With 1049 votes Desorden Publico from Venezuela were the winners of the Best Album 2011 poll at joescholes.com. In fact, it was a homerun. Hollie Cook on No. 2 received less than half their votes.

After the poll ended Desorden Publico’s bass player Jose Chacin sent out a very nice message to everyone who took part in the votings. It’s also in the comments’ section of the poll itself. But I want to make sure that you gentle readers don’t miss it there.  Here it is:

“In the name of all DESORDEN PÚBLICO members, I would like to send one million THANKS to all the real friends who voted for our album “Los Contrarios”..And of course, Vielen, Vielen Danke für JOE for giving us the chance to participate here. We are really proud for such a huge number of votes and want to say that as someone mentioned in one message, “EVERY SKA or REGGAE Band that was abble to released their album, is a winner, there are a LOT of great bands with wonderful albums on this list. I know every member of DESORDEN has his own Top ten with bands like Selecter, Holly Cook, NY Ska Jazz Ensemble, Moon Invaders, Alpheus, Planet Smashers, Little Roy, Prince Fatty, Kevin Batchelor, Carlos Dingo , the Slackers,etc etc…We are real fans of all of them, we play their music on our own Radio Show, every saturday´s afternoon (Radio Pirata on: http://www.ateneofm.com)..We even trade cd´s with some record labels of the world, in order to spread the word of the International SKA and Reggae, for the Venezuelan audiences…All this is Beacuse WE LOVE SKA MUSIC!!! …Much Respect for all the people on this list!.. that´s the main reason because we are really PROUD and HAPPY for being here, among soooo many great bands.

Keep on Skanking!
Caplís (Jose Chacín)”

In case you like some more background information on the band, check out the great interview that Marco On The Bass did with Jose Chacin.

To learn more about Desorden Publico’s plans for 2012, you should visit their  website or fan them on Facebook.

To round up things here is a link to the original poll posting and to the results of the “Best Ska Rocksteady Early Reggae Album 2011” poll at joescholes.com.

Do you want to know who won that competition in 2010 and 2009? There you go.

Everyone who likes to make sure that your band’s album is enlisted for the next poll, just drop me an email at joe@joescholes.com.

Lots of thanks to everyone who participated in the „Best Ska Rocksteady Early Reggae Album 2011 Poll “ at joescholes.com. Thanks for producing that music, promoting it, joining in the fun of the poll, sharing it, simply voting and giving shout outs in the comments section. 

The results have been amazing. 61 albums on the shortlist, 4559 votes cast, 150 comments on the blogpost, 17oo Likes on Facebook for the blogpost. If there needed to be sign of a vibrant global Ska scene, then it was given in the last ten days.

And who came out on top as Best Ska Rocksteady Early Reggae Album 2011?

The top 10 according to the voters is as follows:

1. Desorden Publico – Los Contrarios (label: Leech Records, country: Venezuela, style: Latin Ska)  (23%, 1,046 Votes)
2. Hollie Cook – Hollie Cook (8%, 375 Votes) (Mr. Bongo, UK, Reggae)
3. The Selecter – Made in Britain (7%, 341 Votes) (Download Only, UK, 2Tone)
4. The Sidewalk Doctors – Music is medicine (7%, 305 Votes) (Cherry Red Records, UK, Trad. Ska)
5. The Dropsteppers – Get Up In It! (6%, 253 Votes) (Megalith Records, USA, Rocksteady/Early Reggae)
6. Freddy Loco & His Gordos Ska Band – Round 4 (5%, 234 Votes) (Rocking Records, France, Trad. Ska)
7. Alpheus – From Creation (5%, 224 Votes) (A-Lone Records, Spain, Reggae)
8. 8°6 Crew – Old Reggae Friends (4%, 190 Votes) (Massprod, France, Early Reggae)
9. Too Many Crooks – Here Today, Gone Tomorrow (4%, 164 Votes) (Ska, UK, Do The Dog Records)
10. The Moon Invaders – Fine Line (3%, 146 Votes) (Trad. Ska, Belgium, Grover Records)

Congratulations to Desorden Publico for winning at great lenghts with 1046 votes. To see the complete list please go to the original post. Thank you.

There were a few albums that were added to the shortlist after the poll had started. Planet Smashers – “Descent Into The Valley Of”, Razika – “Razika”, Smoke Like A Fish – “Blood”, Fish & Bone, Prince Fatty & Mutant HiFi – “Return of Gringo”, Big D & The Kids Table – “For The Damned, The Dumb & The Delirious”, Rude City Riot – “Nothin But Time”, East Park Reggae Collective – “Stripe Science”, New York Ska Jazz Ensemble – “Double Edge”, Alaska – “Will that be enough”, Maroon Town – “Urban Myths”, Bad Manners – “You are just too good to be true”, Easy Star All Stars – “A first light”, Os Paralamas do Sucesso – “Brasil Afora multishow ao vivo”, Alborosie – “2 Times revolution”, Carlos Dingo – “Ska is Dangerous”, El Gran Miércoles – “Surf Steady”, Little Tempo – “Taiyou no Hanayome”, Fishbone – “Crazy Glue”, 1-stop-Experience – “Peeping Tom”.

Thanks to everyone who led me to these albums. And sorry for not knowing about them earlier. When I hit the publish button, I was in kind of a hurry. I didn’t expect the buzz that generated around the poll. In fact, I thought it came too late anyway. That everyone wanted to leave 2011 and think about the new year 2012.

But many bands and fans were obviously up for a little competition. Some more, some less. And so a few bands ended up in the Top 10 that you might not expect. Other big names did not make it to the top.

Okay, it was a great help if you had a brilliant album under your wings. But some other things were also important. Were you willing to help your fans show love to you? What were you ready to give? Take The Dropsteppers for example. This fresh band from the USA came up with a delicate photo to add some wood to the fire of their already hot album. And they finished in the Top 5.

Or Desorden Publico. Their call for votes was shared by fans so often that I wouldn’t be surprised if they promised to give away a copy of their record or possibly something else to one of the people who helped spread the call. Not that I know for sure.

On the other hand there were bands like The Mighty Mighty Bosstones. Neither an email to their management nor to their Facebook page could persuade anyone in their staff to join in this little challenge. Otherwise I am sure they would have accumulated more than their 15 votes.

To sum it up: It’s been a lot of fun. Let’s do this again next year. Bands and labels who like to promote their records are welcome to keep me informed and/or send me their stuff.

And to ALL Ska people. Make sure you stay informed on what’s up at joescholes.com, the polls, the interviews and sign up for my free newsletter here.

Let me end with a quote from the comments that stroke me as very true, although I still like polls.

The poll is closed. Go here to find a round up of the Best Ska Rocksteady Early Reggae Album 2011 poll. 

With the London International Ska Festival coming back in style, AND a new player called Rocking Steady (magazine, label, download store, booking agency) on the rise, AND The Specials continuing to play sold-out shows across the globe, 2011 was definitely a great year for many Ska people.

What about YOU? Which new music touched YOUR heart, body and soul? It’s time to have your say and vote.

The poll runs only a for short time, until the January 22nd 2012. So you better vote now and let your friends know about it.

If you don’t know all the bands on the shortlist for the Best Ska Rocksteady Early Reggae Album 2011, you should check them out. You might find a bunch of gems.

The list here owes a lot to a poll that was compiled by The Steady Rocking Mr. at the fabulous forum Ska-talk.org. Thanks.

Feel free to use the comments to show everyone whom you support.

Happy 2012, Joe

„Is joescholes.com today what I want it to be?“, is the question that keeps coming up on my mind. I’m not going to tell you what my answer is. Even asking the question tells me I have to change things.

Rewind

A slightly uneasy feeling was there last year already, when I posted the „Best Ska Rocksteady Early Reggae Album Polls 2010“. Don’t get me wrong: I was very pleased with the results. The number of visitors of the site trippled. But something wasn’t right. I’ll tell you what.

The early years
When I published the first posts at joescholes.com, my plan was simply to document the way to my next album – a record I was planning to make either with the Alpha Boys or solo as Joe Scholes. I soon started to add stories from my 30 years in Ska music and its cultural orbit. Already then it crept on me that blogging at times wasn’t helping me keep track of my work, but kept me from making music instead.

Keep On Moving

It had never been on my agenda to present the „World Of Ska“ in its entirety. But one of my jobs in real life is that of a journalist. The chance to write here what I wanted, combined with the possibilities of the Internet gave me a good shaking. I constantly came up with new ideas. Many of them had nothing to do with Joe Scholes.

One step forward …

Toolspotting

Let’s take one of the experiments at joescholes.com for example. It’s called  „Toolspotting“. As a fourteen year-old kid I would have given a lot to learn what equipment my heroes used on stage or in the studio. It might have saved me some bad bargains, too. In the usual musicians’ magazines you will hardly find any articles about Ska, Rocksteady or Early Reggae bands. The more I think about a photo show of bands on stage with pictures of their equipment and shopping links, the more I like the idea of „Toolspotting“. I definitely should follow up on the first episode, but not at joescholes.com.

Video Reports

The Video Reports were also a highlight. At least for me. Getting to talk extensively with great bands, receiving guestlist treatment and backstage beer, and testing myself as a reporter in front of the camera – there were many wonderful aspects to the reports. My good friend Gregor Pottmeier was kind enough to do all the fiddly editing work. It could have been perfect, but was simply misplaced on a personal website.

Polls

Another cool project were the „Best Album Polls“. The temptation to do them was just too strong. Partly because it was clear from the start that they would get me loads of traffic. As a side effect I got a good overview about what was happening in the Ska world. Plus: Getting in contact with mad Ska people is always a pleasure. But why these polls under the name Joe Scholes? That made no sense.

… Two steps backward

As time went by, these projects took more and more space. And what was left behind? You guessed it. The things that got me into blogging in the first place: the documentation of the work on the album (some progress had been made) and stories from the good old days with my former band The Braces.

The botton line

That’s why I decided to make a cut and stop publish general Ska stuff at joescholes.com. The original concept with some variations will be on again. There will be one last Giveaway for those who ordered my free newsletter. And just in case I feel the urge to publish some more general Ska stuff, I have acquired the domain reggae-steady-ska.com. I won’t get into full-bodied announcements of what this site will bring you. But rest assured: Once it’s ready to go, you’ll be the first to know.

Thanks for your time and attention. I really appreciate it.

Yours, Joe

It will definitely be one of the top events of the year 2012 in Ska – The London International Ska Festival will be held from May 3rd to May 6th 2012.

Like in 2011 the number of bands offering to play exceeds the available spots in the line up by far. Thus Organiser Sean Flowerdew was smart enough to reach out to Ska bands across the world to take part in a band competion offering the winner a spot at the festival.

You can listen to all the shortlisted bands here. To vote email your favourite band out of the 20 and email its name to enquiries@rockersrevolt.com. One vote per person. Voting closes 1st Dec’11.

I haven’t cast my vote yet and to be honest, I am not sure whom I should give my vote. I know some of the bands personally, would like all them to go there, and to give my vote to one of the other bands would feel like betrayal.

That’s why I ask you people:

Who should get my vote?

The answer to this question is probably the same as to the question:

Who do YOU want to get a free ride to the Festival?

Mind: VOTING HERE DOES NOT GET YOUR FAVORITE BAND TO LONDON. YOU WILL STILL HAVE TO WRITE AN EMAIL WITH THE BAND’S NAME TO enquiries@rockersrevolt.com. DON’T FORGET.

Please don’t hesitate to retweet and share this post.
Thanks. See you in London.

When you look at today’s Ska world, you see two major trends.

New bands either go the traditional route, dig deep in the Jamaican tradition and come up with Rocksteady, Ska Jazz, Early Reggae and such. Or they mix Ska with Punk and speed it up, at times brutally. What happened to the chart-wise most successful Ska style of them all? No one plays Ska 2Tone-style anymore. That’s at least what I thought until I listened to Buster Shuffle from London.

Their music is definitely a breath of fresh air to the Global scene. It’s bare of clichés, it’s very old school and at the same time very much set in today. If you haven’t met Buster Shuffle, you are welcome to do it now.

I did an interview with singer/piano player Jet and guitarist James after their show at the festival Bochum Total (Germany), in July 2011. Gregor Pottmeier of Marquee worked the cameras and did the editing.

We talked about:

• The sleeping bag that they used as a vocal booth while recording their first album “Our Night Out”
• The bus trip to a show that inspired the lyrics to the song “38”
• Buster Shuffle’s plan to get on stage at the London International Ska Festival 2012
• How Buster Shuffle got signed by the German Punk Label People Like You Records
• What happened when Mickey Gallagher from The Clash dropped by to help Buster Shuffle in the making of their second album

Did you enjoy the interview? Which  other bands would you like to be interviewed, too? Let me know in the comments. And please don’t hesitate to share.

You may already know what Dallax said in the interview with Joe Scholes on their tour in June 2011. The text has been published in two parts here and here. The last missing part was the video report I promised earlier and am happy to share now.

It contains:

• the secrets behind the success of Japanese Ska
• live footage from the Dallax show at the Sonic Ballroom in Cologne
• footage from the interview with singer Numb and sax player Pe
• parts of the Dallax video „Glow Of My Life“

A lot of credit goes out to Gregor Pottmeier who did the camera work and editing.

For those of you who like some more basic information about Dallax:

Dallax data

• founded in 1998 in Tokyo
• style: Skacore, Ska Punk
• line up: Numb – Vocals, 
Pe – Tenor Sax, 
Tokkun – Drums
, Gen – Trombone
, Kosuke – Guitar, 
Athack – Bass

discography:

1. Glowin’  (2004)
2. Too bad to be true (2005)
3. Tokyo Rude Vibration (2006)
4. Core Color (2008)
BigProud (2009)
5. Heart Storming (2011)

If you are interested in more video reports, you might want to go the video reports category on joescholes.com. Thanks.

Once again: The complete text of the interview with Dallax can be found here and here. Do you like to let me know what you think about the interview? Just drop me comment. I’d love to know more.

Every time I send out the prize of a Joe Scholes Ska Album Give Away, I ask the winners to send back a photo.

Of course, the winners could just walk away and say: „It’s my prize, now leave me alone.“ Others might just not have a camera at hand. Or they don’t want their picture to appear on the Web. And that all is perfectly okay, of course.

But more often than not, people DO send a photo back. And that to me is one of the best things in my blogging adventures.  It shows that real people care for the stuff I’m posting, they support the blog.  And through the photo I get a better picture of some of them.

A few days ago, Kevin from Reno, Nevada (USA) made my day when I received his photo. He wrote that he really liked the album (and dvd) “Lunar City Groove” by the British Traditional Ska band Intensified (and the cd by my former band The Braces that I also sent). In return he said he will send some stuff from his band Keyser Soze. I can’t wait to listen to it. Thanks, Kevin.

How Can YOU Get One Of These Albums For Free?

It’s pretty simple. Everyone on the joescholes mailing list is automatically enlisted. Claim your free updates here and you will take part in the give aways. The next winner will be drawn on July 30th 2011. Good luck!

If you like to have look at all the posts from the Ska Album Give Away Series, go here.

This is part 2 of the interview I did with Numb und Pe from Dallax at the beginning of their “Heart Storming” tour 2011 through Germany. Dallax talk about a bunch of interesting things: for example

• the best new Japanese Ska bands you might not yet know,
• why Japanese people haven’t embraced Facebook yet,
• the charity song “Play For Japan” that Dallax produced with friends from all over the world.

You find part 1 of the interview here.

Joe: In Europe Early Reggae, Rocksteady and Ska Soul seem to be on the rise. There are not many new 2Tone bands or Ska Punk bands. Is it the same in Japan?

Dallax: In Japan 2Tone Ska bands are few, Ska Punk is popular, there are lot of young Ska Punk bands. The scene is becoming bigger and bigger. Right now, most of the audience are young kids who do not listen to the radio, but get their information from Twitter, websites and blogs.

Joe: Yes, Twitter, that’s something I was going to mention, too. Before the downfall of myspace I thought it was easier to keep track of Japanese Ska bands. Now in Europe and the USA most bands turned to Facebook for band promotion. But Japanese bands don’t seem to be on Facebook. They use Twitter. And is there another service similar to Facebook?

Dallax: Facebook isn’t big in Japan, because Japanese people are shy. They don’t want to appear under their own name. In Japan there is a social network called mixi, that’s the biggest social communication network. It’s like Facebook, but more anonymous, and much bigger.

Joe: Are there any other Japanese Ska bands, that maybe “big in mixi.” But the rest of the world hasn’t yet heard about them?

Dallax: Yes, Hey-Smith for example. They are 21-22 years-old and already play big open air festivals. They play Skacore, Ska Punk and Pop. Melody Core plus Ska Punk. They are a really good band. Another great band is Sim. They mix Reggae, Dub and Skacore. They are really good.

Joe: This is your fifth tour through Europe. So, you are experienced in long-distance travelling. How about shorter travels? Do you also tour in other countries, like China, Indonesia (where there is a big ska scene)? Or Australia?

Dallax: We haven’t been to Australia. Last November we toured Korea. There is a Ska scene, too. But not as big as in Japan. We haven’t toured to China or Indonesia.

Joe: And in Japan? Did you play any shows after the earthquake on March 11^th 2011.

Numb: It was our “Heart Storming” release tour in Japan. We cancelled three shows. At first after the earthquake no one knew what happened, the mobile phones didn’t work. We couldn’t contact the record promoters. They worried what had happened to us.

Joe: I already heard that the families and friends of your band are okay. That’s a good thing to hear, of course. Did you already think about writing songs about the catastrophe?

Dallax: We did. We already made one, a charity song named: “Play For Japan.” We recorded it and sent the file to friends who live all around the world. They sang their parts in their countries’ language and sent back the file. From Germany there is Skaos, Babylove & The Van Dangos from Denmark, Bluekilla, Skaladin from Switzerland, P.O. Box from France. It will be released at the end of June on iTunes. It’s a really good song. In seven different languages.

Joe: Is it correct that the money that is earned with “Heart Storming” will go to benefit organizations?

Numb: Yes, to the Red Cross. The money from the charity song will go there, too. So, the music lovers out there can do something good AND get some great music.

Joe: Good luck on the tour. Arigato.

Numb: Arigato.

Go to part 1 of this interview if you like to find out more about the Dallax mini album “Heart Storming”  and the video to their song “Glow Of My Life”.

There is also a video report of this interview for you to watch.

In the meantime, why not share your love for Dallax in the comments?

The new Dallax album "Heart Storming"

These guys from Tokyo are tougher than tough. Just a few months after a horrible earthquake hit Japan and with fears of a nuclear catastrophe still present, the Skacore masters Dallax jumped on a plane to Germany to complete their FIFTH European tour.
Dallax are on a mission. The mission is to spread the word about their new release “Heart Storming” out now on Pork Pie Records. And to show that it’s hardly possible to stop them. I had the chance to talk to Dallax shortly before the first gig of their nine date tour. Singer Numb and Sax player Pe were present at the interview. Most of the time Numb did the talking.

Joe: I hear it’s your fifth time in Europe. So you keep coming back all the way. Is it still that exciting?

Dallax: Yeah, always exciting.

Joe: What are you looking forward to?

Dallax: Drinking. To see the audience. The German audience is amazing. They are always getting so high. They give me a lot of energy. So, we always come back.

Joe: Was saying Goodbye to your families different this time than the times before?

Dallax: Yes, because of the earthquake. In Japan we are in a very bad condition right now. But, you know, tomorrow something similar can happen in Germany. There are no sure things. We talked a lot with our families and with each other. Then we decided to come. Of course we worry a lot about our families, but they support us. We have to look forward. We have to be tougher. That’s why we come here again.

Joe: If it’s okay we talk some more about the earthquake and its aftermath later. Now I have some questions about your music. As a Ska band from Japan: Would you say there is anything specifically Japanese in your music? Or do you think you could come from anywhere and still sound the same?

Dallax: Ska music is from Jamaica. The music moved to England, then there was 2Tone Ska. Later Ska moved to the US, Punk Ska and Skacore were born. When Ska came to Japan, we mixed up everything. Ska has no roots in Japan. But we have the chance to choose from any roots of Ska, from anywhere. This is the Japanese sound and style I think. It’s a mix, and we move to the next level. It’s also tighter than the styles in other countries.

Joe: Your new album “Heart Storming” was released in Japan at the beginning of this year. It’s a mini album. Why that format?

Dallax: Because we wanted to release (laughs). We want to have one release every year at least. We have our own studio, so we can record more easily than before.

Joe: Today many bands record at home. Not much money is involved in the recording process. But I think your music sounds very good, and in a way that big studios sound.

Dallax: Our studio is not bigger than this room (shows). I ‘m the owner of the studio. It had been used as a professional studio before, but was like a ghost, it had been deserted. When I rented it, all the recording equipment was still there. That made recording easy for us. “Heart Storming” is in some ways a test recording. A challenge, we jammed and just recorded what we played. It was so easy and fast. With the album before we took a lot of time for each song. With “Heart Storming”, we only needed one month for everything.

Joe: The music clip to  “Glow Of My Life” features people who are holding pieces of paper in their hands and show them to the camera. Something is written on the papers: What is it?

Dallax: The name of the song is “Glow Of My Life”. We asked people: “When do you feel really happy. When do you feel “The glow of your life?” And we asked them to write the answers down. One wrote: “When I’m reading a manga”, another “When I’m listening to Ska music”. We chose “Glow Of My Life” for the video, because it is a positive song. It has a message.Today it’s a hard time to continue with music and as a band. But everyone faces the same situation for different reasons.

Joe: In an interview I read that you consider yourselves to sound “darker” than the other Ska bands. Do think musically you are becoming less dark with this recording?

Dallax: Music has got a lot of faces. A dark face, a pop face, a happy face, a sad face. “Glow Of My Life” is a pop song. But we also show other faces on the new record.

In part 2 of this interview we talk about what happened to Dallax after the earthquake and about a charity song that Dallax produced with the help of some Ska brothers from different nations. There is also a video report of the event.

In the meantime, why not share your love for Dallax in the comments?