More Time (Linton Kwesi Johnson album)

Last updated
More Time
More Time (Linton Kwesi Johnson album).jpg
Studio album by
Linton Kwesi Johnson
Released1998
Genre Dub poetry [1]
Label LKJ
Producer Dennis Bovell
Linton Kwesi Johnson chronology
A Cappella Live
(1996)		More Time
(1998)		Independent Intavenshan
(1998)

More Time is an album by the Jamaican-British musician Linton Kwesi Johnson. [2] [3] It was released in 1998 through Johnson's LKJ Records. [4] [5] "Liesense fi Kill", about police brutality, was released as a single. [6] Johnson supported the album with an international tour. [7] [8] The lyrics to many songs were reproduced in Johnson's book of poetry Mi Revalueshanary Fren. [9]

Contents

Production

Recorded in Switzerland, the album was produced by Dennis Bovell. [1] Johnson was backed by Bovell's Dub Band. [10] The album was delayed so that Johnson could attend to his literary career. [11] The title track rails against the culture of British workaholism. [12] "Reggae fi Bernard" is about the death of Johnson's nephew. [13] "Reggae fi May Ayim" is dedicated to the poet May Ayim. [14] "If I Waz a Top Natch Poet" references Johnson's roles of poet and popular musician, contrasting high and low art. [15]

Critical reception

Professional ratings
Review scores
SourceRating
AllMusic Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svg [16]
Robert Christgau Five Pointed Star Solid.svg [17]
The Encyclopedia of Popular Music Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [11]
(The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide Star full.svgStar full.svgStar full.svgStar empty.svgStar empty.svg [13]

Robert Christgau, in Rolling Stone , opined that "L.K.J. may well be the subtlest political thinker in pop history, and bandleader Dennis Bovell's urbane skank proved to be Nineties reggae's most imaginative alternative to dance-hall boom-bah." [18] Christgau also praised "If I Waz a Tap Natch Poet" and "Reggae fi Bernard". [17] Billboard wrote that the album "is powered by [Johnson's] indefatigable rebel spirit and honed for maximum impact by 20 years of serious rhyme rocking." [19]

AllMusic concluded that "despite his tweedy, bespectacled image, his politics are anything but objective or disengaged—he writes about social injustice in general and racism in particular with a quietly seething sense of outrage and an incisive wit." [16]

Track listing

No.TitleLength
1."More Time" 
2."Reggae fi Bernard" 
3."Hurricane Blues" 
4."Liesense fi Kill" 
5."If I Waz a Top Natch Poet" 
6."Reggae fi May Ayim" 
7."Poems of Shape and Motion" 
8."Seasons of the Heart" 
9."New Word Hawdah" 

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References

  1. 1 2 "Global Reggae Pulse". Billboard. Vol. 110, no. 31. Aug 1, 1998. p. 38.
  2. ↑ "Global Music Pulse". Billboard. Vol. 110, no. 28. Jul 11, 1998. p. 47.
  3. ↑ The Wiley Blackwell Companion to Contemporary British and Irish Literature. Wiley. 2020. p. 324.
  4. ↑ Phillips, Caryl (11 July 1998). "Prophet in Another Land". The Guardian. p. T28.
  5. ↑ "Music". Features. The Times. November 6, 1999. p. 11.
  6. ↑ Billen, Andrew (2 Sep 1998). "Why Inglan Is Still a Bitch for the Tap Natch Poet". Evening Standard. p. 25.
  7. ↑ Williamson, Nigel (Jul 17, 1999). "The U.K.: Ten Noteworthy Noisemakers". Billboard. Vol. 111, no. 29. p. 38.
  8. ↑ "Also Oct. 16". Newsday. 12 Sep 1999. p. D33.
  9. ↑ Seddon, Deborah; del Pilar Melgarejo, Maria (2018). Gale Researcher Guide for: Poetry in 'Rotten English': Linton Kwesi Johnson. Gale, Cengage Learning.
  10. ↑ Lozaw, Tristram (September 17, 1999). "Boston Beat". Scene. Boston Herald. p. 25.
  11. 1 2 Larkin, Colin (2006). The Encyclopedia of Popular Music. Vol. 4. MUZE. p. 657.
  12. ↑ Longley, Martin (18 Jan 1999). "Review: Johnson Waxes Lyrical with Dub". Birmingham Post. p. 13.
  13. 1 2 (The New) Rolling Stone Album Guide. Simon & Schuster. 2004. p. 436.
  14. ↑ Florvil, Tiffany N. (2020). Mobilizing Black Germany: Afro-German Women and the Making of a Transnational Movement. University of Illinois Press.
  15. ↑ McGill, Robert (2003). "Goon Poets of the Black Atlantic: Linton Kwesi Johnson's Imagined Canon". Textual Practice. 17 (3): 561–574.
  16. 1 2 "More Time Review by Rick Anderson". AllMusic. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  17. 1 2 "Linton Kwesi Johnson". Robert Christgau. Retrieved 29 July 2023.
  18. ↑ Christgau, Robert (May 13, 1999). "World". Rolling Stone. No. 812. p. 69.
  19. ↑ Oumano, Elena (Oct 3, 1998). "A Fresh Look at LKJ's Fiery Reggae Dub". Billboard. Vol. 110, no. 40. p. 29.
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