DACTAH CHANDO – CLARA

Dactah Chando, the standout discovery on the anniversary compilation King Size Dub 15, is back on Echo Beach. The surf fanatic from the island of Tenerife recorded 15 demos with his co-producer and friend Toby Nambur (Six Nation) at Achinech Studio in the south part of the island. Producer Guido Craveiro (who has worked with Dellé, The Police In Dub and many more) recognised the potential of the tracks and took the material back to his studio in Cologne to tinker with it, arrange and mix it. The result, Dactah Chando’s debut album “Clara” walks a line between salsa muffin à la Sargent Garcia and international reggae-industry standard as popularised by Seeed and Alborosie. With his striking vocal style, Dactah Chando successfully rides one-drop and electric dancehall riddims. There’s absolutely no doubt that this artist will shape the sound of the season – well beyond the borders of the reggae community…

Dactah Chando is a child of the beach, a nature lover who starts off every day on his surfboard – his house is only a deep base wave away from the beach in Almáciga. “Every morning the connection with the ocean is a very deep, almost meditative thing for me”, he explains in an interview. “It’s where I take my strength and my creativity for my music.” As singer and musician Chando has been a key player in the local music scene on Tenerife for some time: touring the island as a vocalist for local sound systems or on the road with the band Binghisound, who have also worked as backing band for Brinsley Forde (ASWAD). When the Wailers came to perform in Tenerife Chando guested on percussion. Recent recordings include “Power Fi Chant” on the “Hooded Claw” riddim – a megamix of the riddim with Alborosie, Frank Dellé, Luciano, Gyptian and Louie Culture plus a handful of dub versions can be found as the bonus track on the CD. A further highlight of the last year, although Clara was only a distant rumour then, was the invitation to Rototom Sunsplash in Benicassim, where he shared a stage with Sargent Garcia. Dactah has toured in Venezuela and Cuba, and a large part of his fan base is from the American continent.

Ever since Europeans started sailing the world, Tenerife has been a stopping place on the way to the west. Under the majestic pinnacle of the Teide, the vessels would stock up on fresh water for the last time before crossing the Atlantic. Culturally, the island is in many ways a link between the old world and the new, sitting between European and Latin American traditions. The singer and songwriter Chando is himself a hybrid figure, bringing together the Caribbean cultural practices of reggae with his own surf spirituality and Spanish lyrics, which use the Canary idiom to tell of day-to-day life on the Canary Island and which are also understood in Venezuela and Cuba where people can sing along! In an interview, he reveals his deep attachment and love for the Canario style: “I don’t copy Jamaica; I sing of my own lifestyle and my feeling for rhythm, both of which are quite distinctly from here and are unmistakably linked to the Canary Islands.”

“Clara” is his calling card for the world. In 18 tracks and three dubs it unfolds this free spirit’s vision. Highlights include the driving opener “Wansagain”, which is an excellent showcase for the combination of Chando’s razor-sharp voice and Guido Craveiro’s stylish modern production. The Cologne-based producer, who was also responsible for the sound of Frank Dellé’s Album “Before I Grow Old”, was recommended to Chando by his Achinech label boss and surf pal Ingo, ensuring that everything stayed in the family. This also applies to the majestic skank of “Palante”, where Chando shares a mic with Pachango, singer of the overnational Latin/reggae band Six Nation, of which Toby Nambur is also a member. A further feature highlight is the Jamaican reggae queen Tanya Stephens on “Abusadores”.

Mid-nineties, the stream of publications gradually subsided, Sherwood had how many others are struggling with the tides of the music industry. Nevertheless, he remained constantly busy to realize compilations and album projects, some in collaboration with other labels such as EMI or Real World. After all, just appeared there with “Never Trust A Hippy” and “Becoming A Cliché” two Sherwood authors albums with memorable tunes (“Zero Zero One”), which already laid the rails into the dubstep age. Sherwood himself held On-U Sound against all odds at running, founded by the way side labels (such as the 12 “Imprint Green Tea) and the reissue label Pressure Sounds (with Nick Holdsworth) or the 7” and 10 “Label” Soundboy “went to London deejay friends and electrifying live dub shows on tour and stopped with his mobile sound system on the cutting edge of time.

On-U Sound: King Size Dub special
A few of the tastiest fruits of more than 30 years of travel gathered now this King Size Dub special with a sensational selection. The principle of the Versioning is maintained at On- U Sound with a devotion that can drive some collectors into despair , and so is “Stop This Train ” , formerly published as Singers & Players -12 ” , now in a Spanish version of Gabriella Rodriguez , the dream Jam by Roots Manuva , LSK and Lee ” Scratch” Perry are based on a Upsetters riddim “More Is Insane .”; cooperation of the Sugarhill Gang with Bim Sherman under the name Strange Parcels (in the words of Skip McDonald ” Four Tops Gone Wrong ” ) appears in the hard -to-find 10 ” mix. Among the classics on the compilation include the ” Weed Specialist” of 2Badcard , ” Wadada ” (Dub Syndicate ) and ” One Drop ” the Revolutionary Dub Warriors . In addition, you can find real rarities such as the originally published on Hitrun ” Melody Mountain ” of the New Age Steppers , and hidden treasures like ” Rise and Shine” the trumpeter Harry Beckett died in 2010 , and Ian King , “Death & The Lady” , an “on U sound folk lord ” production from last year .

Technically, these sound good 70 minutes, a fascinating Bigger Picture. Although the selection ranges from the deepest roots of the On-UStory to the present day, it all sounds like mixed into a single, relaxed dub session. And as always, fans can already start times to lay the cards for upcoming events. New pieces by Jeb Loy Nichols, Tack >> Head and lots of announced “forthcoming album” (New Age Steppers, Crispy Horns, Little Axe) cast long shadows.