MQESHIC
The Dream Warriors from Toronto. Fatima Mansions. Brian Kellock. The La‘s. The Milltown Brothers. Keith Hancock and Pops at the Philharmonic.
LISTINGS: ROCK & BLUES34 LIGHT 36 JAZZ 37 FOLK & WORLD 38 CLASSICAL 39
Sink or swim
Alastair Mabbott on Canadian rappers The Dream Warriors. whose brand of hip-hop is helping bring the style into the 905.
When British acts like Double Trouble and The Stereo MCs start getting taken seriously in the United States. then hip-hop is still on the move. It always has been. despite picking up a few stereotypes in the mid-to-late 80s which often obscured the fact that there was still development going on and diversity to be found. Now the focus has partly shifted away from New York. Washington and LA to places like London and Toronto. the home ofThe Dream Warriors. aka King Lou and Capital 0.
They have made a name for themselves as innovative and eclectic samplers. and their newly released album. And Now The Legacy Begins. its grooves peppered with jazz. reggae and even country. makes even De La Soul seem tunnel-visioned. A Dungeons And Dragons fixation and titles like ‘lZ-Sided Dice‘ and ‘Voyage Through The Multiverse‘ make the trip even stranger.
The three Dream Warriors singles so far have all had unusual origins. The first. ‘Wash Your Face In My Sink'. was taken from a cassette copy of its Portastudio demo after the tape had been erased and a full-blown studio version was deemed to have lost the feel of the original. Its follow-up. ‘My
Definition Of A Boombastic Jazz Style‘. came from a visit to Gilles Peterson‘s Dingwall‘s jazz
frugging to Quincy Jones‘ ‘Soul Bossa Nova'. a song they only knew as the signature tune to a Canadian TV game show — called My Definition. Amused. they sampled the track and offered
club.wherethe Dream Warriors witnessed frantic
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Quincy Jones payment for its use. as ifone ofblack hotbeds of rap culture. it would still be easy to
music‘s most esteemed gurus. and Michael Jackson‘s producer and confidant. might be strapped for a few shekels. Jones turned the cash down. adding that the gents from Toronto were innovators and welcome to manipulate his stuff. A fan in high places already. For their most recent single. ‘Ludi‘. they went back to their roots. ‘Ludi‘ (it's the West Indian name for Ludo) was composed to please the Jamaican-born King Lou‘s mother by using her favourite record. a Slim Smith reggae number called ‘My Conversation‘. and as such was not at
first intended for release.
The Dream Warriors don't make a big deal out of their use of reggae. but it‘s an important string to their bow. Toronto‘s black population came mainly from the Caribbean. and in any case. rap itselfdeveloped from Jamaican toasting. However. for all its distance from the original
I mistake this Canadian home-grown for the ‘real’
‘ thing. The problems facing blacks in Toronto. they
point out. are the same as those in any American city and are there to be addressed. Toronto even
; has its own Motown in Beat Factory. a small label
whose biggest success so far has been the Dream Warriors. but the knock-on effect has brought attention to acts like Carla Marshall. ragamuffin duo Krush And Skad and Sike. who are all coming to Britain as part of the package.
One reason for getting hold of ‘1-udi' along with your copy of/ind The Legacy Begins is that. sadly.
the B-side. ‘Very Easy
To Assemble But Hard To
Take Apart'. features one of the last appearances of the late Slim Gaillard on record. ()roonie and
amen.
Dream Warriors play The Tunnel. Glasgow on Fri
8.
LISTEN!
I OH SUN 17. the Mechanical-Copyright Protection Society Ltd hosts a day-long introduction to the music business entitled ‘On The Right Track'. which is intended to give anyone involved with music in Scotland a chance to meet experts in various facets of the business and question them about ‘every conceivable aspect'. from
management to copyright law. The event is held from
; 10.303m—6.30pm at Ca Va
1 Sound Workshops. 49 Derby
Street. Kelvingrove.
5 Glasgow. with tickets
available from The Ticket
Centre. Candleriggs (041
i 227 5511). Five pounds (or
£3forunwaged and
l students) gets a buffet lunch and detailed course notes as well.
I AND THERE ARE more of these helpul people about. RIF raft Ltd. despite a name that could have come out of ‘Bock Follies‘ and a slogan - ‘Putting sound ideas into action' -that smacks of Y.T.S.s and Job Clubs. area national music club for 13-25-year-olds who are ‘into music in a big way’. BIF raft provide information on what we insiders call the ‘hi2' via a monthly magazine called ‘Sounding Dut' and a series of personal organiser inserts that build up month by month in the usual fashion. Our Price in Glasgow is
currently running a
promotion. giving discounts
on membership. Otherwise.
RIF raft can be reached at i PO Box 677.325 City Road. London EC1V 188.
I THE BAD MEN. who. by theirown admission. are
' neithersick norperverted.
are peeved at the good folks
ollnveruryforpreventing ' them playing a gig atthe
Banks of Ury Hotel. They seem to have had prior warning of The Bad Men’s lyrical content. which includes such gems as ‘Bock Hudson's Dead Because He Slept With Men In Bed‘. and the District
Council justified the ban with the delicious quote. ‘We are pretty staunch in this area. We are more for the Jimmy Shand type of music.‘ What makes The
Bad Men even madderis
‘that the kids in the Inverury probably have no
entertainmentfacilitiesand
certainly no outlet for live
i music'. and thus. until the ban is revoked. will remain untainted by songs like ‘You
Are Not A Real Man Until You Do A Jobby Outside'.
’ This prospect worriesthem
greatly. I THE BIG DISH make a personal appearance
' beforetheiradoringpublic at HMV. Argyle Street.
1 Glasgow at 1pm on Wed 13 i to play tracks from and sign copies of. their new album. ‘Satellites'.
i I SPIBEA X. whose Jim
l Beattie said at the start of the yearthaf he was desperate to get asingle out. will get his wish granted by 4A0. the label whose deal was preferred over. oh. millions of other offers. Before the LP is released. there should be
three singles. all in quick
I succession. the first in
; abouta month'stime.
'rhctlist s— 21 March 199129