Content deleted Content added
way too much cruft |
Undid revision 1273402363 by Protobowladdict (talk) |
||
Line 7:
|image =
|caption =
|image_size =
|background = group_or_band
|alias =
Line 21:
}}
'''<big>Subatomic Sound System</big>'''
Beginning in 2008, Subatomic Sound System started hosting weekly radio shows on 91.5 FM, Radio New York, and webcasts on Brooklyn Radio. In 2011, Subatomic Sound System began performing as Lee "Scratch" Perry's backing band with a hybrid of electronics and live instruments. In 2013, they performed together at [[Coachella Valley Music and Arts Festival]] and afterward became Perry's exclusive touring band in North America. In 2017, Subatomic Sound System released their first full-length album with Perry entitled ''Super Ape Returns to Conquer'' which debuted No. 5 on the ''[[Billboard (magazine)|Billboard]]'' reggae chart and No. 2 on [[iTunes]] US reggae album chart and reached No. 1 on the [[North American College and Community Radio Chart]] (NACC) World music chart.
Line 38:
==Radio Shows==
Beginning in 2008, Subatomic Sound System started Subatomic Sound Radio, hosting weekly radio shows on 91.5FM, Radio New York and Brooklyn Radio webcasts. The Radio New York show is part of a nightly program called ''Mo'Glo'' sponsored by Seattle-based public radio station [[KEXP]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=Subatomic Sound System |url=https://bastardjazz.com/artist/subatomic-sound-system/ |access-date=2024-11-18 |website=Bastard Jazz |language=en-US}}</ref>
==Release History==
=== "Black Ark Vampires" Lee "Scratch" Perry & Subatomic Sound System ===
The song "Black Ark Vampires" premiered on October 31, 2014, via the Brooklyn-based Jamaican culture website Large Up,<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.largeup.com/2014/10/30/lee-scratch-perry-subatomic-black-ark-vampires/|title=LargeUp Premiere: Lee "Scratch" Perry's "Black Ark Vampires"|date=30 October 2014|website=Largeup.com|accessdate=29 January 2021}}</ref> with an explanation of Perry's lyrics about killing [[vampires]] and why Perry burned down his [[Black Ark Studios]] in Jamaica decades before. In the song, Perry describes killing vampires with fire, electric wire, roast corn, and his own hair in locations around the globe including America, England, and Kingston, Jamaica. Live concerts by Perry and Subatomic Sound System from 2001 to 2014 combined digital electronics and live instrumentalists and singers and this recorded song can also be heard to use a similar blend of elements specifically instrumentation like electric guitar, bass, percussion, and harmonized background vocal produced with space echo and spring reverb effects in a fashion typical of [[reggae]] recordings from Perry's Black Ark Studios during the 1970s, as well as using electronic synthesized [[sub-bass]] and digital drums common to 21st century electronic music genres like [[dubstep]] and [[Trap music (EDM)|trap music]]. The song was released on vinyl 45rpm exclusively on November 4, 2014 and appeared at No. 1 on [[Juno Records]] charts in both dub and reggae. [[Dancehall|Reggae dancehall]] vocalist Jahdan Blakkamoore appeared as a supporting vocalist on the track, a collaborator on several other Perry & Subatomic Sound releases as well as vocalist and primary writer on [[Snoop Lion]] and [[Major Lazer]] albums. Blakkamoore is mostly known for his numerous releases both solo and with his band [[Noble Society]] whose release "Living the Life" came out on the Subatomic Sound label.
=== Iron Devil: Lee "Scratch" Perry's first dubstep track===
In the fall of 2008, Subatomic Sound System produced a collaborative remix in a dubstep style with Vienna's Dubblestandart and Perry, who were working jointly on completing an album entitled ''Return From Planet Dub'' which included new versions of several of Perry's most famous tunes and riddims from his hey day in Jamaica during the 1970s. The Subatomic Sound System remix was Perry's first release in the dubstep style that by late 2008 had spread from the UK and was beginning to see worldwide popularity among electronic music fans and an ever-growing crowd of curious music listeners. The remix was titled "Iron Devil" and was based on the riddim used for some of Lee's biggest hits like "Disco Devil", "[[Chase The Devil]]" with [[Max Romeo]], and "Croaking Lizard" from Lee's seminal ''[[Super Ape]]'' album. A short run of those records was pressed as advance promotion for the forthcoming album and included some exclusive vinyl only mixes, namely dubstep and 1980s [[dancehall]] reggae style mixes of "Iron Devil" on the A side and two remixes of [[Dubblestandart]] tracks by [[Tom Watson (musician)|Tom Watson]], a producer from Paris, France, on the B side, one of which was "Wadada" (originally recorded by [[Dub Syndicate]]) the first ever dubstep track featuring the Jamaican voice of thunder, [[Prince Far-I]].
The limited edition vinyl 12" was distributed in either a blank white jacket or, for about 150 copies, in a vintage red, gold and green comic art jacket that was acquired from [[Tuff Gong]] in Jamaica and bore the Solographic Productions imprint (leading some stores to incorrectly list Solographic as the label for the release). The record itself had a blank white label marked on only on the A-side by a devil head hand stamped on it with red ink. It sold out in less than a week and it quickly became highly sought after on secondary vinyl markets and vinyl collectors' sites such as [[Discogs]].<ref>{{Cite web|url=https://www.discogs.com/Dubblestandart-featuring-Lee-Scratch-Perry-Prince-Far-I-Iron-Devil/release/1554929|title=Dubblestandart featuring Lee Scratch Perry* & Prince Far-I* - Iron Devil|website=Discogs.com|accessdate=29 January 2021}}</ref>
The release has historical significance for several reasons. Firstly, at the age of 73, Perry was suddenly finding new audiences for his music worldwide through the evolution of dub into dubstep. Secondly, its popularity was indicative of a cultural diaspora and evolution of a non-commercial subgenre of music developed in Jamaica largely by Perry into a movement that had rippled around the world through various music genres to later create a subgenre of electronic music called dubstep over 30 years later in the UK that reunited its offspring with their forefather and propelled them both to broader prominence that in the process crossed cultural, generational and racial boundaries.
===Blackboard Jungle dubstep===
In July 2009, another 12" was released that featured dubstep tracks based on "Blackboard Jungle", the title track of [[The Upsetters]]' album ''Blackboard Jungle Dub'' produced by Perry and considered by some{{Who|date=July 2011}} to be the first ever dub album. The original ''Blackboard Jungle Dub'' album from the 1970s was mastered and re-released as ''[[Upsetters 14 Dub Blackboard Jungle]]'' and the tune "Blackboard Jungle" was renamed "Black Panta". Dubblestandart remade the tune in collaboration with Perry on their album ''Return From Planet Dub'' in spring 2009. That release also had remixes of the song by Subatomic Sound System. For the dubstep vinyl release that followed, Subatomic Sound System developed new versions of "Blackboard Jungle" based on that remix and involving Guyana-born/NYC-based dancehall reggae vocalist Jahdan Blakkamoore for vocals along with Perry. The vinyl release 12" catalog number was SS009 and was followed up in 2010 by digital releases SS010 and SS011 that featured alternative versions. A mini-documentary featuring Perry covering the making of the "Iron Devil" and "Blackboard Jungle" dubstep remixes with Dubblestandart and Subatomic Sound System, their capacity crowd performance in Central Park, and the evolution of dub to dubstep, was created and released on the internet via sites like YouTube.
===Electronic Cumbia Dub===
In late 2011, the Subatomic Sound label released a project called Sancocho e Tigres, a collective of young producers and musicians from across South and Central America. The project was organized by Caballo (Rebel Records) from Colombia. Subatomic Sound put out two releases, one of a single, "Lujo De Pobre", that included a song as well as the self-produced samples by the collective members used to create the song. A second release followed with various versions of the song that each member put together from those same samples. Later that year Subatomic Sound System had Colombian producer Bleepolar (of Sanchocho e Tigres) remix "Dem Can't Stop We From Talk" with Anthony B, one of the first instances of a Jamaican dancehall artist appearing on an official cumbia remix.
===On All Frequencies===
The first official full-length album by Subatomic Sound System, ''On All Frequencies,'' covered a broad range of genres, tempos and timbres. ''On All Frequencies'' entered the CMJ radio Top 40 charts in both "electronic" and "world" categories simultaneously during spring 2007.<ref>CMJ radio charts {{cite web |url=http://www.cmj.com/ |title=CMJ Online |access-date=2011-01-29 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/19980220011510/http://www.cmj.com/ |archive-date=1998-02-20 }}</ref> The album received positive reactions across a broad spectrum of the electronic, hip hop and reggae press. It was described by ''[[BPM (magazine)|BPM]]'' magazine in its vital releases column as "connecting the dots between dub, dancehall, hip hop, drum & bass, downtempo and broken beat".<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://bpmmagazine.net/|title=My Blog – My WordPress Blog|website=Bpmmagazine.net|accessdate=29 January 2021}}</ref> It received a four afro rating from the popular website [[Okayplayer]], (their ratings system based on site founder and [[The Roots]] drummer [[Questlove]]'s hairstyle), who opined, "These beats could become the blueprint for future producers...Genius producing", a "certified gunsmoke!" review from OJ Lima, former ''[[VIBE]]'' magazine editor and founder of DJ culture site, Limachips,<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.limachips.com/|title=Orlando Lima - The Official|website=Limachips.com|accessdate=29 January 2021}}</ref> and the reggae-centric ''Beat'' magazine wrote that the song "'Rize Up' is a virtual revolutionary anthem". The album was highlighted in ''[[Beyond Race magazine|Beyond Race]]'' magazine's 2007 Music Issue and Subatomic Sound System performed at the magazine release party in Brooklyn, New York. The Subatomic Sound System System song "Breakin' Down the Barriers" inspired the magazine's editor to use the title as the name of the subsequent issue and it became a theme song for the magazine's mission.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2008/04/29/2008-04-29_beyond_race_magazine_breaks_down_barrier.html/ |title='Beyond Race' magazine breaks down barriers |website=[[New York Daily News]] |access-date=2009-05-06 |archive-date=2008-05-26 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080526030628/http://www.nydailynews.com/ny_local/2008/04/29/2008-04-29_beyond_race_magazine_breaks_down_barrier.html |url-status=dead }}</ref>
==Discography==
| |||