Desmond Dekker

With ska gaining mainstream traction in the U.S. once again, we put together a list of 64 essential ska albums from 1964 to present, with albums released during each of the past seven decades by artists from all over the world.

The iconic 1971 compilation introduced much of the world to Jamaican music and features Jimmy Cliff, Derrick Morgan, The Maytals, The Ethiopians, Desmond Dekker, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, and more.

The 9-hour, 181-song playlist includes songs from all across ska’s long, rich history — from its origins in Jamaica to some of today’s best DIY ska bands — and it also includes ska-adjacent songs by The Beatles, Vampire Weekend, Weezer, Pixies, and more…

Live albums are more important than ever in this concert-less year, and if you haven’t heard it already, we’d like to turn your attention to the recent one by genre-blurring UK band The Skints…

Musician and journalist Aaron Carnes (Flat Planet, Gnarboots) is releasing his book ‘In Defense of Ska’ in 2021. Ahead of that, we’re debuting the ‘Ska Is Dead’ chapter which focuses on Jeff Rosenstock’s band Arrogant Sons of Bitches, and we spoke to Aaron about his book and about why ska needs defending…