Wu-Tang Clan

[Drunk Monk]

Gonna take this up on the Cali Roots thread next year...

DM wields a lot of power at CR. It's probably the venue he dominates the most, almost to the level of where he stood  when he was a paid consultant with the Grateful Dead. The potential chicanery, especially with Cypress Hill in the mix, is simply staggering...

[Greg]

Matisyahu is still a thing?

[Drunk Monk]

Ha. I would've said that about the entire Sunday line up.


Okay, truth be told, I only know about half of the bands on Sunday. But that's half (minus one) more than the rest of you, I'd venture...

[King Bob]

I would have thought Steel Pulse might have retired too.

I have to admit I'm fond of Shaggy. And I've heard that Hieroglyphics are good.

[Drunk Monk]

Saw Steel Pulse just prior to the pandemic at CR

Steel Pulse was bassy. Got my franklins. Irie fun

They still have a sound. It's pop reggae now (what would you expect for the first non-JA band to win a reggae grammy?) and they've churned through well over a dozen players, but they still have a wicked horn attack. And now the cover the Dead...



Shaggy has lost his sound. He's terrible now (or was back in 2014)

Shaggy closed and was nearly booed off stage.  Dm walked out on that early to make it for Mighty Crown in the dancehall. 

Can't think of the last time I saw Hieroglyphics (meaning I didn't post about it here so it must have been prior to the D00M4M - how long has this been going on now? Coming up on 20 years? All hail Greg D00M4Master! If he ever shuts us down, it'll be like Gilligan getting hit on the head by a coconut - amnesia for DM...)

[Greg]

Still waiting for Steel Cleavage to get back together and head out on the road.

[King Bob]

Steel Pulse has leaned toward pop almost since the beginning, even on the more Rasta material. (Think "Chant a Psalm a Day.") By the time we first saw them, it was pretty much a done deal. (Think "Roller Skates.") Kind of too bad, since their first album was a bit like Burning Spear. They do have a great rhythm section though.

[Drunk Monk]

I still have a soft spot for Steel Pulse. They're an iconic reggae band that has weathered the test of time. Sure, it's pop reggae, but there's a place for that. I turn them up whenever I hear them on the radio (barring my reggae programs - I mean general stations). 

I saw a Steel Cleavage sticker on a Cadillac. A little voice inside my head said 'Don't look back.'

[King Bob]

Speaking of Steel Pulse, today I found Earth Crisis in the university CD collection. I had forgotten about "Steppin' Out" - they always played that one. This album is a Rhino reissue, with bonus tracks: dubs of "Steppin' Out" and "Rollerskates." It led me to look at their discography a little, and I didn't know that they did a song for "Do the Right Thing."

And I keep forgetting to ask: how exactly do you call Wu-Tang Clan roots?

[Drunk Monk]

And I keep forgetting to ask: how exactly do you call Wu-Tang Clan roots?

It's not the roots that bother me. Wu-Tang is totally roots of hip hop, one of the true gamechangers (Friday has a hip hop bent with Sublime and Cypress Hill - looking forward to Friday night the most actually). 

What bugs me is the Cali part. Wu-Tang is painfully NY. Not CA. Not at all. I remember some show that happened on the same night as some ballgame (I don't remember which sport) but it was an NY v CA thing. NY won and the Wu wouldn't let us forget that.

[King Bob]

After I posted that, I figured that would be your answer. Since rap pretty much started in NY, the roots are there. But Wu-Tang is way too late to be roots. That would be Kurtis Blow or Grandmaster Flash etc. Although DJ Kool Herc was before that, and he was from Jamaica, so...

[Drunk Monk]

I dunno, man. Their influence makes them roots of something. The Wu universe is amazing. They got their own TV docudrama. And the whole Once Upon a Time in Shaolin was pure pop art that bested Warhol. 

I confess, I'm totally biased. But I don't really listen to that much hip hop beyond Wu and Cypress Hill. 

I'm really hoping I can connect with RZA. It's been a while and Cali Roots can get wild.

[King Bob]

I just saw the new Mountain Winery concert calendar, and was surprised to some reggae shows there this year: Stephen Marley, UB40, Ziggy Marley (the last with Trombone Shorty which seemed a bit odd)

[Drunk Monk]

There’s always a few reggae shows at the Winery. We saw Ziggy there in 2009.

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