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?
REGGAE
Various Artists "Caribbean Soul riddim"
Maximum Sounds has been consistently putting out good reggae riddims. Their newest is no exception, it's called "Caribbean Soul riddim." It's a nice riddim for sure. What I found with the songs on this riddiim is that just about every song has its moments, especially the duos (if you know what I mean). The standouts are Pressure Busspipe (again) showing love to the Motherland in 'Africa Love,' the Priest family Maxi & Marvin (have you heard of him?). In 'Looking For Love' Maxi confesses it's been in the wrong places while cousin Marvin just was giving the 'Best Of My Love.' It's also by far the best song we've heard in years (yea he's been around a good while).
Busy Signal 'One Press'
Munga Honoable 'Life'
Bella Blair 'Gimme A Light'
Charly B & Pressure Busspipe 'Guide My Step'
Saine & Dale Virgo - 'Peace Of Mind'
Beres Hammond "One Day At A Time"
SOCA
Various Artists "Tender Touch riddim"
Daunte & Jenelle Ross - 'One in a Million'
REGGAE JAZZ
Kubix "Guitar Chant"
Kubix the name may sound unfamiliar to 99.9% of the music listening world. The .1% that is left is for those that he has worked with over the years in music. You will gain the same respect after hearing his first solo album after picking up the guitar over 25 years ago. You see it's been a long & lustrious career from player, backing band & touring member, to producer and now back again to player with an album out called "Guitar Chant." The album has a who's who of guest players that incorporates reggae & jazz with hints of rock & soul. In fact, Kubix surrounds himself with renowned artists like the Japanese pianist Aya Kato (Ky-mani Marley, Sean Paul, Mykal Rose ...), the keyboardist Marcus Urani (Groundation), and even more astonishing, the legendary bassist Clinton Fearon for the Gladiators does over their 'Mix Up' and the only song that's not an original. We also find the legendary trombonist Vin Gordon (Bob Marley, Skatalites, Burning Spear etc) featured on the tracks first single Still Standing and The Walk. 'Still Standing' starts out with a kette/nyabinghi drum sound, which is maintained throughout the song and goes into a full orchestration of reggae & Kubix's jazzy guitar. These 2 sounds combined make for my favorite sounds just to relax and listen. Now the basis of the band & the rhythmic basis of the project is made up of drummer Simon "Saymon" Roger, keyboardists Jimmy Zaccardelli, Daniel Adélaïde, Fayce and 8 bassists from all over the world: Aboubass, Koxx, Mato, Manudigital, Don Chandler, Roops, Clinton Fearon & Valess. The brass section is composed of Stepper, Vin Gordon, Zacharie Ksyk as well as Rico Gaultier and Matthieu "Bost" do slender solos. We also find Nicodrum on the traditional Jamaican drums (I'd assume on 'Still Standing') and the famous Manjul on percussion. There are 21 musicians in all. 'Sunday Children' is the perfect combination of a jazzy side of a smooth jazz track with reggae and great solos on keyboards, sax & of course guitar. 'Paris New York' is another that seamlessly bridges jazz & reggae together beautifully. Organ, keyboards & guitar show the soul and a rock heavy solo towards the end to create one of the albums more dynamic songs. A great album of musical richness that shows it's many influences yet focuses on that perfection joining of reggae and jazz. An album rich in melodies, varied influences and layers. So don't be surprised that you have never heard of Kubix when you hear his love & passion and how good it sounds.
DANCEHALL
Excel Black 'My Girl'
ZOUK
Admiral T fear. Jacob Desvarieux 'Chat Ka Tete Rat'
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