the two ska albums I have
Just two. I had a short ska phase around the end of psychedelic classic rock and before I really got into indie rock. It’s tied in my mind to Boy Scouts and a few kinds who I talked about these albums with or listened to them with.
- The Mighty Mighty Bosstones Let’s Face It
- Skankin’ Pickles Green Album
I should listen to them again and see what I think now.
November 9th, 2006 at 9:20 am
I think you mean skacore.
The latter album you link to is called “Green Album”
November 9th, 2006 at 10:04 am
Uh, skacore is a sub-genre of ska, right? Like if I called something emo, but it was better described as screamo or emocore, I’d still be right, just less specific.
Or if I called something sadcore and it was slowcore, I’d still be right, just not as specific.
Fixed the Green Album thing.
November 9th, 2006 at 12:30 pm
Skacore is an American thing from the 90s. Ska purists would say that “ska” only applies to the first wave Jamaican stuff.
November 9th, 2006 at 12:36 pm
Emo purists would say the same thing about emo (the first-wave part, not the Jamaican part).
November 9th, 2006 at 12:51 pm
I think the Jamaican part is key. The music/culture of Jamaicans in the 60s is *really* different from the music/culture of white Americans in the 90s.
I don’t know much about Emo. My quick scan of wikipedia shows that all the waves of Emo were white American kids.
November 9th, 2006 at 1:01 pm
There’s ska from England that’s considered ska, I believe. The 2-Tone stuff and all that. You’re sort of backing yourself intoa corner saying that all ska is Jamaican and all music by non-Jamaicans is not ska.
This is silly. How much do you know about ska? How much do I know about ska? How much does anyone know about ska? In fact, I think I’ve only met one person ever that I’d consider an expert on ska that I would believe in answering these questions.
November 9th, 2006 at 1:17 pm
I am not proposing a generalized thesis on this topic. There is a big difference between first wave Jamaican ska and the two skacore bands you mentioned in your post. You felt the need to say “psychedelic classic rock”. I am surprised that the only label you gave those two bands is “ska”.
November 9th, 2006 at 1:23 pm
Well, you’re making general statements about the subject.
There is a difference between 60’s ska and the bands I mentioned, however I believe they can both be called ska.
I think it’s obvious I never got much into ska music by the fact that I bought TWO CDS EVER. I was much more into psychedelic classic rock (to differentiate it from other types of classic rock (southern, etc.)) and indie rock. Part of relaying my short jaunt into the genre is encapsulated in saying ‘ska’.
November 9th, 2006 at 1:33 pm
My statements on the subject were all pretty specific. You can call those two bands ska, but doing so sounds pretty silly.
November 9th, 2006 at 1:56 pm
Alright, show of hands (or comments): who thinks I look silly calling these bands ska?
Come on, don’t be afraid of offending me or anything.
November 9th, 2006 at 2:04 pm
Me.
November 9th, 2006 at 2:10 pm
very silly
November 9th, 2006 at 2:11 pm
I concur, silly
November 9th, 2006 at 4:19 pm
Jesse, why would you cast three votes? Very clever making two of them from a different IP address (sub-zero) than your current one though. Very clever.
November 9th, 2006 at 7:14 pm
Not silly. I have a Mustard Plug CD, which I would also refer to as ska.
November 9th, 2006 at 7:46 pm
Very silly.
November 10th, 2006 at 1:21 pm
First-wave Ska is Ska. Third-wave Ska is ska. I find the old (mostly Jamacian) stuff to be fairly good, and the new stuff to be unlistenable. I mean, c’mon. You wouldn’t say that The Beatles aren’t Rock and Roll (or Pop, if you like) because they aren’t American? Or that there’s no such thing as non-swedish Metal?
Ska purists are retarded. Emo purists are retarded. Music purists are retarded, and should invent time travel so they can go back in time and listen to whatever existed before the masses ruined it.
November 10th, 2006 at 1:23 pm
Arguing on the Internet!@ Woohoo!@
On that note, most comments on one of Adrian’s blog posts ever? Even if a few of them are faked?
November 14th, 2006 at 10:22 am
Bosstones and Skankin Pickle are definitely NOT ska. I would also strictly define them as Ska-core, which I would not consider a sub-genre of Ska. A ska band would not cover SSD songs. Let’s Face It, incidentally, was Stage II of the beginning of the end for the Bosstones and a truly horrible album. Question the Answers was stage I of the beginning of the end, but was still pretty good.
As for the definition of Ska — I can’t say what it is. I would be tempted to limit it to Jamaican-only music of certain time period, “sound” and tempo. In my conversations with Gene over the years (who I’m sure is the “ska expert” previously referred to), I gathered that there is a definite tempo requirement for Ska that differentiates it from Rocksteady et al.
Ska is a Jamaican-born style of music. I don’t think that can be argued. Rock and Pop were not strictly products of America or Britain so I don’t think that comparision applies re: the beatles.