Skafunderz - Négy

Okay so Hungarian ska band. I am excited to listen because I like European ska a bunch. It sounds cool, but I got no clue what they are saying. Maybe I should learn Hungarian. Anyways, they sound good. I can dig stylistic variety, ranging from an upbeat ska-punk feel to a more laid back reggae feel. Some of the tracks are in English, as it turns out. Track four, Patkány, is my favorite. There's a pretty cool remix of it at the end. This album is pretty good; I like it a lot.

Skafunderz

Fatal Fraud - No Torso

I'm getting a light ska punk vibe from this EP. The first song has quite a heavy sax presence, which I dig. Later on in the EP parts diverge and it gets pretty busy, which I can appreciate, but I'm not really feeling the sound of it right now. The overall sound I'm feeling is a laidback EP with little individual parts and passages that would sound a whole lot better in a more aggressive setting. I'm gonna listen to some other stuff by No Torso and see if I get anything like that out of it. Also, another reason I'll continue listening to this artist in spite of my overall lack of satisfaction is that they were signed on to Asian Man Records, and I like a lot of stuff on that label.

No Torso

From The Cradle To The Rave - A Nightmare On Wall Street

This is kinda scary. The first track is a weird sample. Next up is a drum & bass diddly with some nasty drums and a ska guitar riff going on. I was doing a bit of reading up on this while listening to it and apparently the artists label themselves as crackrocksteady and riotstep but those sound pretty subgenre of ska to me so I'm gonna tag it as ska and drum and bass. I'm really digging this album. I'd love to see this band live. The dnb with little ska interludes is something really unique, and it's pretty well executed in my opinion. Listening to this album again is a definite thing; it is staying in my library for sure. Its a free download on the label's bandcamp (linked below!!) too, so be sure to give it a listen for no loss on your part.

From The Cradle To The Rave

(a side note on the label)
There's quite a few artists on this label. The label seems pretty dedicated to dnb, punk, and ska fusion (riotstep as they call it) so be sure to check out riottunes if you like this.

Hub City Stompers - Mass Appeal

Let me start by saying the town I live in is called the Hub City because about 40 interstates and rail lines intersect here (actually the first E-W continental highway, one of the first N-S Canada to Gulf of Mexico, two interstates, and two major rail lines). Naturally, when I first heard about Hub City Stompers I got super excited because ska band in my tiny shitty town. Turns out, some other town is also the Hub City. Anyways, about the actual music: It's pretty good sounding ska, with a slight jazzy/reggae skew. Kinda mellow and laid back. I would definitely recommend if you're a fan of ska.

Hub City Stompers

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra - Walkin'

This album is pretty good. I get a Blues Brothers feel, both from the first track and the album art.There's a few "hep hep" type vocals floating around and I can dig it real good. This stuff is throwing really happy vibes at me. Really nice cover of Boogie Stop Shuffle on here too. Would listen to over and over. It's pretty long too, almost an hour.

Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra

Rantanplan - Samba

This album is pretty mediocre. None of the horn lines were catchy enough to stick for long, even worse with the guitar parts. The lyrics were in German so they might be good, I think.

Rantanplan