The Best Of Edi Fitzroy
With the rain never seeming to stop at the moment and winter dragging on it's a welcome relief to distract myself with some true roots reggae and think of summer coming around the corner. With a…
Skitz Top Ten – August 2008
Skitz is a producer and DJ who has helped to revolutionise the sound of UK hip-hop and spread it world-wide. After discovering a love for hip-hop in the mid-80s, in 1996 Skitz released his debut 12",…
Gussie P meets Roots Radics
To be honest, I'm pretty disillusioned by the current state of Jamaican music. I don't claim to have a particularly innate knowledge of modern bashment. However, from my perspective - as a lover of…
Musically Mad – A Doco On UK Reggae Sound System Culture
This July, a landmark documentary about reggae sound-system culture was released. 'Musically Mad', a film directed and produced by Kalle Folke and Andreas Weslien, dedicates itself to shining light…
Horace Martin – Positive Vibez
Horace Martin came to prominence in Kingston in 1979 when he finished third in the Tastee Talent Series behind a young Nadine Sutherland and Paul Blake of the Blood Fire Posse. He recorded many top…
Alborosie and Lady Saw at Eurockeennes Festival – 5/6/7 July 2008, Belfort, France
I realised after reading through a recent post on the NiceUp forum how lucky I was to attend the Eurockeennes festival a week ago in Belfort, France. This is one of Frances' oldest and biggest…
K-Salaam & Beatnick – Whose World Is This?
The first thing I noticed when I picked up this album was the A-list selection of some of the worlds most prominent and dopest hip-hop, reggae artists. For the hip-hop heads there is Papoose, Dead…
Deli Top Ten – July 2008
Deli hails from Auckland and through his love and appreciation of good music, particularly reggae and reggae-influenced beats, joined with fellow DJs, Undercover Brother, Ed G, Pauly Who, Piet,…
Battle-Ska Galactica – 21 June 2008, Wellington
The New Zealand Ska scene has grown a lot in the last couple of years. Acts like The Managers and The Yoots have really come to the fore with their infectious rudy grooves and this year saw the…
Vital Sounds Hi-Fi
This Friday 27 June sees the country's first custom built reggae sound system launched at Bar Bodega - Vital Sounds Hi-Fi - run by long-time reggae selector, DJ Manray. NiceUp spoke to Manray about…
Roy G and the Bivinators – For the People
If ever an irie selector needed something with a little jazz-matazz flavour to uplift a serious, roots-heavy floor, here it is. Maz Herman has composed and produced a delightfully summery-scented EP…
Ooklah the Moc meets Koko – Struggling Soldier
This is a review that I have been keen to write for a long time. But 'nuff spliff can affect your motivation levels so its been a while coming. I spent much of last year living in Hawai'i on a…