Reggae(ton) Bangara

Went for an afternoon trip up to Devon Ave’s “Desi corridor” yesterday accompanied by an anthropologist who studies the circulation of pirated media in India (mainly Bollywood/Filmi), and who was, as you can imagine, a perfect companion for a brief tour of the strip’s numerous “record” shops (which sold CDs, DVDs, videocassettes, and even plain […]

Read More →
Pods i&i Cast

This is the post that will never get posted unless I just post it. Been sitting on it and adding to it for too long. So here it is, incomplete as it will have to be, as I seem to discover a new podcast or mix series or audio-show-thing every few days or so. So […]

Read More →
Linkthink #57923

Another Crunk Cartology: if you happened to miss Ghislain Poirier’s African hip-hop mixes, you really need to track those down. For another perspective on the whole back-and-forth, see Daara J’s Boomerang thesis. Droid brings the latest blogariddimic spectacular: an hour of early 90s dancehall, an underappreciated but overwhelming (and deeply influential) era for reggae music […]

Read More →
Uppy Earthday, Bob

As you may know, today is Bob Marley’s birthday (or “earthday” in Rasta parlance). As you may have noticed, I write very rarely about Bob Marley for a guy who writes about reggae. Not because I don’t find him worthy of consideration, celebration, and critique, but b/c he so thoroughly dominates the reggae literature (perhaps […]

Read More →
Linkthink #4083: AfroCaribEdition

Solo Plena: a frequently updated Panamanian “plena” blog (that means reggae there, y’know), showing that Panama’s reggae scene, as reinvigorated and reshaped as it may have been by the reggaeton explosion, continues apace. &nuff Pma plena pon YouTube too, classic a nuevo here’s El General doing his best Don Dada — and Aldo Ranks puttin […]

Read More →
imeem, i’m sayin

Talk about too much music. Was readying a post on all the pods I cast (or subscribe to, that is), but then I get pointed to a Soca 2k7 playlist on some mysite called imeem — The soca 2k7 are verrrrrry r and b. I thought it would be interesting for your work. The soca […]

Read More →
Smackademics

Much as I like to bellyache bout the NYT, you gotta love it when they let pomo philosophers pen op-eds about politricks. And even if (sadly — for all of us, not just him) Zizek’s mostly remixing his ol’ desert of the real spiel, I was totally tickled to see him — in so many […]

Read More →
Studio One Stocking Stuffers

Got a piece in this week’s Phoenix reviewing the latest offerings in Heartbeat’s ambitious Studio One reissue series, running the gamut from ska to dub. Check it out. As usual, see below for the “director’s cut.” Studio One Love, pt. 2 by Wayne Marshall Heartbeat Records’ Studio One reissue series continues not only to shore […]

Read More →
Another Crunk Genealogy

Considering what a solid series it’s been so far, I’m quite proud to present — Blogariddims ¡Blogaritmos! 11: “Another Crunk Genealogy” crunkyclave / dembowsalsa / raggyton / bhangrabounce subscribe to series | download mp3 (60:54 | 83.6mb) Of course, given the all-around excellence of the contributions to date, never mind the massive mix Heatwave dropped […]

Read More →
Routes & Culture

Ok, so obviously I’m not up to the task of live-blogging the conferences I attend, esp when the hosting hotel wants to charge an extra $14/day for internet access. (Amenities, schmenities.) Will offer some Hawaiian highlights before they get filed away like the dogeared program they’re scrawled on, but just so you don’t miss it, […]

Read More →
Hold Me Closer, Tainy Dancer

Given that it pays homage, follows a venerable reggae tradition (see, e.g., the rankses, the bantons, the demuses, the cats), makes a pop culture pun, and invokes a myth of national origins, I gotta admit — Tainy Tunes is a fantastic name for an up-and-coming reggaeton producer. Kid’s only 17, so we’re not gonna judge […]

Read More →
¿Que Fue?

That review of the new Tego album in the Phoenix that I’ve been telling y’all about has finally seen the light of day. You can find it in the digital fishwrap here, but I’m going to go with my standard practice of reprinting the original on this humble blog since inevitably a word or two […]

Read More →
The Further Adventures of Blog O’Sphere, pt. 643

Given that urbody’s raving, and rightly so, about Dr.Auratheft’s DoabaGypsyQawwaliFlamenco mix (which I misnomerly bigged up back at the blogspot), I think it’s only proper to point you to Murk’s second podcast, DiasporRoma, which selects for similar socio-sonic suggestions. From a slightly different angle, or yet another node on the bellydance diaspora (no misnomo), here’s […]

Read More →