The Unlimiters

The eclectic legacy of Jamaican music has continued to create a wide variety of new musical impulses over the last five decades. Whether ska, reggae, dub or dancehall - the small Caribbean island has continually produced entirely new genres of music that reflect the struggles, successes and great ingenuity of its people. Inspired by new production technologies and cultural shifts, Jamaican music never ceases to bear new fruits.

With their debut album, THE UNLIMITERS have taken up this tradition with the aim of forging new paths. The eight-piece set from Berlin is largely inspired by early ska, a style of music created at the beginning of the 1960s when calypso merged with jazz and rhythm & blues to form a unique and home-grown Jamaican sound that is still exemplified by unforgettable artists such as The Skatalites and Prince Buster.

Another ingredient in the sound of THE UNLIMITERS is the British ska reissue, file under Two Tone - with the likes of The Specials, The Selecter and The Beat - dating from the end of the 1970s and blending the raw energy of punk and new wave into Jamaican grooves. The vibrant mix of dance tunes, smart clothing, good humor and anti-rascist politics was a top ten mainstay for years.

There's no limit to the unlimitation! THE UNLIMITERS direct their dancing shoes to the path of the forefathers of rocksteady and ska, and they're up to continue the enterprise. Driving rhythms meet soulful harmonies meet instrumentals downtown, uptown and on a grand scale - flavored with a touch of surf and beat - all in the name of a rude and unlimited lifestyle.

Hard Times is the opening track of their debut album, as well as the lead-off single - reflecting difficult times in a cheerful fashion, because the "hard times gonna pass you by" - yet Let It Go is a completely different animal of a scorcher. Extortion reflects funky 1970s Ethiopia meeting the Skatalites. Tough Relations, again, representing the Two Tone era with vocalists Erika and Nathan ironically reflecting everyday conflicts between people.

Last year, the debut album from Berlin based band The Unlimiters (former known as The Essentials) was released on Highscore Pubishing! The 8 member strong band is specialised in playing Rocksteady, the jamaican sound of the sixties! Now, more than one year after the Release of the album, Highscore Publishing dropped two Remix EP's. The first one ?In Dub? was released on November 25th and features 5 Dub Remixes of their tunes, and a second EP, ?In Club?, released on December 5th 2011!