5/11/2011 Echo Chamber

Tonight was the debut of the new album from the Professor (Harrison Stafford) entitled "Madness". The Groundation frontman came up with the "Madness" project while in Jamaica...after taking a pilgrimage to Jerusalem. A fantastic album which includes Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace, U-Roy, Obeah Denton, Flabba Holt, and others... Also new tonight were two new releases coming from DJ Perch: a new Deep Root single featuring Abassi All Stars and Vibronics, plus a Universal Egg single from an upcoming album by Fire In the Hole. On top of this we had a couple tracks from Les Nubian (who were in Minneapolis this week) including one from their new "Nu Revolution" album; a new double-CD from Eugene Grey; and new tunes from A Man Called PJ, Dubchek, Jaja Matsimela, and Prince Blanco.

And because the local weather has drastically warmed up in the last couple of days, a Dub Club Tiki Lounge set seemed the order of the day. This was, among other things, a perfect excuse for DJ Baby Swiss to indulge his Shiina Ringo obsession with a brand-new Tokyo Jihen big-band track(!) Yes, you read that right, and the release date is this show's airdate, 5/11! The Specials, Caro Emerald, The Pepper Pots, Martin Denny, Al Kealoha Perry (unrelated to Lee) and Full Moon Scientist are among the other artists who figured into the proceedings, and Mutant Frogs brought up the rear.