If any album deserves a re-issue, it’s Massive Attack‘s 1991 masterpiece Blue Lines. The Bristol collective have spent some time in their studio piecing together original recordings to produce a fully remastered version of this groundbreaking debut. Influenced from the glories of downtempo, electro, soul, reggae, jazz, hip-hop, and god knows what else, the innovative album […]

I’m sitting here in a fog of pain killers and medical marijuana listening to Master Piece, renowned dub-reggae pioneer Lee “Scratch” Perry’s latest offering of lounge-dub and deep trance. I got the vinyl — it’s crisp and warm at the same time like sitting by a fire in a field of snow. It’s September 11, 2012, […]

The Lion of Judah is the ancient symbol of the Israelite Tribe of Judah originally taken from the book of Genesis. Ethiopian King Haile Selassie, the Rastafarian prophet, is a direct descendent of this Tribe of Judah, hence the Rastafari adoption of the ancient symbol of the lion. Yet, notice the Lion of Judah above […]

You may have heard Hot Chip’s track “Look at Where We Are”, from their latest album In Our Heads, as a pleasant, slower, easy listening tune. Something soothing and calm to drink your evening tea with before retiring to the comforts of your pajamas and an episode of Downtown Abbey. Well before hitting the play […]

Trojan Records and Clarks mark the 40th anniversary of the Desert Trek by imprinting the classic British hides with the Trojan Records logo — celebrating the indelible link between England and Jamaica. Founded by Lee Gopthal in 1968 to channel the music of Duke Reid to hungry English youth, Trojan Records fed ska, reggae, dub, and […]

A great funk/soul mix of the best music culled from the catalog of Quantic (aka Will Holland). All of Quantic’s varied styles are represented in the robust 40-minute mix — from jazz, cumbia and hip-hop to electronic and dub — expertly blended by Stones Throw’s J.Rocc: “Twelve albums later and Quantic has a vast discography; funky, […]

Of all the tributes to the late Ms. Winehouse coming out, Rolling Stone has compiled a comprehensive litany of musicians farflung who have paid tiny tributes this past weekend following her passing. The list of farflung musicians includes everybody from Tony Bennett, The Who and Mark Ronson to Lady Gaga, Rick Ross and Sebastian Bach. […]

The continuing saga of one girl’s plight with unemployment…(read vol I,  vol II, vol III, vol IV, vol V,  vol VI, vol VII, vol. VIIIvol IX, vol X,  vol XI, vol XII,  vol XIII, vol XIV and vol XV) Back in December I suffered from that she-devil known as “writer’s block.” You’d think — considering the nature of writer’s block and who suffers from it — that […]