admin
22 December 2023
The day I got this record, a really cool thing happened. My friend Beth walked by my room, and asked who it was I was listening to.
“Chris Murray,” I told her.
“How old is he?” she asked.
Weird question. “Why do you ask?”
“That sounds really old,” she explained.
And it does. It doesn’t sound shitty. It sounds old. Vintage. And I think that has more to do with how respectful he is of the Jamaican styles he plays than of the fact that he recorded the album through his Walkman.
Yeah, you read that right. Big deal. It doesn’t affect the quality of the music on here. The melodies and lyrics are as sharp as always. And his love for ska, rocksteady and reggae wear apparent on his t-shirt sleeve.
Perfect example: track 8, “The Higher the Monkey Climb”. Chris and a couple of the boys from Hepcat work that Justin Hinds tune like it’s one of Prince Buster’s old sound system parties, and the whole damn town is dancing to the hottest new track in Kingston. But the lo-fi sound quality makes it sound like you just stumbled upon a killer bootleg of a wicked impromptu moment, or a rare, studio session that bands like the Beatles bury for 40 years, in hopes of releasing when their grandkids need college tuition, only to have their life’s work snatched up by a freak with no nose.
Sha-mon. I’m rambling.
Raw is worth every penny I paid. And yes, I paid, because I want this cat to keep making music. I want him to be able to afford a crappy rental van, trek halfway across the country, stand in some smoky bar in front of a crowd (half-filled with enthusiastic Rocksteady heads, half-filled with pretentious locals), and play his little California lungs out, so my skinny, Ska-loving ass can holler and dance like there’s no tomorrow. I’ll pay for my ticket in, and I’ll buy every last t-shirt.
Get in on the action. Check it out at asianmanrecords.com, or chrismurray.net.
PURCHASE THIS OR SIMILAR ITEMS
“Chris Murray,” I told her.
“How old is he?” she asked.
Weird question. “Why do you ask?”
“That sounds really old,” she explained.
And it does. It doesn’t sound shitty. It sounds old. Vintage. And I think that has more to do with how respectful he is of the Jamaican styles he plays than of the fact that he recorded the album through his Walkman.
Yeah, you read that right. Big deal. It doesn’t affect the quality of the music on here. The melodies and lyrics are as sharp as always. And his love for ska, rocksteady and reggae wear apparent on his t-shirt sleeve.
Perfect example: track 8, “The Higher the Monkey Climb”. Chris and a couple of the boys from Hepcat work that Justin Hinds tune like it’s one of Prince Buster’s old sound system parties, and the whole damn town is dancing to the hottest new track in Kingston. But the lo-fi sound quality makes it sound like you just stumbled upon a killer bootleg of a wicked impromptu moment, or a rare, studio session that bands like the Beatles bury for 40 years, in hopes of releasing when their grandkids need college tuition, only to have their life’s work snatched up by a freak with no nose.
Sha-mon. I’m rambling.
Raw is worth every penny I paid. And yes, I paid, because I want this cat to keep making music. I want him to be able to afford a crappy rental van, trek halfway across the country, stand in some smoky bar in front of a crowd (half-filled with enthusiastic Rocksteady heads, half-filled with pretentious locals), and play his little California lungs out, so my skinny, Ska-loving ass can holler and dance like there’s no tomorrow. I’ll pay for my ticket in, and I’ll buy every last t-shirt.
Get in on the action. Check it out at asianmanrecords.com, or chrismurray.net.
PURCHASE THIS OR SIMILAR ITEMS
artid
1143
Old Image
5_6_raw.jpg
issue
vol 5 - issue 06 (feb 2003)
section
entertainmental