Well! where do i start with this..? in truth i really don't know..
I have been aware that the BIG sounds of this country been playing in mainland europe (some of them even further a field) for many years now. Another thing of interest to me was that a whole host of Uk based artists seemed to be more popular around europe than they are here or least they seem to play more on the continent than they do here.
Saying that.. we don't even have a proper Reggae Festival along the lines of Summerjam in Cologne or Jah Festival in France here in the UK do we?!
I remember sitting on the plane coming back from Summerjam a couple of years ago thinking "Why hasn't the UK got festival that is 20 years old?" are we that far behind or do we just do things differently here in the UK? Or is just a weather thing? Or has europe only heard of London?
I know Dancehall seems to be more popular in mainland europe (which seems more atuned to festivals) than it is here, and i know alot of the Dancehall artists have had problems getting and playing gigs here.. due to reasons we all know and don't need really to be repeated at this time! We do get most of the original JA artists here for a handful of gigs, which are usually in London and at this present time think there's only Newcastles Boss Sounds Reggae Festival that manages to arrange any sort of line up worth mentioning!
We are lucky here in the Midlands, we have got The Buttermarket in Shrewsbury that has played host top singers and players of instuments such as SLY & ROBBIE, BARRINGTON LEVI, LUCIANO, THE CONGOS, HORACE ANDY, CULTURE & THE ABYSSINIANS and there is The Drum in Aston who have hosted similar artists.
Both the above have got shows by THE MIGHTY DIAMONDS coming in March!
I seem to have wandered off the subject in hand..
My searches into EUROPEAN SOUNDSYSTEMS brought up many things.. Firstly they seem alot more prepared to share thier sessions by the power of download that UK soundsystems are! Most european sounds have got 1 session or a least snippets of available for downloading(I even found a whole website of downloadable dub albums/eps from France!) perhaps the sounds haven't realised they can make a bit of money out of selling thier session cds, maybe they do sell them too? More likely is that they use them as a sort of advertising for themselves..which is a great idea because if they didn't make them available, i wouldn't of got to hear them and i wouldn't be sat here rattling on about them now!! The other line of thought is that it's a GREAT way to show off they have got new DUBPLATES by such an such artist.. ALL SOUNDMAN LIKE SHOW DEM SORTA TINGS OFF!
Also of note.. Most of the sessions i have heard seem to be recorded from the control tower and are of great sound quailty!
The next thing that really appealed to me is.. The time and effort that has gone into the artwork of the flyers! It must be something to do with French Chic.. they do seem to rule the roost where flyers are concerned.
I know a flyer doesn't make a dance.. it's only really got to tell WHO, WHERE & WHEN but a decent looking flyer that catches the eye is always more likely to be kept! I'm starting to wonder as i'm writing, are flyers important to me because of the miles i find myself travelling to reach dances? Or am i just sad that come home from dances with a pocket full and keep every one! (I'll write something about that at another time..)
These are the first two thing that have sparked my intrest in SOUNDSYSTEMS from MAINLAND EUROPE.. my investigations shall continue!!
All comments are welcome and if i've got something wrong point it out to me I will take no offence and correct it asap!!
I would love to hear from any sounds that are willing to help my quest or can tell me some more about soundsystem culture in thier particular country!
PEACE,BASS&LOVE goes out to all involed in SOUNDSYSTEM around the WORLD!
There seems to be a lot of rumours about University of Dub flying round at the moment..
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