ZINC FENCE RECORD OF THE WEEK

The Return - Baby Cham (Mad House)

For this recording, Dave Kelly seems to have relocated his Madhouse label to a Tunisian bazaar. A bagpipe swirls up from the teeming souk around the studio and pattering drums chat with each other among the carpet sellers and snake charmers. When the wicked one drop bass line cuts in, your speaker boxes will start to heave and undulate like a pair of Middle Eastern belly dancers.


Baby Cham has two different cuts to this rhythm, The Return and Middle Fingers In The Air. As its title might suggest, Middle Fingers In The Air is the less interesting lyric, although Baby Cham's repeated exhortations to his audience to raise their hands conjures up appropriate dance floor mayhem.


The Return, on the other hand, is Baby Cham's blistering verdict on what he feels is the mediocre state of current music in Jamaica: "When I drop the lyrics certain boy a paraphrase me, how they get so lazy...no wonder things a run so cos the entertainer dem a snoring." A gruff un named voice also cuts in, referring darkly at one point to a mysterious incident at Dave Kelly's recording studio "Dave Kelly the producer mash up, recording studio lock up, all kind of ting." Baby Cham's trademark DJ style is to declaim each line as a stand alone, stiletto-sharp statement and his fans will not be disappointed here.


Last year's Man A Man on Xtra Large was massive for Baby Cham but he still records less frequently than other big name Jamaican DJs, so don't miss these two. Other cuts to this rhythm are Brian & Tony Gold's My Life and Frankie Sly's Mi See It, both well worth a purchase.

 

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