How much rusty we became is best shown through the fact that this is our first article on the website in 2021. And if anything is going to wake us up and get us back on track, then it’s definitely Black Roots.
Last year in March 2020, I had the opportunity to listen to their dub album “Dub Factor 2”. Extraordinary dub album, under the same record label “Nubian Records.” All thanks to Sarah Ferdi music agent.
Do you know who Black Roots are? They are the musicians who recorded the 1984 album “On the frontline.” It’s an album I’ve shuddered at, laughed at, and even cried many times. Right now, an echo of the song “What Dem A Do” went through my head. I shivered again.
It is absolutely amazing to hear their new album after 35 years from that moment. You must be wondering what is the same and what is different?
Unfortunately, there are the same problems that inspire Black Roots music. The instruments are the same, and so are the musicians, almost.
What is different? Age.
Let’s finally talk about the album.
What I like most about the “Nothing in the larder” album is that famous Black Roots brass section. Sounds really great; right now, I am listening to the “White Mall” track.
The whole album is superbly played musically, from the horn section, bass to drums. The sound really floats.
The whole album is vocally in some relaxed element with the standard problems we encounter in this world, especially the third world, from this pandemic that we no longer want to write or hear about, growing racism and discrimination.
“Divide, conquer, and rule” seems to be the new mantra the Black Roots say.
That is why “Nothing in the larder” is a reminder that the world must return (if it ever was) to nurturing equal values, justice, and enlightenment.
Each of these topics touches the idea that “you have to know where you come from, in order to know your way home.”. For some, this is an invitation to return to Africa. But there is also the realization that a return to Africa is not a return to some mythical country, but that it is a return to a continent that has suffered and still suffers from a colonial and imperialist legacy.
The bottom line is that this is a really nice album, especially when we consider that this is a band that has done so much for reggae music. The Black Roots are without a doubt one of the greatest legacies of the British reggae scene.
Follow them, support them, and keep the music that is selflessly given.
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