Online Reggae Magazine

Articles

Articles about reggae music, reviews, interviews, reports and more...

Put The Stereo On by Gappy Ranks

Home
Articles
Reviews
Put The Stereo On by Gappy Ranks

Put The Stereo On by Gappy Ranks

By Angus Taylor on Monday, August 23, 2010 - 1 comment

A cross-generational fusion everyone can enjoy.

Sampler

After a tantalising series of single releases, YouTube previews, and an EP, the debut full length album from UK’s most exciting young reggae star is finally here. Where the EP, 'Rising Out Of The Ghetto', (featuring Euro producers Macro Marco and Gappy’s management Special Delivery) was a mix of modern one drop and cyborg dancehall, this set concentrates on his work over fellow West Londoners the Peckings Crew’s revivals of Studio 1 and other old rhythms. And the good news is, it’s a killer from start to end.

Working out of his NW10 digital home studio Gappy never writes his lyrics down, often improvising from a single word such as a rhythm's designated name. Yet the results sound crafted to the last detail.

The record starts strong with material we know. Mountain Top (atop the Palmer Brothers Step It Out) gives way to Studio 1 and family life tribute Put The Stereo On, putting the Hot Milk rhythm to the best use since Edi Fitzroy’s Freedom Fighters. International smash Heaven In Her Eyes may seem a strange update of the Wailers’ Soul Rebel at first listen, however it soon establishes itself as a timeless tune that will run and run.

The decision to leave lesser known songs for the second half of the album was a risky one, but this is no frontloaded release. Gappy proves that “roots and reality that inna we blood” with a sequence of deep cultural tracks: Thy Shall Love (on the rhythm to Joe White's melodica piece Kenyatta) and Heavy Load on Frenchie's update of Bunny Lee's Creation Rebel – one of the few guest production spots on the disc.

Make no mistake, this isn’t a sequel to Bitty McLean’s 'On Bond Street' – where the sounds of the past are recreated with new lyrics. Gappy’s contemporary topics and distinctive delivery (like Busy Signal his use of pitch correction software is artful and never OTT) married to vintage rocksteady and reggae backings, create a cross-generational fusion everyone can enjoy.