Roots Archives Forum

I am definitely stuck in the 70's and early 80's, frequently straying into the 60's.
I think Lee Perry is a genius. I love dub, heavy roots, lovers rock, in fact pretty much anything except for the modern stuff I have heard.
If I was to leap into the 21st century (or late 20th century) what should I try listening to? It needs to be fairly melodic

I just got 60 x 12 inch and LPs on the Ariwa label. Stuff by the likes of Kotch, Kofi, Sandra Cross.

I like the early stuff you mentioned, and like my music melodic and, well, musical - and I like a lot of this Ariwa stuff so maybe you will too.

sizzla , bascom x , i wayne ,

Luciano, Beres Hammond, Morgan Heritage, Jah Cure, Richie Spice. Going back a little further- Garnett Silk.

If you want modern music which attempts to sound like 70's roots, you can try any Jah Shaka productions, or Midnite.

Yeah I agree with tingjunkie... Luciano is pure roots, only few tunes are dancehall-like, strictly conscious anyway... try with non-jamaican bands like Groundation, most (not all) bands making contemporary Reggae look to the past for inspiration...

I was going to post a similar question, so thanks for such complete answers! I'll get right on the Ariwa and Jah Shaka suggestions. Seems like it would be hard to go wrong with a name like Jah Shaka! Sizzla sounds intriguing too.

Lately, I've been looking to places outside JA for roots, dub and ska in the old-school style. I've had good luck with artists from Japan of all places. Names like Junior Dee for Dancehall, Dub Station for instrumental and Dub (surprise!), Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra for Ska as well as some Roots and Dub, Nanjaman for Toasting, Audio Active for Dub and Digital, and Fishmans for Rockers and Lovers Rock. Oh, and pre-2005 Kemuri has a horn section that reminds me of '60s ska. Their current releases are great too, but after their trumpet player passed-away (senseless car accident) they opted not to try and replace him. I agree with that, but the sound really changed.

Much as I like what I've found in JP and elsewhere, I really wanted to get back to what's going on in JA right now, so thanks again for the great info!

Peace,

James

Midnite, Jah Cure, Everton Blender,Luciano,Jah Shaka to name a few also try these California Bands Inka Inka (san jose), Strictly Roots (sonoma), Dubwize (salinas), Badfish (santa ana)
and if you like punk,ska,reggae, go and grab anything by SUBLIME you cyant go wrong.

groundation ... bagdad cafe the trench town .... ooklah the moc .. cultivator... theres a french band that is good too but forgot their name

A likkle selection from outside JA:

Broussai (France)
Positive Radical Sound (France)
Wareika Hills (France)
Inna Crisis (Sweden)
Gentleman (Germany)
Seeed (Germany)
Johnstone (USA)
Soldiers of Jah Army (USA)
Groundation (USA)
Ooklah The Moc (USA)
John Brown's Body (USA)
Bambu Station (Virgin Islands)
Midnite (Virgin Islands)
Dezarie (Virgin Islands)
Niyorah (Virgin Islands)
Yahadanai (Virgin Islands)
Nasio (Dominica)
Dry and Heavy (Japan)
Bagdad Cafe (Japan)

You might wanna check out some of Lee's recent productions. Now the stuff he did with On-U Sound is heavy and more experimental, but he has just released -2006- an album with his own band - the white belly rats - which is excellent.
For some really nice dub poetry - really concious stuff - check out LKJ [Lindon Kwesi Johnson]. His Tings'n'Times album is just incredible.