The Fear Nuttin' Band

Just 'cause I'm feeling some serious reggae around now, I've decided I'm gonna do a little post about a new band called The Fear Nuttin' Band. For all you hardcore punk/reggae fans, this is the next big thing.

I've always been a reggae fan, and moved into Sublime and now after listening to Fear Nuttin', I just went out and bought some true classics, like Bad Brains, everything from their eponymous debut Bad Brains to their newest release Build A Nation. I have to say, I wish I had found this intriguing genre earlier.

Enough about me, and on to Fear Nuttin'. At a Toots And The Maytals concert in Virginia, The Fear Nuttin' Band were opening, and they were, apparently spectacular. He bought two of their EPs, and advised me to do the same. And I did.

Wow. It mixes reggae and thrash better than many others. For instance, if your listening to Bad Brains, the lines are clear between the two genres, to an extent when they are only evident between one track and the next. The Fear Nuttin' Band, however, have it just right. Tracks like "Run Away" have the ragge-style vocals of lead singers Roosta and Prowler, whereas tracks like "Can't Get Mi Weed" shows some serious roots in roots reggae. And "Fear (Old Crusty Version)" is pure instrumental reggae. They mix a toasting style with a pure ragge chant. It is perfection...

And the band's motto? "Unify the Music. Unify the People." Sounds reggae enought to me, but the huge guitar sound provided by Chris Regan gives it that massive thrash push. The various producers include Terry Date, the man behind greats like Soundgarden. Seriously, check this out. I especially recommend the Limited Edition EP

From Bodog Music: "Fear Nuttin Band’s Yardcore is a real offering of love driven with intensity, and it might be the first album in history to cause a mosh pit that ends in hugs and high fives." Their new album Yardcore is set to be released on April 29, 2008 on Bodog Music with simultaneous releases in U.S., Canada, Europe and the U.K.

The Fear Nuttin' Band-Run Away

The Fear Nuttin' Band-Fear (Old Crusty Version)

http://www.fearnuttinband.com/

Dub Trio-King Tubby on crack?

When I first picked up Dub Trio's new album Another Sound Is Dying, I thought that this would be Sublime meets Lee Perry. Kinda wrong though. This is more like P.O.D. meets Scientist with a pinch of Death From Above 1979. Okay, for all of those who haven't heard of the obscure acts whose names I've been dropping, I'll simplify it. Its a strange blend.

These dudes don't have dreads, and don't appear at photoshoots with a spliff hanging out of their mouths. They look more like a bunch of Mormons (see photo) . That is, until you've heard their music. With Mike Patton providing guest vocals on one track ("No Flag"), you know its gonna be a little weird. So the first track I listened to was entitled "Mortar Dub". It's pretty much Scientist, sped up.

But this electic mix is truly bizarre, and it goes from this laid-back, ganja smoking dub to some thrash. "Regression Line" is to me the most stand-out track, as it crosses so many genres so seamlessly. Although in some parts this album sounds a bit generic, a bit too P.O.D. for my defined taste, it does work, somewhat. I like it thus far. I really don't know what to say, apart from the only word I can use to describe this would be "electic". Just don't expect the next King Tubby. It is really more like a mash-up of some Scientist and some rock act like Saliva. Listen to a few tracks, and give me some feedback.

Dub Trio-Mortar Dub

Dub Trio ft. Mike Patton-No Flag

Dub Trio-Regression Line

2008-The Year of Del Tha Funkee Homosapien

The legendary Richmond MC Del Tha Funkee Homosapien has come a long way since his first album, I Wish My Brother George Was Here. I didn't rate that album too highly, due to the heavy reliance on George Clinton samples overshadowing Del's lyrics. Del didn't either, and dropped cousin Ice Cube from production work on his second album.

Featured on tracks with Damon Albarn project The Gorillaz (Rock The House and Clint Eastwood) and the Dan The Automator project Handsome Boy Modeling School (Magnetizing, The PJays and The World's Gone Mad with Barrington Levy), Del has made an impact on the music world, even if mainstream listeners don't quite know who he is. To the underground rap fans, he is the man.

Del got better coverage after his fourth album Both Sides of the Brain and his side project with Dan The Automator, called Deltron 3030. The first album Deltron 3030 is amazing, and let Del give a one fingered salute to the conventional rapper. If you buy one album this year, let it be Deltron 3030...

Anyway, to 2008. With Del's first solo album in 8 years, called Eleventh Hour dropping on March 11, 2008 on his new label Definitive Jux. His move to Def Jux from his own label Hiero Imperium is considered a clever move. When talking about his move to Def Jux, Del commented: "I look at this as an opportunity to spread the gospel a little thicker." The second Deltron 3030 album is also dropping sometime in 2008, along with the fourth album with his collective Hieroglyphics. 2008-this is sure to be the year that Del Tha Funkee Homosapien makes it big.

Del Tha Funkee Homosapien-Bubble Pop

Dinosaur Jr. ft Del Tha Funkee Homosapien-Missing Link

Qtrax Beta-music for the masses

Everyone remembers dates. January 28th was the date when music was supposed to be unleashed freely to the world, through a new free peer to peer file sharing system called Qtrax. Its like when JFK was shot, people even remember what they were doing when they heard the news. Although I'm not comparing Qtrax to the death of one of America's most loved presidents, it's important none the less. The idea of free peer to peer has long been in existence, since Napster in the 1990s.

However, Napster is long gone, and pushing up the proverbial daisies. Qtrax is taking that idea into the new millenium. Using ads to pay artists for their tracks is an incredibly simple idea. Licensing with Sony BMG, EMI, Universal Music Group and Warner Music Group is the icing on the cake. With 25,000,000 copyright songs available for free legal download, we seem spoiled for choice. Sounds great, but apparently due to some DRM legal idiocy, I won't be able to put tracks on my iPod till April! Downloads aren't up quite yet due to unspecified snags, but keep an eye out, and download the program. With Qtrax claiming that the service had 61,000 unique users per hour between the hours 7AM and 1PM EST, averaging 1,464,000 unique users per day, this is gonna be huge...

Download Qtrax Beta

P.S-Respect to my friend Will over at The Cold Cut for showing me the future. This blog is gonna be huge, so check it out...

Skits, Interludes, Intro & Outro-what do we think?

Okay, so everyone does it, from rappers to rockers. When you're a few tracks short of an album (no ridiculous pun intended) you decide to go into the studio with a few friends and record a "skit". Most of the time they turn out pretty badly (see Rob Quarter's (skit) from Ludacris's Chicken 'N Beer) but alot of the time the end up being the song of the album. Hell, Kool Moe Dee even made an album called Interlude

I'd just like to take the time and do a little salute to these bastions of foolishness that seem to be a regular feature of so many albums today. Look back twenty years and the idea of a "filler" didn't even exist. So skits & interludes-well, the difference is simple. A skit is a random comedic filler that tends to be on a hip-hop or rap album, such as Rob Quarter's above. And an interlude? Well thats a break in the rest of the album. You know the Justin Timberlake tune What Goes Around/Comes Around? Well, despite it being a Billboard Top 100 song, its an interlude. And don't ask me why, your guess is as good as mine...

Jay-Z seems to be rather adept at producing decent interludes (see The Black Album). The various interludes on this album stand the test-they're actually worth listening to. I'll post one or two for you to check out.

What about the ubiquitous intro and outro? Again, a bit of a filler. In fact, in my view, only one decent outro has ever been produced, by the almighty Fugees from the true classic The Score. It deals with a modern interpretation of the crucifixition of Christ. Deep, I know. I'll post that for your listening pleasure.

And intros? Well, again I'm kinda stuck. Although according to my iTunes, I have 39 songs to choose from. Pheww. And still I dunno which I would consider as worthwhile. Whilst I would like to come back to Jay-Z (the Intro from American Gangster) or Common (Be, the intro from his classic album Be), I gotta go to the Philadelphia-based hip hop collective The Roots. The Intro from The Tipping Point, "Star/Pointro" (featuring Waduud Ahmad) is the clear winner. In fact, for me it is without a doubt the standout track of the excellent album.

Well, at least I managed to convince myselft that all these interludes etc aren't that pointless-progess...Maybe an Interlude/Intro/Outro mixtape? Hold on, not even I would listen to that.

The Roots-Star/Pointro ft. Waduud Ahmad

Jay-Z-Interlude

The Fugees-Manifest/Outro

Smash Mechanics-Canon Law

Excuse for re-hashing a post, but I feel these artists are worth knowing

Over the summer, whilst in Bermuda, a concert series known as "Live In The Gardens" was started to promote Bermudian artists. Headed by Volcanic Productions and Lava Graphic Design, these concerts featured the excellent ska/reggae band known as Home Grown from week to week. However, whilst at the concert series, I got the opportunity to check out a duo of New York City MC's known as the Smash Mechanics. Although at first optimistic, I was quickly wowed by their performance.

These two rappers, both white, called Phaze Future and Tru Pro, won over the crowd. A local DJ was backing them up, and they even performed an impromptu jam session over the rhythm for Collie Buddz's "Come Around". These guys were great. Meeting the two was also pretty cool, and they were chilled and ready to answer any questions we had. They also performed a great freestyle about Bermuda, which the small (yet dedicated) crowd enjoyed.

After listening to a few tracks, myself and a friend rushed over and bought their album, worried that it would soon be snapped up by eager fans looking for new material. Upon first listen, their album Canon Law admittedly a bit rambling. After all, 19 tracks is one large rap album. Despite that, I soon found that it was well put together, showcasing various talents from the group. My two favorite tracks, entitled Freshin' Up and Sugar will be posted for download. Also, I would recommend visting their website. They are another of the up and coming group outta myspace.com, trying to make their name on their own. Good luck boys. You deserve it.

Smash Mechanics-Freshin' Up

Smash Mechanics-Sugar

Website design

Just got sent this link, you all gotta check it out! For someone that can't really do anything too complex on the Web, this takes it to the next level. Talk about crazy...

It's the website for a Dutch department store

http://producten.hema.nl/