I've been hearing some of this stuff randomly and liking it a lot. I also love the stuff by the Clash that's influenced by it, like rudie can't fail, and was wondering what a good place would be to start with this genre. I don't really know much about it. Looking for upbeat stuff with lots of horns and heavy bass lines. Any recommendations would be appreciated. From what I know I like the earlier stuff, circa 60's 70's maybe, but I don't know any of the bands or albums.

The Trojan box sets are a great way to sample all of the genres. Rocksteady is my favorite.

Really?!
This is happening again?

http://skarevolution69.wordpress.com/2010/04/16/trojan-rocksteady-box-set/

download at the bottom

hey jerkass, shut the fuck up.

Thanks man, looking forward to hearing it once it finishes downloading.

if ska comes back in 2012
the world will end

will you save the world?

If you want good old style ska go directly to Desmond Dekker. You may also wanna check out Alton Ellis, and the Skatellites/Ethopians.

For Dub you gotta check out some Lee "Scratch" Perry. I'm also a big fan of Agustus Pablo and Prince Jammy. Big Youth is a favorite for DJ style toasting over some great dub style backing tracks.

Latest thing I'm really into is Rico, who used to play trombone in The Specials. Been going back and checking into his older solo albums and they're fantastic. Man from Wareika is great stuff. If you're looking for horns you should definitely check this one out. Don Drummond is another Jamaican trombone legend to check out.

I hear occasional newer things I like too, but since most of it is Dancehall oriented and heavily hip hop influenced it is a different sound. Sizzla put out a really good more traditional sounding album a couple years ago. Cappleton still does roots style. Roy Ellis is an old hand that just released a good album this year. Last years Reggaeology by Hamid Drake and Bindu was pretty great. I'd always appreciate suggestions myself for good new stuff coming out. I have noticed the ska revivers over the last few years have been leaning more toward a traditional sound than the ultra bouncy rock/ska hybrids that were part of that 90s ska thing, a development I am happy to hear.

Huge genre really. But, that's a few things I really like. Depends on your tastes as well, of course. Lots of different sounds within the broader context.

I'll second those Trojan boxsets. They're all undeniably great. I pick them up whenever I see them physically in a record store. Two of my favorites are the 60s covers, and the Beatles covers boxes.

If ska/dub is what yr looking for though, the 2 volumes of dub that they've put out are incredible and are a major lynchpin in my understanding and enjoyment of the genre.

Also, this is pretty essential:

yeah, don't be fooled by the Soul Jazz comps...they're good but contain most of the same stuff as the trojan comps.

I've been listening to the rocksteady comp Jewels put up and loving it. I'm going to check out the Arkology next. Thanks for all the suggestions. One of the things that got me interested is that I was listening to some old wailers tracks that are, in my opinion, so much better than his later stuff. This is one of my favorite songs, would love to find more stuff like it.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=us9A9J_6Y6s

Cool, thanks for this link.

Early ska and rocksteady and definitely my favorites kind of Jamaican music. I love Desmond Dekker and Toots and the Maytals. As far as the later stuff and proper/roots reggae, I still can't really get into Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, et al. but I haven't given up.

And Leon, as for dub... it's really pretty different from this early stuff, I believe. I mean, I don't have much, but I'd definitely recommend The Congos - Heart of the Congos and Augustus Pablo - King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown.

Also:

saw this today, pretty much meets the thread title

That Skatallites in Dub is pretty good, but it is way more to the Dub side of things than ska. You do have some horns and all, but it doesn't really have much of a ska influence at all. Don't mean that as a negative, just mentioning it.

As long as the thread is back up, I'll toss out another dubby album I'm digging right now. New one from Bad Brains bass player, Darryl Jenifer. Great modern dub sounds with occasional moments where the Bad Brains style guitars subtly creep in, but never so much as to be intrusive after a quick opening salvo after a spoken introduction. It also verges into some mellow soul at moments, but as a whole this one definitely falls into the dub category.


Darryl Jenifer: In Search of Black Judas