What a beautiful album: Hornsman Coyote Meets House of Riddim, “Madman Slide” (House of Riddim)! One of the most impressive works I have heard in recent weeks. The rhythms are rich, dynamic, full of warmth and emotion – and there is also this impressive lead instrument: the trombone. It simply sounds majestic. It is probably due to its dark tone and the relatively high bass content compared to the trumpet that it sounds so warm, relaxed and confident – exactly what is perfect for Dub No wonder that the band Message recently used the trombone as a lead instrumentHornsman Coyote shows us how versatile the instrument can be: sometimes gentle and grooving, sometimes energetic and driving. Sometimes it caresses the rhythm, sometimes it sounds like the trumpets of Jericho. Seven days of trombone playing can bring down the strongest walls - or so the Bible claims. Hornsman plays the trombone for 11 tracks, which adds up to 43 minutes, but at the right volume it can also shake walls. Important: If "instrumental album" and "trombone" make you think of Dean Fraser's saxophone excursions, you need not be afraid here. Unlike Fraser, where the saxophone often floats somewhat isolated above the rhythms, Hornsman's trombone playing interacts harmoniously with the backings, is almost embedded in them and combines organically with the rhythms without ever being intrusive. Hornsman uses a clever trick to achieve this: he often plays the trombone on two tracks that are layered on top of each other in the mix, which makes the instrument sound softer and gentler and allows it to blend even more with the rhythms. But all of this would only be half as impressive without the magnificent backing tracks of House of Riddim. This Austrian band really is one of the best - their productions are masterfully crafted and show how well reggae and Dub can sound.

5 Responses to “Hornsman Coyote Meets House of Riddim: Madman Slide”
“If you think of Dean Fraser’s saxophone excursions when you hear “instrumental album” and “trombone”, you need not be afraid here.”
Yo, of course I feel directly addressed ;-)
Is there actually more DubFans who, like me (now), suffer from a real “saxophobia”? Or is this really only directed at me?
Well, for me it's not just limited to the saxophone.
I can't handle any kind of (in my opinion) exaggerated "gevoice" (singing and wind instruments). If the saxophone sounds to me like an aria by Mariah Carray (or something similar), I run away. It's the same with flutes, trombones, trumpets and whatever else there is.
This is similar to the (also in my opinion) exaggerated guitar strumming in heavy metal or (I hardly dare write it) Jimmy Hendrix. Oh dear, please don't hit me.
Here too, the trombone is too much for me over the length of the album. But every single piece on this album is a force to be reckoned with in its own right.
I have particularly enjoyed “Human” and “Long Ship” so far.
But it's a great album and I didn't want to ignore the nice review.
(Nevertheless, I find most fans to be somewhat stuffy and am reminded of James Last shows, although he wasn't actually that stuffy if I'm not mistaken. But his music and his show were and are an abomination to me.)
Greetings ………………… .. lemmi
I can relate to that so much, lemmi! I feel the same way, although I am so impressed by the massiveness of the House of Riddim on this album that I can block out the saxophone. Sometimes more, sometimes less. But if you're going to reach into the box of the almost unpronounceable, I'll dare to do it too. If it's Augustus Pablo, next tune. Or I'll look for the riddim and enjoy it without the trumpets. I might be doing the pioneer of trumpeting an injustice, but it's just exhausting for my ears. And the same goes for exaggerated guitar solos and affected singing. To give another example, when I hear Queen I run away faster than a Porsche can get off the ground. So I can understand you completely. However, I don't want to defame the quality of the musicians mentioned here in any way. Lemmi certainly doesn't want that either, but everyone has different ears and since there is such a vast selection of tunes with offbeat, everyone can choose what suits them. But it's still good when it's mentioned. Greetings and an exciting offbeat year!
Yo “Don Giovanni”!
It always makes me very happy when I'm not alone in the world with my opinion or my feelings. Both in the good and the bad. I've also always been very happy when I've seen other people at live reggae concerts who almost completely freaked out because the music was so extremely good.
Yes, and Queen is a completely different "construction site" for me. In the long run, actually everything that has nothing to do with reggae. Although my playlist on Spotify, which doesn't have any reggae tunes, is already almost 7 hours long. Occasionally, something new is added.
I have already broken the taboo with Augustus Pablo several times. Melodica on an album length is very exhausting for me too. But when I hear music with melodica, then Augustus Pablo and Dr. Pablo from Dub Syndicate. (I hardly dare to say this but I always thought it was Dr. Augustus Pablo ;-) ) And I repeat myself. I don't need a "new album" today where more than 5 minutes of melodica can be heard. As a basis for DubEffects or small mystical recordings are always welcome, but that's fine too.
And yes, just like you, I don't want to defame any musicians. And especially not House Of Riddim. Here's a little story, which I won't be telling for the first time. I celebrated my first album by Hornsman Coyote for weeks because the riddims and the sound were exactly what I wanted, but it was precisely these albums that made me realize that I have a mixed relationship with melodies that, figuratively speaking, stick in my ear. And so my first album was also my last Hornsman album.
I hope I'm not being too annoying here, but if you find it boring, you can always switch channels.
I would like to tell you about my first encounter with House Of Riddim. I have problems with time, so I can't say when it was. I'll just say ReggaeJam in Bersenbrück. The festival is still ranked number one today, but I've never been able to understand it. Firstly, you were searched for cannabis at the train station by the "new German Gestapo" and I found the quality of the music and the bands almost as bad at the beginning, or my first time in B.Brück. I lay outside on the grass almost the whole time, and everything I heard from inside sounded like beginners or bands who wanted to try their hand at reggae. And that to me, who normally goes into ecstasy when the drummer starts the sound check... And I swear that it was exactly like that (or at least very similar). After all the wishy-washy nonsense and the countless amateur bands that performed, real reggae suddenly came to me from the monastery garden, on the lawn in front of the main entrance. Suddenly a jolt went through my whole body and for the first time I felt the power of reggae that I had missed so much in B.Brück. It was House Of Riddim, who were just warming up and doing the sound check. For me it had (and now I'm breaking another taboo) the quality of the Roots Radics.
A (white) reggae band from Austria plays such cool reggae??!
I could hardly believe it. But it was true. (I think it is now well known that I am also a racist when it comes to reggae, but I have also experienced “black, weak reggae bands” that were miles away from the power of the Wailers, Roots Radics, Sly And Robbie and Gladiators and well… I don’t want to list them all now. Oh yes, the Robotiks (not the ones from today) also easily managed to create a sound with four men that, for me, simply puts every TurboBooster in the shade. For me, that was and is the primal power of reggae, although I have to admit that of the first bands, I was only able to experience the Skatalites live and direct. And that wasn’t the original line-up either, but all the musicians of the first reggae-ska hour were there. At RasVorbei you can read in the review “Herb Dub Colie Dub“ to find out which line-up I was able to experience. Not only but also because of Johnny “Dizzy” Moore on the trumpet, I had tears of joy in my eyes throughout the whole concert. In comparison, everything is rubbish these days. The current line-up of the Skatalites no longer has any charm for me either. The concerts may still be good but my “problem” is that I have the comparison and it just doesn’t groove like it used to.
Just like it used to be! I could go from the 100th to the 1000th.
After many years apart, Michael Rose got back together with Black Uhuru to relive the old days, but I would say there was nothing left to build on, because everyone had already lost track. And without Puma Jones, Black Uhuru was something like a "Mission Impossible". But in my opinion it couldn't have been any different than a really weak "number", because nothing was of the same mold anymore, everyone was just playing to themselves. I call that a copy (!)! (I would still be happy to go to a concert like that, of course, but I wouldn't drive 100 kilometers or more for that anymore).
Yes, sorry Giovanni, if I've talked too much into you. Actually, I just wanted to thank you for pouring a little grist for my mill. Now it's become a kind of coming to terms with the past and a kind of psychological self-therapy on my part, but what can I do, I'm enjoying it somehow. I could carry on writing for at least another two hours, but I'd rather take a break.
However, I must make it clear that my arrogance towards amateur reggae bands is not meant in a bad way. At least 30 years ago I sat in front of a drum kit like that, more or less by chance, because someone thought I might have a talent for it. But I could only play the very simple riddims by Sly Dunbar and Style Scott a little bit on the welding table with oxyacetylene welding rods. At least I could keep up the tempo and so two more experienced musicians played along and the whole thing sounded somewhat, or at least a little, like reggae. From that moment on it was clear to me that we now had a reggae band and I was the drummer!!! There really isn't much that feels better than making music with friends or real musicians. The feelings that come with that are usually very short-lived ;-) ... if you know what I mean.
Well, my talent wasn't that great after all and so I never became a musician and certainly not a drummer. But what I'm trying to say is that if I had just a little more talent for making music, I would probably still be playing in one of those countless lazy hobby bands today. And of course I would be delighted to be booked for a live concert but that doesn't make things any better. Because you have to be able to play reggae properly and not just half-way.
House Of Riddim can do it …………………………… lemmi
Yeah, just as you watered my mill with your comment, I was also motivated to pour water on it. Because the topic of affected droning and oversized singing or solos hits a nerve. And one that is often unspoken. And that's why I'm happy to read such clear words. But it's always about subjective feelings, which are however expressed here on this blog in a fair and respectful way! RESPECT!
Unfortunately, that has become rare these days and I attribute that to a basic theme of reggae, the propagated respectful treatment of other opinions (apart from the homophobic aberrations and derailments of some artists). Besides, why else would there be comment fields if readers don't use them, especially if the reviews hit a nerve. So I read/listen to every review and am happy about every comment, no matter how long it is ;-)
I don't know if you've opened something like "Pandora's box" here and I hope I can put it a little more briefly.
Respectful behavior probably has something to do with age, and here we're not that young anymore. So we should be able to do that now, I think. Only children seem to babble on YouTube, Facebook and all that other crap. There are a few exceptions here too. But what's being spouted there is - in my view - really bad brainwashing and mass manipulation.
You either have to be too young or you have been completely irradiated by the emissions from the screen. The so-called right-wing shock among young people in particular underlines my point of view.
An adult who has learned even the tiniest bit of history in class cannot possibly take even a small step to the right and vote for parties in which Nazis are obviously blubbering. If they were at least blubbering, it would be OK, because I have nothing against blubbering in general and especially in particular. I have not found real democracy to be perfect either, but it will always be the lesser evil for me.
Well, you hear the craziest things, even in our schools, little shitty Nazis have disguised themselves as teachers and are propagating right-wing garbage and in some cases even acting accordingly. But only the students who were not born in Germany notice this first hand. And because I wanted to try to keep it a bit shorter, I will now just write that the war against democracy with the abolition of fact-checking in the antisocial babbling media,
is now entering the next critical phase. The only thing that will help is a complete boycott. Turn everything off! Don't post anything anymore and don't read anything on the SS-Net. Yes, I have to write that because I really like posting.
But only in DubBlog. You are welcome to prove me wrong, but please do so with RESPECT ;-)