"Fisherman" takes me back to Tropical Milwaukee

Britain's Blood and Fire label -- known for its reissues of classic '70s roots music -- has rowed back into the reggae fray with "Fisherman Style" (credited to The Congos & Friends), a disc of newly voiced tunes built atop the classic Lee Perry-produced "Fisherman" by The Congos.

With a thundering kick drum and deep, dread bass line and Perry's trademarked mid-'70s phased guitars, the rhythm is ubbeatable. And for me, it has a special place.

I moved to Milwaukee a few weeks short of my 17th birthday, having spent my high school years devouring Gil Bailey's reggae radio show on WHBI, watching Black Uhuru at the Palladium and scarfing up 45s at Cool Runnings and other record shops.

So, it didn't take long for me to find Tropical Records on 27th and Wells and I'd walk there at least once a week (Come on, I was from New York, it took months before I even considered learning to drive!) -- even through the snow -- to chat with the great Nigel Scott, who also did a three-hour reggae show on Sundays on WLUM, and to sift through the bins, alphabetized by artists' first names.

Unlike in New York where the only 45s to be had usually were the latest crop, Nigel's place boasted piles of 45s dating back to the mid-'70s and it was there that I found my now priceless -- but then probably $2 -- copy of The Congos "Fisherman" on Upsetter (as well as tons more great stuff).

The a-side with Cedric Myton's wailing falsetto and harmonies by Ashanti Roy Johnson and Watty Burnett was killer, but then on the flip side -- according to Jamaican tradition -- there was a dub. Man, was there a dub! Music to make the weak heart drop.

So, Blood and Fire's double-disc set, with 24 versions of the "Fisherman" rhythm is more than welcome for me. Disc one has 12 veterans, from Big Youth to Horace Andy to Dillinger to Black Uhuru's Mykal Roze to Freddie McGregor (someday we'll talk about that Century Hall gig) to Sugar Minott and on and on -- all the surviving idols of my generation. …Read more...

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Studio One reggae reissues continue to flow

Back in spring we told you about Heartbeat Records' repackaging of classic Studio One discs -- some of which were reissues to begin with -- and we're happy to see that the discs continue to flow.

Coxsone Dodd was among the first record producers to emerge just before the birth of ska and by the time of his death in 2004 few would argue that he had become the king of the Jamaican record industry via his recordings issued on a bevy of labels, from Studio One to Coxsone to Musik City to Tabernacle to Winro and more.

In May, Heartbeat issued new versions of the double-disc "Ska Bonanza" compilation, which remains one of the best introductions of reggae's uptempo predecessor, and Freddie McGregor's seminal 1980 "Bobby Babylon." The latter augments the original disc with eight more tunes for a 70-minute party featuring one of Jamaica's sweetest voices.

The newest batch includes "I Can't Get You Off My Mind," a collection of John Holt's greatest hits for the label. As the singer of The Paragons, Holt is best known as the voice on the original "The Tide is High." Delroy Wilson, who began his career at Studio One as a pre-teen, is also the subject of a best-of set, "Original Eighteen."

Most exciting for this fan is "Version Dread: 18 Dub Hits from Studio One," which lassos a dozen and a half instrumentals from rare 45s and most of them appear here for the first time ever on CD. Dodd's dubs were simple and direct, but showcase the fabulous musicians that created the soundtracks for Jamaica's top talent at Studio One, including The Wailers, The Maytals, Burning Spear, Horace Andy and others.

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Welcome to the modern town square

Visiting the mall during off hours can be an interesting people watching experience, as I discovered this morning when I had to make a first-thing visit to the Apple store at Mayfair.

The store opens at 10 a.m, but I got there about an hour early to get a cup of coffee and a primo spot outside the door in order to get dibs on the "Genius Bar."

Instead of a deserted mall, what I found was a hive of activity and inactivity.

For every truck driver unloading produce into the P.F. Chang's, there was a couple sitting on the plush chairs in the mall chatting. For every maintainance worker pushing a cleaning cart, there was a mother strolling with her young kids. Alongside the mall walkers -- expected -- were people on cell phones apparently doing business -- less expected.

In the Barnes and Noble, there appeared to be traveling salespeople conducting business from the cafe. There were also groups of teens milling about doing, well, doing nothing.

There were also people waiting outside stores that weren't open yet. I know why one of them was me, but I wasn't sure what could be so pressing inside the Pottery Barn as to warrant the expectant customers. With five minutes of lifting the gate, the Apple store had more than a dozen people inside, at 10 a.m. on a Wednesday!

In the end, I came to realize, again, the truth of the argument that the mall is the modern American equivalent of the town square. Even when there's no apparent reason to be there, we just can't seem to resist.

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2006 in music, so far

It's definitely too soon to make any final judgments, but it's nearly mid-August and there are a few records that are shaping up to make my Village Voice Pazz & Jop Poll ballot for the year. At the moment, the list looks like this:

1) Placebo – Meds (Astralwerks)
2) Carmen Consoli – Eva Contro Eva (Sony Italia)
3) Phoenix – It’s Never Been Like That (Astralwerks)
4) The Sounds – Dying to Say This to You (New Line)
5) Ariondassa – In cerca del grane (Folkclub Ethnosuoni)
6) Thom Yorke – The Eraser (XL)
7) Josh Rouse -- Subtitolo (Bedroom Classics)
8) Andrew Hill -- Time Lines (Blue Note)
9) Field Music -- Field Music (Memphis Industries)
10) Gianluca Petrella -- Indigo 4 (Blue Note)

If I've learned one thing in 20 years of voting in the national critics' poll, however, it's that the list is never done until the "send" button is clicked. Only the top five at this point would seem secure. There's always a string of late arrivals that require a reassessment come December. But loving more than 10 great records a year is an excellent problem to have, I think.

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