Singers and Players - 'War of Words'

I've also been listening to a lot of Jamaican music. All the way from ska and rocksteady to the dub and roots reggae of the 70's. Of course, I wouldn't post something here unless it were a little out of the ordinary. Lots of dub has strange qualities...I mean, it IS a genre founded on getting high and doing the craziest mixes you can think of to pre-recorded tracks. It just sounds like pure fun. This album, however, is not fun at all.

Initially I saw this described as 'gothic reggae,' and I guess that's not far off the mark. It's got a very skeletal, sterile dub sound. The echo and reverb is all harsh and digital, and for some reason there's also a lot of super-distorted guitar, which is atypical of dub. The lyrics are all performed in creepy whispers, or a really deep, smoked-out toasting voice.

Everything, down to the black and white cover photo, conjures up a deeply depressive vibe, something also atypical of dub. While it's normally bass-heavy and minimal, this is heavy in different ways.

If you're looking to get into reggae, but want to start with the furthest possible point from Bob Marley, this is probably a good bet.

Singers and Players - 'War of Words' - 1982

Tracklist:

1. Devious Woman
2. Quante Jubila
3. Sit and Wonder
4. Fit to Survive
5. Reaching the Bad Man
6. World of Dispensation
7. '91 Vibration

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Obscuro! Mixtape #19 - 'Nightsounds, vol. 3 - instrumentals'

More Nightsounds for ya. Not COMPLETELY instrumental, but the words on this one are few and far between. There's kind of a surf theme throughout, but the tracks come from all over the globe...Pakistan, Thailand, Jamaica, what have ya. There's also quite a bit of instrumental funk thrown in with the surf. Trust me, they go well together. Anyhow...enjoy.

Obscuro! Mixtape #19 - 'Nightsounds, vol. 3 - instrumentals' by Bizarrojerry on Mixcloud

Obscuro! Mixtape #12...'Nightsounds vol. 2'

More l8 nite shit for yall

G-funk synth madness for ridin' yer bike past some palm trees.

Some stuff you probably know, but that don't mean ya can't ride to it. Although, I was surprised by how few people have heard 'Deep Cover,' aka the world's introduction to Snoop Dogg....probably the best track Dre has ever produced/rapped on.

Obscuro! Mixtape #12 - 'Nightsounds, vol. 2' by Bizarrojerry on Mixcloud

Obscuro! Mixtape #11...'Spring in yo soul'

Another week, another mixtape. This one's in the theme of spring. I seem to listen to a lot of soul and funk around this time of year, mostly because it's so goddamn laid back. There's a lot more 'classics' than obscurities here, but that's alright. I don't think you can hear 'Little Child, Runnin' Wild' too many times in your life. Anyhow. Here it is, for your listening pleasure. Mixed together into one long 60-minute track, like the last few mixtapes.

Obscuro! Mixtape #11 - 'Spring in yo soul' by Bizarrojerry on Mixcloud

Obscuro! Mixtape #10...'Nightsounds vol. 1'

Maybe it's a product of ALWAYS working nights, but I seem to enjoy a lot of stuff that conjures up the feeling of nighttime. Some of the stuff on this mix is obvious, but hopefully there's enough unheard-tracks, too. I'll probably do a few of these, since I've got a huge amount of 'night' mix CD's for driving around and whatnot. This one's pretty good for driving, I think.

Obscuro! Mixtape #10 - 'Nightsounds, vol. 1' by Bizarrojerry on Mixcloud

Faz - 'Homebrew'

This one took some time to find.

The initial description I read said something like 'late night piano rock with a homemade feel,' and it piqued my interest. I dunno, a few of the tracks are pretty good, but it's not really doin' it for me. Kind of cool for mixtapes maybe, but perhaps you all will like it more than me. Regardless, it's a hard one to find, and it's weird, so I'm putting it up here. It's even got the taped-on picture for an album cover!

Faz - 'Homebrew'

Tracklist:

1. Soap Opera Wife
2. I Will Be There
3. Mama Loves Me
4. Take Me Back
5. Sky Blue, In Love with You
6. Dance, Dancing Baby
7. Everlasting Love
8. Bird of Prey

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