Tenor Saw
I know the summer is over, but I’m still grooving on some Tenor Saw. The dancehall icon has been deceased for more than 20 years, and though some rather douchey bands such as Sublime and 311 have sampled and stolen from him, his status has not diminished. Check out his sophomore album Fever if you’re looking for some irie tunes to get you through the colder months.
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Also by GERRY MAK
I had to put up with some seriously obnoxious jocks and drunken highschool kids at a recent show featuring flavor-of-the-moment acts that did the whole ecstatic, 80s electro thing that’s so popular these days. Lots of fluorescent colors. I had to blast some death freaking metal when I got home, and Hooded Menace fit the bill perfectly with their doom-leaning, aural assault. Nothing pisses me off more than tepid, uninspired music, and nothing makes me feel more alive than real, gut-wrenching, skull-pounding, giddily sinister heavy metal.
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The bad boy persona in the art world is still alive and well in Australian-born painter and installation artist Anthony Lister. Posing for most photos slumped below his work, cigarette dangling from his lips, Lister is the latest in a long line of somewhat deviant figures in the art world. His work, which generally features superheroes — ‘misguided role models,’ as Lister puts it — has a jerky geometry to them, yet simultaneously a gestural quality reminiscent of 80s art deco, fitting with Lister’s ‘impulsive genius’ image and suggesting a bit of a nod to the cocaine-dusted, heroin-soaked downtown New York scene of 30 years ago. Read more
Heeb magazine founder Jennifer Bleyer recently interviewed me for an article about young creative types on food stamps. The editors at Salon.com decided that I am a hipster. I don’t really know what that means. Judging by the comments that the article generated, I’m some sort of lazy bum who can’t give up my artisinal chevre. I don’t need to go into detail defending my food choices, but all I’d like to say is that I try to buy healthy foods at the lowest prices. I never eat out. I love to cook, and I really need to control what goes into my food, so I cook every meal for myself. I often share with friends. I want to be healthy and I want my friends to be healthy because none of us have health care. Read more
YOU'RE SAYING (4)
Gerry Mak said | 17 October, 2009
Nope I don’t.
Gerry Mak said | 17 October, 2009
Sublime is douchey.
Nice pick, much love for Tenor Saw! The Sleng Teng version of Pumpkin Belly has been one of all time fav tracks ever since I first heard it some 20 years ago.
Tenor Saw, Eek A Mouse and Burning Spear all saw very heavy rotation in my jeep this summer. Now that the weather is cool, dreary and rainy I’m finding myself listening to a lot of dubstep, the deeper, moody, spacey stuff like Burial, and Vaccine – but listening to this Tenor Saw track just now was a nice boost on a chilly, rainy afternoon.
Good stuff.
HAVE YOUR SAY
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Kirk brings Molly to meet his family for a pool party but she doesn’t have her swim suit. Kirk, an average Joe, can’t believe his luck when gorgeous babe Molly falls for him even though he’s the first to admit She’s Out of My League. In cinemas April 1.
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Listen to The Presets song, My People.
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gm said | 17 October, 2009
Sublime is NOT douchey. (311 isn’t the same caliber.) Any and all appropriations of Tenor Saw have been in good taste and with respect. I don’t think you understand (and consequently don’t respect) the extent of Sublime’s inclusion of reggae influences.
Moreover, they are the best example of how to include various genres and styles. Spanglish lyric, punk, reggae/dancehall/ska… Nothing was stolen.
Take UB40 and Labour of Love. Now, that was closer to stealing!
It is irie not “iry”
Maaaaaaan, you don’t know what you are talkin’ bout.