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The Drastics are a roots-oriented dub reggae group hailing from Chicago. Though primarily classified as a reggae group, The Drastics embrace many styles of music both live and in the studio. This can be heard in their songs which draw from roots reggae, hip hop, jazz (mostly hard-bop), afro-beat, dancehall, as well as folk musics from Asia, Africa, the Middle East and South America.
The Drastics formed in December 2003, playing their first show in March 2004 at Chicago's now defunct Fireside Bowl. Answering a Chicago Reader ad placed by guitarist Josh Rosenstock, the original 6 piece lineup formed and began playing originals and a handful of covers. Over the years, the group has changed from the original lineup.
The Drastics first full-length album, Premonition was released on Chicago's JumpUp! Records. The album featured guest vocalists Craig Akira Fujita (Pressure Cooker, Joint Chiefs, 10 ft Ganja Plant), King Django (Stubborn All-Stars), Dr. Ring Ding (Senior All-Stars) as well as several local underground talents.
Their second release, Chicago Massive, is a 2 disc album with 27 tracks and 24 guest musicians. Disc one is a strictly instrumental set while disc two features 12 different vocalists over 12 tracks. Guest vocalists include King Django, Dr. Ring Ding, Fada Dougou, MC Zulu, Dayna Lynn, Todd Hembrook (Deal's Gone Bad), and Corey Dixon (formerly of The Zvooks). Guest musicians on the first disc include reeds player Charles Gorzynski (Salamander, Video Gum Culture), beat makers Heavy Rotation, and trumpeter Rich Graiko (Westbound Train). The record went into production almost immediately following the release of Premonition and was completed over the course of the next 14 months.
Though primarily (and originally strictly) instrumental, The Drastics have begun to perform more frequently with vocalists. Currently, West African vocalist Fada Dougou can be seen regularly bringing his unique style of chant/singing to The Drastic's live shows. Panamanian-born, Chicago-based vocalist Zulu is also a regular performer with the Drastics.
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Dub is an electronic musical style that grew out of reggae in the late 1960s and early 1970s. It is commonly considered a subgenre of reggae, though it has developed to extend beyond that style. Generally, dub consists of remixes of existing recordings created by significantly manipulating the original, usually through the removal of vocal parts, emphasis of the rhythm section, the application of studio effects such as echo and reverb, and the occasional dubbing of vocal or instrumental snippets from the original version or other works.
Aswad are a British reggae group, noted for adding strong R&B and soul influences to the reggae sound. They have been performing since the mid-1970s, having released a total of 21 albums. Their UK hit singles include the number one "Don't Turn Around" (1988) and "Shine" (1994). "Aswad" is Arabic for "black". They are three-time Grammy Award nominees.
The Slackers are an American ska band, formed in Manhattan, New York in 1991. The band's sound is a mix of ska, rocksteady, reggae, dub, soul, garage rock, and jazz. The Slackers' notability is credited to their prolific career, tours of North and South America, Europe, and elsewhere, and signing to notable punk label Hellcat Records.
Blind Idiot God is an American instrumental rock trio formed in 1982 in St. Louis, Missouri, United States, by guitarist Andy Hawkins, bassist Gabriel Katz and drummer Ted Epstein. The phrase "blind idiot god" comes from horror writer H. P. Lovecraft's description of the god Azathoth. Their often improvisational musical style combines influences from punk rock, noise music, 20th-century classical music, heavy metal, dub, free jazz, and funk. They are currently based in New York City and have often collaborated with musicians Bill Laswell and John Zorn.
Dixie Dregs is an American rock band from Augusta, Georgia. Formed in 1970, the band is known for instrumental music that fuses elements of rock, classical music, country, jazz and bluegrass into an eclectic sound that is difficult to categorize. Recognized for their virtuoso playing, the Dixie Dregs were identified with the southern rock, progressive rock and jazz fusion scenes of the 1970s.
Stubborn All-Stars are an American, New York City-based ska band led by King Django, front man of Skinnerbox and owner of Stubborn Records.
The Wailers Band is a reggae band formed by former members of Bob Marley and the Wailers after his death in 1981, one of several spinoffs from Marley's original group.
Stick Figure is an American reggae and dub band founded in 2006 and based in Southern California. The group has released seven full-length albums and one instrumental album, all of which were written and produced by frontman and self-taught multi-instrumentalist Scott Woodruff. The live band consists of vocalist, producer and guitarist Scott Woodruff, keyboardist Kevin Bong (KBong), drummer Kevin Offitzer, bassist Tommy Suliman, guitarist, keyboardist, and backup vocalist Johnny Cosmic, and percussionist Will Phillips. Cocoa, an Australian Shepherd, often joins the band onstage and has accordingly been nicknamed Cocoa the Tour Dog.
Zappa Plays Zappa is an American tribute act led by Dweezil Zappa, the elder son of late American composer and musician Frank Zappa, devoted to performing the music of Frank Zappa.
The Disciples are a dub roots reggae group that was formed in 1986 by brothers Russ D. and Lol Bell-Brown. They are said to be named by Jah Shaka after producing exclusively for Jah Shaka. They recorded four albums of instrumental dub for Jah Shaka's King Of The Zulu Tribe label during 1987 to 1990.
Earl "Chinna" Smith, a.k.a. Earl Flute and Melchezidek the High Priest, is a Jamaican guitarist active since the late 1960s. He is most well known for his work with the Soul Syndicate band and as guitarist for Bob Marley & the Wailers, among others, and has recorded with many reggae artists, appearing on more than 500 albums.
Blue King Brown are an Australian urban roots ensemble formed in 2003 in Byron Bay by mainstays Nattali Rize and Carlo Santone. They have released three studio albums, Stand Up, Worldwize Part 1 – North & South – which reached the ARIA Albums Chart top 50 – and Born Free. They have toured nationally and internationally; and supported concerts by Santana, Michael Franti & Spearhead, Damian Marley, the John Butler Trio, the Cat Empire, Silverchair, Dispatch and Powderfinger.
The Players Band is an American 10-piece ska band formed in Baltimore in 1999. The band's musical style combines Jamaican ska, rock, and reggae, and is characterized by the use of upbeat horns and percussion. The band has performed over 500 live shows in various states, including; Maryland, Pennsylvania, Washington, DC, New York, Delaware, New Jersey, Long Island, Vermont, and Virginia. The Players Band has performed with acts such as Grammy Award Winner The Isley Brothers, Grammy Award Winner Toots & the Maytals, The B-52's, The Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Joe Strummer, Matisyahu, The English Beat, Third Eye Blind, Citizen Cope, Fishbone, The Toasters, The Skatalites, Reel Big Fish, The Pietasters, The Aggrolites, The Slackers, Rebirth Brass Band, Big D and the Kids Table, The Know How, King Django, The Scofflaws, Westbound Train, Eastern Standard Time, Junkyard Band and many others. Notable ska musicians who have performed on stage with The Players Band as guests include; Adam Birch, Jeff Richey, Buford O’Sullivan, Vinny Noble, Dr. Ring-Ding, Morgan Russell and H.R..
Sublime is an American rock band from Long Beach, California, formed in 1988. The band's original lineup consisted of Bradley Nowell, Eric Wilson (bass), and Bud Gaugh (drums). Lou Dog, Nowell's dalmatian, was the mascot of the band. Nowell died of a heroin overdose in 1996, resulting in the band's breakup. In 1997, songs such as "What I Got", "Santeria", "Wrong Way", "Doin' Time", and "April 29, 1992 (Miami)" were released to U.S. radio.
Subatomic Sound System, founded in 1999 by Emch and Noah Shachtman, is an American record label and collective hosting musicians, producers, DJs, and visual artists from a variety of backgrounds and traditions. In late 2008, Subatomic Sound System garnered international attention for a limited edition vinyl 12" featuring their collaboration with Vienna's Dubblestandart and dub inventor Lee "Scratch" Perry, releasing the first songs from Perry in the dubstep genre, one of the first recorded examples of a tangible connection between the popular UK-based electronic genre that emerged in the early 2000s and the Jamaican dub from the 1970s, where dubstep's origins were rooted and which had been primarily originated by Perry himself.
Pannonia Allstars Ska Orchestra are a Hungarian ska band formed in Budapest, in 2003. The band's musical style has fused Jamaican-style ska and reggae with jazz melodies and elements of traditional Hungarian folk music.
The Skints are an English reggae punk band from London, described by Clash Music as "the torchbearers for modern British reggae music." The Skints mix reggae, ska, dub, punk rock, dancehall, soul, and rap, touring extensively across the UK, Europe and the United States. Their album Swimming Lessons (2019) debuted at number 1 on the Billboard reggae chart. Their original style of music has been described as "tropical punk".
Natty Nation is an American rock and reggae band from Madison, Wisconsin. Founded in 1995, as of April 20, 2017, the lineup included Demetrius "Jah Boogie" Wainwright, Aaron Konkol AKA Eyes of Moses, Anthony Paul Willis (drums), & Nick Czarnecki (guitar). The group has released several studio albums since their 1996 debut The Journey Has Just Begun..., in 2010 Isthmus (newspaper) named their 1998 release Earth Citizen one of the "top 25 Madison pop albums of all time," writing that "Natty Nation's mix of roots reggae and hard rock proved unique and gained a following that remains today," and their 2016 release, Divine Spark debuted at #3 on the Billboard (magazine) Reggae Chart.
Fortunate Youth is an American reggae rock sextet from Hermosa Beach, California.
Brain Damage is the third studio album by Barbadian-British reggae musician Dennis Bovell, released in 1981 by Fontana Records. His first solo album under his own name, following two dub albums released as Blackbeard, it was Bovell's first recording at his South London-based Studio 80. Having begun to feel that reggae had not progressed as much as he would have liked, he conceived Brain Damage as an attempt to fuse the genre with numerous rhythmic styles from Europe, America, Africa and the Caribbean to highlight the genre's flexibility. The musician intended not to explore the international rhythms in a standard way but to take them to what he perceived as musical extremes. The direction was also inspired by the wide array of people in his audience.
