REGGAE RUNNINGS -- 18 January 2006

By Jesse I

2005 was definitely a good year for reggae, both here and abroad. Locally, the scene continued to grow, with a record number of purely reggae & dancehall nights happening around town, more and more new selectors stepping up all the time, and the old cornerstone More Fire night at the Mercat expanding to take over a second level. Ozreggae.com was definitely the website of the year, bringing together heads from around the country, and helping lead to events such as the upcoming 1st annual Australian Sound Summit in Sydney (see the site for more info on this massive night featuring crews from five states).

Internationally, 2005 was undoubtedly the year of "Jamrock". Damian "Jr Gong" Marley's hit tune was everywhere, despite being released halfway through 2004. Unlike the slick dancehall crossover of Sean Paul in recent years, Jr Gong's breakthrough came via a heavyweight roots riddim, exposing a very different style to mainstream awareness. It will be interesting to see if new roots reggae gets a push in 2006, or the attention simply remains tied to the Marley name.

Personally, I've haven't been too excited by a lot of dancehall over the last couple years, as the creativity seems to have dried up a little since the days of the Diwali and Coolie Dance riddims of 2002-2003. Obviously a lot of producers were lacking fresh inspiration in 2005, as quite a lot of old early 90s dancehall riddims were given a new lick of paint - Steely and Cleevie led the charge with the Throwback Jiggy, and their retro sounding Old Truck and Sleepy Dog riddims, while Baby G did big things with the Della Move. That said, there were some wicked original riddims to emerge in 2005, and it wasn't too hard to come up with a list of the best 5 for the last year:

1. KOPA on Black Chiney

2. APPLAUSE on Jah Snowcone

3. BOUNCE on In The Streetz

4. BLACK RAIN on Kinky

5. SMARTIES on Bread Back

A few others that deserve mention include the Migraine on Penthouse, Concubine on Rich House, Forbidden Dance on Danga Zone, and the aforementioned Steely & Cleevie riddims. Beenie Man's King of the Dancehall was a massive hit, and deserves recognition, as does Assassin's underrated Gangsta City on 40/40.

Meanwhile, modern roots reggae was amazingly strong in 2005. Continuing a trend from recent years, non-Jamaican producers had a big impact on the music, working with Jamaican vocalists to create some of the biggest riddims, such as Zion, Crystal Woman, Truths and Rights, and Jah Glory. Every year I give myself the task of coming up with a top 15 roots tunes, and this year it was especially hard to narrow it down. To make it even harder, I've restricted myself to no more than one cut on each riddim, making the list of "honorable mentions" almost as big as the list itself - Chuck Fender, Lutan Fyah, Jahmali on the Crystal Woman riddim (Rootdown label), Fantan Mojah, Natural Black, Jah Cure on Seasons (Don Corleon), Norris Man, Kymani Marley, Chukki Starr on Rose Moet (Pure Music), Turbulence, Lutan Fyah, Spectacular on Zion (Irie Ites), Richie Spice, Chuck Fender, Sizzla on Truths and Rights (Massive B), Queen Ifrika - Living A Lie (Loyal Soldiers), Gyptian - Serious Times (Frenz), Marlon Asher - Ganja Farmer (Caribbean Undergound), Jah Cure - Most High Cup Full (Big Leauge), Capleton - Recognized (Master One), Jah Cure & Vybz Kartel - So Free (Vertex), Fantan Mojah - Don't Bow Out (Veretx).

TOP 15 NEW ROOTS SINGLES OF 2005:

1. JR GONG - Jamrock (Ghetto Youths 7")
2. RICHIE SPICE - Gideon Soldier (Rootdown 7")
3. TURBULENCE - Notorious (THC 7")
4. FANTAN MOJAH & SINGING FLASH - Rastafari Is The Ruler (Lion Vibes 7")
5. KHARI KILL - Picture of Selassie I (Massive B 7")
6. TONY REBEL - Why (Irie Ites 7")
7. SIZZLA - Unity Is Strength (Pure Music 7")
8. JAH CURE - The Sound (Danger Zone 7")
9. PERFECT - Giddimani Questions (In Touch 7")
10. WARD 21 - Worldwide Connection (Bad 2000 7")
11. CAPLETON - Speak Your Mind (Ras I 7")
12. NINJAMAN - Mad Again (Jammys 7")
13. TURBULENCE - Doesn't Really Matter (Down Sound 7")
14. RICHIE SPICE - So Much Trouble (Master One 7")
15. MORGAN HERITAGE - How Come (Don Corleon)

On the gig front... the annual Bob Marley Birthday Bash is on again at the Corner Hotel on Feb 3, featuring the Jamaican connection (Stick Mareebo, Pappa Dalton, Tech & Rugged) alongside the Australian connection (Ras Crucial, Damajah, Sista Itations, Vida Sunshyne & I)... Third World & BigYouth play together at the Prince of Wales on Feb 8... and Adelaide 's Street Level Sound will be making their first appearance in Melbourne on Feb 11 at the Mercat LG with Chant Down for More Fire #55. Also, welcome back to veteran dub selector DJ Delay, who has started a new free night of dubwise delights "Forward The Bass" every Monday at Horse Bazzar.