It all probably started because the first gig I went to as a teenager was a ska show. If I knew that it would last this long, maybe I would think twice. Or maybe not, and it was just meant to be. Now I go to gigs and record interviews with the bands I like. But if they play rock and roll in the area, there's a good chance that you will find me there.
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Hey Rudies, mark your calendars! The upcoming Polish autumn ska festival is scheduled for October 4th, and the lineup looks solid. With The Valkyrians, Sonic Boom Six, and Johnny Reggae Rub Foundation, along with some standout local performers, including Podwórkowi Chuligani and Ziggie Piggie, this event will be a highlight of the season!
Two years ago, Italians from The Magnetics played their first concert in Poland, at the second edition of the Gdańsk Ska Jamboree festival. They liked it so much that they decided to come back. Tomorrow, we’ll have a chance to check how their sound has changed over the last 3 years. And as an appetizer before the gig, we recommend the transcript of a conversation we had in 2018 with the vocalist and founder of the group, Olly Riva.
The last two years went by with hardly any concerts and festivals. There have been very few ska related music events in Poland, and travelling abroad has been difficult. But there is light at the end of the tunnel – the fourth edition of Gdańsk Ska Jamboree.
Nobody planned this conversation. I certainly didn’t, and the guys from The Aggrolites didn’t expect it either. Sometimes, however, fate knows better what RudeMaker readers need. After the dirty reggae legends’ show in Cottbus in November 2019, it decided that they had to read about “Reggae Now!”, marinating records and the best skinhead reggae in the world.
We’ve been waiting a long time for this and it finally happened. The “Tribute to Alibabki” album is ready! It features the group’s greatest hits in Jamaican versions developed by Warsaw’s finest ska-jazz ensemble, The Bartenders.
It’s getting hotter and hotter and the pandemic restrictions on the organization of cultural events in Poland loosen up. Small concerts and open-air parties are slowly coming back to Warsaw. But in other parts of the world, online events are still the best pastime. This weekend, it’s worth staying at home and virtually going to a ska festival in Peru.
We have a 4-day weekend ahead of us in Poland and although we’re coming out of lockdown, sometimes it’s important to ask oneself if I really need to leave my flat. The promoters of virtual festivals made sure that it was worth spending the next few days in front of the screen.
Sometimes reality catches up with the words of a song. The new Dub Pistols single was released on June 4, when BLM protests and riots took place in the United States. “Stand Together” seems to be a song written for the moment, but it was created two years ago.
I like to listen to bands from warmer countries in the summer. I imagine beach concerts and tropical drinks with umbrella straws. In Poland the heat is already lurking around the corner, we are slowly coming out of lockdown, and only live music will be missing in this puzzle, at least for some time. Fortunately, there’s an album coming to the rescue and although it came out in January, it will be good to listen to in our part of the world right now.
Unfortunately, the September edition of Freedom Sounds will also not take place as planned. Restrictions on the organization of large events in Germany have been extended. All we can to do is wait for 2021.
The first Polish rocksteady band, Steady Social Club, is releasing its debut album on May 11. On RudeMaker you can listen to this record today!
As another week of isolation passes, the thoughts of going to a gig become more and more intrusive. Especially, when I listen to records that sound like a preview of enjoyment. The Makeways new EP is certainly one of those.
Members of Chainska Brassika during home isolation recorded a new song encouraging people to dance. In the music video they used recordings sent by their fans.
If you’re looking for a decent old-school instrumental early reggae, Los Aggrios from Los Angeles will be a good choice. They recently released their first 45.
The Aggrolites played a short acoustic show in the Sugarshack Inc. compound. You can listen to songs from this session also on Spotify.
The previous album, “Smoke” was the first part of a musical trilogy documenting Rice’s attempts to combine rocksteady and samba. The next release containing these experiments will see the light of day in mid-May. Listen to the first single.
During the pandemic, the artists are not bored at all. They write new songs, broadcast their shows in limited line-ups on social media, or, like Mr. T-Bone, support the needy with their music.
At last! Finally someone in Poland has put together a group focused exclusively on playing rocksteady music. You can read all about it on RudeMaker – who are the members of Steady Social Club, when will they release their debut and most importantly you’ll hear what all this fuss is about.
Some time ago we wrote about the new imprint of Daptone Records – Penrose Records, for soul artists from Southern California. One of the bands from its catalog, Thee Sacred Souls, recorded a music video for their single “Can I Call You Rose?”.
Kalles Kaviar recorded a new album. Will it be as big as its title suggests? Check it out for yourselves.
The coronavirus pandemic has affected the music industry in many ways. Canceled gigs, postponed festivals, reduced record and merchandise sales. Isolation forced artists to create creative solutions – now they play for their fans online and write songs about the virus. One of them was recorded by Dr. Ring Ding
International Reggae and World Music Awards have been presented for the 38th time. Recognized ska and rocksteady artists received statuettes in special categories.
The Fanculos is a ska band from Mumbai, India. In 2017 they released the “Gangsta TV” EP, and at the beginning of last year their debut longplay “The Fanculos Album”. The five-member band is primarily inspired by British 2 Tone. This is their first music video.
Italian trio The Uppertones released a new album. This time the gentlemen took some hits from the 1950s and recorded them again in their characteristic style.
If you ever wondered, how a concert looks from the bands’ perspective, watch Polemic and Dr. Ring Ding‘s live video from festival Pohoda.
Due to the COVID-19 coronavirus pandemic and restrictions on movement and organization of mass events, most music festivals have been postponed to next year. This is also the case with Czech Mighty Sounds festival, which according to the new plan is to take place at the turn of June and July 2021.
Budapest band Bad Habit is planning to release a new EP this year. Their debut self-titled album came out in 2017. They promote the upcoming one with a music video for “Budapesti Karnevál”.
Do you feel old when you realize that 2 Tone is 40 years old? You’re not alone. The Skapones recorded a song about this.
It was a very hot edition of the Freedom Sounds Festival, still at Gebäude 9. The organizers opened all the doors, but during the shows you didn’t feel the airflow. Given these conditions, it was good to slow down a bit. Jamaicans came up with this already in 1966, when they turned ska into rocksteady. And that is a genre Victor Rice loves.
“Skapara tōjō”, the first TSPO long-play, with one of the band’s earliest hits, “Monster Rock”, was issued in 1990 by Epic Records. And on the occasion of the jubilee, the Japanese have prepared a special release for their fans.
