Club Tropical at Ras John's REGGAE.com - music downloads, special promotions and prizes - the place to visit for Roots Rock Reggae and Irie Times.

Sinead O’Connor’s new CD Throw Down Your Arms was released in stores October 4th. Take a listen to the streams below – this is more than just a Reggae album done by Sinead O’Connor - it is her best and most compelling work to date.

Thirteen years after she stepped back from the brink of superstardom, Sinead has finally made the record towards which she has been building her whole career. In April of this year, she traveled alone to Kingston, Jamaica to record her brand new record, Throw Down Your Arms, at the world famous Tuff Gong and Anchor Studios. It’s a collection of roots songs, which have inspired Sinead in her life and work for the past fifteen years. The legendary reggae rhythm section of Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare produced the album and many of the musicians who played on the original record were enlisted to give added authenticity to the sound.

The title comes from one of the tracks on the record, originally written and performed by Studio One legend Winston Rodney, a.k.a Burning Spear, who also contributes four other cuts: Jah Nuh Dead, Marcus Garvey, Door Peep and He Prayed. Spear’s recurrent themes - the living God on earth, the role of Pan Africanist Marcus Mosiah Garvey and personal and social redemption - were a huge influence on Sinead and echoes of his earthy delivery can be heard in her own vocal style. But these tracks are tributes, not imitations. Just as the Irish songs on Sean Nos Nua were subtly jamaicanized so Sinead has added in her own Irish instrumentation to certain tracks on this record. While staying true to the composer’s vision Sinead has also stamped each of the tracks with that distinctively soulful roar which has electrified her fans all over the world for nearly two decades. As Robbie observed to nobody in particular after hearing Sinead lay down a particularly goose-bump inducing vocal; “forget the originals baby, these ARE the originals.”

Sinead will put out Throw Down Your Arms this October on her own label, That’s why there’s Chocolate and Vanilla (a favorite expression of her deceased manager Steve Fargnoli). As she pulls together the threads from over a decade of work Sinead will this autumn, for the first time in eight years, tour North America. ‘The shows are the whole point’, she told me. ‘I can’t wait to be onstage with Sly and Robbie. I want to pass on the teachings of the Rastafarai movement, sing the songs and have fun. It will be better than mass.”

Some albums, as Van Morrison once said, demand to be made. Throw Down Your Arms is the record that Sinead has been building towards for fifteen years, and perhaps the finest work of career. It is the human voice used as an instrument of spiritual healing. Irish philosopher Mark Patrick Hederman wrote: ‘Singing is a way of proclaiming a better world, a refusal to give in to the grimness of the past’. It is Sinead’s hope that people find comfort and inspiration in these songs, as she does, and that, in making this record, she has gone some small way toward rescuing God from religion.

BOB MARLEY

Marley Story Part One

Marley Story Part Two

Bob Marley Feature - R&R Hall of Fame

Marley Feature Part Four (Roger Steffens Chronology)

Bob Marley & The Wailers Tour Dates

Perry Henzel's Interview with Bob

Bob Marley - LEGEND LIVE

A Trip to Nine Mile: May He Rest In Peace

Drummie Zeb Feature

Junior Murvin Feature

The Boy From Nine Mile

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A visit to Ras John’s Club Tropical - As I pull up and park my rental car in the dirt parking lot between the road and the club, my whole being seems to become more alive as the sounds and smells and sights of the place soak in. I get here when ever I can just for a dose of Ras John’s PositiVibes – this place overflows with them. You can hear the sound of waves hitting the beach in the distance. On top of the rhythm of the waves, the chatter of night bugs and birds mix in an intoxicating blend with the Reggae Music and sounds of laughter and talking that emanate from inside Ras John’s Club Tropical. The air is filled with the smells of the lush vegetation that is all around, mixed with the tangy scents of food being cooked on the club’s grills.

The club itself is simple. A tin roof atop a one story structure of weathered wood decorated with brightly colored trim. Plants and shells hang from the posts between big open windows on three sides of the building. A deck with tables extends off one side and several flaming torches and colored lights illuminate the area around the club. A large flag portraying The Lion of Judah on a gold field edged with red and green trim, hangs over the main entrance. A sign over the door says “I-nity… We Are All One.”

Inside, Ras John’s sound system plays one of his vital collections of tunes that is mixed with a soundtrack of nature sounds and dub effects. When there is a live band, the volume and bass get pumped up but now, the sound washes over you like a pleasant breeze. A few people are dancing on the small dance floor by the stage. A couple of dozen people are sitting or standing around the bar and there are seven or eight tables of people eating. One thing I am always amazed at, every time I am here is the variety of people. From Rastas, both domestic and foreign, to young couples and singles from the states, to a mixed assortment of Japanese, British, German and French tourists, it’s like a mini world melting pot… it definitely follows through from the “We Are All One” sign at the door. The place is decorated with candles, fresh flowers, local art work and Ras John’s version of the Hard Rock Café décor with framed combinations of posters, photos, ticket stubs and rare discs from Ras John’s collection.

The intent is to have a live web cam or two in the club so that visitors to Ras John’s REGGAE.com can check in on the scene any time they want. “Soon come” on that one since a challenging issue in the islands can be a good broadband connection to the Internet. For now, I'm done writing - I'm going to have a cool drink and some ital nourishment while I soak up the riddums of peace and harmony... hope you get a chance to visit sometime!