Niney the Observer, the Jamaican reggae singer and producer behind countless vintage dancehall hits, has never received quite as much shine as his contemporaries such as  Lee “Scratch” Perry. That is, until now. The good people over at 17 North Parade have put together a 2 disc compilation titled Roots with Quality spanning the past three decades of his output, with a strong focus on the classic tunes he cut at the height of his career in the mid-1970s. The artist roster reads like a who’s who of reggae royalty: Delroy Wilson, Ken Boothe, Slim Smith, Gregory Issacs and Jacob Miller are but a few of the stars included. 

Niney, nicknamed so after losing a thumb in a workshop accident,  got his start at age 14 working as a music engineer for KG Records and eventually producing and voicing his own tunes for them. Soon after, he began producing tunes for release on his own Destroyer imprint in partnership with Coxsone Dodd of Studio One. In 1968 he started producing for Joe Gibbs’ Amalgamated Records, taking the helm previously manned by none other than Lee “Scratch” Perry.  Perhaps Niney’s biggest hit as a singer, “Blood & Fire” was originally released on Destroyer with only 200 copies pressed. The tune was extremely well-recieved, and Niney re-released it on his new Observer label, selling over 30,000 copies internationally in the process. “Blood & Fire” reached cult status despite grumblings by Upsetters organist Glen Adams that Niney lifted the melody from a recently released Wailers tune, and was declared the Jamaican Record of the Year in 1971.

Throughout the rest of the 1970s Niney was a driving force behind the changing reggae sound of that decade. Dennis Brown, who himself was working towards becoming more of a producer at the time, recorded some of his best-known tunes with Niney, such as “Here I Come” which was originally released on Observer in 1977. Niney remained active in production through the early 80s, working with Freddie McGregor on tunes such as “Chant It Down” and Third World for this compilation’s title track “Roots with Quality.” Niney is still alive and well today and spends his time between Jamaica, where he recently completed work on a new studio facility, and New York City.

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Office has been the brainchild of Scott Mason since 2000, (which predates the more famous British TV show) and has featured dozens of musicians but only Mason’s songs. Mason writes subversive pop gems with sarcastic and prosaic lyrics. About four years ago, Office added Tom Smith on guitar and Erica on drums, and along with a few other musicians, Office achieved its highest success. The band independently sold over 20,000 copies of Q & A, signed to James Iha’s Scratchie Records, released A Night at the Ritz, toured nationally, didn’t quite break into the next level and left Scratchie. When Office began work on Mecca, the group was frustrated with the music industry and decided release the album independently.

Mecca is distinct from previous Office albums (there are at least five depending on what you count as an album) both in that there are no electronic or synthetic instruments save a few uses of an 1970’s keyoboard, and it features a second songwriter in Tom Smith. Smith’s songs are more straightforward and offer a good foil to Mason’s approach. It’s hard to argue that songwriting is better or worse than on any other Office album, because Scott Mason consistently writes brilliant songs. Every person has a different favorite Office song. What “Mecca” does better than previous Office endevours lies in production and execution. This Office lineup is the best ever and simply rocks. Some people even claim they were too tight, but I find them emotive and provocative. Furthermore, the production is warm, subtle and balanced; layered but not heavy. On first listen, I naively thought it was so good, no amount of bad luck in the industry could keep the band from broader success and personal satisfaction.

Instead, everyone except Mason quit. One issue, in addition to typical band breakup reasons, was Mason wanted to release the album only online for free, and the other members wanted physical copies that could be sold. Office canceled its New Year’s Eve show and Scott released the album for free without Smith’s songs at lastfm. Then the mudslinging began in Chicagoist.com and gapersblock.com in the form of interviews, reviews and comments on the sites. All very silly. And so, unfortunately, very few people will hear Mecca, especially with Tom Smith’s songs. It is an old and sure to be repeated story.

Office – Nobody Knows You, Enter Me Exit You, Double Penetrate the Market from the album Mecca

Download the full album on sendspace or last.fm

I met Chen Lo a few years ago when he came to work at an after school teen program called Crown Heights Live, where I was working at the time. It became apparent from the first conversation I had with him that he was the real deal, the most genuine combination of artist and community activist you could ever hope to meet. I watched a group of our teens, with his commanding inspiration, record a full-length album from start to finish. So many artists, due to cynicism or stubbornness, fall into the trap of either compromising message for music or music for message, and Chen has done neither. For real, I am proud to know him and call him my friend. If anyone I know deserves to make it, it’s this man right here. I helped work on this project (I mixed down a handful of tracks) and aside from giving you the full download link, I’m separately posting a single I produced, which is only available in snippet form on the mixtape. Enjoy! Continue reading…

Apocalypse :  Under The Eucalyptus Tree & No Place For Two On The Pole
taken from their self-titled album on NMC (1972)

Shlomo Gronich & Mathi Caspi : Kvinta & Opening & Elohim Merachem
taken from the album Behind The Sounds on Hed-Arzi (1972) 

Soulico & Axum : Pitom Banu (Wido Remix)

Sabbo (Soulico Crew member) :  Booty Bounce

Your loyal captain here, aka Chuck Wild, with the first check-in from Zion (I’m hoping there will be more, but it’s always a lil hard on the road). Young Murphy’s Law and I came here together in a brotherly burst of Jewish frugality- taking advantage of the most secular of Birthright trips- at the begining of the new year (still hung over, the both of us). 

Despite rockets flying and bombs dropping (on the UN building!?!), we’re managing to explore the mellow maintained by Israelis even in the eye of the storm. We’re meeting genuinely great people in throngs and even finding some new music. I posted a few jew grooves back in Captain’s Crate (see: Soul Messengers, The Platina and Mordechai Ben David) but it’s been a while, and now I’m actually walking on their turf for the first time. 

I was told that Apocalypse is kinda like the Israeli Led Zeppelin, and while they can’t really hold a torch to Page & Plant, we’ve been bumping this while cruising through the desert in our rented Fiat. On the quieter, more introspective side, I picked up this cool “experimental” record by two of Israel’s bigger musical names, Shlomo & Mathi. I like the cover they do of “Rocky Raccoon” on here as well. 

Also, big up to Ido Wido (who I met in Tel Aviv) and the whole Soulico Crew! They’re a sick DJ/music making/party rocking collective who produce fly remixes and have a new album coming out on JDUB records soon… 

If you’re looking for more of those old school 70’s rare Middle Eastern cuts, peep the that Soulico did a while back for the Mad Decent blog.