SXSW has SOUL: Five R&B Acts to Catch at SXSW 2008

Aw shit! Better pack up those earplugs, Immodium, and Emergen-C’s because the 2008 SXSW Music Festival is just 2 days away. I’m pussing out for the second year in a row, but in classic form, Nghia, Paul, and Theo will be representing FRICTION NYC down in Austin this year. I think this is Nghia’s like umpteenth year in a row or something, seems like the fool has been going since he was a toddler. Anyway, insead of highlighting the typical buzzed acts this year, I decided to pick five R&B bands that I would certainly like to check out. These five acts including Darondo, Barbara Mason, Black Joe Lewis, Eli Reed, and The Aggrolites represent everything from soul to afrobeat to dirty reggae. Check ‘em out if you have the chance.

DARONDO
Saturday, 3/15/08 @ Club de Ville (900 Red River St)
[MP3]: “Didn’t I”
Darondo (pictured) released three singles during the 70s and then mysteriously dissappeared from the music scene for over 30 years. The legendary R&B performer who once opened for James Brown will be making the trek to Austin this week from his home in the San Francisco Bay Area. His three singles released in 2006 via Ubiquity along with an appearance on Giles Peterson’s BBC 1 Radio showcase created enough buzz to land Darondo an appearance at this year’s SXSW. His album, Let My People Go, is a mixture jazz-infused afrobeat and funk, containing the A and B sides from his three 45s as well as three re-worked demos.

BARBARA MASON
Friday, 3/14/08 @ Continental Club (1315 S Congress Ave
[MP3]: “Yes I’m Ready”
Philadelphia’s First Lady of Soul, Barbara Mason, is credited as the originator of Philly soul. Her classic ballad, “Yes, I’m Ready” laid the groundwork for the smooth sweet sounds of Philly soul and established Mason as as an influential female soul artist.

BLACK JOE LEWIS & THE HONEY BEARS
Wednesday, 3/12/08 @ Emo’s Main Room (601-603 Red River St)
[MP3]: “Gunpowder”
J.J. Lewis, aka Black Joe, in his mid-20s and full of spunk, stands tall and strong onstage with his band of gentlemen. He howls into the mic, half James Brown, half his own man, and he splays blood and heart all over the guitar. It’s imperfect yet beautiful. Reinventing his roots of Lighting Hopkins and Sam Cooke, Lewis adds a Red River vibe to the true blues of generations past. In 2007, he formed the Honey Bears, releasing an EP of the same name that summer [Austin Chronicle].

ELI PAPERBOY REED & THE TRUE LOVES
Thursday, 3/13/08 @ Club de Ville (900 Red River St)
[MP3]: “Take My Love With You”
We’ve already sang our praise about Allston, MA’s Eli Reed and his band The True Loves last month. The band plays a slew of dates at this year’s SXSW including the show listed above.

THE AGGROLITES
Wednesday, 3/12/08 @ Flamingo Cantina (515 E 6th St)
[MP3]: “Free Time”
Los Angeles’ The Aggrolites take pleasure in tradition, meshing old-school reggae and ska with rock, soul, and funk to create a sound called “dirty reggae.” Think Otis Redding fronting Toots & the Maytals. The five-piece embarks on an extensive U.S. tour following the festival.

Trackback | 2 Tone and Ska’s Second Wave

Above pic via evavu

I’ve been on a reggae and ska kick ever since watching This Is England a few weeks ago due to it’s kick-ass soundtrack. I figured since new releases around this time of year are usually slow (and a lot of other sites and mags are either getting their “end of year” lists together or have already posted them) I’d take some time and put up a little mixtape of some of my favorite ska revival bands. Let me preface this by saying that I’m no expert in the genre, so if you feel like ripping me a new asshole in the comments feel free to do so.

The first wave of ska, which reached its peak in the mid-60s was born and flourished in Jamaica with artists like The Skatalites, Prince Buster, Derrick Morgan, Laurel Aitken, Desmond Dekker, and Toots & the Maytals. Early ska combined jazz, calypso, R&B, and African beats, which later influenced artists like Bob Marley and Pete Tosh who transformed the sound by slowing down the tempo and adding more guitar into the mix which resulted rocksteady and eventually reggae. Reggae exploded onto the scene in 1966 making ska’s first wave short-lived.

Around the time that reggae was making a huge splash in Jamaica, the root sounds of ska made their way to shores of Britian and in the late 70s exploded onto the scene in it’s second wave also referred to as the “2 Tone” revolution. The 2 Tone era gets its name from the cultural movement’s most popular label, 2 Tone.

The label was founded in 1979 by Jerry Dammers of Coventry’s (a lot UK ska bands were based in West Midlands) ska revivalist The Specials, and included acts like The Beat (aka The English Beat in the U.S.), Madness, Selecter, Bad Manners, among others. The sound of the second wave was different from the traditional ska sound. When the first wave Jamaican sounds reached the British Isles they merged with the punk scene which added fast paced electric guitars to the traditional beat structure, while the horn section was pushed to the back of the mix. The music was popular among skinheads, rude boys/girls, and mod revivalists and many of the acts enjoyed UK chart success in the late 70s and early 80s. Like its predecessor, the revolution was short lived and in 1985 2 Tone ceased operation when The Specials broke up.

Below is a small mixtape highlighting some of the era’s best acts; The Clash’s “Rudie Can’t Fail” (a nod to rude boys/girls) from London Calling is likely the movement’s biggest triumph.

[MP3]: Madness  ”Nightboat To Cairo”
One Step Beyond…, Virgin; 1979
[MP3]: The Specials  ”A Message To You Rudy”
The Specials, 2 Tone; 1979
[MP3]: The Beat  ”Tears Of A Clown”
I Just Can’t Stop, Go Feet; 1980
[MP3]: The Selecter  ”Too Much Pressure”
Too Much Pressure, 2 Tone; 1980
[MP3]: The Clash  ”Rudie Can’t Fail”
London Calling, Epic; 1979