What is "Ska"?
 

Someone told me to get them some "ska" music.. what exactly is that? o___O

it's sort of the result you get when you put brass instruments in with a punk rock band :laugh

I'd recommend Real Big Fish, Less than Jake and Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra :)

ska is very very happy music...

hm i see, that dosen't sound too bad. Hey bulmasman, you know any good songs from them? I really dont want to do this cd for him but I promised so, yeah :doh

most stuff by Real Big Fish is good, best by less than jake is "all my friends are metal heads" or at least i think it's called that (been so long since i listened to much in english. another band to check out would be "Me first and the gimme gimme's"

don't actually know anything by tokyo ska paradise orchestra, just my brother said they sounded ok

were'nt "no doubt" ska-ish?

Kinda, but No Doubt pretty much mixed in everything; pop, ska, new wave, punkrock. Mixed bag.

Reel Big Fish is pretty good, saw them live and they were nice. I used to like Goldfinger as well, but meh. The best band that combines ska and punkrock that I can think of right now is Rancid, their 'And Out Come The Wolves...' album was pretty much stuck in my CD-player way back when. However, not really a fan of the whole ska and punkrock thing anymore.

Mind, by the way, that most of what's considered ska these days is more a blend of punkrock and ska; for some original ska you should go back ages. It's an offspring of reggae; difference is, as James already pointed out shortly, the use of instruments. Reggae relies heavily on the use of guitar, ska on the use of brass instruments - trumpet etc.

Some other well-know bands and artists: Mark Foggo, Mighty Mighty Bosstones, Operation Ivy (pre-Rancid), The Specials, and of course Madness.

About Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra; haven't heard much by them either (not really interested, too), although their collaboration with Shiina Ringo (Mayonaka Wa Junketsu) was brilliant, of course.

Whoa, hey Thanks alot sxesven! it sounds like a pretty good genre. Someone told me that RHCP (Red Hot Chilli Peppers) would be considered semi-ska. I didn't know what that meant but Ive always considered them to be more rock.

By The way: Lost in Translation is an AWSOME movie! :smitten

welcome to the club :D

RHCP aren't semi-ska at all... they're definately rock.

humm.. never heard of it...

:yes

Indeed, their music is rock with funk influences.

Sublime, Reel Big Fish, Kemuri, and Catch-22...

^ All recommended.

Kemuri is a Japanese Ska band, With many English songs.

Sublime is awesome.

The ONLY good ska song is Nobody Likes a Bogan by Area 7.

Alright, let's be honest:

Ska SUCKS.

Correction... reggae came after ska.

Jamacian music timeline:
SKA -> ROCKSTEADY -> REGGAE

That's what I meant, of course.

My knowledge on ska, or reggae for that matter, isn't immense at all, which shows there. :P

ive never heard of it n still dun understand after readin all the posts lol.... but i have a feeling i wont like it much =S

I admit it... i was into some ska awhile back. Here's what I remember...

The SKA movement is considered to have 3 "waves" (eras):
1st wave - 60's Jamaica (the start)
2nd wave - 70's-80's UK (aka "Two Tone" with bands like Selector)
3rd wave - 90's US (fusion with pop & punk with bands like The Mighty Mighty Bosstones)

I was mainly into female-fronted 3rd wave bands like Dance Hall Crashers and No Doubt (they WERE a ska band back in the day). Here are some song samples:
* Dance Hall Crashers - State Of Mind.mp3
* Gangbusters - Bad Attitude.mp3

Here's a random ska song from the Japanese band Oi-Skallmates that's on the MOSH PIT ON DISNEY CD. It's a cover of A*Teens' Can't Help Falling in Love (from the Lilo and Stitch soundtrack) which is itself a cover of Elvis Presley.
* Oi-Skallmates - Cant Help Falling In Love.mp3

And here are some ska-influenced Jpop remixes that you've probably already heard before (but maybe didn't realize the ska-ness):
* Ayumi Hamasaki - Boys & Girls 'lnskadisco mix'.mp3
* Every Little Thing - Smile Again -JIN JIN MIX-.mp3

(Note: The above mp3's are on YouSendIt and should last 25 downloads or 5 days, whichever comes first.)


If you want to listen to good stuff... listen to some DUB. DUB music IS an offshoot of REGGAE... pioneered by Lee "Scratch" Perry. It was somewhat popularized by the British group Mad Professor... dig out your Ayu-mi-x II disc for a remix by them. If you're feeling experimental, get some of Bill Laswell's works.

Now, we all know Bill Lasswell is a genius. And god, doesn't it feel awkward to see his name in a ska-thread?