Dub Vinyl 404 Items

Drawing inspiration from the depths of late 70’s NYC proto-rap disco instrumentals, Nigerian boogie, Jamaican dub and modern jazzy house - The Lahaar is a Trans-Tasman collaboration between Julien Dyne, Horatio Luna and Surprise Chef’s Lachlan Stuckey, featuring Mara TK and Toby Laing on vocals. The EP embarks on a 5-track rollercoaster - kicking off with “Doin’ It”, fast-paced jazz-funk peppered with marimba and organ riffs, balanced out by the siren vocals of Mara TK. “Step 2” suddenly brakes and swerves into cruise mode, repurposing the trumpets and dub echoes - picking up tempo in the soulful melancholia of “Work Work Work”. In the last two tracks the organs and guitars make a frenetic comeback by way of disco-house, ending with a nod to 70s cop movie funk.

The third and concluding edition of the Transmissions compilation series curated by IOJ Jura Soundsystem. The compilation focuses once again on rarities no longer available on Vinyl and touches upon Reggae & Dub, Ambient House, Downtempo and Leftfield Disco. Mixmaster Morris in his Irresistible Force guise opens the album with the Ambient Electronica of ‘Lotus Position’, a long time favourite that’s been unavailable on Vinyl for nearly 30 years. Full Moon Scientist pick up the Ambient Dub baton with ‘Lunar Base Dub’ segueing into Australia’s Rude Band, featuring Oz radio royalty Doug Mulray on the aptly titled ‘Doug’s Dub’ originally released on Oz Sounds in Australia in 1982, a true Balearic gem recorded long before the genre had been widely discovered. Other highlights include Mary House’s ‘Ambient’, a chuggy slo-mo piano houser originally the last track on a 7 track EP released in 1991 on Italian label Technology, and ‘Do It’, an obscure South African track by Inspiration which covers the music from Sylvester’s ‘I Need Somebody To Love Tonight’ paired with new vocals using the refrain ‘Do It’. Jean-Michel Bertrand gave his blessing to a special Jura Soundsystem version of ‘Dream Reggae’ which features long time collaborator Mike Burn adding lead and rhythm guitar to an extended edit of the song. The album closes with some Ambient Tools which should serve to raise a smile at the end of the series.

The first in a series of mini compilations exploring instrumental Dub versions of sought after and long out of print titles from the world of Reggae, Disco, Boogie and House. Many of these versions still contain vocals, snippets here and there drenched in delay or reverb, a style you’ll recognise from many of the Jura Soundsystem edits on the label. The late Glen Adams & Finesse open proceedings with their Island Disco cover of Marvin Gaye’s classic, followed on the A2 by a super rare UK Boogie/Brit Funk mix of Tippa Irie’s ‘Panic Panic’ (shouts to Tippa for personally helping to push through the license) and the A side closes with the 80’s leaning ‘Yes I Do’ from Belgium’s Special Occasion. The first half of the B side comes from Carol Williams with the Special Club Dub mix of ‘Can’t Get Away’, originally a one sided promo only 10” from 1983 complete with spoken word intro from Carol thanking New York’s Metro DJs for their support of the song. The LP closes with a Jura Soundsystem Dubby Edit of La Palace De Beaute’s ‘Sin’ pulling back on the vocal and going heavy on the delay.

Stix Records, a sub-label of Favorite Recordings, is back with some heavy dub cuts from label regular Mato with its usual special skills as a tailor of reggae music. On Side A, Mato focuses on the infamous "Summer Madness", originally composed by Kool & The Gang. Providing a fresh dub rework, the song will make you dream of hot wet summer nights, gently rocked by beautiful guitar melodies and sweet Fender Rhodes chords. Just a perfect match for all forthcoming summers of love! On Side B, Mato takes care of "Use Me", originally composed by Bill Withers on his Still Bill album. Expect funky and bouncy clavinets and a nice melodica line for this rework of a timeless classic. As Mato once said, "Play it loud and burn a chalice!" Starting his reggae production career in 2006, Thomas Blanchot (aka Mato) has released music through various projects on EDR Records, Big Singles or Makasound ... In the meantime he developed a real trademark, taking over classics French, Hip-Hop, or Pop song, into roots reggae-dub new versions. Besides, since 2010, Mato has built a solid reputation thanks to his hot remixes of Hip-Hop classics on Stix Records.

Limited to 500 red copies.

Wairunga finds the Freddy juggernaut digging deep to debut five songs and revisit two classics captured in an outdoor performance sans audience but with wild weather elements playing an important creative role in producing this unique live album.

Recorded in Wairunga, high above Waimarama Beach in New Zealand, it is place etched into the DNA of Fat Freddy’s Drop who’ve roamed here for over 20 years; to party, relax between tours, make a song Wairunga Blues in its honour and even to get married. Farmed by the Parker family for a century, Wairunga is an oasis of green pasture and native tree filled valleys that fall away to the ocean below.

In inimitable Freddy's fashion the new tunes run a gamut of genre busting styles. Coffee Black is layered with cosmic hot buttered soul and cinematic wigged out psyche-blues while Shady continues Freddy's Afro-Acid adventures with Fitchie’s beat-making tapping into a South African township brand of techno Freddys experienced on tour. Bush Telegraph is a reggae classic featuring MC Slave aka Mark Williams on the mic with freshly minted yum char spiced rhymes of hope. The other new tracks Leave Your Window Open and Dig Deep are loose rhythmic experiments that the band have been working on for a long time. Versions were developed, rehearsed, but then set aside – dismissed, demonised - only to be revived with new energy in some future moment of creative cohesion. The results are loose-limbed; broken and bruised beats smashing into subterranean bass and twisted up melodies. Bones and Wairunga Blues are the two classics from Freddy's vast back catalogue. Off the Blackbird album, Bones has aged beautifully - like a fine wine - the song’s component parts matured and melded together in harmony and balance. DJ Fitchie rates this 2021 vintage superior to the 2013 original. Wairunga Blues has been a work-in-progress since it was released on Bays in 2015. Kuki dials up some appropriately off-kilter keys to match the wonky-funk laid down by Fitchie’s bass line and the horns. It’s a mighty comeback – and a fitting tribute to this magical place.

Here is the much anticipated volume 4 of the HOT SAUCE compilation LPs dedicated to the Trojan related UK labels between 1965 and 1975.
HOT SAUCE VOLUME 4 features outstanding original Rock Steady, Boss Reggae and early Reggae (“Reggay”) tracks including rare songs, overlooked gems, hidden treasures and a couple of hits.
The record labels showcased on this fourth volume are Amalgamated, Big Shot, Duke, Explosion, Grape, High Note , JJ Records, Treasure Isle and Trojan.
The tracks here have been selected according to their musical interest firstly, their rarity, and their complementarity.