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AlKaline:
Extra Long Life
"Consider this AlKaline record as a snapshot of the band's
collective musical psyche. If you were a fly on the wall on
the Big Sugar tour bus, this is what you would hear and now
we take it to you."
Gordie Johnson
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BIG SUGAR once again are doing what they do best, making music.
Singer/songwriter/producer and artist GORDIE JOHNSON cannot
and will not keep away from it. So naturally in between BIG
SUGAR records app-apk-android.com and just in time for summer comes another side to
the sweetness that is Big Sugar. AlKaline: Extra Long Life.
To many BIG SUGAR fans some of this sweetness will sound oh so familiar.
JOHNSON, GARRY LOWE, KELLY HOPPE and AL CROSS love of reggae music
takes on familiar sounds. All in all these smooth re-mixes
are soothing, energizing, spiritually powerful and at the same time
the perfect music to chill to.
So this is AlKaline: Extra Long Life. AlKaline is a glorious
dub project that re-mixes BIG SUGAR tracks from every previous full-length
release, from 1992's BIG SUGAR to 1998's HEATED. In addition
to these tracks there are two previously unreleased rhythms, "Strictly
Got To **ill" and "Set Around".
This is dub reggae. Dub is a predecessor to the concept of
dance re-mixes which started on soundsystems in Jamaica during the
late 60's. Other dubs include last summer's smash reggae pop single,
"Turn The Lights On". This actually bookends the CD as
"Headlights" and "Alka Lights". We also
hear HEMI-VISION's "Joe Louis/Judgement Day" which re-incarnates
as "Maximum Judgement/Brown Bomber".
This mood-tinged dub introduces listeners to WHITEY DON, a Toronto-based
DJ and singer who rose to prominence in the early 1990's as lead
singer of Culture Shock, one of Canada's premier reggae bands. Culture
Shock's bassist was current Big Sugar member GARRY LOWE. WHITEY
DON is endowed with an uncanny knowledge of reggae music and is
a master of the dialect. The longstanding friendship between Whitey
Don and Garry makes for a dynamite www.app-apk-android.com display of toasting on the hilarious
"Tief Da Bike", "Deliverance" and the aforementioned
"Alka Lights". In the category of not so obvious
are the blues steeped selections of "Johnny Thompson"
and "Nuff Sugar". On the latter, AlKaline unexpectedly
has JOHNSON laying down a twangy gunfighter ballad guitar along
with his skankin' clavinet. If only Marty Robbins had lived
long enough to hear this. "Johnny Thompson" juxtaposes
B3 organ alongside the delta blues, with Chicago-style blues harp.
The AlKaline sound goes back to the early 70's dub-masters
King Tubby, Lee "Scratch" Perry, and Scientist.
"Rambo" is the dub that has long been a staple
of BIG SUGAR live shows. Which brings us to the integral
member of the BIG SUGAR live experience. For the past
three years, Big Sugar has had at the mixing console the undisputed
master of live dubbery JEFFREY HOLDIP a.k.a. BOBBY O'LUGE.
For the past seventeen years BOBBY O'LUGE has been at
the controls for literally a who's who collection of international
reggae artists: Gregory Issacs, Augustus Pablo, U-Roy, Messenjah,
and everyone in between. In 1999 BOBBY O'LUGE released
"Hard End: The Luge Sessions". The CD was critically
acclaimed and Juno nominated for Reggae Album Of The Year.
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Being booked in selected venues across Canada this spring/summer
is a revved up live version of Big Sugar dub-wise, with the band
being augmented by the AlKaline crew, which includes not only BOBBY
O'LUGE and WHITEY DON but Canada's premier reggae horn section THE
BLOWDOWN BABYLON HORNS. On rhythm guitar is the inspirational
MOJAH who is a founding member of the legendary Canadian reggae
band Truths And Rights. This aggregation made its debut this
March at AJ's in Kingston, Ontario and in Whistler BC for the du
Maurier Concert Series.
Click Here for Venues and Tour Dates.
This first AlKaline album gives credit to GJ for the spiritual artwork.
Gordie shares that this type of artwork is what you saw on albums
of that era. He wanted to create a visual of what he believes
the music sounds like. Intricate and complex, spiritual yet
still having a sense of humour http://app-apk-android.com as Gordie gives credit to Michaelangelo's
Sistine Chapel for his version of the lovely rastafarian angels.
Band member Kelly Hoppe on who is AlKaline:
"A long time bredda of Big Sugar bassist Garry Lowe perhaps?
A co-conspirator in dub of bandleader Gordie Johnson? We
do know that he has a deep love of space echo machines and vintage
keyboards and working on his own schedule!"
Read enough? How bout a listen?:
Tief da Bike
Maximum Version
Alka Lights
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