Name: Dr Boondigga and The Big Bw
Brand: Fat Freddy's Drop

Bonus disc

Bonus disc: No

Catalogue number

DRP13LP

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Colour

black

Colour details

Discogs ID

Discs

Download code

Download code: No

Rough Trade Exclusive

Rough Trade Exclusive: No

Extended format

Extended format: No

Format detail

Format Music GB

Limited edition

Release date

2020-04-14

Signed copies

Signed copies: No

Supplier GB

Tax rate GB

UPC / Barcode

2 / Extended format: No / LP / Rough Trade Exclusive: No / Signed copies: No / black

Artist

Fat Freddy's Drop

Genre GB

Reggae / Dub

Label GB

This Maori/Samoan/New Zealander band claims influences as diverse as highlife, Berlin techno, and bhangra, but what their music sounds like most consistently is a strangely modern and soulful version of jazzy reggae. Lead singer Dallas Tamaira (aka Joe Dukie) has an airy, soulful voice that sometimes comes across like a more nimble version of Roland Gift's falsetto, while the band can shift with equal agility between house, dancehall, funk, and one-drop grooves, sometimes within a single track. "The Nod," for example, starts out in a slowly chugging one-drop reggae mode before a lovely trombone solo heralds a segue into a New Orleans second-line funeral jazz interlude; "Big BW," on the other hand, juxtaposes a dark and bumping club groove with light soul-jazz vocals. "Pull the Catch" is straight-up funky dancehall, while "Shiverman" slowly builds a strong house beat beneath a chestier and more robust vocal -- it's a great sound, but at over ten minutes, the song is too long by half. It's hard to understand why the band chose to end the album with the relatively enervated and pedestrian reggae-soul of "Breakthrough," but overall this album is a hoot and a triumph.

Dr Boondigga and The Big Bw

Music GB