Longtime reggae fans and people age 30+ seem to love the podcast. If you fit that description then you should probably visit RhythmUpdate.com and listen to one of the shows. You might like it so much that you'll want to subscribe (for free)!
Influences
Radio and club disc jockey Michael L, former radio disc jockey Rude Boy Lincoln
Artists like Aswad, Beres Hammond, Freddie McGregor, Gussie P, UB40, Peter Hunnigale, Paulette Tajah, Lloyd Brown, John McLean, Michael Prophet, Alpheus, Carroll Thompson, Mad Professor, Dennis Brown, The KLF, Frankie Paul, Slim Batson, Intense, the Techniques, the Heptones, Gregory Isaacs, Cocoa Tea, Luciano, Sanchez, Marcia Griffiths, Brian & Tony Gold, Tiger, Gregory Peck, Super Cat, Garnet Silk, Michael Rose, Everton Blender, Augustus Pablo, Lee "Scratch" Perry, and the list goes on and on and on...
Even though I wasn't there, I tend to romanticize the British lovers rock scene of the late '70s and '80s and the culture that Jamaicans and their children brought to the UK.
Sounds Like
Call it "Big People Music," "Grown Folks' Music," "Lovers Rock," or whatever you want to call it. :-) Hear it at RhythmUpdate.com. If you like the podcast, leave some feedback!
Reggae Rhythm Update is a music program that is available on-demand. Each show is announced and available on the Reggae Rhythm Update web site. You can listen or download the mp3 files to your hard drive or portable music player. Here is a current web site snapshot with the latest podcast information:
As well as being able to listen to the podcast at the Reggae Rhythm Update web site, you can also subscribe so that you’ll always be notified of the availablity of a new show. The subscription service and the podcasts are free.
As you may or may not know, a good percentage of Jamaican music releases are based on the musical arrangements (or "rhythms") of past hits. For example, a producer will choose a particularly memorable or long-forgotten Jamaican hit and either sample the original or hire new musicians and programmers to replicate the original bass line and the other musical parts -- all in an effort to rework the original arrangement while adding that producer’s unique vision of the rhythm update. Current singers and dee-jays (Jamaican rappers) will be brought in to voice brand new songs on the re-worked rhythm. Although the batch of songs will be new, the rhythm will be familiar to fans of Jamaican popular music and will be more likely to achieve hit status. Two of the biggest recent examples are Sean Paul & Sasha’s update of "I’m Still In Love With You" which was originally sung by Alton Ellis at Studio One in 1967, and Lily Allen’s "Smile" which utilizes a sample from the Soul Brothers featuring the late keyboard player/arranger Jackie Mittoo, "Free Soul."
Since 1996, I’ve been maintaining a database that not only stores artist, track, and other information from all of my reggae CDs, but also indicates which songs are based on hits of the past. I’m a rhythm junkie. Some might say I’m a rhythm nerd. As I identify these rhythms, I put together a show and present you with my findings. The podcast is a literal Reggae Rhythm Update and I use the show as an outlet to present the music to the best of my abilities.
The show is produced at the Golden Touch studio in New England, USA. It is recorded live to disc with little to no post-production.
HEY JOSHUA, That last update show was great,I knew i would learn more about the great rocksteady king ALTON ELLIS from your show,I Was waitn 4 it bro'. You statein facinatein facts as usual...GREAT,THANKS
