How about some slammin' reggae for my N802's....

I'm a huge reggae fan and answered a similar thread awhile back. I'll just cut and paste my initial response, although I would add to this list of recommendations nearly any of the Studio One compilations ('Studio One Dub', 'Studio One Soul', 'Studio One Roots', etc.)put out by Soul Jazz records...very, VERY nice collections of vintage reggae groove.

>>>My tastes for reggae generally steer towards older vintage recordings from the late '60's to early 70's with a strong leaning towards the classic dub plates from such masters as King Tubby, Lee Perry, Prince Jammy, etc. One of the things I find most intriguing about reggae is that it's admittedly limited musical structure inherently lends to it's strengths as it is a music revolving around texture, space, and a general feel...a 'vibe' as it were. Any type of 'tune' or song structure is merely a platform for the music to lean on and stretch out to. That said, I would recommend almost anything that Blood & Fire (a recent UK label feverishly devoted to lovingly compiled and remastered vintage reggae recordings) has put out as well as Pressure Sounds, another fine UK label overseen by Adrian Sherwood. Sherwood himself has produced (on his On-U-Sound) label some of the finest modern reggae recordings and done quite a bit to expand the genre with bands like African Head Charge & New Age Steppers who really use the genre of reggae itself as a platform for experimental sound structures...dub for the modern age. Some personal favorites:

Yabby You: 'Jesus Dread'
Burning Spear: 'Social Living' and 'Marcus Garvey'
v/a: 'Roots Techniques' and 'Techniques in Dub'
(comps of recordings by producer Winston Riley)
Jackie Mittoo: 'The Keyboard King of Studio One'
Augustus Pablo: 'East of the River Nile' and 'King Tubby Meets Rockers Uptown'
King Tubby & Soul Syndicate: 'Freedom Sounds in
Dub'
The Congos: "Heart of the Congos"
Israel Vibration: "The Same Song"

There's much more stuff out there of course, and a lot I've yet to discover, but there's a few ideas. Don't forget to check out Mr. Marley of course as well as Lee Perry & his productions for the Upsetters and others...the Arkology box set is hard to go wrong with on that end and there are a lot of great compilations out there too.
If you dig into the more recent catalog of On-U-Sound recordings, a good place to start would be with Creation Rebel and Singers & Players with a sidestep into the Dub Syndicate if you want to dig further. Enjoy the sounds...<<<

View the whole original thread here...

http://forum.audiogon.com/cgi-bin/fr.pl?gmusi&982392469&openusid&zzCenturymantra&4&5#Centurymantra

Two of my favorites: "Reggae Africa" on the Hemisphere label. This is a well-recorded collection of mostly west African Reggae bands that shows how Jamaican Reggae found fertile ground in the polyrhythm of popular African music. Jamaican Reggae sometimes romanticizes life in Africa when in fact the social mesages of hope and social change it contains is something that Africans can relate to. Of this collection Alpha Blondy is the most well known. The others include Harley and the Rasta Family, Koko Dembele, Tangara Speed Ghoda, Senzo, Serges Kassy, Lystrone Koume, Ice T. Cool, P.I. Ray, Solo Jah Gunt, and Ismael Isaac Et Les Freres Keita.

The other is: "Reggae Songbirds 17 Great Tracks from the High Note Label." All songs are from female Reggae vocalists. It's a refreshing angle from traditional Reggae that usually centers on male vocalists.

Definitely check out "The Rough Guide to the Music of Nigeria & Ghana". It's a compilation of Highlife, Fuji, Afrobeat and Juju, and it's absolutely amazing. It's a lot like James Brown and Bob Marley wrapped into one. My favorites are Chief Stephen Osita Osadebe, I.K. Dairo, Tony Allen " Asiko" ( awesome!!). The recording quatlity of this CD is also well above average, presenting a crisp 3d image.

Check out the website: www.worldmusic.net

Select catalogue then A-Z to find the cd "Nigeria & Ghana" they also have a myriad of other superb compilations!!!

Josh

Check out Lucky Dube "Taxman" or any of his recent releses. He is from South Africa and has a very soulful voice and the recording quality is excellent.

I'll throw some stuff out as I'm an avid listener of more "modern" dub. I like the classics like King Tubby and the often overlooked Horace Andy but I'll focus on some newer stuff.

Rhythm & Sound-The Versions & The Artists. This stuff is just great! Basic Channel were a very influential "minimal techno" act from over 10 years ago that are just now starting to be recognized for the geniuses that they are. Now they've moved on to produce some suprisingly authentic dub with simply amazing production. Very minimal in nature with not too much of the typical up-stroked guitar but more of the teutonic basslines and eerie/distant synth effects. They released a bunch of 10" records teaming up with dub vocal stars that had a vocal and a dub side. The Versions is the compilation of all the dubs and The Artists includes all the vocal sides. They're both awesome.

Adrain Sherwood-Never Trust A Hippy(released a year or so ago on Real World). Adrian's work was touched on earlier in the post and I think he deserves more. This was technically his first self-penned album under his own name. Although this album touches on many differrent styles it is a showcase for impeccable production and just CRAZY audio tricks/effects. Sounds great really loud. On a more traditional note his work with Creation Rebel is great but hard too find. If you can track down a copy of Historic Moments Vol I or II jump on them. They're great starts that compile some of my favorite stuff.

Sub Oslo-The Rites Of Dub & Dubs In The Key Of Life. Hard to believe that one of the best newer dub acts hails from Denton, TX. I was turned on to these guys at a hi-fi shop to boot which embarassed me because I'm usually the one going in and schooling them. Me--->"Take off that damn Diana Krall and put THIS on."

Various Artists-Planet Dub. A 2cd techno-tinged dub compilation that is VERY good despite the weed-smoking munchkin on the album cover. One great subwoofer workout.

Bob Marley-Dreams Of Freedom: Ambient Translations of Bob Marley in Dub. Another producer extraordinaire Bill Laswell was given free reign to the Marley vault and came up with this super-chilled masterpiece. He's done the same for Carlos Santana/John McLaughlin and Miles Davis. All are highly recommended. Bill has MANY(and I mean MANY) releases on his own that are really good. A like the Divination series and the sampler Axiom Dub.

So the 5 albums to buy are:
Rhythm & Sound-The Artists
Creation Rebel-Historic Moments Vol. 2
Sub Oslo-The Rites Of Dub
Various-Planet Dub
Bob Marley-Dreams Of Freedom