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. We have changed the format.
Here is what we found this week.......Enjoy!
REGGAE
The 'Boss' Beres Hammond has released another lover's rock & feel good hit 'Stronger.' 'This love is stronger in the morning & it gets deeper late at night.' This song has not released yet.
The compilation & riddim album 'Lisa's Theme' has a real 1980's vibe. Most of the artists have been around since that time: Carlton Livingston, Lady Ann, Joseph Cotton, Jah Mikey, Ranking Trevor & Papa Kojak are while Ranking Levy, David Jahson & daddy Shark have that sound. I need riddim with nice tunes. Good juggling. Even a Spanish reggae tune pon di rididm.
The Dread Riddim is a nice rasta juggling riddim. It's all about the 'Praises' & messages for 'Selassie People' that are 'Born Ready,' 'We Ready' at 'Conquering' the 'Shaky Hand Boy' with a gun all because 'Jah Is There.' Jalifa ah give it to dem hard, the fire mumma.
One of the new artists that's been hot on the radar of recent is Promise No Promises, especially if you keep up with this blog. I know I have mentioned him quite a bit in 2017. He comes with his debut album 'No Can Do,' and it's a re-release of it. He's keeping it positive & conscious. A solid album and clean too.
https://soundcloud.com/rastarespect/sets/promise-no-promises-no-can-do
Striker Lee releases a new song & artist on the original Cherry Oh Cherry Baby riddim Echo Slim & Striker Lee Feat. Crys Alexandra - Do U Luv Me. Nice tune something a little different.
French reggae artist, Charly B now based in Jamaica releases his latest 'Journey of Life' is a solid reggae album. Theres not a bad song on the album. The tough part is picking your favorite. It would have to be between the following three: Nah Give Up, Live Right & I love the fact that he can sing and say his Ego is the problem.
Roots rock reggae band The Tuff Lions out of France are keeping the vibe alive with 'Spirit.' The new album is solid and presents the same problem as Charly B's which are the standout songs. 'Woman Soul' is what she's waiting for so the best thing to do is give it to her as well as his 'Green Queen' if you know what I mean. 'This World' and the stylings of 'Good Livity' are the others and could be the sole top track. 'So Long' & 'My Lord' are a tribute to rastafari in a familiar way.
https://www.thetufflions.com/musique/
'Rastaman' is free like the breeze & I go where I please. The 'Rastaman' is a free spirit courtesy of Roughhouse.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=121&v=5WbirPVQHsc
DANCEHALL
Sounds like a riddim I have heard before and then I realize they are saying Jusa riddim in the beginning and that's the producer's name out of Zimbabwe so I've heard the same drop in other songs. The riddim still has a familiar sound to it. One of the better ones I have heard out of Africa in a while. Some are in an African language like Aisha Dawn's 'Drunk In Love' & Celcious' 'Kunyagwewhile' while the rest of the goodies are in English.
A digital dancehall release from out of Leeds, where there's a reputation for heavy duty reggae and dancehall music – and now their own producers Danny T and Tradesman. Their new album Built For Sound, released by Glasgow’s Scotch Bonnet Records. The album features UK, European and Jamaican artists like former World’s Fastest Rapper Daddy Freddy, Barcelona’s Sr Wilson and Jamaican veterans Lutan Fyah and Earl Sixteen.Top tracks come from the Cutty Ranks sounding Speng Bond, Daddy Freddy & Claire Angel. MORE 80'S VIBES.
Chimney Records one of Jamaica's better dancehall producers releases another riddim the 'All Night.' My favorites are Tarrus Riley & Konshens on 'Blessings,' D Major with 'Vibes' & Sean Paul's 'She Call Me.' Nice keyboard hook & sound to give it a different vibe.
Former trio now duo RDX has released a nice album called 'Level Up.' A mix of dancehall, pop, dance & reggae, I feel like there's something for everyone on this one. The 'Island Boys' out of 'Jamaica' hit you with an island pop tune. My favorite track is called 'Anything But Love' for its reggae vibe, nice melody it's 2 versions. They say everyone is a 'Groupie' to someone. There's also their dancehall single 'Shake Your Bam Bam.'
SOCA/PARANG
The season is in full swing with all the holiday music releasing in the Islands. Here's a new favorite June Smith - Santa (Remix). This one has humor to it, that's what catches me.
The soca is so good on this one 'Doh Wanna Leave' from Fireball. Boom Bam and I think it's the riddim because 'V is for Vacation' from Pternsky is is also good, 'way up.'
REGGAE ROCK
Wilmington, NC's Signal Fire has stepped it up with their new album 'Lift Up.' A big step in the direction of reggae music. Musically the album is solid and still has their rock sound just alot more reggae, lyrics are good and the lead singer Sean Gregory has a similar sound to Mishka. The opening track and title track is their 'big tune.' It features The Movements drummer Gary Dread (also on 'Spark') and Prowla. They stay humble on 'Let's Move Slow.' 'Unify' has a good vibe and so does 'Spark.' 'Pass The Torch' is their signal to light the fire and ignite the youth. A solid effort. They have actual videos for 'Unify' & 'River.'
FUSION of Rocksteady & Ska with Samba & Jazz
Did not know where to put this one so we created this category for it. Smoke, the new album from Latin GRAMMY Award-winning engineer, producer, musician and longtime Easy Star collaborator, Victor Rice. The breezy instrumental album combines Brazilian samba, Jazz with Jamaican rocksteady & ska, creating a classic warmth which presents a serene mood, contrasted by an edginess veiled in the details.The instrumentation's are great especially the horns. Victor has to be either a horn player or loves horns for this reason.
Here's another fusion album: Dirty Reggae & Jazz again. It's the 'Opening Night' for Dela (of Slightly Stoopid) & The Aggrolites that ones that bill their reggae as dirty. It works well. The first 4 tracks are definitely heavy on the dirty. The album has a touch of the dirty reggae throughout. There's also Karl Denson who also plays the saxophone with Slightly Stoopid. Other guests include Slightly Stoopid themselves, Angelo Moore of Fishbone & Rebecca Jade with the appropriate closing tune 'This Is Goodbye.' Between that song & the album title, it kinda feels like a drama played out musically. i compare it to The Who's 'Tommy' which was a rock opera. This is something I came up with because of the album title & the last song. Besides these three vocals the rest of the tracks on the album are instrumentals. Good stuff.
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCrNjSTpzR1i5ULKvjIvuXPA/videos
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