I’ll be spinning some vintage Jamaican vinyl, as DJ Franco Nero, along with my co-hort Diamond Age this coming Tues, July 27th at the Doublewide at the eastern end of Deep Ellum right here in Dallas, TX. I’ve been putting together a pretty decent selection of tracks. My specialty is early ’80s Dancehall but we’re…

It’s ironic that my last post was about Lincoln “Sugar” Minott. The veteran Jamaican singer-songwriter-producer and DJ passed away this past Saturday July 10 at the age of 54. No real details have emerged concerning the cause of his death although speculation centers around his recent bout with heart problems that prevented him from performing…

I can’t believe it’s already July… Insane. Yeah, it’s freakin’ hot here in Big D. I’ve been getting a serious office tan the past couple of months, so its not as big a deal to me as it could be. I’ve also been taking a serious detour into Jamaican music the past few months (in…

There is a ton of unsung talent in Jamaican music history. And tons of artists who intially hit big and never really fully realized their commercial potential in the international music community. I wouldn’t call the high-tenored Triston Palma (or Tristan Palmer as he is sometimes known) a “one-hit wonder.” The guy’s too good for…

 PAPA MICHIGAN – LOVE IZ (Rashanco) 2010 I’m a huge fan of Jamaican deejay duo Michigan and Smiley and I’m proud to say that Papa Michigan (aka Baddingo aka Anthony Fairclough) has recently dropped a first class new solo album called Love Iz. M&S were the foundation rub-a-dub team (and first duo) coming up around…

I don’t really have much to say about it all…I had a major LOST overdose last night…watched over 5 hours of LOST programming. I always thought the show lasted one season too long…and I’m sticking by that assessment. I wasn’t really disappointed in the ending — I mean, I thought it was handled pretty well…

Any New Yorker knows the iconic, blue, gold and white paper coffee cup. It’s proper title is the Anthora. I did not know that. But I do know that the cup’s designer, Leslie Buck, passed away this past Monday at his home in Long Island. He was 87.

Keyboardist Ansel Collins wrote and recorded the durable instrumental, “Stalag 17” for producer Winston Riley in 1973. The track went on to become one of the most sampled and versioned riddims in the history of Jamaican music. There have literally been hundreds of different songs using Collins’ unique Stalag bass and drum riff, probably the…

Happy April. I hear there’s something called the iPad out there. Someone, tell me what it’s all about. Don’t have the energy right now. But I did watch LOST tonight — quite enjoyed it, boyo — and I’m always interested in what anyone of my friends has to say about it…I had a theory that…

I received the new Netflix Instant Streaming disc for the Wii this past Friday. After fussing with the wireless network security for an hour or two, I managed to get it going. I had some hopes for it, even if the Wii doesn’t support hi-def video. Hey, I don’t even have the Wii hooked up…