Roots Archives Forum

Im a big fan of dub and roots from 70s to current mutations like digital dub and dubstep and wondered what members think about the way reggae is evolving?part of the reason I love and hail up reggae to anyone who has ears to hear, is becoz of the myriad manifestations of the musical form and becoz it is a living, vital artform that is constantly evolving and carrying the upful message of Rasta to new fans. This surely is a good thing though I feel from reading posts there is some prejudice against modern digital reggae in favour of the golden era of the 60s and 70s and "real" instrumentation( a hard act to follow for sure)but the music will mutate to survive.Inspirational artists and labels like Sound Iration,Dub Judah,Brother Culture,Jah Works, Dubhead and many others got me intersted in reggae in the first place, I then checked out vintage sounds like Tubby & Perry and have been a disciple ever since.

Dubbaddikt, It's great that you have become interested in (capital "R" Reggae) Reggae thru more recent sounds and all the falls under that umbrella word for Jamaican / Jamaican influenced music. ie DUB etc.
Most, if not all, music evolves and creates new forms. As you said it is "living and vital" and that is what is so magical about music, but some spin offs go somewhere we don't find to be as good as the earlier forms.
The "prejudice" you feel here is not PRE judgement but POST judgement. Most folks here have heard the NEW but would rather keep listening to ( and discovering ) the ealier forms of this music..... I have been since 1975 and still find new things.
You mention "the upful message of RASTA" but Ska, Rocksteady, Reggae and other off shoots are much broader than that. In fact there are people who would argue that "RASTA" influenced Reggae is just a small percentage of Reggae and NOT the main or even a most important part of Reggae. I listen to many types of music and love Reggae but I cannot enjoy modern Dancehall because it has moved so far away from Reggae that its only connection is that is performed by Jamaican artists.
IMHO it can no longer come under the Reggae umbrella.
A radio station here in Australia has a Reggae program but plays so much DANCEHALL now that I can no longer listen to it.
There is almost zero connection to Reggae in modern Dancehall music.
Except that it is performed by Jamaicans.
So to close, I hope you keep enjoying REGGAE and all that falls under its umbrella and if you want to discover more about "GOLDEN ERA" sounds keep coming here, but if you find yourself enjoying more recent sounds you can easily find those sounds elsewhere on the internet. Respect to you for you views and for your love of this wonderful music.

IMHO, reggae music is a spiritual music. The reggae music involve a spiritual and conscious message that is the roots of this music. In this time, there is reggae music that continues in a spiritual way , and others that dont follow this way. For me , is all about that.

big up.bless up.-

thanks for replying to my post. Bing, i will definately continue to love reggae(small r).Over the past ten years I have built up a good collection of mainly roots and dub singles from the 70s but also the so called roots revival of the 90s onwards. I disagree that all modern digital roots/dub is crap as some modern stuff has "real" instrumentation as well as digital beats.
Lee Perry used drum machines and synths but I dont hear anyone saying he is crap.
rooticaleon, I agree what you say about the spiritual aspect, for me the conscious message is very important and whas why i was attracted to the music, from hearing old roots singles.
respect to you both, I will continue to access this forum to gain knowledge about this wonderfull music.

That's Reggae with a "R" ....show it the respect due it !
I didn't say ANYTHING was " crap "
I did say I can't ENJOY modern Dancehall
PS. I love Electronica.....I am a massive KRAFTWERK fan !
So "real" instruments or no ........no matter to me.

sorry I got confused with anutha thread where someone described new roots as "digicrap".Are you open-minded to digdub and roots then?

I have Volume 5 in this series, and as much as I enjoy the music - Earthquake Dub is particularly fine - the list of classic King Tubbys studio dubs in the accompanying booklet has proved to be a wonderful resource, both for new records to check out and old ones to return to. Are there similar lists in the other boxes?

Pots n Pans wrote:I have Volume 5 in this series, and as much as I enjoy the music - Earthquake Dub is particularly fine - the list of classic King Tubbys studio dubs in the accompanying booklet has proved to be a wonderful resource, both for new records to check out and old ones to return to. Are there similar lists in the other boxes?

This might interest you

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