For years, the Twin Cities have lacked a regular ska/reggae DJ night, much to the dismay of all of us who all-too-rarely get a chance to go out and dance to vintage Jamaican 45′s booming for hours on end.  Seeking to end this dry spell, Aaron Porter (of The Prizefighters/MN Ska) is officially launching the Prizefighter Sound System this September at Grumpy’s Downtown.

See the flier for all the key details, and you can find out more after the jump.

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Our friends over at Flavorpill have posted a very interesting article that touches on the etymology of 10 musical genres, including ska and reggae.  According to the blog:

Ska: We know ska first appeared in ’50s Jamaica, but we’re still not sure who coined the term. Various musicians claim that it 1) refers to the “skat! skat! skat!” sound a guitar makes, 2) came about in 1959, when bassist Cluett Johnson told guitarist Ernest Ranglin to “play ska, ska, ska,” 3) that it evolved from Johnson’s typical slang greeting “skavoovie”, and 4) that musician an producer Byron Lee made it up.

Reggae: By the time Toots & the Maytals, who are credited with originating the term “reggae” in 1968 first named a song “Do the Reggay,” it was already known in Kingston as a slower version of rocksteady. It is thought to have evolved from rege-rege, which in its literal form means “ragged clothes” but also came to mean “a quarrel, protest.”

You can check out the entire article HERE

The Wailers

Legendary Reggae band The Wailers will be playing a show at First Avenue’s Main Room on Friday, January 16.  The band’s tour also includes stops in Milwaukee and the Old Man Winter Festival in Fargo.  Tickets are $18 in advance and $20 at the door.  The show is 18+ and the music starts at 8 p.m.  L.A.-based Alternative/Crunk/Reggae band Tomorrows Bad Seeds opens.