Soultime at the Riverside

The Straits Sound System’s first foray down to Ture at the Kallang Riverside was a total GAS!

The day was scorching by the time the Sound System had been strung up, making the cool Carib tunes and ice cold beers flow all that more freely. As the sun set over the river, the tunes had hotted up, and people were working up a thirst on the dance floor. Special props to the guys manning the grill, churning out Viet pork sarnies and Mexi chicken wraps for everyone to dig on, and Javier for manning the beer buckets until the end. The brief arrival of some trigger happy po-lice didn’t dampen the mood, but the evening did mark the sad departure of TK from the Malacca Straits to Bass Strait. He will definitely stay in touch with the rootical side of Singapore though, and hopefully can send up some selectors from the land of Oz from time to time!

Big Ups to our guest selectors for the irie tunes, and Dirk for the stringing.

All the photos from the night are here, with some selections below the fold.

Carib Soul – Saturday 28th April

Calling all roots fans on the little reggae dot!!

We promised you wouldn’t have to wait so long for your latest dose of all things rootical, and we’ve delivered!

The Straits Sound System ups stumps and moves again, keeping it fresh while still bringing all the classics, with Caribbean vibes from calypso and mento, through yankee inspired R&B and soul, to your favourite ska, rocksteady, roots reggae and some heavy heavy dub stylings.

In conjunction with the fine folks at Ture, the boys are returning to where it all kicked off (well, downstream aways). That’s right, we’re setting up by the Kallang Riverside, this time in the courtyard of Loysel’s Toy. Cheap eats and beers (with wine and softies too) will be laid on by Kilo, so come thirsty!

Tunes kick off at 3pm, easing you in to your long weekend, winding it up during the evening and winding down at midnight.

Saturday 28th April
Ture, 66 Kampong Bugis
3pm-midnight
Cheap Beer + Food laid on (no BYO)

5 minute walk from Lavender MRT

See you all there!

Location:

Dishing out the platters at the Dragon’s Jukebox!

Fire corner…

Big ups to all those – and there were a lot of you! – who made the journey out to the Dragon Kiln to celebrate the New Dragon Year with the Straits Sound System! Great to see so many new faces as well as all the old pioneers.

TK, JC and JSJ from the Straits Sound System, with guests Kostas, Ernesto, Antonis and Isaac, laid down a non-stop never drop 12 hours of tunes from 4 till 4, continuing to inspire great friendships, many memories and not a few hangovers.

The queue for the grill may have been long but the food off it was worth the wait – special props to Antonis’ granny all the way over in Greece and to the Nutty Bob cake and rasta inspired cake…. hope they went down well. Irie grub!

Much love and gratitude goes out to the artists at the Kiln who so willingly share their space – and their mussels! Despite the encroaching development, they show the world that there is more to this little island than just dollars and cents. Chant it Down!

Pics after the jump – if you have any more shoot ’em through to the mailing address.

Peace and One Love
-SSS-

The Straits Sound System takes over Eklektikon, and the Dragon’s Kiln features at BlinkBL_NK

Last Saturday, the Straits Sound System mounted a friendly takeover of Eklektikon, the freshest show on Singapore’s newest radio station – SonarFM!

In what was a radical departure from Eklektikon’s usual electronic / future beats focus, JSJ and JC from the SSS showcased some of their favourite tunes, giving listeners a taste of what to expect this coming Saturday at the Dragon’s Jukebox. Starting with some easy rocksteady and a bit of cheeky calypso, moving into King Stitt’s most famous tune, and onto some deep roots with Norris Reid and Johnny Clarke, massive dancehall with Barrington Levy, rounding out with an all time classic from Sister Nancy, plus other stuff besides! If you like what you hear, come down on Saturday to the Dragon’s Jukebox, and hear it played out through some serious wattage.

But before you hit the Party, get down to this month’s BlinkBL_NK at BluJaz Cafe on Wednesday 22nd Feb to hear John Stewart talk about the history of the Dragon Kilns, the artists that currently work there and the government’s plans for their future. It’s very possible the Dragon Kilns will not be around for much longer.

Hit the link to head over to mixcloud to listen to the boys in action, or the link below to check out the tracklist, and we’ll see you on Saturday to nice up the dance!

The Dragon’s Jukebox

The Dragon Kiln Sessions continue with another night of sweet Island sounds. After a break from the action, the boys from the Straits Sound System are back to bring your favourite Jamaican tunes to the little red dot. With the sad passing of ‘The Ugly One’, King Stitt, we’ll be sure to lay down some tunes in homage to the greatest deejay of the 60s and 70s.

So join us on the 25th of February, 4pm till late, at the Dragon Kiln, Lorong Tawas.
Bring your own beer and BBQ food, fire will be provided.

To get to the Dragon Kiln:

Take Jalan Bahar off the Pan Island Expressway (or continue on from Jln Boon Lay). Turn left onto Lorong Tawas, continue to the VERY end, do not turn right until you have to!

We still love reggae!

Hello people!

We are still here but just been busy with other things over the past couple of months. Seems like it’s time to plan another party! Hopefully we can find a date for y’all soon.

Until then here are a few things we’re enjoying…..

Burnin’ down the house!

Once again the crew from the Straits Sound System set the Dragon Kiln on fire!

With the boys’ beefed up sound, the beats could be heard far and wide, and Roots Lovers from all over the little red dot responded as plenty of new faces introduced themselves during the night.

It was great to see plenty of rockers making best use of the Brewerkz keg and the glowing coals to sate their various appetites, while the boys laid down some classic vinyl and pulled some new (and some left field) tunes from the vault to satisfy peoples’ urge to dance.

Sadly we also used this night to say ‘see ya later’ to some great friends of the Sound System, Chris, Asya and of course our favourite little pyro, Ali, who will surely be putting Sydney to the torch before too long! Big ups to Chef Chris for the irie grub too!

As always, keep it locked right here for news of upcoming events – and a quick word to the wise, swing by Rodyk St on the river this Sunday arvo, you never know what you might stumble across…
/Edit – no tunes this Sunday, last minute change of plans. Will keep you all posted though!

Till next time, make it reggae!

Peace,
the SSS

ps the photo is from our friend kostas – check out his other pics (‘n’ mixes) here!

Catch a Fire!

Apologies to all you Roots fans out there on the little red dot (and beyond!), but after an enforced absence (no, we weren’t in jail … just busy!), the Straits Sound System is back to Caress your Cares, Soothe your Souls and Maximize your Mojo with more classic Island riddims n beats!

Following the overwhelmingly good vibes from our last throwdown at the Dragon Kiln, we’re heading back out to the jungle to Catch a Fire!

Saturday 16th July, 4pm – LATE.

BYO booze and bbq food. Brewerkz is also donating a keg, so turn up early before the well runs dry! The coals will be stoked all night to let you cook up, and we have an extra special guest on hand preparing some of the finest nosh north of Sydney Harbour.

Details on how to get to the Kiln are below, and if you know any fellow Roots fans who want to get off the merry-go-round for a night, bring them along for a taste of Singapore’s B-side.

Much love

StraitsSoundSystem

To get to the Dragon Kiln:

Take Jalan Bahar off the Pan Island Expressway or continued from Jln Boon Lay. Turn left onto Lorong Tawas, continue to the VERY end, do not turn right until you have to!

RIP Lloyd Knibb

Lloyd Knibb, who died this week of liver cancer, was the drummer for the Skatalites.

More info and a brief eulogy are here.

RIP Lloyd.

The Straits Sound System lends a hand

Thanks to the efforts and hardwork of Brewerkz and many other sponsors and organisers, over $10,000 was raised on Saturday 9th April to contribute to World Vision’s ongoing relief work in Japan.

After a day consisting of tea ceremonies and origami sessions, calligraphy and bracelet making, the boys from the Straits Sounds System bought the evening to a fine close with some sweet Ska and Rocksteady, Island Soul, Rootical tunes and even some Funky Reggae to lift everybody’s spirits and project those healing vibes. More pics from the evening can be seen after the fold below.

Thanks to all those who came down in support of such a great cause, and please keep the people of Japan in your hearts and minds as they continue to grapple with the awful consequences of the earthquake and tsunami.

Peace!

The SSS