Sunshine, UK style

Hello again, after a 4 weeks break it's time to pick up the posting again. Some interesting responses to my last inside out post, i have to tell you i'm no fan of Dawkins but much less of organised religion. As for Monroe well thats another matter, and if anything the perfect antidote to those deluded religions. And thats why i will come back to him at a future date, for now as planned beforehand for the coming weeks sunshine music, reggae , roots, latin you get the picture.

I'm starting where we left the eigthies . A rarity arguably, Mwanamke Mwfrika, the first female reggae group mixed up by the Mad Professor. Dr Pablo & the Dub Syndicate is a tree from Sherwoods Forest (ON U 30) need i say more . As for Linton Kwesi Johnson absolute tops, engaged lyrics and great dubmusic to support, dub poetry in motion indeed. Now, Steel Pulse didnt raise their Birmingham Handsworth Wood Boys School to the ground but they did start their revolution there and kept spinning to much acclaim for decades. Rootsman transformed his love for reggae from recordshop assistant to DJ, Clubowner to finally releasing his in demand dubplates on his own label. All too much acclaim as was the experimental global dub fusion "In Dub We Trust" , his first album.

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Mwanamke Mwfrika - African Woman Abroad
Doctor Pablo & Dub Syndicate - North Of The River Thames
Linton Kwesi Johnson - Forces Victory and Bass Culture
Steel Pulse - Handsworth Revolution
The Rootsman - In Dub We Trust

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Mwanamke Mwfrika - African Woman Abroad (82 flac 214mb)

In 1981 a group of seven female musicians formed arguably the first completely female reggae group, Akabu started out in 1981 as Mwanamke Mwfrika (African Woman). The group at that time was composed of Vyris Edghill, Valerie Skeete, Madeleine "Jo" Edghill, Paulette "Levi" Coke, Samantha Edghill, Diane "De Bass" White, Caroline Williams, and Shelome "Issachar" Coke. With this lineup, they released their first album, "African Woman Abroad" mixed by Mad Professor ( only 1000 copies of 'African Woman Abroad' where pressed).
During the late 80s and early 90s lead vocalists Valerie and Vyris frequently provided backing vocals to On-U Sound releases and acts of the period, especially Bim Sherman, Dub Syndicate and Gary Clail.In 1988, they changed their name to Akabu and released a self-titled album. The long and successful collaboration with On-U sound culminated in Akabu's 1995 'Warrior Queen' album (ON-U LP71), co-produced with Adrian Sherwood, turning out to be the last studio album of the original line-up, though many live shows followed. ( Vyris Edghill passed away in July 2002)



01 - Ethiopian's Live It (3:35)
02 - Black Woman (5:08)
03 - We A Seh (4:25)
04 - Classic Steppers (5:10)
05 - African Woman (5:27)
06 - I Believe (5:10)
07 - Same Situation (4:12)
08 - Dem Took I Away (3:55)

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Doctor Pablo and Dub Syndicate - North Of The River Thames (On-U 30) ( ' 84 now in Flac 243mb)

Doctor Pablo (Peter Stroud) Instrumentalist and composer whose most well known work was with Adrian Sherwood's On-U Sound System. He played melodica (hence the use of the name Pablo - stolen from Reggae's most famous melodica player Augustus Pablo) as well as composed songs on numerous Creation Rebel, London Underground, African Head Charge and Dub Syndicate releases. He featured on the early Cry Tuff albums, Dr Pablo was an original member of the Dub Syndicate, and was responsible for the haunting melodica and keyboard melodies to be found on other associated contemporary tunes. The good Doctor was also seen on countless stage shows with the original Creation Rebel line-ups through the period of the late seventies with live sound mix by Adrian Sherwood.



01 - Man Of Mystery (5:48)
02 - Dr Who? (4:57)
03 - Pressurized (3:46)
04 - Tribute (4:16)
05 - A Taste Of Honey (4:16)
06 - North Of The River Thames (6:50)
07 - Red Sea (6:00)
08 - We Like It Hot (3:40)

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Linton Kwesi Johnson - Forces Victory and Bass Culture

Linton Kwesi Johnson (aka LKJ) is a British based dub poet. Johnson attended Goldsmiths College in New Cross, London, which currently holds his personal papers in its archives; in 2004 he became an Honorary Visiting Professor of Middlesex University in London. In 2005 he was awarded a silver Musgrave medal from the Institute of Jamaica for distinguished eminence in the field of poetry. Most of Johnson's poetry is political, dealing mainly with the experiences of being an African-Caribbean in Britain. However, he has also shown himself more than capable of writing about other issues, such as British foreign policy or the death of anti-racist marcher Blair Peach. His most celebrated poems were written during the government of Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher. The poems contain graphic accounts of the alleged regular racist police brutality

His poetry involves the recitation of his own verse in Jamaican Creole over dub-reggae, usually written in collaboration with renowned British reggae producer/artist Dennis Bovell. Johnson's best known albums include his debut Dread Beat An' Blood, Forces of Victory, Bass Culture and Making History. Across these albums are spread classics of the dub poetry school of performance - and, indeed, of reggae itself.



Linton Kwesi Johnson - Forces of Victory (79 now in flac 217mb)

01 - Want Fi Goh Rave (4:20)
02 - It Noh Funny (3:41)
03 - Sonny's Lettah (Anti-Sus Poem) (3:50)
04 - Independant Intavenshan (4:15)
05 - Fite Dem Back (4:25)
06 - Reality Poem (4:41)
07 - Forces Of Victory (4:50)
08 - Time Come (3:21)

Linton Kwesi Johnson - Bass Culture (80 now in flac  183mb)

01 - Bass Culture (6:02)
02 - Street 66 (3:44)
03 - Regga Fi Peach (2:42)
04 - Di Black Pretty Booshwah (3:31)
05 - Inglan Is A Bitch (5:26)
06 - Loraine (4:07)
07 - Reggae Sounds (3:10)
08 - Two Sides Of Silence (2:08)

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Steel Pulse - Handsworth Revolution ( ' 78 now in Flac 223mb)

Steel Pulse originally formed at Handsworth Wood Boys School, in Birmingham, England and comprised of David Hinds (lead vocals, guitar), Basil Gabbidon (lead guitar, vocals) and Ronald McQueen (bass). Hinds, as songwriter, has always been the engine behind Steel Pulse, from their early days establishing themselves in the Birmingham club scene onwards. A support slot for Burning Spear brought them to the attention of Island Records. Their first release for Island was the Ku Klux Klan 45, a considered tilt at the evils of racism, and one often accompanied by a visual parody of the sect on stage. By this time their ranks had swelled to include Selwyn 'Bumbo' Brown (keyboards), Steve 'Grizzly' Nisbett (drums), Alphonso Martin (vocals, percussion) and Michael Riley (vocals). Handsworth Revolution was an accomplished long playing debut and one of the major landmarks in the evolution of British reggae. However, despite critical and moderate commercial success over three albums, the relationship with Island Records had soured by the advent of Caught You (released in the US as Reggae Fever).

They switched to Elektra Records, and unveiled their most consistent collection of songs since their debut with True Democracy, distinguished by the Garvey-eulogising 'Rally Round' cut. A further definitive set arrived in Earth Crisis. Unfortunately, Elektra chose to take a leaf out of Island's book in trying to coerce Steel Pulse into a more mainstream vein, asking them to emulate the pop-reggae stance of Eddy Grant. Babylon The Bandit was consequently weakened, but did contain the anthemic "Not King James Version", which was a powerful indictment on the omission of black people and history from certain versions of the Bible.

The Steel Pulse message of hope, education and activism has struck a chord with music lovers worldwide. Their international success has resulted in a Grammy award for their 1986 classic Babylon The Bandit, and nominations for subsequent albums Victims (1991) and Rastafari Cennial (1992). In 1989, the group contributed Can't Stand The Heat to the soundtrack of Spike Lee's film Do The Right Thing. In 1994, the group headlined some of the world's biggest reggae festivals including Reggae Sunsplash USA, Jamaican Sunsplash, Japan Splash and Northern California annual Reggae on the River Festival.

"We're not here to start a physical revolution, we're just here to open everybody's eyes and let them check themselves and continue in a very educational mode to change things on that tip", Hinds explains. "We're losing ourselves and I think it's very important for us to realize that. Too many of our youths have been lost to drugs, or by the gun, or not having the education needed to persevere and move in an upward direction."



01 - Handsworth Revolution (5:15)
02 - Bad Man (5:39)
03 - Soldiers (4:40)
04 - Sound Check (3:30)
05 - Prodigal Son (5:10)
06 - Ku Klux Klan (3:43)
07 - Prediction (5:25)
08 - Macka Splaff (4:19)

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The Rootsman - In Dub We Trust (' 95 also in flac now 424mb)

The Rootsman (John Bolloten) is a musician and DJ based in Bradford, England. His musical career began when he was living in Edinburgh, Scotland and taught himself to play guitar in 1978 at the age of 13 and formed his first punk band. After 3 concerts, he decided that being a guitarist in a band was not for him and he retired from that aspect of the music business. He moved to Bradford in 1983 and quickly immersed himself into the local reggae scene. He worked for over two years in the local Roots Record Shop, where he began to be known as "Rootsman". In 1985 he started selecting on local sound systems and the following year began to play on university radio and local pirate radio stations. This continued for a number of years until he founded his own club night "Dub Me Crazy" at the end of 1991.

A residency with the innovative Soundclash club in Leeds followed a couple of years later, and Rootsman began playing alongside leading DJs like Dr Alex Patterson from The Orb, Andrew Weatherall, Justin Robertson (Lionrock) and others. In this period, Rootsman also founded the Third Eye Music label and released the debut album from Dayjah and The Disciples, entitled "Storm Clouds" which was very popular on the roots scene. Heavy demand from local club-goers who wanted to buy the music they were hearing at Soundclash and Dub Me Crazy convinced him to release his work. Subsequently, The Rootsman's debut EP "Koyaanisqatsi" (a cult favourite of his DJ set) was released in May 1994.

Rootsman released the classic "Natural Born Thrillers EP", his first release on Third Eye Music and a successful fusion of the steppers and jungle styles. The follow-up "Authorised Versions EP" carried on this innovative tradition and served to consolidate and increase his grass-roots following. Rootsman's debut CD "In Dub We Trust" was released in July 1995 and followed on from these earlier experiments and contained dub reggae like never heard before. A myriad of diverse samples and beats all tied to a heavyweight rhythm section made this CD one of the most original to be released that year. Not only was dub mixed with the furious beats of jungle, the album also brought African, Arabian and Asian sounds into the mix. It was a truly groundbreaking collection that set a new blueprint for dub-influenced music, and Rootsman began to label his own sound as "experimental global dub fusion". "In Dub We Trust" was a big success, especially in Europe. The Rootsman's been very prolific since, a bit too much to recall here, visit his Base--there's set downloads aswell there, or check the extensive Wiki on him here



01 - Old Pan Killer (Burial Mix) (4:24)
02 - Blueprint Dub (4:21)
03 - Intifada (6:02)
04 - Western Sahara (4:28)
05 - Dubbing The Maghreb (5:05)
06 - Mektoub (4:45)
07 - Perilous Time (6:19)
08 - African Style (6:36)
09 - Return Of The Ustad (Voc Jeeta) (5:17)
10 - Bind Us Together (Unity Dub Mix, Voc Dayjah) (7:08)
11 - Apocalypse Now (7:04)
12 - Temple Of Light (4:45)
13 - Jungle Lion (4:47)

Rootsman @ Base

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All downloads are in * ogg-7 (224k) or ^ ogg-9(320k), artwork is included , if in need get the nifty ogg encoder/decoder here !