I had so much fun putting together last week’s collection of music that I figured I’d do it again. Plus it seemed a waste to only use that sweet header graphic once.
No weekly music round-up would be complete without a dose of Alex Stern. This week’s track is his first dub tune in this series. I swore he released the ‘regular’ version of this tune earlier this year and spent an hour scouring his bandcamp page but I came up with nothing. It’s awesome in it’s own right.
The Joe Strummer Foundation recently released a fundraiser compilation. “The Joe Strummer Foundation gives opportunities to aspiring musicians and support to projects around the world that create social mobility through music.” Track 1 on the comp is a reggae take on The Clash’s “Rock The Casbah” by Ranking Roger (The English Beat). The original tune is in there, but Roger puts his own spin on the tune.
Earlier this month we announced that The Slackers had started crowdfunding for their next record. There was a video of some studio footage that provided a taste of the record. The band posted a proper teaser track to give you a better sense of what to expect.
Speaking of The Slackers, New Noise Magazine has the exclusive stream of the new Bad Cards album. “Bad Cards is what happens when Vic, Jay and Ara go into the studio and the rest of The Slackers don’t show up. Punky reggae, ska, rock and roll straight from garageland.” I think I accidentally saw this band 3 or 4 times while living in NYC. Their cover of “The Wanderer” is my favorite, but the new takes on classic Slackers tunes should interest most fans. Buy the limited edition LP here. They’re going fast.
Dig this cover of Prince Buster’s “Girl Answer Your Name” as performed by modern reggae singer Protoje. He breathes new life into the track while staying true to the spirit of the original.
LA reggae band The Expanders released a new LP earlier this summer on Easy Star Records (The Skints, Easy Star All Stars) entitled “Hustling Culture.” These purveyors of roots reggae and early reggae have the rhythm chops and take their harmonies very seriously. The title track is below. Stream more tunes here.
Yesterday, The Interrupters premiered a new music video for “Take Back the Power” on KROQ’s website. It’s a catchy sing-a-long punk tune off of their 2014 self-titled Hellcat Records release. See them September 15 when they pass through town.
That should be enough to get you through the week. What’s currently spinning on your musical device of choice?