• Contributed Releases (671)

• Pending Submissions (151)

• Browse Collection (1816)

• Browse Wantlist (72)

• Contact

• All things OZ ... and Kiwi
• Blues Music Talk + Mod Help
• Chat
• Dub Club
• Football.
• Jazz Mod Help
• Rock Mod Help
• Track IDs

Various - Uptown Top Ranking - 21-Mar-06 07:52 AM
Uptown Top Ranking was virtually ignored when first released; the preferred cut (on the same riddim) was Trinitys "Three Piece Suit" which was a big hit on the sound systems.

But then Mikey Dread got Althea & Donna to voice a jingle for his Dread At The Controls show then playing on JBC. Based on Uptown Top Ranking , the jingle went "Mi dolly up a JBC/ Me check Mikey Dread an ting". So popular was this, and so often did Mikey Dread play it, that it persuaded Joe Gibbs to release it as an A side.

The rest, as they say, is history..

Good Looking Records - 15-Feb-06 02:22 AM
Good Looking were often criticised for constantly repackaging the same tracks. Theres some truth in this - but what great packaging! In addition to very high quality drum & bass and breakbeat tunes, GLO deserves credit for consistently visually appealing, often beautiful, artwork and innovative packaging

In house artists Purser and Jones created some great visual concepts, linked thematically through the various GLO compilation series. I particularly liked the stark simplicity of the "Looking Back" series vs the technicolour landscape excesses of the "Earth" series..

OK, so a label should be primarily judged on the music, but lets not forget that GLO releases were also a visual pleasure to have in your collection

Talking Heads - Remain In Light - 25-Jan-06 12:17 AM
I listened to this record again today, after not having heard it for probably 10 years. It stands up pretty well, particularly the first 5 tracks.

"Born Under Punches" is a sparse, hard punchy funk thats a marked contrast to the soft brush funk of the day and reminds you of Tackhead. "Crosseyed and Painless" is faster and flows more, a multitude of instruments playing short, percussive loops. The gem of the record is probably the call and response of "The Great Curve", although the I prefer the slightly less frenetic live version - there is so much going on in this aural aussault that you think its going to spiral out of control at any minute.

"Once in a Lifetime" has been played too often to have retained its impact, but by contast the relatively restrained version of "Houses In Motion" still begulies with soft horns, and bubbling bass and synth bass..

After that, its a pity the record ends with a whimper not a bang. "The Overload" sounds like a bad Joy Division imitation and is best forgotten. But otherwise, probably Talking Heads at their best

Mikey Dread - Roots And Culture / Jumping Master - 17-Jan-06 05:21 AM
Roots and Culture may be Mikey Dreads most lasting contribution to the genre. Not only was it the theme to the Channel 4 series "Deep Roots Music" but it features perhaps the most spine tingling horn attack in reggae... About 3 minutes in, totally out of the blue, as Mikey toasts to a bubbling bass, a big trumpet section suddenly steps out of your speakers, into your living room, lift their horns skywards and give a celebratory peal fit for the entrance of His Imperial Majesty himself.

If you havent heard it, do. Itll be on your MP3 player for ever