Can't cover 'em all
My mom just sent me an e-mail asking for help: my cousin and aunt need a list of particular artists they want the DJ to play for the tropically-themed, reggae-soundtracked rehearsal dinner this Friday night. Now, reggae is probably the only genre, aside from acid jazz and maybe trance electronica, that I very rarely listen to. But my aunt is freaking out, I can be the calmly helpful voice, and I also get to weigh in on music! When would I pass up that opportunity?
So far, the list culled from AMG and tofuhut looks something like this. I want to make sure these artists are not too obscure and are also good. And I'm asking for additional suggestions, where you know them.
Matisyahu
Bob Marley
Yellowman
Burning Spear
Black Uhuru
Buju Banton
Jimmy Cliff
Gregory Isaacs
UB40
Hugh Mundell
Junior Reid
Ok? Thanks, guys.
posted by KT @ 6:33 PM
6 comments
6 Comments:
The Clash and the Police. Wedding music has to be 70s shlock. It's the law.
Manu Chao does reggae and everybody thinks he's from Latin America, so maybe that'd work. [France. He's French.]
If you want to be tropically-themed, you can go Brazilian 70s, which can include the usual Garota do Ipanema stuff, or the funkier tropicalia, such as Os Mutantes or anything from Gilberto Gil.
Sergio Mendez & Brazil '66 is good: the hipsters like them for the ironic lounge thing, the parents like them because they listened to them the first time through, and to people who don't care about music it's just sorta danceable. Also, they cover a Joao Gilberto song about a duck, so the Portugese-speaking toddlers'll love them too. Yeah, just play that album through.
Matisyahu gets flack for being gimmicky and not all that good. I can't say either way. And I'm not a fan of Marley -- at least the later, poppier stuff everyone knows. But he's certainly palatable, if anything.
For some old-school flavor, no such playlist would be complete without a) the Skatelites and b) the wonderful Desmond Dekker.
I don't know how trippy they want things to get, but I love dub reggae such as Lee "Scratch" Perry, Augustus Pablo (his Meets Rockers Uptown is a classic of the genre) and King Tubby. They might want to save that stuff for when they break out the spliffs, though.
Also: hi!
By the way, Gilberto Gil com Jorge Ben is about the best thing each of these guys has ever done. Terrible for a wedding party, but wonderful for all other purposes. They just improv off of each other and play with sounds.
Hey, awesome. Yes, we'll go for old-school sound and tropicalia more generally. Maybe Mom will pick up on Manu Chao's Frenchness and be pleased.
Haha. But for the record, the Clash is not schlock. Should such a law actually exist, we're breaking it because the wedding reception will be accompanied by bluegrass band. This is the rehearsal dinner.
Many many laughs were had over imagining my family passing a joint. Oh-ho. The groom, perhaps, but my grandmother? Lord help. Hello to you, too.
The soundtrack for the cult classic, "The Harder They Come", starring Jimmy Cliff, has a great variety of Reggae music. In fact, you may be able to forego the DJ with this collection.
must. not. forget. manu chao!
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