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This is release number seventy-four in London-based Soul Jazz Records' mission to bring the best in reggae, dub, afro-beat, punk funk and a myriad of other long-forgotten or neglected genres out to a wider worldwide audience. And once again, they've hit paydirt. Bigtime. Like the extensive and insightful sleeve notes say, dancehall is a splinter genre of reggae - which after Bob Marley's death in 1980 was falling into a downwards spiral - but is more based in the use of the cheap, electronic keyboards which came out in the early 1980s from Japanese companies like Casio.
Wayne Smith's classic "Under Mi Sleng Teng" set the tone, with its burbling synthetic basslines and clacking electronic drumbeats - opening the floodgate for a slew of cheap-but-effective reinterpretations of Studio One classics, like Dawn Penn's "No No No" from Steely & Cleevie. What Soul Jazz have done is collect the best of those early dancehall numbers with a selection of New York-based producers' work from the 1990s, like "Gunshot" by
Master At Work Kenny "Dope" Gonzales with the then unknown Shaggy. There's also some more recent work from outfits like J-Live, Ms Thing (with the wicked "Get That Money") and the current reigning champion of the dancehall
sound, Jamaican-born Sean Paul. There maybe could've been a few more recent pieces on this compilation like Kardinal Offishal, and the glaring omission of anything from Bounty Killer is a bit odd, but as with the 'Dynamite!' series from Soul Jazz, now up to number five, 'Nice Up The Dance' looks set to run and run so there's probably plenty of this
style to come.
A great compilation from a crew of people who know and love the music. Like last year's 'Hustle!' compilation from Soul Jazz, this is essential listening for keeping those winter blues at bay. Recommended for hip hop and reggae fiends alike. Import title in stock now. |
