SHOK WAVE is your weekly new REGGAE music blog. SHOK WAVE finds music that is out there in the form of Reggae, Dancehall, Soca, Ska, Dub, Reggae Rock & anything else musical with a Caribbean origin and in any language.
Here is what we found this week.......Enjoy!
Instead of not doing a blog this week we decided to list a bunch of good songs that released. I did not find anything great just good. Maybe this should be the start of an additional playlist? What do you think?
Various Artists "Yad Riddim"
Three artists, four tracks and it's an early Zion I Kings track that has finally released.
The riddim laid dormant for a while until it was revisited for the up and coming reggae great, Marcus Gad’s album “Rhythm of Serenity." Once it was unearthed and revitalized for Marcus, Zion I Kings key member Drew Keys took hold of it and put down the majestic trombone parts, icing the deep roots cake. It was only a matter of time before the track found it’s way to ZIK, brother in arms- Lutan Fyah, who keeps it real on his rootsy meditation on the power of silence in “Talk Talk Talk”.Vaughn Benjamin touched it when it was and inspired the riddim name 'Yad.' Classic VI vibe and sincere essence of being in the moment. Lastly, it has the Marcus Gad track 'Recall The Goodness.'
Westbound Train “Dedicated”
Quietly the well known ska band Westbound Train, has released one of the years best sks albums in “Dedication”. The Boston, MA based band takes their name from the Dennis Brown hit of the same name. So, they know about reggae and have been dubbed a ska band. This is definitely just as much, if not more, of a reggae album than a ska album. The album starts out with a reggae tune. They 'Rollout' next with a bebop ska tune. 'The Landlord' is a light ska and jazz tune that talks to you. 'Greed Pt 1 & 2' are like Bob Marley's 'Natural Mystic' as it creeps up on you, that's why sometimes it's called the creeper. The difference is these are just good instrumentals. 'Never bring a knife to gun fight, mama said to use your head.... or you might end up dead.' These lyrics are the basis for 'Gunfight.' 'Get up, get out while you still can, come out come out brother swinging,' you dont want to be stranded. Basically, live life. The album slows down with more traditional reggae as we 'hang our head down low.' It picks back up with 'Thad Don't Take No Mess,' which is jazzy ska tune that wakes you up and is the albums best instrumental. 'Gutter' is the best ska tune on the album, even though it talks about being 'face down in the Gutter.' As we round out the album, an acoustic styled reggae 'We All Need Rescue' leaves us where we started.
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