Customer Reviews

Bass Culture

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(1)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

Johnson is a "dub poet", so don't expect the lilting sweetness of much popular reggae - his songs come with a message, and his lyrics transcend the genre.
That said, this is a wonderful album filled with great songs that still sound fresh and relevant 25 years later. Buy it.

yeah, this is some nice *$#! with Linton mixing up a more mellow tone throughout the album.

its definitely not as militant as his first two discs, but that doesn't make it better/worse. As always, the lyrics/poems are top-nahtch... Street 66 has a couple of dreads fixing for a fight with the fuzz, and the final tune moves beyond the dub roots to embrace free jazz... definitely a winner.

If you already know LKJ, you'll love this disc...if you don't start with the anthology double disc which has all of these tracks + 2 other albums, dub cuts and great liner notes.

I only like my reggae very slow and heavy and Bass Culture and his other album Dread Beat An'Blood are the slowest, heaviest reggae albums I ever heard. And his sad-like and very oppressed slow poetry talking-vocals go perfectly well with the slow and very low bass frequencies,drumming and raw guitar rhythmns. It really can't get better or more hardcore then these 2 releases in reggae music although early Lee Scratch Perry with The Upsetters or early I Roy may be similar but Bass Culture and Dread Beat An'Blood sounds more sad,slow and heavy with the slowest type of vocals I ever heard. Really, over the many years I never found 2 other reggae albums as hardcore,slow,oppressed and heavy as these 2 masterpieces. In fact I am so much into the slow and heavy sounds I actually play these 2 cds at negative 12% pitch with maximun bass played on a 500 watt reciever to make them even sound more slower and heavier then they already are. NOW where are the other reggae artists who sound as heavy and slow or even heavier and slower than these 2 albums since 1978 and 1980? I don't know of any other, WHAT A SHAME. It seems these 2 reggae albums are quite ahead of their time as I still see no other releases from other reggae artists that can greatly compare to them even at 2010. Maby by year 2020?

One of the essential albums for anyone who's into reggae. Period.

I bought this album in college when I was exploring the reggae world. I had explored the mainstream bands from Jamaica - Marley, Tosh and Cliff. I started exploring offbeat reggae and would occasionally pick up some gems. This album was very different. I found myself enjoying his style the more I listened to it. Johnson is equally a Poet and a Musician. He speaks more than he sings. However, the band he has is quite good. He has a really good deep voice as well. I was intrigued enough by his music/poetry to go see him live at UC Berkeley campus. I don't remember much about it though. It wasn't a bad show bad as I recall. I don't remember his band being nearly as good live, as on the studio album. It was probably a different band. He was very political and fit right in at Berkeley.

There are a couple of standout songs on the album. The song "Inglan is a Bitch" is good and Loraine is excellent. The rest of the album is pleasant enough.

If you're into poetry, I believe this album is a worthy purchase. If you're a reggae fan, I would consider this a bit on the fringes. If you would like to explore this artist, this would have to be one of his best efforts. If you're not into reggae or poetry - skip it.