BMC's 2016 End of the Year list – albums top 20 (all styles – new recordings only)

List time again! Always enjoy looking back over the year and see what I enjoyed most (focussing on new releases, not reissues). As in 2015, also in 2016 I bought much more other styles than reggae. Only albums I actually bought on CD or LP are included. The picture and list shows my top 20 albums for the year 2016.

1. Anderson .Paak - Malibu

2. Frightnrs - Nothing More To Say

3. Leonard Cohen - You Want It Darker

4. Michael Kiwanuka - Love & Hate

5. BJ the Chicago Kid - In My Mind

6. Frank Ocean - Blonde

7. Skepta - Konnichiwa

8. Beyoncé - Lemonade

9. Shabaka & The Ancestors - Wisdom of Elders

10. Nick Waterhouse - Never Twice

11. Danny Brown - Atrocity Exhibition

12. Gregory Porter - Take Me To The Alley

13. Max Romeo - Horror Zone

14. NxWorries (Anderson .Paak & Knxwledge) - Yes Lawd!

15. Skarra Mucci - Dancehall President

16. A Tribe Called Quest - We Got It From Here….Thank You 4 Your Service

17. Viceroys meets Lone Ark - Memories: Iroko Showcase Vol. 2

18. Kandace Springs - Soul Eyes

19. Car Seat Headrest - Teens Of Denial

20. Stephen Marley - Revelation Pt. 2: The Fruit Of Life

As for further reggae releases, two compilations really stood out, namely:

Various Artists - Smile Jamaica (Silly Walks Discotheque)

Various Artists - We Remember Dennis Brown (VP)

And reggaewise, the absolute best thing that happened on the reissue side of things in 2016 was the release of:

Bunny Wailer - Solomonic Singles 1: Tread Along 1969-1976 (Solomonic/Dub Store)

Bunny Wailer - Solomonic Singles 2: Rise & Shine 1977-1986 (Solomonic/Dub Store)

Posse, Are You Ready? (Vol. IV) - a 1979 - 1985 rub-a-dub mix by BMC

The return of the Posse, Are You Ready? series is here! Presented the third and 'final' volume about a year and a half ago, not really feeling the motivation to continue making these kind of mixes anymore for a variety of reasons. The last couple of weeks however I played back all three volumes of Posse, Are You Ready? and loved 'm. That, in combination with some lovely new tunes in, brought back the motivation to make a Vol. IV, for my own enjoyment and the interested listeners out there. A lengthy break was needed apparentely. We'll see where it goes from here.

Recipe is the same as for Vol. I - III: rub-a-dub tunes by a whole variety of singers and deejays and no vocalist appears twice, all tracks taken from vinyl, so expect some crackle and pop here and there (plus a skip in one of the tracks this time, oops, can you find it?). Mix in the usual BMC style: no full tunes, one continuous 60 min. mix with some added soundsamples. Mixcloud only. So, Posse, Are You Ready for Vol. IV???

Posse, Are You Ready? - Vol. IV 

(in brackets the source of each track is given, where 7, 10 and 12 are single sizes)

01) Bobby Melody - Ram The Session (Two Uprising Stars LP - Midnight Rock)
02) Ranking Toyan - Too Young (Scandal 7)
03) Leroy Sibbles - Don't Worry Yourself (The Champions Clash LP - Kingdom)
04) Wailing Souls - Oh What A Lie (Inchpinchers LP - Greensleeves)
05) Massive Dread - No Countryman No Exist Again (It's Massive LP - Upfront)
06) Junior Murvin - Jamaican Girl (Volcano 7)
07) Charlie Chaplin - Hey Youthman (Sunset 7)
08) Yellowman - Ram Dance Master (Arrival 7)
09) Half Pint - Dance Hall Vibes (In Fine Style LP - SunSet)
10) Dennis Brown - Let Me Love You (Joe Gibbs 12)
11) Trinity - Up Town Girl (Joe Gibbs 12)
12) Lui Lepki - She Is A Part Of My Life (Late Night Movie LP - Joe Gibbs)
13) Bunny Lie Lie - Love Me A Deal With (High Power 7)
14) Al Campbell - She Loves Me (Bad Boy LP - CSA)
15) U Brown - Jam It Tonight (Jam It Tonight LP - CSA)
16) Trevor Castell - Cool And Deadly (Shuttle 12)
17) Lenky Roy - Be Like A Soldier (Rastaman Unity LP - Naphtalie Roy)
18) Don Carlos - Fight Fight (Showdown Vol 3 - Channel One)
19) Little John - False News (Channel One 7)
20) Paragons & Lord Sassafrost - Modeling Crowd (Starlight 12)
21) Cornell Campbell - Confusion On The Land (Boxing LP - Starlight)
22) Ringo - Model With Me (Musical Ambassador 7)
23) Tony Tuff - Nobody Like You (Live & Learn 12)
24) Sugar Minott - Move Up (Can't Stop Us Now LP - Easy Star)
25) Eek-A-Mouse - Sensi Party (Can't Stop Us Now LP - Easy Star)
26) McWoner - Nuh Fire It (Channel 1 10)
27) Winston Hussey - Fight War Again (The Girl I Adore LP - Live & Learn)
28) Junior Keating - Long Long Time (Midnight Rock 12)
29) Jah Thomas - I Hear It In The News (Midnight Rock 12)


Listen here exclusively on my Mixcloud page:


Enjoy!
BMC

BMC spinning Tunes - Love Jah More - Modern Takes of Marley Riddims

Can you identify the Marley riddims used here??? :-) After Jam For A While and Strickly Rockers here's a third mix in my 'new' style: spin some tunes and record straight from the line-out of my mixing panel. No fancy riddim-transitions, no effects, just the vibe of the moment: BMC spinning Tunes! Topic for this one became modern takes of Marley riddims, an idea I got after spinning the opening track: Big Youth's We No Want No War. Limitation was simple: vinyl singles only, so there's quite some obvious ones missing which I don't have on vinyl (and some I've used in mixes before). Instead some less obvious ones included and an overall nice vibe throughout. I continued with the trend of starting with a Big Youth tune, always a pleasure. Enjoy (and sorry for the small mistake in the Lukie D tune, haha)! 

Play, like, share! Comments welcome! 

Love Jah More - BMC spinning modern takes of Marley riddims - 2016

Big Youth - We No Want No War

Mikey Murka - Peace Pipes

Luciano - Jah Live

Duane Stephenson - August Town

Warrior King - Love Jah More

Richie Stephens - Be A Champion

Capleton - Burn Dem

Sizzla - True God

Damian 'Jr Gong' Marley - Move

Cocoa Tea - Stand Up Straight

Beenie Man - Boogie Down

Admiral Tibett - Stop The Corruption

Buju Banton - Time And Place

Luciano - Terrorist Attack

Lukie D - More Them Want

Prince Malachi - Come Along

Gappy & Nerious - Soul Rebel

Sweetie Irie - Rebel With A Cause

Jah Mason - Traitor

Abijah - Sun Is Shining

Richie Spice & Chuck Fender - Freedom

Jah Cure - Most High Cup Full

Sizzla - I Got To

Turbulence - This Is Their Life

Ras Shiloh - Better Must Come 

Turbulence - No Division

Marvin Gaye - Sexual Healing (remix)

https://www.mixcloud.com/BMCsReggaeMixes/bmc-spinning-tunes-love-jah-more-modern-takes-of-marley-riddims/

Picture: BMC presents Delroy Wilson - The Albums

Here's me showing my entire Delroy Wilson album collection on vinyl in one picture. My favourite singer in reggae. Roughly chronological (as for album contents, not necessarily release date), with the joined albums (combination with a next artist) at the end. A pretty sight if I may say so myself. Love it.

No music, no download, just this beautiful picture.

Bless, 

BMC

Picture: Gregory Isaacs - The Early LPs

Just showing my appreciation for the early ('til 1985) works of the Cool Ruler: Gregory Isaacs. 25 LPs, 25 good. Pure class. Respect the man, RIP.

Picture only, no music, no download.

BMC spinning Tunes - Strickly Rockers - A Classic 70s Roots 45s Session

"Here comes another brand new musical disc called Rockers!" A few days ago I introduced a for me new way of recording a mix: spin tunes and record it live, straight from the line-out of my mixing panel. The first trial set was with some modern roots tunes. Enjoyed it and liked the response of listeners, so wanted to try a next, more serious thing to accompany that one: a one hour set of 70s roots 45s. Picked a heavy selection and gave it a try and this is it! Heavy and wild. Most interesting challenge was the playing of the A and B side of the same 45 and in the transition (flipping the 45) play a soundsample from a next 45. Mostly worked out quite well I think, for a first attempt, so I at least am satisfied and like to share with you. Above all, the music, it's wicked and it's ROOTS!

Play, like, share! Make the people hear the roots! 

Strickly Rockers - BMC spinning classic 70s roots 45s - 2016

Big Youth - Strickly Rockers (Negusa Nagast)

Junior Delgado - Armed Robbery (DEB)

Deb Players - Version (DEB)

Albert Malawi - Children Of The Emperor (Uprising)

Brigadier Jerry - Jah Jah Children (Uprising)

Advocates Aggregation - Ethiopia First (Dubplate Mix) (Uprising)

Earl Sixteen & The Heptones - The Children Rise (Satiera)

King Tubby - Rise Dub (Satiera)

The Slickers - Well Dread (Afrik)

Enforcer - Ride On Marcus (Well Charge)

I Roy - Semi Classical Natty Dread (Channel 1)

The Revolutionaries - Version (Well Charge)

Larry Marshall - It Dread In A Rome (Amanda)

Amanda All Star - Dub Out A Rome (Amanda)

Sylford Walker - Jah Golden Pen (Joe Gibbs)

Dean Stone - Youth In The Ghetto (Black & White)

Dillinger - Stumbling Block (Black & White)

King Tubby & Mikey Dread - Ghetto Youth Skank (Black & White)

Freddie McKay - Jah Man (Earthquake)

Sam Bramwell - It A Go Dread Ina Babylon (Revolutionary Sounds)

The Revolutionaries - Dread Ina Dub (Revolutionary Sounds)

Ranking Dread - Africa (Freedom Sounds)

Ranking Dread - Tubys Dub Plate Mix (Freedom Sounds)

Al Campbell - Children Of The Ghetto (Reggae Road)

Linval Thompson - I Love Marijuana (Iroko)

Al Campbell - Version (Reggae Road)

Dennis Brown - Whip Them Jah (Hawkeye)

Ossie All Stars - Version (Hawkeye)

Sons Of Brave - Rockers Is Sweet (Crystal)

Sons Of Brave - Rockers (Version Two)

https://www.mixcloud.com/BMCsReggaeMixes/bmc-spinning-tunes-strickly-rockers-a-classic-70s-roots-45s-session/

BMC spinning Tunes - Jam For A While - A Modern Roots 45s Session

Now for something completely different. Instead of mixing a set of pre-recorded tunes on the computer, as I did with all my previous mixes, I decided to just spin some tunes and record straight from the line-out of my mixing panel. No fancy riddim-transitions, no cutting parts out of tunes for the nicest flow, no effects, just the vibe of the moment: turntables turning, tunes at hand and see where it goes. I always loved the way I made my mixes, but it is very very time-consuming and, as expressed, didn't feel like worth all the effort anymore. This could be a way in which I might still drop some mixes every now and then, since the time it costs is basically the actual recording time and I can still play some tunes I rate for the interested listeners. Might be less appealing to some, others might in fact enjoy the idea. Whatever it is, this is it for now. I did a trial-run with some modern roots 45s, little over 35 minutes for now and got enough encouragement from the people to go ahead and upload it, so here it is: hear me Jam For A While. If this goes down well, I will over time try to record more in various styles of JA music.

Tracks passing by:
Beres Hammond & Jah Youth - Good Old Dancehall Vibes
Richie Stephens & Cocoa Tea - Where Is The Love
Peter Tosh & Buju Banton - Must Get A Beaten
Capleton & Junior Reid - Forgive Them
Yami Bolo & Chuck Fenda - Acting Unruly
Luciano & Joseph Israel - Ruff Times
Anthony B - Lock It Dung
Doniki - Life Of The People
Freddie McGregor - Lock It Down
Glen Washington - Good Vibe
Morgan Heritage & L.M.S. - Saddle Up
Luciano & Buju Banton - We'll Be Alright
Marlon Asher - Ganja Farmer
Lloyd Brown - Got To Be Free
Junior Kelly - Jam For A While

https://www.mixcloud.com/BMCsReggaeMixes/bmc-spinning-tunes-jam-for-a-while-a-modern-roots-45s-session/