Maximum Joy Silent Street/Silent Dub (1981)
Musically, Bristol has an interesting history: it was an outpost of reggae music in the 80s, with a thriving underground scene and Black pirate radio stations pushing the sound to the growing Afro-Caribbean community in the city. This community has settled in the area primarily as a result of post-WWII migration.
Even though diversity wasn’t always celebrated in Bristol, as is evidenced by the racially charged riots the city had to grapple with in the 1980s, now its cultural diversity is at the forefront of how Bristol markets itself. This is a beautiful thing, and a wonderful example of righting previous wrongs.
Maximum Joy, a post-punk band formed in Bristol in the 80s, is by their own admission influenced by the diversity of their hometown, with elements of punk, reggae, jazz and hip-hop all audible throughout their discography. Today’s song “Silent Street/Silent Dub” could have come out yesterday, it is so good and feels quite contemporary. It’s percussive and yet still minimal, a super refined melting of genres for grooving, dancing and singing along to. Culty, classic and so effing cool.
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