HUSTLE ! Reggae Disco - Kingston-London-New York

Posted by : Monkey SKA domingo, 16 de noviembre de 2014

Eccentric stuff, this. On their excellent Studio One Soul compilation, the Soul Jazz label provided an engrossing history of how American R&B informed reggae, destroying the assumption that Jamaican music evolved in some kind of splendid isolation. Now, Hustle takes that story to the next level, by uncovering the frequently weird impact disco had on reggae.

For most of this engaging album, the focus shifts from 1970s Jamaica to 1980s London, where the Lover's Rock school of gentle reggae seemed more open to absorbing Studio 54 glitz and recycling it at a languorous pace. Hence Carol Cool makes a far better hash of "Upside Down" than Diana Ross ever did, attacking it with an endearingly tinny horn section and blipping electro effects that could've been provided by a primitive video game.

True, the quality of this music hardly measures up to the Studio One productions that dominate Soul Jazz's compilations. But it's still endlessly fascinating, for here's proof that some reggae was in thrall to the tackiest American music at a time when so many punks were mythologising its supposed rootsiness. This is a magically impure music that complicates tidy cultural stereotypes. And, on Xanadu & Sweet Lady's glorious version of "Rapper's Delight" (one of the few Jamaican tracks here), it points the way to the marvellous ragga/hip-hop hybrids so prevalent in Kingston right now.

Track List
1. Ring My Bell - Blood Sisters - Blood Sisters
2. Don't Stop Till You Get Enough - Trinity - Trinity
3. I'm Every Woman - Latisha - Latisha
4. Don't Let It Go to Your Head - Black Harmony - Black Harmony
5. Reggae Beat Goes On - Family Choice - Family Choice
6. Rapper's Delight - Xanadu And Sweet Lady - Xanadu And Sweet Lady
7. Upside Down - Carol Cool - Carol Cool
8. Be Thankful for What You've Got - One Blood - One Blood

DDL