• King-Earthquake

Errol Arawak - Expel / Mexican

King Earthquake

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Militant, raw steppers from Birmingham's tuffest soundsystem operator 'Errol Arawak' -


King Earthquake has been running since 1977 in Birmingham, UK.
First playing at the so called 'Blues' clubs that were set up by the Jamaican communities, the Windrush generation, coming from the Carbbean Island to the UK, enlisted to help the country thrive after WW2, and after Jamaica had finally achieved independence from English colonialism. Upon arrival, Jamaicans took it upon themselves to cater for their social & music events in the country, to fill this cultural void that they had to leave back in 'yard' (Jamaica), at a time when racism was even more rife, and most Black people were not welcome in conventional clubs or discos, which were reserved for the white british public.
And of course they needed to find a way for Jamaican reggae music to be played, on soundsystems and home made hifi's, from night time until the early hours, as had been done in Jamaica. This was the start of the so called 'soundsystem scene' many of us enjoy now.

King Earthquake stepped in amongst the Youthman sounds in the blues dance, and then in dancehall's amongst bigger sounds, but in his own words was 'forced to take a long meaningless break' between '85 and the year 2000... Perhaps explaining the more militant sound of his return.

Two decades later (and even a case of fire damage to the soundsystem) and King Earthquake sound continues to send tremors through the foundations of many venues, playing reggae and dub music at loud & powerful volume, for upliftment of the masses that come to the dance, and to spread a militant message against babylon, and for peace, love & unity for all.

These cuts 'Expel', and 'Mexican' are good examples of this thunderous style.
No big production tricks or embellishments, just raw, fierce & heavyweight bass & drum, and majestic, fully dread melodies and percussive elements. Stripped back to their most striking core, ready to rattle ribcages and get your blood pumping - powerful, militant dubwise style.

'Mexican' and the stripped dub cut on the flip are the pacy steppers on this disc, with filtered, splashy reverbed snares and delayed, rolling hi-hats keeping the movement throughout.

'Expel' slows down the pace a little, and lets the bass growl with extra gut wrenching, chest pumping impact.

Do not play this quietly. No point.

Expel



Expel (Dub)



Mexican



Mexican (Dub)