full moon playlist highlights songs that comment on the dead rising theme in reggae, dancehall and soca. The playlist contains ten tunes, some focusing on the Halloween/horror theme, while others go beyond the theme and comment on social issues, and a few are highlighted for a wicked production. Audio After The Jump…

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