Features Disc of the day
Easy Star All-Stars
Radiodread
(Easy Star Records, 2006)
NY-based collective follow Dub Side Of The Moon with the reggae OK Computer. No smirking please.
That the very notion of 'a reggae version' of anything should have become synonymous with novelty - Brighton students devouring the delicious irony of Dread Zeppelin etc. - is a shame. The art of interpretation has been a cornerstone of reggae since the dub pioneers of the '60s (Tubby, Perry) first dabbled in mixing desk alchemy in Jamaica. But po-faced defences aside, no-one embodies Airbag's "deep deep sleep of the innocent" better than Horace Andy, first and arguably finest guest vocalist here of the Easy Star collective, the four-man unit directed by Michael Goldwasser who had previously reimagined The Dark Side Of The Moon. Andy's ghostly high tenor brings the additional promise of spiritual salvation to Thom Yorke's secular, near-death experience ("In an interstellar blast / I am back to save the universe") while the ominous, bass-heavy rumble takes few liberties with the original's blood-thumping-in-the-ears rhythm, with a squall of guitar freakout as a closing flourish. It's hard to top, but Citizen Cope's plaintive Karma Police and Toots And The Maytals' lovely, Thom-approved (see bottom), ska retread of Let Down (Jonny Greenwood as horns) have a good go. Kirsty Rock puts in a valiant performance on Paranoid Android, her pure, glassy voice more than a match for the vocal but ultimately the band struggles to keep up with the song's mood swings. Sgt Pepper's was next in line for a makeover... with more mixed results.
Jenny Bulley
Posted by Ross_Bennett at 6:00 AM GMT 20/08/2009
Further Listening
VA – The Big Gundown: Reggae Inspired By Spaghetti Westerns (Sanctuary, 2000)
Easy Star All-Stars – The Dubside Of The Moon (Easy Star Records, 2003)
Augustus Pablo – King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown (Shanachie, 1976)
Previous Disc of the day
-
Creedence Clearwater Revival - Green River
Essence De Choogle from John Fogerty and crew. Badass!
9:54 AM GMT 17/03/2010
-
The The - Soul Mining
Matt Johnson's self-excoriating - but tunepacked! -classic.
6:00 AM GMT 16/03/2010
-
-
Various Artists - Axe Attack Vol II
Metal Britannica inspires MOJO metal amnesty. Studded leather wristbands aloft!
2:32 AM GMT 12/03/2010
-
The Pop Group - Y
For connoisseurs of pop-as-rupture-in-the-space/time-continuum
6:00 AM GMT 11/03/2010
-
St Vitus Dance - Glypotheque
Belfast combo return unannounced, go sardonic pop-folk.
6:00 AM GMT 09/03/2010
end of body content back to top
Footer
Join us on:
© Copyright Bauer - all
rights reserved.
Reproduction of this
website, in whole or in
part, in any form or
medium without express
written permission from
Bauer is prohibited. All
use is subject to our
Terms of Use
|
|
Comments
Comment on this post
Comment on this post