Oh, Baby – I Like it Raw

Earlier this year I heard some rumours about Supersoul in Malmo was trying to book soul legend Gwen McCrae to their club. I guess I didn’t happen this time cause I can’t see her name on the flyer for Saturdays event at Debaser. It would be cool if they did though.

But instead of wining about it I give you this version of her “Funky Sensation” plus two good examples of other songs using it to great effect.

This month they have a Caribian funk special so go there and do the funky chicken to some Ray Munnings anthems or any other monsters from the Bahamas that you prefer.

Gwen McCrae - “Funky Sensation (MAW Remix)” (320)

Raahsan Patterson - “Where You Are (Silks Oldschool Remix)” (320)

Leela James - “Good Time (Pete Rock Remix)” (320)

Vill ni höja upp handen som en riktig vinnare? Well, snurra då in på Original Bangarang-bloggen och var med och tävla om fem gästelisteplatser till fredag.

Efter det kan ni glida vidare till Öresundsregionen där det finns en intervju med undertecknad om fredagens clash.

It seems like the club scene in Helsinki are doing real well at the moment with you, DJ Anonymous and The Top Billin’ guys getting props and recognition abroad. Has it always been like that without outside people knowing about it or do you feel that things are particular healthy at the moment?
– You’re not the only one with the impression things are good at the moment in Helsinki. Of course the DJ:s who’s getting recognition didn’t become good DJs overnight, rather I feel things are at a culmination point where the work put in over the years is really starting to show. A big fact not to forget is that many clubs that were really good before are now super good after having moved to their current venue Redrum (which hosts all the clubs you mentioned) that has a very nice soundsystem, nuff space to host good-sized parties and always a good and welcoming atmosphere. Being able to enjoy what you do to the max certainly does give it an extra boost of excitement.

Do you have any explanation why?
– Well, there are a few good answers to that. The DJ:s getting recognition, Anonymous, The Top Billin’ guys Dead-O on the dubstep side and many others including us, have all been working hard with music for long. Work might be a poor choice of word still since it’s more about enjoyment, more about loving it. And it’s not a 9 to 5 thing – music stays with you whenever. All the mentioned DJs also do have a love for partying – not just staying at their own circles but also checking out other things and having a good time doing it. A big change in Finnish club culture during the last few years is the amount of cutting-edge foreign DJ and artist guests. On the reggae side, you could say the amount of soundsystem guests a year is now pretty much 20-fold from what it was, say, five years ago. Of course from nothing to now is always a big leap but it’s safe enough to say there’s no exposure if nobody ever sees / hears you play.

– I have to say also the Finnish massive is very welcoming for good artist, sound and DJ guests; many big name international guests have been totally surprised about the dedication and love they get from the people. From our point of view it’s easy to see as there hasn’t been much of an offer to choose from earlier and now people are getting treated to a very good selection of guests stars but I can see how things seem very different to somebody coming from any big city where you have to constantly struggle to have yourself noticed.

– For us, the biggest break in getting international bookings has probably been recording our dances and letting people download them for free, as well as our mixes. After sharing the audio from the first visit by Supersonic from Berlin where we juggled alongside them (the vibes was wicked, one of the first proper int’l sound system visits in Finland where the crowd was really feeling it) we got soooo many requests to play at different spots in Germany. That works the other way around as well – most of the sounds we booked I heard first time on audios that were available free on dancehall forums on the web.

You’re known for a wide taste of Jamaican music with anything from lovers and foundation stuff to banging dancehall on your repertoire. At the moment – which part of the Jamaican music history do you like the most?
– That’s always a tough question. Different music for different moods, I guess. I’m very fond of late 60:s rocksteady tunes though I don’t play that style too much. I also love late 90s dancehall, early 90s lovers and the latest dancehall. And if I don’t hear a proper one drop selection when going to a dance I’ll be vex.

– For me what matters more than style is that there is an idea, a catch behind a set of tunes played. There is a big difference in just stringing tunes together and making a selection. A good selector will make me enjoy even tunes I wouldn’t listen to under normal circumstances. So maybe the part of Jamaican music I love the best is the actual soundsystem culture where everything comes together.

You’re doing the very successful club Reggae Sundays in Helsinki. Here in Öresund the Rub-a-Dub club in Copenhagen have been running for ages. What’s the thing about reggae clubs and Sundays?
– Well, I’d say the case with both Rub A Dub and our thing is that we’ve both been determined enough to do something which people think “will never work”. Getting a weekly date at a good venue can be a big challenge even in cities like Helsinki and Copenhagen where there are x amount of pubs and clubs people go to every night.

– I have to say when we first got the offer for getting the Sunday spot at Redrum I thought about Rub A Dub and how well the thing worked there. So it would be safe to say their thing gave us encouragement and inspiration to do it proper. Big big ups to Malachi. The good thing about having our own thing on Sundays is still that we are free to travel say Wednesday to Saturday to play shows elsewhere – people hardly book us on Sundays unless we are invited to Copenhagen.

What’s your favourite tunes so far this year?
– A lot of them. Some favourite one drop tunes (I’ll probably forget a few big ones cause I’m thinking more of the recent ones) have been Ziggi’s tune “Need To Tell You This” on the I Love riddim, Sweden’s very own Million Stylez’s “Everyday” which was also produced by a Swedish artist Kapten Röd (bad bad tune!). Omar Reid also had several really nice tunes this year, including “Number One” and “Story Of My Life”. Overall it seems there’s been a lot more big dancehall tunes lately still than one drop. On that side things move even more swiftly. Currently some of my favourites (some of the really big tunes at dances over here as well) are Serani’s “No Games” which gets some serious love from the girls, Busy Signal’s “Cool Baby” (at the moment Busy has soooo many good tunes) dancing tunes, like Voicemail’s “Sweep”, Elephant Man’s “Nuh Linga” and “Gully Creepa” and Ding Dong’s “Rava’s Anthem” are also getting a lot of play right now.

A long interview with Arthur Russells partner Tom Lee in The Fader. I’m not sure but I think it looks a little bit longer than in the actual magazine.

You’ve probably been dancing to Todd Terjes rework of Jose Gonzalez “Killing For Love” right? And you couldn’t stop listen to Rub’n’Tugs hillbilly disco remix of Wild Rumpus “Musical Blaze-up”. Well, then you should definitely check out this awesome Prins Thomas edit of London folk singer James Yuills “This Sweet Love”.

James Yuill - This Sweet Love (Prins Thomas Sneaky Edit) (320)

This is a interesting conversation. But I guess it could have been even more interesting if they had listen to some of the stuff in this post and the comments to it before.

It almost feels like our monthly dub gigs at Metro in Malmö have develop to our precious little eh… baby? It feels almost as those gig at Tranan in Stockholm that you always looked forward to before even though they didn’t pay almost anything at all.

Tomorrow saturday we visit Metro for the forth time which means a dubby mix of almost everything we can’t play anywhere else.

Would def play this one. Its been a favourite since way back. I don’t know if its rare or not because I can’t find it on Discogs. It’s released on the Brooklyn label “Rockers Forever” (gotto love that name) in the early 80s anyway.

Anthony Johnson - We Na Give Up (320)

The swedish-french-malawian connection continue to build up the expectations for their forthcoming mixtape and album release. The trio formerly known as Radioclit and Esau Mwamwaya now announce that they have change the name, or more named the colab, to “The very best”.

The cover/rework of indierockers Vampire Weekends “Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa” have been out on Itunes for a while but just recently found its way to hype machine. If you don’t like to mess with Itunes download it below.

Vampire Weekend, Radioclit & Esau Mwamwaya - Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa (The Very Best Remix) (320)

Bonus Esau’s version of M.I.As “Paper Planes” from last year:

Esau Mwamwaya - Tengazako (192)

Komposti Sound, also known as Finland’s Finest is by no doubt one of the most active and hard working sounds from Scandinavia. Established in 2001, the sound has won the Finnish Sound Clash Championship title three times, in 2004, 2005 and 2007.

Currently they are busy running their weekly club Reggae Sundays which is considered by many to be one of the baddest regular dancehall reggae clubs in Europe with regular big sound system and artist guests from all over the world, as well as running their weekly radio show Kompostiradio.

They have promoted shows for and / or played alongside a lot of big sounds and artists from Mighty Crown, Stone Love, Supersonic, David Rodigan and Sentinel to Buju Banton, Baby Cham, Sizzla, Pressure, Beres Hammond, Chuck Fenda and many many more. Their tours have taken them to a lot of different places including Sweden, Germany, Denmark, Norway, Estonia, the Czech Republic, Morocco and China.

What makes Komposti a crowd favorite in Finland and worldwide is Bommitommi & Enrico’s versatile and uplifting juggling style that ranges musically from late 60s rocksteady selections to the latest dancehall anthems. Komposti is also well known for tens of quality mix CDs, most of which are easily available for free download on the net.

As well as playing sound, Bommitommi is also known as a producer, engineer and a remixer, having produced numerous reggae albums for Finnish artists as well as putting out some notorious remixes on the somewhat shady Knut Posse label…

Some Komposti Mix CD’s

“Warrior Love” / May 2008 / One Drop
(Tracklist here)

“Melody” / November 2007 / One Drop
(Tracklist here)

“Message Of Love Again” / April 2007 / One Drop / Lovers
(Tracklist here)

“Aint No Trick In The Book” / 2006 / Foundation
(Tracklist here)