Dancehall 25 Items

Limited edition for Record Store Day 2018!

"Phantom Dancehall" is the exploration of the Greensleeves / VP Records catalogue by DJ Spooky aka Paul Miller. The musical tapestry is built on samples from familiar (and not so familiar) reggae tracks over electronic beats and melodies produced by Miller and protégé Stephen Levitin (stage name Apple Juice Kid). Selected tracks include the keyboard work of Alex Thompson aka Fourth Shift. Guest vocals from Walshy Fire (Major Lazer) and dancehall newcomer Sanjay added to vocal samples of Busy Signal, Lady Saw and Garnett Silk give the project an eclectic, modern dancehall flavor!

Now also available as LP-Vinyl is the new album for one of Jamaica's most exciting voices! - "Lovesick" is the third album and a natural next step for the young artist to expound on the ups and downs of love and relationships. Known to fans as an 'old soul' his lyrics and the emotional impact of his voice go beyond his years and show kinship to the great R&B/reggae balladeers. The 15-track strong longplayer will be released as CD-Digipak with an additional 12-page booklet and is a great and long awaited follow-up to the self titled debut "Romain Virgo" from 2010 and "The System" from 2012, it will appeal to all the worldwide fans of contemporary reggae music!

VP Press Release: "LoveSick," the upcoming album from rising reggae star Romain Virgo. The 16-track album takes listeners on a journey that explores every emotion felt when finding love, losing love and finding love again. In the many twists and turns of romance and relationships, Romain represents a young man who has experienced it all and now has a dynamic story to tell. Executive produced by Niko Browne for Lifeline Music, with additional production by Sting International and Vikings Production, the album presents a new pop reggae sound traced with his signature lovers rock style woven throughout.

“Kizaki Ondo” is a folk song from Nitta Kizaki town in Gunma, north of Tokyo. Played annually by local performers at the Bon-Odori traditional summer dance festival, it features unabashed lyrics about prostitution along with a rhythmic drive sure to appeal to fans of contemporary electronic genres as well as aficionados of traditional musics. The first track is a wildly echoing vocal version recorded in 1980, redolent of humid summer nights; the second track, recorded in 1981, is an instrumental version, both by the Kizaki Ondo Preservation Society. The other two tracks are extensions of tradition, with Tokyo-based producer Clark Naito’s 2018 revisions of “Kizaki Ondo”, providing trap-inspired interpretations, with a vocal version using the original lyrics, along with a sweet instrumental take. This release, the third edition of the EM Records Japanese folklore series, directed by Riyo Mountains, is available on LP & CD, with English lyrics and notes, and rare photos. Evocative cover art by Shinsuke Takagi (Soi48).

Dub Inc offers a new Gold Record (50k) with this 5th album, Paradise. After a new Dantesque tour (more than 160 dates) and an exciting documentary film(Rude Boy Story by Kamir Méridja), the band is back in force with an album immediately acclaimed by the 2nd single, Better Run then by Every new page (16M views on YouTube). Add to this particularly well-chosen guests(Skarra Mucci,Victoire du Reggae 2013, Meta Dia and Jah Mason)and hits that follow with the titles Foudagh and Partout dans ce monde and you get an opus that reaches the 15th place of the French charts and which wins a 3rd victory as "Best French Reggae Album" at the Web Reggae Awards 2013.

This third album, elected "Best French Reggae Album" at the Web Reggae Awards 2008, is rich in months of touring around the world that followed the first two albums. More electro and world music, still as mixed, Afrikya is very rightly carried by the title Métissage,which will be the subject of their very first video clip. The other acclaimed songs, Tiens bon, Djamila or Day after day oscillate between reggae, ragga and rai to the delight of an ever-growing audience. The album remained in the charts for 20 weeks, the record of the band's entire discography so far.

Dre Island, 5 Star, Iba Mahr, Aza Lineage, Earth and The Fullness, Monkey Marc jumping on the Yaad n Abraad Riddim. Six times dope.

We proudly present to you our new vinyl release, Subactive strikes with their first 12” on our imprint. After the first 7” release with the legendary Mikey Murka, Subactive now teams up with El Fata and Danny Dread on the vocals and a mad Dub Version from Naram and Art out of Jahtari and Colonel Mustard.

Side A features El Fata on a relick of the Run Run Riddim, a modern digital style with fat basslines and melodic progression chords that will shake up the dancefloor. The dub version comes in a very different style and influenced by the German down-tempo dub culture.

On the B side we can find the veteran Danny Dread with his conscious lyrics and a dub version by Naram which is heavily influenced by Asian and Arabic sounds. This is a limited edition of 500 copies with our first full print sleeve.

Taken from the acclaimed album "Migration", which covers a myriad of bass genres, this opening track "Positive Up" finds Poirier in a deep dubby dancehall mood. Reminiscent of classic Unity or Jammy's productions, the 80s digital vibe is updated to suit modern dancehalls and soundsystems.
Regular collaborator Face-T provides the vocal counter, once again displaying his brilliant lyricism and delivery, whilst also evoking the legendary Shinehead with a whistling solo - its been a while since we heard one of those!

"Digi Mi Digi" rhythm

Ken “Everything I Own” Boothe played a significant part in covering Sir Coxsone’s Studio One walls with gold — and goodness knows that label fostered its share of legends. Collaborating with the master, Blundetto could have laid it on thick with heavy production; instead alongside his discreet partner Blackjoy, he created a gorgeous production using the purest of Jamaican music, proving yet again that time has nothing on the suave tones of Mr. Rocksteady...

On the third and final part in the series of updates of The Pass The Kouchie riddim, Kasi teams up with the great Tippa Irie for a version of the Faith Evans classic, backed with a drum & bass style mix with Mr Williamz vocalling ‘Tommy Ranks’.