I see heaps of people talking about this genre and i have only shalowly delved into it. I love the grooving basslines and the HORNS!!.

I love the slight punkyness of ska but when it gets to punky it can annoy me (especially if it is to skater pop punky). It also annoys me when the bands are cheesy. *cough* sublime why can't we be friends *cough*

I only realy listen to bob marley, the cat empire and some local bands.
I need good horns and grooving basslines to like it. So great bands?

also any more like the cat empire with latin influences are great because thats two world genres in one great mix.

No horns - just pop/R&B flavored reggae. My personal favorite reggae band.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Us4A2YN5xA8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=x2BfXGDHUng
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CrAmo7WRWxU

BTW their guitar player Cat Coore is one of the most amazing spectacularly talented musicians I've ever seen perform.

yea they are pretty good, needs horns though, lol but if i had my way grindcore would have horns.

Check this guys out...they do a mix of a lot of styles.
reggae,latin,batucada and rock.
http://youtube.com/watch?v=AwLhE3o1dN8

Slightly Stoopid
toots and maytals
Peter Tosh
Peppar
Micheal Franti & Spearhead
Scratch Perry
Ziggy...and any marley
Burning Spear
Salmonella Dub
Pitch Black
Ben Harper....

That's enough to get you started.

http://youtube.com/results?search_query=cultura+profetica

and this.........

^^^Yeeeahh!

Wow. So much to cover and so many great artists and bands. If I have more time I'll try and give you a much more exhaustive list, but here's a couple quick recommendations that haven't been mentioned yet:

Anything by Lee "Scratch" Perry - legendary jamaican producer
Desmond Dekker - Old school giant
Jimmy Cliff - Crossover Star
Mad Professor - I'm currently listening to "Dub You Like Crazy 2007" my favorite new Dub release

Actually, if you want a great compilation of old school reggae and dub stuff, check out "Johnny Greenwood is the Controller (http://www.amazon.com/Jonny-Greenwood-Controller/dp/B000MTPA9A)". I was skeptical about a complilation put together by Radiohead's guitar player, but it is fantastic.

And if you really want to go deep into old school, check out the 4 disc compilation "Tougher than Tough - The Story of Jamaican Music (http://www.amazon.com/Tougher-Than-Tough-Story-Jamaican/dp/B000003QLC/ref=pd_bbs_sr_1/105-6194429-4462809?ie=UTF8&s=music&qid=1192292627&sr=1-1)". It's loaded with great ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub and dancehall. I highly recommend it.

I'm sure there are a lot of other knowledgeable TBers, but one guy that springs to mind to PM is Maki as this is his milieu.

One word of warning though - Reggae, Ska and Dub (especially dub) can be highly addictive. . .

you ought to troll the artists of two tone records...that came in the wake of british punk ...check out "the selector" and "the specials"....and even "madness"...pure ska.....nothing cheesy in this movement...direct from jamaica to london.

ps...also "the beat"

"Paaaass da dutchie on de lef-hand side..."

you ought to troll the artists of two tone records...that came in the wake of british punk ...check out "the selector" and "the specials"....and even "madness"...pure ska.....nothing cheesy in this movement...direct from jamaica to london.

ps...also "the beat"

+1. Get The Specials' debut.

"mirror in the bathroom".....its so pure!!

Steel Pulse Living Legacy 1999
Peter Tosh Complete Captured Live 2002
:cool:

The Aggrolites are the best and freshest band doing the reggae thing right now.

The way you get started with Dub reggae is by looking at rhythm sections.
Sly n Robbie (Abyssinians, many titles by Sly n Robbie)
Lincoln "Style" Scott and Errol "Flabba" Holt (Roots Radics, Gregory Isaacs, Eek A Mouse, Israel Vibrations)

start with those guys.



Traditional dub started out as instrumental tracks put out by bands for singers to audition or practice too. The dub tracks became popular with Reggae DJ's who used the dub tracks to lock beats and create these perpetual grooves in the sixties. This sound was made popular by guys like Prince Fari, and I-Roy. Also check out King Tubby and Lee Scratch Perry.

The these cats started toasting (that really fast precussive rap style of singing) over the top of the dub tracks
Yellowman (the king in my opinion)
Eek A Mouse
Capleton
Yami Bolo
Chaka Demus
Musical Youth
Sizzla
Beanie Man
Shaggy

Soon producers (like King Tubby) started putting together these tracks that were meant to be spacy and hypnotic and this eventually grew into what it is today where the reggae is played with a live mixer. Lee Scratch Perry is considered the godfather of this format. He has inspired people like Mad Professor.

Here's a list of dub stuff to check out.

Abyssinians
Aggrovators (w Bunny Lee)
Al Campbell
Alpha and Omega
Aston "Family Man" Barrett (this is the Wailers bassplayer - Cobra Style- holy crap this is a good album).
Aswad
Augustus Pablo
Baaba Maal
Barrington Levy
Big Joe
Big Youth
Bill Laswell (Dreams of Freedom - Ambient Translations of Bob Marley, Meets the Roots Tonic - this is Matisyahu's band)
Bim Sherman
Black Uhuru
Bleechers
Bobby Ellis and Deadly Headly
Bobby Kalphat
Bruce Ruffin w DJ Spooky
Buju Banton (more of a dancehall guy but most dancehall is toasted over heavy dub tracks)
Bunny Wailer
Burning Spear
Capleton (especially with Yami Bolo)
Carl Moore
Carlton Livingston
Chicken Chest (ripping toaster)
The Clash (Radio Brixton, Sandinista (produced by Lee Scrach Perry), Super Black Market Clash)
The Congos
Cornel Campbell
Culture
Dave Ruffy
Delroy Williams
Dennis Alcapone
Dennis Brown
Derrick Morgan
Dicky Burton
Digital Mystikz (Good modern dub stuff)
Dillinger
Dirty Harry
Disciples
DJ Scruff
Dobby Dobson
Augustus Pablo
Don Carlos
Dr. Alimantado
Dry and Heavy (a rhythm section of Osaka, Japan. Dry=drums, Heavy=bass * this is not to be taken lightly- very very good stuff)
Dub Is A Weapon (more of a live act - check out there shows on Archives.org)
Dub Pistols (nice blend of dub reggae and hip hop)
Dub Syndicate (Style Scott/Flabba Holt - huge in the dub world)
Dub Trio (pushing the envelope of Dub. This is a mash of speed metal, punk, thrash and dub reggae. Very good stuff)
Sly Dunbar (the Sly of Sly/Robbie)
Easy Star All Stars (remake of albums - Dub Side of the Moon, Radiodread (Ok Computer - very good stuff)
Eek A Mouse
Earnest Ranglin (get some live stuff - borders on jazz)
Errol Alphonso
Errol Dunkley
Errol Holt (This is Flabba)
Errol Walker (big influence on Bradley of Sublime)
The Ethiopians
Fabulous Five (Ooh! Ahh!)
Fat Freddy's Drop (sick stuff out of New Zealand)
Fela Kuti (not really dub reggae but important heavy groove music from Africa)
Freddie Mc Gregor
Freddy McKay
Fredrick Galliano and the African Divas
Frisco Kid (dancehall but good stuff)
Garnett Silk
General Echo (Sly and Robbie)
George Boswell
George Faith
Gladiators
Gladstone Anderson
Glen Brown (King Tubby)
Glen DaCosta
GREGORY ISAACS (HIS NAME IS IN CAPS FOR A REASON!!!!!!!)
The Heptones
The Hippy Boys
Hopeton Lewis
Harace Andy (In The Light/In The Light Dub = A+ dub)
Hot Steppers (check these guys out - it's our very own TB playa Burning Skies on bass)
Hugh Mundell
I Roy
Ijahman
The Immortals
Impact All Stars
Ini Kamoze
Iration Steppas
Israel Vibrations
The Israelites
The Itals (Herbs Pirate is a great great song)
Jackie Mittoo
Jacob Miller
The Jah Boys
Jah Lion
Jah Lloyd
Jah Shaka
Jah Stitch
The Jahlights
The Jamaicans
Jimmy Riley
John Holt
Johnny Clarke
Johnny Osbourne
Johnny Nash (Not dub but an unsung hero of reggae in my opinion)
Junior Byles
Junior Delgado
Junior Dread
Junior Murvin (huge influence on The Clash)
Keith Hudson
Keith Rowe
Ken Boothe
King Jammy (Did a great album with Dry and Heavy)
King Midas Sound
King Tubby (essential in the world of dub)
Kingstonians
Kode 9
Lacksley Castell
Larry Marshall
Lee Scratch Perry (check out Experryments at the Grass Roots of Dub)
Linton Kwesi Johnson
Linivil Thompson
Little Joe
Little Roy
Lloyd Chambers
Lloyds Allstars
LLoyd Parks
Lone Ranger
Long Beach Dub All Stars (They've got some ok dubs)
Lucky Dube
Mad Professor (understudy of Lee Scratch Perry - amazing to hear live)
Martin Campbell
Matisyahu (not to be taken lightly. The can definitely dub out)
Max Romeo
The Meditations
The Melodians
Michael Prophet
The Mighty Diamonds
Mighty Revelations
More Relations
Morewell
Morgan Heritage (Electioneering track on Radiodread is great)
Neville Tate
Nick Holder
Niney The Observer
Noiseshaper
The Observer All Stars
The Orb (not straight dub but heavily influenced by it)
The Overnight Players
Pablo Moses
The Paragons
Pato Banton
Paul Blackman
Peter Broggs
Peter Tosh (Legalize it is not a dub album but essential reggae)
Pratt All Stars
Prince Far I
Prince Jammy
Prince Jazzbo
Ranking Dread
Ras Michaels
The Revolutionaries
Rico Rodriguez (Roots to the Bone - this guy was the horn player for The Specials)
Rockers All Stars (compilation of various players)
Roots Radics (AKA Dub Syndicate - this is their band when singer fronts them - like Gregory Isaacs, Eek A Mouse, Israel Vibrations)
Rootsman
Rupert Reid
Ruts DC
Sanchez
Scientist (In the vain of Mad Professor)
Senya
The Silvertones
Skream
Sly and Robbie
Sly and the Revolutionaries
Soul Syndicate
Soundclash
Steel Pulse (only because if you see these guys live you'll understand. The just endlessly jam)
Sub Version ft. Paul St. Hiliare
Submission
Sugar Minott
The Tamlins
Tappa Zukie
Taxi Connection
Taxi Gang
Tayo Meets Acid Rockers Uptown
Thievery Corporation
Thomson All Stars
Tommy McCook
The Twinkle Brothers
U Brown
U Roy
The Upsetters
Val Bennett
The Viceroys
The Wailing Souls
Wayne Smith
Winston Williams
Yabby You
Yellowman

That should do ya to start. ;)

EDIT: I owe a lot of this music to Burning Skies. This guy is one of the kindest guys on TB.

I shared a stage with Rico. Talk about amazing experiences.

Good list there Maki. One obvious exception is that you didn't mention Jah Wobble. Especially important from a bassplayer's point of view, I think.

Great list
Got a chance to hear Derrick Morgan's rocksteady stuff recently.
In-cre-di-ble!

bad brains lays some amazing dub. check 'i and i survive.'

http://profile.myspace.com/index.cfm?fuseaction=user.viewprofile&friendID=47924610


here's another nice band

check out los fabulosos cadillacs as well. flavio is one of my favourite bassists.

Check out 'Inside the Dub Plates' by Salmonella Dub. You'll love it :)

You can hear a lot of good stuff here (128k streaming radio):

http://radio.bigupradio.com:8005/listen.pls

They play many of the artists MakiSupaStar mentions.

Good list there Maki. One obvious exception is that you didn't mention Jah Wobble. Especially important from a bassplayer's point of view, I think.

Good lord. :eek: Can't believe I didn't mention him. I fail. :scowl:

I shared a stage with Rico. Talk about amazing experiences.

Nice. That's uh.... Wow, dude that's just huge. Well done. :hyper:

It also annoys me when the bands are cheesy. *cough* sublime why can't we be friends *cough*

I can't remember the bands name (it has that fat bald dude as the singer), but this song was not done by Sublime. You may want to give them another try! Matt : )

It also annoys me when the bands are cheesy. *cough* sublime why can't we be friends *cough*

I can't remember the bands name (it has that fat bald dude as the singer), but this song was not done by Sublime. You may want to give them another try! Matt : )

Yeah...he probably said that because that song comes up when you look for Sublime songs in limewire and such...:scowl:

Be sure to check out "DUB SIDE OF THE MOON" by the Easy Star All Stars, as fed up as i was of people covering Pink FLoyd, i heard this album and my JAW DROPPED!!!

Be sure to check out "DUB SIDE OF THE MOON", as fed up as i was of people covering Pink FLoyd, i heard this album and my JAW DROPPED!!!

Yep. Easy Star All Stars. They also did Radiodread which is the follow up album, Radiohead, OK Computer. Very very very good.

I've recently been turned on to Toots & The Maytals. Man alive, is that some good stuff. Very highly recommended. Skip the studio stuff though...where Toots and company really shine is LIVE. Look for these 2 albums...

Live
Live in London.

Both are excellent with the Live In London being slightly better.

check out los fabulosos cadillacs as well. flavio is one of my favourite bassists.
Los Fabulosos Cadillacs rule........
Have you listen to Los Pericos?(Argentina)
I saw them live like 12 years ago and those guys are really good.

I've recently been turned on to Toots & The Maytals. Man alive, is that some good stuff. Very highly recommended. Skip the studio stuff though...where Toots and company really shine is LIVE. Look for these 2 albums...

Live
Live in London.

Both are excellent with the Live In London being slightly better.

Check him out live yourself. Great time. Bring a chick. Guaranteed to get laid.

Here's an old recording of my jamband doing Time Tough (http://www.fuzzymoto.com/demo/03fzmto_timetough.mp3). It's kind of our own take on it. Toots is really fun to play and the crowd digs it. Get's the chicks moving.

We also play 5446 -> Ball and Chain (sublime)
Monkey Man
Message To You Rudy
Pressure Drop.
Funky Kingston.

Dry and Heavy (a rhythm section of Osaka, Japan. Dry=drums, Heavy=bass * this is not to be taken lightly- very very good stuff)

Dry & Heavy is terrific. Glad to see some Japanese reggae bands get represented. My favorite Japanese reggae band is Dogggystyle (http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=dogggystyle&search=Search). Yup, three g's. They changed their name to Inushiki, which ironically still means "doggy style." There's also BAGHDAD CAFE the trench town (http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=baghdad+cafe+the+trench+town&search=Search) (weird name, I know) who are also quite popular. For those who like dancehall, then Ryo the Skywalker is pretty good as well.

Dry & Heavy is terrific. Glad to see some Japanese reggae bands get represented. My favorite Japanese reggae band is Dogggystyle (http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=dogggystyle&search=Search). Yup, three g's. They changed their name to Inushiki, which ironically still means "doggy style." There's also BAGHDAD CAFE the trench town (http://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=baghdad+cafe+the+trench+town&search=Search) (weird name, I know) who are also quite popular. For those who like dancehall, then Ryo the Skywalker is pretty good as well.

Hey thanks. My wife (she's Japanese) and I have been looking for more Japanese reggae. I'm sure you've heard of Tokyo Ska Parade. It's not dub but it's good cranking ska. Thanks again. I'm gonna hunt this stuff down.

Inushiki is great. Stoked on it. Thanks.

listen to the Grandfathers of Ska. The Skatallites.

http://www.skatalites.com/

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xHxEijSG7fg&mode=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=deA97R7uls0
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vPOWynYoNGU&mode=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ITJ7ypOIz20&mode=related&search=
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=znpKxXesXJU&mode=related&search=

for the ska I'd say The planet smashers, an excellent band with a bassist who just knows what fits the song and keeps it at that never any question of over or underplaying.
I know you said not sublime but try listening to some off their other songs and their bassist is a genius at creating walking lines that just loop perfectly, try Date rape, What happened, and romeo I think.
For a bit more punk and ska download Rancid, Matt freeman is the best bassist in punk and probably in alternative music right now, download ruby soho, Time bomb and for a crazy challenge for any bassist, Maxwell murders

for the ska I'd say The planet smashers, an excellent band with a bassist who just knows what fits the song and keeps it at that never any question of over or underplaying.
I know you said not sublime but try listening to some off their other songs and their bassist is a genius at creating walking lines that just loop perfectly, try Date rape, What happened, and romeo I think.
For a bit more punk and ska download Rancid, Matt freeman is the best bassist in punk and probably in alternative music right now, download ruby soho, Time bomb and for a crazy challenge for any bassist, Maxwell murders

I've seen and partied with Sublime on a few occasions. Eric Wilson is definitely one of my inspirations. A great heavy bass player. Sublime is good, but around here (socal) there are a billion bands trying to recreate them. There was only one Sublime in my opinion. :D

Some absolutely fantastic suggestions so far.

Since you like horns so much, another band I might add that hasn't been mentioned yet is UB40. Most people will laugh that suggestion off and I would 100% agree with them about anything released after 1984, but before that they were actually a really great group and a terrific horn section.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WzWK389s_ZE
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=K2EvJJxFs4w
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hg_wNS5QQAw

Hey thanks. My wife (she's Japanese) and I have been looking for more Japanese reggae. I'm sure you've heard of Tokyo Ska Parade. It's not dub but it's good cranking ska. Thanks again. I'm gonna hunt this stuff down.

Inushiki is great. Stoked on it. Thanks.

Yeah. Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra (http://www.tokyoska.net/index.html) is one of the granddaddys for Japanese ska. Doberman's (http://www.myspace.com/japanesedoberman) another good one in that vein. Those that love horns will probably like those bands.

Thanks for that really long list of recommendations, man. I've only heard maybe 10% of those artists. Will definitely check out more! I've only been really getting into reggae in the past 6 months, and Talkbass has been a good resource for finding good stuff.

About 15 years ago I played in a good ska band. We were lucky enough to open for the Skatellites a few times, as well as some other pretty big names. Great music, especially if you have some decent players.

If the horn players can't improvise well, don't let them...

My favs:

Bim Skala Bim
Toasters
New York Ska-Jazz Ensemble

New York Ska Jazz Ensemble = sick. the bass playing on the first album is amazing.
This is such a loaded question - reggae has a history almost as long as rock and roll - imagine explaining to someone everything from chuck berry to rage against the machine.

I started by listening to operation ivy, and kinda worked my way back: specials, skatalites, etc. If you dig smooth basslines and tight horns, start with Hepcat, NY SKA/Jass, etc - soon you'll recognize their influences and start discovering stuff on your own.

good luck - i find now the reggae/ska has really woven its was through everything I play. These guys have such a fresh approach, and yet when you play it - if feels so familiar.

New York Ska Jazz Ensemble = sick. the bass playing on the first album is amazing.
This is such a loaded question - reggae has a history almost as long as rock and roll - imagine explaining to someone everything from chuck berry to rage against the machine.

I started by listening to operation ivy, and kinda worked my way back: specials, skatalites, etc. If you dig smooth basslines and tight horns, start with Hepcat, NY SKA/Jass, etc - soon you'll recognize their influences and start discovering stuff on your own.

good luck - i find now the reggae/ska has really woven its was through everything I play. These guys have such a fresh approach, and yet when you play it - if feels so familiar.


+1 that is very true, you know them instinctivly but their all original