Renowned ZEIT Magazin – a supplement of DIE ZEIT, a German weekly newspaper – sent journalist Jürgen von Rutenberg to Jamaica to attend the premiere screening of »Marley – The Movie«.
Rutenberg took the chance to get to know the country which he had dreamt of visiting for the past 30 years and to talk to Chris Blackwell, Eroll Brown and Busy Signal about the state of Reggae music – back when Marley got big and today.
The preview for the ever-great Danny Scrilla’s »Lighter« has been on Soundcloud for four months now and we haven’t stopped celebrating it since. Want that track to finally drop!
Daniel Haaksman just shared the latest Man Recordings release with us which is an EP by one of our favourite producers out there – WILDLIFE!. It’s called »Pastiche« and features four excellent tracks:
On »DNO« WILDLIFE! & J-Wow deliver slowed down kuduroesque rhythm patterns paired with heavy sub-bass action, while the Toddla T collabo »Hear Dat« swings between grimey dancehall and post-apocalyptic soca madness. On »Paragon« WILDLIFE! and Haaksman take things up to 150 bpm, clashing a Juke/Footwork influenced percussion section with chopped-up vocal bits and genre-defying electronica weirdness. WILDLIFE! rounds things up, with dub influenced half-time smasher »Clappaz«.
For the release, Suze published an interview with Sam on Mixpak in which he talks about the EP, his ucoming album and his favourite soundclashes amongst other things:
I got to a point where the whole European dancehall and soundsystem scene just didn’t interest me anymore. And that’s still the case. I can’t really listen to German or Swiss or Italian sounds pretending to be Jamaican on stage. I can’t listen to that. That was also one of the reasons why I started WILDLIFE!, I wanted to do something rooted in my world and where I’m coming from, from my background, from my environment. I wanted to stop pretending to be a Jamaican soundsystem operator. I became a simple fan, I’m not trying to be in that scene but I still love listening to clashes and the latest new tunes but I don’t have the aim of being the next Ricky Trooper, which was the case when I was 18 years old [laughs].
In October, Al Fingers will release a picture-heavy book on Clarks in Jamaica:
Through current and historic photographs, interviews, and previously unseen archival material, and with particular focus on the Jamaican musicians who have worn and sung about Clarks Originals shoes for years, this book explores how footwear made by a Quaker firm in the small, quiet, English village of Street, Somerset, came to be the »baddest« shoes in Jamaica.
SEEN art director GABE follows the words of Junior Gong and set up shop: Check his new portfolio website showcasing client work for big names as e.g. Amnesty Journal (example spread above), GQ, Stüssy, Jetzt Magazine, Wheeler and Fischer Sports.
In part two of his interview with US-journalist Matthathias Schwartz about the »Tivoli Incursion«, Bigblackbarry talks with him about difficulties getting information from the US government about the operation, the involvement of the US in the operation, as well as the next steps he would like to see happen.
We need to know what happened. All evidence must be released. This includes videos, ballistics, autopsies, and records kept by the U.S. government, the Jamaican government, and the security forces. If it appears that the law was broken during the attack on Tivoli Gardens, and, based on the evidence in my story, I am convinced that it was, the guilty must be brought to justice.
Bigblackbarry also asks everyone to pressure the Jamaican government to seek answers related to any of the questionable killings which took place and included the phone number for the Office of the Public Defender in Jamaica, Earl Witter, and international contacts in his blog post.
Almost two years after Jamaican security forces assaulted the West Kingston neighborhood of Tivoli Gardens during the »Tivoli Incursion«, Bigblackberry sums up what the events leading up and subsequent to May 24, 2010, taught him about Jamaicans and Jamaica:
One of the things I confirmed was that a significant number of our populace have goals that extend only to eating their next meal. [...]
I also confirmed that the social, political and class divides that Edward Seaga and many others spoke of over four decades ago are as pronounced and perhaps even more rigid than they have ever been, regardless of the superficial proclamations of »Out of Many One People« which has become a meaningless mantra. [...]
But honestly speaking, the most important thing I learnt was the extent to which the value of a Jamaican life is determined by how far above or below HWT one resides.
In addition to his own observations, he publishes part 1 of an interview with a Non-Jamaican journalist who reported his story on »The Massacre in Jamaica« for The New Yorker, Mattathias Schwartz, who is still
frankly surprised how easily the Jamaican public appears to have written off the killing of dozens of Jamaican citizens by their own security forces.
Asia-Afrika Sound System from Indonesia got in touch to share their latest mix which they released in collaboration with local street wear clothing brand Tuffstuff.
»Tuffdub« features
heavy downtempo riddims, hype and a danceable rub a dub style mixed with Ras Muhamad’s vocals take listeners to another dimension of Reggae culture.
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