I don’t know if anyone has noticed but we’re in the midst of a global pandemic – if not, you heard it here first from Adam Baker.
As it turns out, this sort of thing can be a bit heavy and have a tendency to dullen the mood somewhat. Whenever this happens, the first thing I turn to is music.
I don’t know if anyone has noticed but we’re in the midst of a global pandemic – if not, you heard it here first. As it turns out, this sort of thing can be a bit heavy and have a tendency to dullen the mood somewhat. Whenever this happens, the first thing I turn to is music.
To find a soundtrack to the critically acclaimed, low budget, indie film “Adam” has been my goal. So, the question arises, what genre best suits a worldwide virus in full sunshine? I think I may have found the answer: Ska.
Now don’t worry, I haven’t started talking in ‘Jafaican’, my head is free from a pork pie hat and I don’t own a checkerboard tie but the slow-ish off beats have been filling my ears. There’s something about the ‘Toots & The Maytals’ that just seem to make the big old light source a little bit brighter. It isn’t void of pain and anguish, remorse or sadness though – if you do want a gentle reminder that everything’s not quite as it should be whilst you’re sunbathing then Errol Dunkley’s ‘Sit Down and Cry Over You’ will do just that.
When I say Ska, I’m not talking about Madness. I don’t mean them. They have their place – mainly wedding discos at about half eleven. This isn’t that place. If you are of the persuasion though, ‘Ska & Reggae Classics’ is a good place to start on Spotify and then you can begin filtering through your preferred artists- that’s your homework- as some of them are objectively not good.
Another lane you can stroll down, although not literally obviously – stay indoors – is ‘The Specials’. We’ve all heard ‘Ghost Town’ and at the moment it seems to be rather appropriate, but have you listened beyond that? Have you delved into the quite small pool of the other music they’ve made? Well, if not then there are not one, not two but three melancholic escapades to enjoy. The third of the offerings, ‘Encore’ was released a year ago after a 30 year hiatus and contains ‘The Specials’ sound with more direct political messages in songs like ‘Vote for Me’- so if you’ve had enough of politics for the moment, my recommendation would be to steer clear of that one until you’re feeling defiant again.
The sun is paramount to Ska, if you’re sitting in your room, staring out of a window decorated with droplets of rain then ‘The Liquidator’ by Harry J Allstars will seem insulting in its jollity- unless you’re a West Brom fan (football references end here). So, make a cup of coffee – or something slightly stronger – sit in your garden, in your room with the window open, in the orangery, under the dappled sunlight of the ancient oak in the grounds of your country manor and enjoy.
By Adam Baker