The Young Ones Mix Tape

Track List on ZeRO

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A Source of Happiness Guaranteed

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ZeRO Listing

The Optimism Series, v1 How Full Is Your Glass?

 
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Two Hands (Are Better Than One)

 
A Avacado Rabbit and Robert Song Mix. Original complted in Jan 2009.
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As Dancers We Make Reasonable Distance Runners

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ZeRO Listing

Good Fela

Tracklist

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African 60s

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Africa Cup Of Nations Angola 2010

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30 from the 60s Down Under

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African Naughties

A collection of my favorite African albums from this decade.

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The Rule Of The Three

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Two Slightly Distorted Guitars

The 21st Dark Song mix.

On ZeRO.

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Anthem For Old Souls

ZeRO Post.

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Groovy Hip Shake

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JA Producers: Leslie Kong

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JA Producers: Prince Buster

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JA Producers: Duke Reid

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After serving 10 years as a Jamaican Police Officer, Reid left the force to help his wife Lucille run the family business, The Treasure Isle Grocery and Liquor Store.

He made his way into the music business first as a sound system (outdoor mobile discothèque) owner, promoter and disc jockey. He quickly overtook Tom the Great Sebastian and his sound system as the most popular sound system in Jamaica. Soon he was also sponsor and presenter of a radio show, Treasure Isle Time. A jazz and blues man at heart, Duke chose 'My Mother's Eyes' by Tab Smith as his theme tune. Other favourites of his included Fats Domino, a noticeable influence on the early Duke Reid sound.

Early Reid productions were recorded in studios owned by others, but when the family business moved from Pink Lane, Kingston to Bond Street, Reid set up his own studio above the store. He became proprietor of a number of labels, chiefly Treasure Isle and Dutchess (his spelling). Much of his income derived from licensing agreements with companies in the UK, some of which set up specialist Duke Reid labels.

He dominated the Jamaican music scene of the `60s, specialising in ska and rock-steady, though his love of American jazz, blues and soul was always in evidence. Duke Reid had several things going for him that helped him to rise to prominence. He made a concerted effort to be in the studio as much as possible, something his counterparts didn't do. Duke was known as a perfectionist. He also had a knack for adding symphonic sounds to his recordings and producing very dense arrangements. Furthermore, his records were considerably longer than those being produced by his rivals. His tunes often broke the four-minute barrier while most ska songs were barely longer than two minutes.

Reid initially disliked ska for being too simple and having too much focus on drums rather than on guitar. However, Reid eventually got behind ska. By the `70s, Reid's poor health and the trend towards Rastafarian influenced roots reggae noticeably reduced the number of releases from Treasure Isle. Reid forbade Rasta lyrics from being recorded in his studio and thus Coxsone Dodd was able to dominate the Jamaican recording industry. Reid maintained his high profile largely by recording the `toasting` of DJs U-Roy and Dennis Alcapone.

At around this time, Reid protege Justin Hinds noticed his boss appeared unwell and recommended a doctor. Cancer was diagnosed and Reid decided to sell Treasure Isle to Sonia Pottinger, widow of his friend Lenford `Lennie the King` Pottinger, and already owned High Note Records which was one of the largest record company's on the Island. He died in 1975.

Reid was posthumously awarded the Order of Distinction in the rank of Commander on October 15, 2007.

We've Been Everywhere

We've Been Everywhere

A Dark Song Mix 

 A 3 CD set where JohnnyDark and I take a world tour, hopping borders and continents till finally arriving back in our home towns.

                                 

 See the full  We've Been Everywhere Tracklist here.

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Disc 1

Disc 2

Disc 3

Saudades & Soul Shakin'

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Derhay left a comment on our recent MAS(Doowad and Robert Song)mix Stepmama Africa asking why no Cesaria Evora. I contacted him telling him I was big fan of the barefoot diva from Cape Verde and suggested maybe we could do an alt-dj mix starting out with her.
And here is the result. This came together rather quickly but the mix is outstanding.
Wikipedia describes Saudades as a word for a feeling of nostalgic longing for something or someone that one was fond of and which is lost. It often carries a fatalist tone and a repressed knowledge that the object of longing might really never return.
Certainly Cesaria Evora is a master at singing in that style. She can be heard on the second track in a duet with Malian Salif Keita.
But what better way to shake yourself out of a wishful longing then by some soul shakin'. Once this mix gets in the groove there is no stopping it. Seriously Funky.

Stepmama Africa

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A follow up to the Mama Africa Mix that Doowad and I did earlier in 2009. Again this covers music from Africa Diaspora.