Ken Boothe :: Down By The River

Are you sure Neil done it this way? Not exactly, but it’s hard to care when the results are this good. Revered reggae crooner Ken Boothe teamed up with producer Lloyd Charmer’s in the early 70s, after a decade cutting sides for a who’s-who of Jamaica’s top producers. Nestled amid covers of Syl Johnson, Marvin Gaye, and Bread on his 1975 LP Everything I Own, Boothe’s take on ol’ Shakey’s downer ‘Hey Joe’ narrative is a scorcher for the books.

Christmas Jambree :: A Vintage Jamaican Yuletide Mixtape, Vol. 2

In 2017 Aquarium Drunkard brought you Christmas Jambree: A Vintage Jamaican Yuletide Mixtape. At 28 tracks it’s an extensive collection of Jamaican reggae and ska Christmas tunes. If you’ve never heard it, do slide over there right now, but if you’re already converted, and looking for a bit more in that vein, the following companion has you covered. Dig in, dig deep, and happy holidays.

Manasseh Meets The Equaliser :: Dub The Millennium

Dub The Millennium. First released in 1993, Manasseh’s swirling medley of dub, reggae, electronic, ambient and UK indie. The original vinyl edition of the lp is home to ten tracks, the CD twelve. This matters as the eleventh track, “Souljah”, is a high watermark of the album-long exercise in disparate fusion.

The Lagniappe Sessions :: Pachyman

Pachyman, the one-man dub reggae project of Pachy Garcia, is not to be slept on. Born in San Juan, PR, and now residing in Los Angeles, Garcia’s latest long-player is laced with the good shit. At a dozen tracks, it’s a roots ride of originals, all with knowing nods to the genre’s greatest innovators.

For this installment of the lagniappe sessions, we asked Garcia to riff on the inimitable Greensleeves label.

Ras Michael & The Sons Of Negus :: Love Thy Neighbour

Ras Michael and the Sons of Negus’ Love Thy Neighbour is perhaps the last great masterwork produced by Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry within the hallowed walls of his Black Ark studio. It is a testament to the uncompromising spiritual clarity of Ras Michael’s Nyabinghi mysticism, and to the dubwise delirium of the Upsetter’s sonic palette.

Threat To Creation :: A Mixtape

Roots reggae is the music of the Rastafarian tradition. It speaks to the spiritual, political, and socially conscious message of God, called Jah by Rastafarians.

Press play for a celebration of roots stylings including the traditional, digital, and dub.

The Wailers :: The Record Plant | Sausalito, CA October 31, 1973

Quarantine Scene Check, Day Infinity (Sunday): The depths of AD HQ’s office closet beckoned. And like Hiram Bingham III, but hatless, I entered. The 7 year old’s pleas for FROZEN II dissolved behind me (I ignored them) as I fought past the aesthetic pleasures of BASF stacks and Scotch reel-to-reel tapes. And then there I found it, the unsightly treasure: a cache of ‘90s Case Logic books…

Lee “Scratch” Perry :: The Aquarium Drunkard Interview

When I call up the reggae legend, Lee “Scratch” Perry, The Upsetter, to talk about his new album Rainford I reach him on a grainy WhatsApp audio connection. He’s in Jamaica and he’s in bed, “looking at the lights. looking at the day, and looking at the night.”

Perry’s in his eighties and when he gets going he speaks in limericks, but he doesn’t come across as wacky, just joyful. The first thing I notice about Perry is the giggle that roils through the conversation and punctuates his sentences. It’s disarming, a Buddha-like by-product of a lifetime of producing joy by way of deep and heavy rhythms, and meant for killing egos.