I vote for The Congos. I think I got Low fatigue a few years back. I appreciate what they're doing, and I really enjoyed a few of their albums, but I'm tired of listening to them.
C'mon just didn't do it for me. I've always had the opinion that I didn't care for reggae, but last DM and now this one, I've put my vote in for some reggae, so that just proves again, I know nothing about myself.
…Remember when Low was always super quiet? That was pretty cool and pretty pretty. And then they got a little bit loud all of a sudden? That was a shocker and kind of exciting. Now they have settled into a sound that is in between the two. While I think that their recent albums are not as distinctive as some of earlier ones I think they are really solid and consistent, though somewhat predictable. And lead off track “Try to Sleep” I think is really great.
I’ve been getting increasingly in reggae in recent years, particularly the classic 70’s Roots stuff. A lot of this music has a pretty fascinating portrait of Marcus Garvey inspired Black Nationalism and Rastafarian vibes with big doses of the Old Testament. While I used to not stray too far from the dub plates, this is one of the first vocal reggae records that I really got into. It’s one of my go to albums when I feel like storming the gates of Babylon.
I think the songs are great with the sweet falsetto vocal tones with the production of Wild man Lee ”Scratch” Perry manning the controls and adding his distinctive Scratch-ness. “Open Up the Gate” is my favorite track on here and for some reason really gets me in that part of the song where they sing that line “Send my sons from afar - and my daughters from the end of the world.” Never have Old Testament bible songs sounded so good.
I vote the Congos! ….plus I’m voting against Steve (who chose Low) for abandoning Death Match.
Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh....please don't send more reggae for me to listen to. I wish it were different, but I can't claim to be open minded when it comes to reggae. If I knew how, I'd repost GOB here. C'mon!
Totally vote The Congos. I saw Low at a sit-down concert at The 7th House in Pontiac, MI, back in the late 90s sometime, and it was a beautiful moment in time. However, since then I have hardly ever been in the mood to listen to them even though I think they're cool folks.
I am pretty picky about my reggae, with heavy leanings towards the eariler Motown-inflected rocksteady stuff and the super-spacey dub experimentations of folks like LSPerry and King Tubby. However, the Congos have made a fine roots record here, and Perry's production adds that nice, slightly spacey vibe to the whole thing. I think just the right proportioning of Biblical imagery, Rastafarian craziness, Jamaican optimism, musical talent, and consumption of high grade ganja was achieved here.
I can handle a LOT of reggae and I don't even mind some the cheesier, more recent stuff and this morning when Sarah reminded me about voting I said, "I don't think I even need to listen to this one," because I love The Congos and have mostly liked Low. But then I realized I hadn't heard this Low album, so I listened to it off and on while working today and I really enjoyed it.
I also had a formative Low experience in the 90s where I was lying on the floor of whatever that coffeehouse north of downtown GR was (anyone? not Planet Gong... it was in a kind of warehouse-y building), but since then, the really slow and dark stuff has worn on me. As Joe mentioned, though, they've settled on something a little faster and brighter and on this album they have some great starting-quiet-and-building-to-cacophany-(for Low) stuff with guitar diarrhea in the background.
And now I'm going to do that annoying thing where I talk up the album I'm not voting for but don't say much about the one I'm voting for.
I vote Congos. I like low and in general like quiet ish music. Reggae sort of scares me taste wise cause of the weed thing and the hippie colorful bouncy dancey vibe that permeates. Congos wins because its less boring and because of the spooky production of mr. Scratch. Got it?
vs.
Low super duper bores me.
ReplyDeleteThe Congos = so much spirit and joy!
I vote for The Congos. I think I got Low fatigue a few years back. I appreciate what they're doing, and I really enjoyed a few of their albums, but I'm tired of listening to them.
ReplyDeleteP.S. I wanted to feel differently, to be surprised, but I was not surprised by C'mon.
DeleteC'mon just didn't do it for me. I've always had the opinion that I didn't care for reggae, but last DM and now this one, I've put my vote in for some reggae, so that just proves again, I know nothing about myself.
ReplyDeleteI vote Low too. And if I had more time, I'd tell you why, but I don't, so there. Joe, did you vote for Low? I can't quite tell.
ReplyDeleteNo, I was voting for Gob.....and his reaction to all the Low hate that was going on around here.
ReplyDeleteRASTAS V. MORMONS
ReplyDelete…Remember when Low was always super quiet? That was pretty cool and pretty pretty. And then they got a little bit loud all of a sudden? That was a shocker and kind of exciting. Now they have settled into a sound that is in between the two. While I think that their recent albums are not as distinctive as some of earlier ones I think they are really solid and consistent, though somewhat predictable. And lead off track “Try to Sleep” I think is really great.
I’ve been getting increasingly in reggae in recent years, particularly the classic 70’s Roots stuff. A lot of this music has a pretty fascinating portrait of Marcus Garvey inspired Black Nationalism and Rastafarian vibes with big doses of the Old Testament. While I used to not stray too far from the dub plates, this is one of the first vocal reggae records that I really got into. It’s one of my go to albums when I feel like storming the gates of Babylon.
I think the songs are great with the sweet falsetto vocal tones with the production of Wild man Lee ”Scratch” Perry manning the controls and adding his distinctive Scratch-ness. “Open Up the Gate” is my favorite track on here and for some reason really gets me in that part of the song where they sing that line “Send my sons from afar - and my daughters from the end of the world.” Never have Old Testament bible songs sounded so good.
I vote the Congos! ….plus I’m voting against Steve (who chose Low) for abandoning Death Match.
Aaaaaaaahhhhhhhh....please don't send more reggae for me to listen to. I wish it were different, but I can't claim to be open minded when it comes to reggae. If I knew how, I'd repost GOB here. C'mon!
DeleteThat's Caribbeanist!
DeleteTotally vote The Congos. I saw Low at a sit-down concert at The 7th House in Pontiac, MI, back in the late 90s sometime, and it was a beautiful moment in time. However, since then I have hardly ever been in the mood to listen to them even though I think they're cool folks.
ReplyDeleteI am pretty picky about my reggae, with heavy leanings towards the eariler Motown-inflected rocksteady stuff and the super-spacey dub experimentations of folks like LSPerry and King Tubby. However, the Congos have made a fine roots record here, and Perry's production adds that nice, slightly spacey vibe to the whole thing. I think just the right proportioning of Biblical imagery, Rastafarian craziness, Jamaican optimism, musical talent, and consumption of high grade ganja was achieved here.
I can handle a LOT of reggae and I don't even mind some the cheesier, more recent stuff and this morning when Sarah reminded me about voting I said, "I don't think I even need to listen to this one," because I love The Congos and have mostly liked Low. But then I realized I hadn't heard this Low album, so I listened to it off and on while working today and I really enjoyed it.
ReplyDeleteI also had a formative Low experience in the 90s where I was lying on the floor of whatever that coffeehouse north of downtown GR was (anyone? not Planet Gong... it was in a kind of warehouse-y building), but since then, the really slow and dark stuff has worn on me. As Joe mentioned, though, they've settled on something a little faster and brighter and on this album they have some great starting-quiet-and-building-to-cacophany-(for Low) stuff with guitar diarrhea in the background.
And now I'm going to do that annoying thing where I talk up the album I'm not voting for but don't say much about the one I'm voting for.
Heart of the Congos for me.
I vote Congos. I like low and in general like quiet ish music. Reggae sort of scares me taste wise cause of the weed thing and the hippie colorful bouncy dancey vibe that permeates. Congos wins because its less boring and because of the spooky production of mr. Scratch. Got it?
ReplyDeleteGot it. I remember that hippie noodle dance well.
DeleteI suppose I'm a bit bored with both. Strong abstain.
ReplyDeleteNo wait. Against my better judgment I'm giving the Low a second listen, and Nothing but Heart turns out to rox.
I vote Low.