Eek-A-Mouse
Reggae Anthology: Eek-Ology
Album · Reggae · 2013
In the early '80s, a bumper crop of fast-chatting, street-minded DJs emerged onto the Jamaican recording scene to challenge the preeminence of the harmony groups and charismatic male vocalists who'd dominated the roots era. Few of these DJs were more distinctive than Eek-A-Mouse, known for peppering his toasts with strings of wordless syllables; their percussive power lent them real musical force. Eek-A-Mouse’s early recordings for veteran roots producer Linval Thompson were outstanding in their own right, but it was when Mouse began to record for up-and-coming soundman Henry “Junjo” Lawes that he really came into his own. Lawes’ tight, punchy rub-a-dub rhythms provided an ideal counterpoint to Eek-A-Mouse’s chaotic, cascading delivery, making these records some of the best to emerge from the Junjo stable. This well-assembled anthology on VP’s 17 North Parade imprint collects 34 of Eek-A-Mouse’s finest recordings from this period, including previously unreleased Peel Session cuts and a number of rare early singles.
Reggae Anthology: Eek-Ology
Eek-A-Mouse
In the early '80s, a bumper crop of fast-chatting, street-minded DJs emerged onto the Jamaican recording scene to challenge the preeminence of the harmony groups and charismatic male vocalists who'd dominated the roots era. Few of these DJs were more distinctive than Eek-A-Mouse, known for peppering his toasts with strings of wordless syllables; their percussive power lent them real musical force. Eek-A-Mouse’s early recordings for veteran roots producer Linval Thompson were outstanding in their own right, but it was when Mouse began to record for up-and-coming soundman Henry “Junjo” Lawes that he really came into his own. Lawes’ tight, punchy rub-a-dub rhythms provided an ideal counterpoint to Eek-A-Mouse’s chaotic, cascading delivery, making these records some of the best to emerge from the Junjo stable. This well-assembled anthology on VP’s 17 North Parade imprint collects 34 of Eek-A-Mouse’s finest recordings from this period, including previously unreleased Peel Session cuts and a number of rare early singles.
