seen.´s non-hippie reggae and dancehall blog

Puh. Back from Melt I want to huge up Daniel Haaksman and his Man Recordings team for setting up what was probably the best stage line-up at a festival I´ve seen in the past 10 years.

DJ Beware turned out to be the very right choice to open things up at 7pm on Saturday, filling the backyard he was playing in no time. From 25 to I guess 1250 people in about 1 hour. You know this means skills…

Unfortunately, heavy rain muffled the excitement a little so Gabe and me chose to get dry again watching Ms Platnum´s gig inside. Not a bad choice - she delivered a perfect live show backed by an amazing brass section and illustrated by wicked dancing routines.

Back at the Man Rec. stage, Edu K could then heat up things again, before Bonde Do Role had an ok appearance and Crookers totally tore things apart.

See some pictures over at flickr.

I´d like to pass on this information from our friend Daniel Haaksman:

Melt! will feature the first ever Man Recordings stage on a festival where artists like Crookers, Edu K, MC Gringo, Count+Sinden, Deize Tigrona, DJ Beware, Say Hoo and Bonde Do Role will all jam together.

Melt! is a outdoor music festival in Germany which will take place from July 18th to 20th at Ferropolis in Grafenhainichen.

Check DJ Beware´s Melt! promo mix over at the Man Recorder blog if you wanna feel some heat already.

Somewhere I read that today is International Reggae Day.

Somewhere else I read an article about the success of Jamaican track and fielders bringing smiles to the country.

The contrast between the two worlds — of violence and of athletic excellence — finds a reflection in music with the hardcore ‘dancehall’ often glorifying the gang lifestyle while the lighter melodies of reggae pay tribute to athletic prowess.

There is already a tune called 9.72 in tribute to ‘Lightning Bolt’.

Mavado that is. For other new dancehall tunes, check Tim Turbo´s Cyan Wait blog.

And ye - I uploaded some pictures from Gabe and me visiting NYC about a month ago on flickr.

Marlon “Biggie Biggz” Read and Peter Dean “Afflicted Yard” Rickards from FIRST magazine show their work in Kingston´s Gallerie 128 tomorrow.

Large-format prints will be on sale sized so please bring lots of money.

More information here.

picture taken from Dutty Artz

As I´m too busy celebrating Germany´s victory over Portugal, I just wanna quickly drop some links worth visiting:

- FIRST Magazine: The Sandbox (this is “street” art, not stencils)

- FIRST Magazine: All Jamaica Invitational Grill Off (I can smell the jerk just from looking at the pics)

- Artschoolvets: Lagerfeld in a warning vest

- Fader: brandnew Killer

- DancehallMobi: uplifting Vado

This event looks like heaven. Pictures from the Mad Decent block party in Philly. Photography by Joshsisk, Shane McCauley and Chocolate Eclaire.