Greetings from the Caribbean!

Hi everyone-

I'm coming at you from the Green House restaurant and bar on the waterfront in Charlotte Amalie, St. Thomas. It's the last day of my vacation, and it's been an excellent trip on all fronts. However, I've been in the market for two items that have eluded me: Cohiba cigarettes and reggae. While Cohiba cigars are everywhere, their smaller brethren are nowhere to be found. The same can be said for reggae; while tons of shops have reggae emanating from their storefronts, none of them sell any music worth writing about. I found one record store and it's closed until March 25. Bummer.

But don't despair! I've got some classic stuff for you, the Easy Star All Stars. This collection of New York City reggae stars specializes in taking all-time great rock albums and making reggae recreations of them. Their first effort was "Dub Side of the Moon," a dubbed out cover of Pink Floyd's classic "The Dark Side of the Moon." Check out their version of Money below (dig the bong rips instead of cash register noises at the beginning. niiiiiice.)



The band followed up Dub Side with "Radiodread," a cover of Radiohead's equally amazing "OK Computer." The band brought in numerous guest singers to lend some additional variety to the vocals on the album. They got some help from Citizen Cope on Karma Police, which you can check out on their myspace page along with some other tracks from the album (link below).

The All Stars' new album drops April 14. It's called "Easy Star's Lonely Hearts Dub Band," and naturally it's a reggae version of The Beatles' seminal "Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band." Say what you will about the albums, but these guys sure can pick their source material. The new album will feature guest vocals from reggae stars like Steel Pulse and Matisyahu. You can listen to the single "With a Little Help From My Friends" from the new album on the band's myspace page:

Easy Star All Stars on myspace

I highly recommend checking out the entire "Dub Side of the Moon" album. It's worth the listen and you'll be feeling like you're on the beach in no time. With the exceptional weather, beautiful scenery, and crystal clear water down here, I'll be thinking of the beach more often than I should. And when I do, I'll throw on The Easy Star All Stars.