In reggae the purpose of the 12" single was to house the "disco mix," an antiquated term that has little to do with the American definition of "disco." These were extended mixes of any given track that often bumped the original against the dub or the maybe the version. It was the version that launched the Jamaican "deejay," which once again has little to do with the American version of DJ. These deejays were toasters like U-Brown, U-Roy, and Dillinger, artists who proto-rapped their lyrics over ins   [ read more ]

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When Bob Marley died in 1981, it was a tragedy, but no one thought it would be the end of reggae music -- in fact, in retrospect it marked the beginning of reggae's explosion as an international phenomenon. But the death in 2006 of Joseph Hill, founder and leader of the legendary harmony trio Culture throughout the group's 30-year career, felt like the end of an era. Though listeners occasionally still hear from the Mighty Diamonds and maybe the Gladiators, there's no question that the    [ read more ]

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In the early '80s when "artist meets artist" clash albums were becoming a popular format for reggae releases, producer and label owner Henry "Junjo" Lawes released Roots & Culture on his Jah Guidance imprint. This Culture meets Don Carlos effort is simply a one side Culture, one side Don Carlos affair since the two acts never collaborate. What's even more important is that this edition of Culture does not feature leader Joseph Hill. Hill, the most identifiable member of the    [ read more ]

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One of the masterpieces of the roots era, no album better defines its time and place than Two Sevens Clash, which encompasses both the religious fervor of its day and the rich sounds of contemporary Jamaica. Avowed Rastafarians, Culture had formed in 1976, and cut two singles before beginning work on their debut album with producers the Mighty Two (aka Joe Gibbs and Errol Thompson). Their second single, "Two Sevens Clash," would title the album and provide its focal point. The song swep   [ read more ]

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Culture is reggae's greatest roots harmony group. Led by the impassioned vocals of Joseph Hill in front of the soaring harmonies of Albert Walker and Kenneth Daye, Culture gained a formidable reputation as an uncompromising purveyor of supercharged Rasta vision and spiritually uplifting music. Often collaborating with reggae's top-ranking rhythm section, sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare, Culture offers innovative musical setting along with quality roots music. Two Sevens Clash is generally considere   [ read more ]

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Here's the problem: how do you put together a collection of what can be called (with a straight face) "crucial" Culture recordings when you only have control of the last 12 years or so of their catalog? The answer: live versions of "Two Sevens Clash" and "Too Long in Slavery," both of them songs that date from the group's mid-'70s heyday, presented here in live performances from the late '90s. Luckily for you, singer Joseph Hill has the kind of voice that only improves with age, and his songwrit   [ read more ]

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While Culture has made a handful of truly outstanding albums over the course of its 27-year career, it has always had a little bit of trouble emerging from the shadow of Two Sevens Clash, its epoch-making sophomore album from 1977 (even the press materials for World Peace start out with a mention of that album). So the question about World Peace, as it has been with every album since Two Sevens Clash, is: how does it measure up? And the answer is: better than any album the band has recorded i   [ read more ]

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Although Culture started out in the mid-'70s as an archetypal reggae harmony trio, the group has long since dropped all pretense of group identity and the name is now synonymous with lead singer and songwriter Joseph Hill (this despite the fact that his cousin, Albert Walker, a founding member of the group, is still with him; the third vocal position has been a revolving door throughout Culture's 25-year career). This live album is actually the soundtrack to a concert film of the group's 2000   [ read more ]

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You could accuse Culture of making the same album over and over again, and you'd be more right than wrong. But you'd also be missing the point. Remember, this is reggae: a style of music that places far more emphasis on depth of groove than on originality. Sure, it all sounds the same, but so do Bach cantatas; this doesn't make them any less great. That said, Culture albums do tend to sound even more similar than most reggae (only Burning Spear can boast a more, ah, consistent style), so {^Payda   [ read more ]

CD $13.28