Dub CD 9 Items

Jamaican love songs always came across as heartfelt poetry whether they conveyed a broken heart, unrequited love or even the message ‘it’s all over don’t bother to come back’ anecdotes. But whatever the mood the singers of these songs were so good and versatile that putting such subject matter over in a few verses was always so moving and believable. Jamaican love songs were a constant in the ever evolving sounds and journey’s that reggae music took us on, from ska to rocksteady to the early reggae sounds of the late 1960’s early 1970’s. We have complied a great selection of songs that all deal with that timeless subject matter. Max Romeo’s heartfelt ‘Sometimes’ opens our set in fine style, known more for his roots singing this song proves what a great singer he is. The Melodians a great Jamaican vocal group are featured here with ‘Best Girl’. The Sensations provide us with our title track ‘Born To Love You ‘and the theme for this compilation a great rocksteady tune with fantastic harmonies. Alton Ellis gives us the soulful ‘Room Full Of Tears’. Ken Boothe provides us with his rendition of Dennis Brown’s ‘Money In My Pocket’ the ode that money cannot buy you everything. Cornell Campbell sings one of his most overlooked classic songs with his prideful `She Wears My Ring’. The great singer of love songs himself Mr John Holt tells us that we should all `Reconsider’, before giving up on love and a great lost singer Monty Morris gives us two great examples of how to find love in `Do It My Way’ and `Magic Moments’. A great selection delivered as only Jamaica can do with style and feeling…….

Hope you enjoy the set …greetings from Jamaica… love songs for all…

Tapper Zukie still asking the questions and stating the facts that few artists of his calibre would attain to.His classic Dee-Jay style has been copied by many but bettered by few.Over some of his killer rhythms that he previously worked up while producing fellow roots groups such as ‘Prince Allah’, ‘Knowledge’ and ‘Junior Ross and the Spears’. Alongside some fresh rhythms, he has taken these as a backbone to some further questions and biblical reasoning that needed answering. Tapper tells it as it is on this mighty collection of tunes put together under the name ’X is Wrong’. This is the first time this set of remarkable tracks have seen a proper release only previously being available as a download from Tapper’s website. A great set of songs that finally get the release they deserve…. Hope you enjoy the set….

During the eighties dancehall era, a number of record producers claimed to be the real authentic sound of downtown Kingston but Ossie Thomas’ Black Solidarity label, operating out of Delamere Avenue in the heart of the ghetto, was the real deal.

“Black Solidarity was a youth club in the Kingston 13 ghetto in a road named Crescent Road and it was a Rasta come up with the name Black Solidarity. But through the political violence a get high man start to spread rumours saying Black Solidarity a go gets guns to go kill off people and it’s a revolutionary Cuban thing we’re there ‘pon! A lot of people used to go away to Cuba and we called them brigadista. So, through it was in a PNP area man start spreading rumours saying the PNP a go plan to send the whole of Black Solidarity to Cuba and them all turn brigadista!

So, the rumours kinda mashed up the club! But we held on to the name and said, ‘we’ll give you a record label named Black Solidarity’. So, after that I talked to the Rasta who coined the words and he said, ‘I have to rate you’ and me say ‘why?’ and the man say, ‘Black Solidarity is a struggle and you realise that’ and me say ‘Yeah… me realise’. So, we take it up serious and deal with it and make it work! You know what I mean?” Ossie Thomas

There was no safe uptown haven to retreat to after work had finished but, after growing up in the deprived Kingston neighbourhoods of Denham Town and Jones Town, Ossie Thomas had nothing to be afraid of.

“This was the start of the seventies when the political rivalry got heated between the JLP and the PNP and the shots start fire… you know. Mum got scared and said she’s going to get a safer place for us to live so she moved up into the hills of St. Andrew… then six months after she died! Can you imagine that? She’d gone to the safest place and died there. From that me just go right back to Kingston… I said to myself ‘don’t be scared… if you’re gonna die you’re gonna die’. From that me not scared of Kingston… me just say to myself ‘my mother scared of Kingston and run and left Kingston’ but through me just live there all of my life on any street downtown me just feel comfortable.” Ossie Thomas

This album provides an insightful glimpse into life in these unforgiving Kingston neighbourhoods describing not only the poverty and desperation but also how, at times, styles, fashions and the cathartic joys of music and the dancehall could transform this harsh, unforgiving environment into one of joyous celebration.

Love & Fire is the seventh full-length studio album from the multi-platinum selling reggae hybrid band The Black Seeds. It was developed over the past few years, beginning with a series of creative sessions in 2018 at the band’s creative incubator The Surgery in Wellington, New Zealand.

The original plan was to then do a classic “band in a room recording,” which got thrown out the window once the pandemic hit and lockdowns began. At that point, the group got creative, working remotely between various home studios of the band members, and the result is as strong a record as they’ve ever done, managing to capture the feelings of the past few years in a cohesive set of new songs.

The Black Seeds continue to evolve musically while defying expectations, yet still always seem to sound like no one else but themselves.

Soul Jazz Records’ new ‘Studio One Dub Fire Special’ brings together 18 heavyweight dub cuts, all recorded at 13 Brentford Road in the 1970s.
Featuring a stellar selection of dub cuts to classic and foundation songs recorded at Studio One with music from the legendary in-house bands – The Sound Dimension, New Establishment, Soul Defenders and Brentford All-Stars – featuring the likes of reggae’s finest musicians - Jackie Mittoo, Leroy Sibbles, Cedric Brooks, Freddie McGregor and more.
These fresh dub sounds employed the mighty mixing desk skills of The Dub Specialist, aka Clement ‘Sir Coxsone’ Dodd, Sylvan Morris and Scientist to full effect. Studio One Dub Fire Special features our latest chapter of raw, stripped-down bass and drum sounds direct from Studio One, ‘the University of Reggae’.

Heavyweight soul providers Fat Freddy’s Drop are about to take flight once again with the worldwide release of new album Blackbird!

by Hey-O-Hansen
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With "Sonn und Mond" Pingipung presents an insight into the archives of the Austrian Dub Act Hey-O-Hansen. "Sonn und Mond" is far more than just a "Best-Of". As the subtitle reveals, this record collects "Rare and Unreleased Austro-Dub Tracks", which are in the first place scarce gems from the last decade’s oeuvre of this outstanding duo. Hey-O-Hansen have been famous for their musical output on remote formats such as rare vinyl singles or even on cassette tapes, through their own label heyrec. Following the contribution "Rflu" to the compilation "Pingipung Blows: the Brass", "Sonn und Mond" is the first feature-length cooperation between Pingipung and Hey-O-Hansen. Why Austro-Dub? Obviously, Helmut Erler and Michael Wolf who are Hey-O-Hansen originally come from Austria. Raised to the off-beats of Tyrolian folk music, then practising offbeats in Ska and Rocksteady bands they eventually moved to Berlin in order to explore samplers and sequencers for their music, alone or as Duo. Soon they had their professional studio, call it the musical instrument of Dub. And they literally carried it on stage for their many gigs. This is what makes Hey-O-Hansen’s tracks so special. Their extraordinary skills and tricks in sound engineering join their detailed, Lo-Fi playfulness which is based on the artistic cross-grainedness of the duo and the fact that they appreciate the openness of a live performance as essential for their compositions. Maybe that is why numerous guest musicians appear on this record; for example Dirk von Lowtzow (Vocals), Gordon Odameteys (Percussion), Olaf Rupp (Gitarre), and Kazumi (Vocals), just to name a few. In Hey-O-Hansen’s music the deepness of Dub is always combined with the catchiness of a Chanson or the stubborn straightness of a dancefloor track. Although "Sonn und Mond" shows above all the versatility of Hey-O-Hansen by pointing at hidden beauty, this record contains several hits and evergreens such as "J'ai peur" or "Dreams never die".