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
Alpha Blondy "Eternity"
Africa has produced many great reggae artists. That tradition is being continued by a new progressive breed of artists as well. One man that has been there nearly every step of the way is Alpha Blondy. Maybe that's the reason for the name "Eternity." His latest album and his production has been on the up in recent years. This new album definitely has bright spots. 18 tracks of reggae from his native French to English and then some. The album is solid roots reggae. A few we do not understand all of the album because of language, sound or meaning. That does not stop the fact that musically it sounds great and we like the few that have that real rock guitar vibe like 'New Bahia.' The album is about spiritual maturity, with no tribal color; it is highly humanoid. His 'Sunshine' first comes through on 'Koun Faya Koun.' The Alpha moves between sensitivity for injustice and rage when it comes to war as in 'Pompier Pyromane.' Mr Blondy gets serious on 'Excision' as it's about violence against women, particularly genital mutilation. He gets creative on a rendition of Bob Marley's classic on 'African Rebel' in two ways. He uses the unfamilar bagpipe in the song and preaching for complete freedom for all African minds.
Shaggy ''Com Fly Wid Mi''
Sting & Shaggy link up again. Their first won a grammy. This time they realize Shaggy has the same baritone tenor voice as Frank Sinatra so they decide to do the songbook of Ol' Blue Eyes. It's a nice combination of jazz & reggae as well as Shaggy & that Jamaican flava 'That's Life,' which is the albums best track.. The album's title track has a jazz meets ska arrangement, which for those that know the history of reggae is right on point. His 'Old Black Magic' is straight reggae, just like 'Fly Me To The Moon,' 'You Make Me Feel So Young' and 'WitchCraft' are both with Sting, 'Under My Skin' and 'Angel Eyes.' 'Luck Be A Lady' is pretty much a dancehall track. It is the only one that does not work for us on the album. Shaggy keeps reinventing himself. He's like a lion that gets ten lives and it really works on this album, too.
Tomawok "Road To Wisdom"
Tomawok is a French singer/DJ of reggae muzik. He first made a mark with two songs sounding too much like EEK-A-Mouse. It was hard not to notice if you heard his music. He must love the 80's style of Jamaican music because his music and patterning of singing/DJing are stuck in that area in a good way. Jamaican features include Chezidek on 'Kitchen' and Capleton on Bun Dem Down.' We love what Tomawok has to say in both esp 'Kitchen.' 'S.O.S.' has that Jamaican ska feel and his lyrical delivery is top notch about global warming. He obviously sings in French, English and Spanish on 'Sol y Vida.' 'My Woman' could be the new version yet completely different take Barrington Levy's. The style and music are there. 'Three Blind Mice' riddim & melody are the back bone for 'Million Styles' and The Wok uses the style of 'Burrup' from Nardo Ranks. Then he takes it over the top when he has Jamaican artists McDuc join him on a common theme of muzik from the 80's called 'Warning.' Then it's the 'Sweets For Mi Sweets' riddim on 'Angers City.' He's killin it by this point. As if he couldn't do anymore TomaWok he takes an old Shabba riddim on 'Ruff & Ready' and has Mesh join him. We almost can't take anymore. The 'Lyrics Adequat' are coming from a wicked MC on this one. Good God knows. If Tomawok has not 'Burn Dem Down' by now, you do NOT love reggae muzik. If you love the music of Jamaica from the 1980's when dancehall was taking over the Island and spreading throughout the world, this is an album for you. If you don't know that era, this is a great introduction from a modern artist named Tomawok and the album is 'Road To Wisdom.' This is the 80's styled reggae album of the year
Dean Fraser & Ernie Ranglin ''Two Colors''
Two of Jamaica's finest living musicians are Dean Fraser & Ernie Ranglin, They have teamed up for the new reggae album "Two Colors,' which is reggae with jazz flavors in it's instrumentation. These two play sax & guitar, respectively, our favorite in these musical combinations of reggae & jazz. Big Youth starts it with his signature intro on 'De Ranglin.' 'Papa R' is the stand out track. Whats nice about most of these are the musician's solos. This album is more about If you like the instrumental style of music especially with a reggae and/or jazz style, this is an album for you because we do not get these too often.
King King ‘Take My Life’
The King known as the Kong has been doing it since the 80’s. He is at the point in his career where he’s an ol’ veteran. He is peaking in his vocal career and sounding better than ever. They can’t ‘Take My Life.’
REGGAE ROCK
Bumpin Uglies & The Elovaters 'Everything Changes'
Produced by Ted Browne of Passafire and we feel like he laced his vocals on here as well. If so or not those vocals make the track, even though The Elovaters are one of our favorite bands right now. Hopefully these 'Changes' continue.
SKA
The Bruce Lee Band “One Step Forward, Two Steps Backward”
Lyrically based on the political division of America, musically “One Step Forward, Two Steps Backward” covers the spectrum of ska music. Dominated by the 3rd wave, there is traditional, rocksteady, dub and straight ahead modern day ska. It all starts with ‘Did You Find The Money Tree?’ To answer that yes we did. When the reggae came in it was ‘So Nice For Me & You.’ ‘Putting Up With All My Crazy’ has a 4th wave vibe that we like. It continues on ‘I’ll Feel Better’ that like the first track we talk about has great horn lines. The ‘Dance Dance Revolution’ has now begun. What has to be one of the best ska albums of 2022 ends with a classic 'Bruce Lee vs. CHLLNGR (dub).'
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