Fort Knox Five is a four-piece dub/funk/dance band from DC. They make me think of a funkier version of Thievery Corporation.

The four guys behind the band are Sid Barcelona, Jon Horvath, Rob Myers and Steve Raskin.

I’ve been listening to their stuff non-stop for the last two weeks. There’s also a remix version of their album Radio Free DC, which is top notch.

For some free downloads, here are three of their songs:

I love all the Fat Freddy’s Drop music videos. They always make me think of hanging out with people. Their videos usually feature the band members walking together on a street or sidewalk.

This video is no different.

Fat Freddy’s Drop is from Wellington, New Zealand, about 10,000 miles west of California. Here it is on a map:

With the recent release of their new album, Sound the Alarm, Thievery Corporation continues its domination of ambient dub. This is the third track from that album.

Thievery Corporation is a Washington DC based DJ duo of Eric Hilton and Rob Garza. They are co-owners of the 18th Street Lounge in DC, where Thievery got its start back in 1995 over strong drinks and while listening to a mix of jazz and world records.

See them in concert, and you’ll be talking about it for days. They travel the world with a full orchestra, two drummers, horns, plus other instruments, and they feature a revolving door of singers and MCs, so there’s constantly someone new with a mic amping up the crowd. Eric and Rob stand in the back, mixing it all together.

I’m not convinced that they do anything back there, but the resulting sound is perfect, so whatever they’re doing, they’re doing it right.

Thievery Corporation is bringing their traveling orchestra to San Francisco on New Years.

Formed in 1988 in Long Beach, California, Sublime was one of the first bands to fuse Hip Hop, Punk, and Reggae. They were a forerunner of the Punk Ska movement that swept high schools across the US in the 1990′s, and they were one of the few bands in this genre that were also able to reach mainstream success.

Sublime has sold over 17 million records worldwide. Their third and self titled album was their most commercially successful. It was released just after singer, song writer, and guitar player, Brad Nowell died of a Heroine overdose.

The band then broke up in 1996, but original band members went on to form the Long Beach Dub All Stars, another band that gets the YoCheckThisJam badge of approval.

Jams Similar to Sublime – Don’t Push

JJ Grey and Mofro – Orange Blossom
Fat Freddy’s Drop – Wandering Eye

Collie Buddz has a great neck. Its thus no wonder that he likes to show it off in his PR photos.

After offshore banking, Collie Buddz is probably Bermuda’s biggest export. He was born in New Orleans, but moved to Bermuda at an early age.

If you haven’t heard this jam before, you probably aren’t a regular at Reggae Night’s within any major metropolitan area. Come Around has been a fixture at these types of shindigs for the last 12+ months.

More reggae songs are coming on this blog soon. In the meantime, check out the music video for Fat Freddy’s Drop – Wandering Eye. A self described ‘South Pacific Soul Monster.’

Arguably New Zealand’s most popular seven-piece, dub/Reggae band, Fat Freddy’s Drop won a number of top awards at the 2006 New Zealand Music Awards, including the People’s Choice Award, and the award for the highest selling album for the previous year. Their third award was for best music video, for Wandering Eye (embedded below) All of these awards came following their release of their first studio album Based on a True Story.

They are a self-described South Pacific Soul Monster. Fitting way to refer to a top notch soul/dub/reggae band from New Zealand.