Dub 135 Items

The official re-issue of the dub classic "Wins The World Cup" available as extended 2LP vinyl-set with 20 tracks and poster. The original album from 1982 has been state-of-the-art remastered and is twinned with a second disc of the original vocal versions. All music recorded at Channel One with the Roots Radics and mixed by Scientist at King Tubby's with producer Henry "Junjo" Lawes.

Acid Jazz are delighted to present: Soul Revivers – Grove Dub!

Soul Revivers continue onwards from their earlier 2022 release ‘On The Grove’ with the hotly anticipated dub version ‘Grove Dub’

An ambitious, collaborative project, producers David Hill and Nick Manasseh bring together reggae legends, including Ken Boothe and Ernest Ranglin, with the hottest UK musical talent, in what has become the standout reggae project of the year. The Dub version continues in the same vein – another installment in the rich history of West London reggae and dub.

Soul Revivers ‘On The Grove’ has already featured prominently on JazzFM, BBC Radio 1 Xtra, BBC 6 Music, as well as print reviews in Uncut, Mojo, and The Wire, among others.

Gecko Tone, Youthie's 3rd album, is now available on vinyl LP! Roots, World & Groovy Reggae with an organic vibe, tinged with Jazz, Latin & Afrobeat accents."Gecko Tones is a colourful reggae/dub album with a positive vibe!

Some Dub Stories is a hybrid project combining music and video: it is a live band of four musicians mixing the codes of a powerful dub with soaring melodies, harmonizing electronic and acoustic. The concert is closely linked to a video show that tells us the story of Obaba, the cosmic turtle, at the borders of multiple universes. Back on Earth in a post- apocalyptic atmosphere, Obaba delivers the story of her odyssey.The protagonists of this quartet on stage are: a multi-instrumentalist who juggles between Trumpet, Flugelhorn and Melodica, a Drummer, a Guitarist and finally a Bassist who also controls the machines! The public is then immersed in a unique sound and story, which renews the genre while filling the afficionados of Dub.The members of the group come from various formations having toured around the world: Hubris, Dub Silence, Lamuzgueule... A first album is coming soon and the group is receiving a warm welcome from professionals and are already supported by Take It Easy Agency & Alpine Records (labels). Regarding the live, NMB Booking signed the band in their roster in 2022 and the doors of Château Rouge (Live Venue and artists' residency) are open to them to prepare their first tour. The band is promised to scour the Dub scenes of France and Europe. Discover the stories of the cosmic turtle that comes to life under the pencil strokes of Lucas Roig, graphic artist. An astral journey to discover on stage.With its album « Chapter One » (which will be released during 2023) the Electro-Dub Live Band delivers an ambitious first opus combining a rhythmic Dub with deep bass. We discover a beautiful musicality as well as a professional production quality. The band’s sincere music with videos that echo problems of our time.Some Dub Stories creates a colored and powerful new kind of video- instrumental Dub with modern sounds in a style cut for contemporary music.

Pt. 4 of the 'Dub me crazy' series by Mad Professor.

Reggae meets twisted electronics for wild dub trips!

Originally released in 1985 on the same Ariwa imprint. True D.I.Y. business from this UK dub pioneer.

Pt. 5 of the 'Dub me crazy' series by Mad Professor. Reggae meets twisted electronics for wild dub trips!

Originally released in 1985 on the same Ariwa imprint. True D.I.Y. business from this UK dub pioneer.

Dub like it used to be from the High Note and Gay Feet labels.
A selection of rocking rhythms from The Revolutionaries masterminded by Jamaica's finest female record producer, Mrs Sonia Pottinger, and mixed by Duke Reid's nephew, Errol Brown, chief engineer at the legendary Treasure Isle studio.

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

The Lost Albums In Jamaican Bass Player, Bandleader, Songwriter, Singer And Producer Boris Gardiner's Discography - First Official Issue Of These Impossibly Rare Albums. Contains Extensive Booklet, With Jeff Mao Detailing Gardiner's Career And The 70s Jamaican Music Industry. Unpublished Photos And Ephemera. 1970s Jamaica suffered an unprecedented stretch of political turmoil and violence, and as the country’s economy and morale collapsed, reggae and its offshoots exploded worldwide. Boris Gardiner enjoyed great success leading bands, issuing albums that mixed reggae, ska, soul and funk, and collaborating with the likes of Lee (Scratch) Perry and Herman Chin-Loy in their legendary studios and playing on hundreds of records. So many that he lost count. Sometime around the issue of his Boris Gardiner Happening Is What’s Happening album - a Loft classic, with David Mancuso favoring Gardiner’s take of Booker T. and the MG’s “Melting Pot” at his legendary gathering - and his soundtrack to Every N----r Is A Star, famously sampled by Kendrick Lamar and used as the introduction to the film Moonlight, two albums - Ultra Super Dub Vols. 1 and 2 - credited to The Boris Gardiner Happening - two albums so obscure that for the longest time Boris wasn’t even aware that they existed. Following classics such as King Tubby’s Dub From the Roots and Augustus Pablo’s King Tubbys Meets Rockers Uptown, Miami-based Alty East’s Ultra Records took instrumentals Gardiner created for a run of 45s, and created and issued these compilations of dubbed out originals and JA renditions of songs by Otis Redding, Clarence Carter, Betty Wright, Jimmy “Bo” Horne and Ultra label-mate Frankie Zhivago Young. Released in tiny runs in handmade, silkscreened, paste-on covers, they have become some of the most sought after Jamaican albums. Now, issued under Boris’ guidance, and with a detailed booklet by Jeff Mao, which delves into the deep scene which birthed these remarkable records, we can finally consider the last, unheard portion of this landmark musician’s career.

Fully remastered and licensed, ltd to 500 copies. ‘What if Lee Perry and Lex Baxter have been caught in a firetrap altogether ?’ A weird experiment in dub & reggae coined in 1973, the sole album of this interstellar venture was a case in point. Jamaican rhythms (provided by the almighty Trojan records crew) with legendary prog/psych keyboardist KEN Elliot (former member of influential british bands such as Second Hand and Seventh Wave) creating groovy instrumental on top ! 10 tracks including the JOE Meek classic Telstar and a spacey rendition of THE Skatalities Guns Of Navarone (aptly named Guns Of The Martian Giants) for an album that might sounds like a caribbean easy listening session on dope ! A truly gem on its own, incredible strange music for the suburbs !

A tumultuous selection of recordings from Black Ark, Perry's legendary studio and hotbed of creation. Rare 12" versions, unreleased mixes and featuring a stellar line-up, including:

Drums: Mikey ‘Boo’ Richards, Lowell ‘Sly’ Dunbar
Bass: Boris Gardiner, Radcliffe ‘Dougie’ Bryan
Guitar: Earl ‘Chinna’ Smith, Ernest Ranglin, Robert ‘Billy’ Johnson, Lynford ‘Hux’ Brown
Keyboards: Winston Wright, Robbie Lynn, Keith Sterling
Percussion: Noel ‘Scully’ Simms, Lee Perry

A quick internet search brings up some extraordinary footage of Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry producing a session at the Black Ark. Taken from the film ‘Roots, Rock, Reggae’, directed by Jeremy Marre, the sequence shows Junior Murvin collaborating with members of the Congos and the Heptones on a song improvised on the spot for the film crew. Before the vocals are recorded, the Upsetters lay down the backing track. The musical director of the session is the afro-haired bass player, Boris Gardiner; unusually, it is he who counts in the band to start each take. After a long conversation with Boris a few years back, I asked Lee about his contribution to the Black Ark sound.

Lee Perry: ‘Boris Gardiner was a good person, just a humble person, and he’s the best person I ever met in the music business so far. Boris is a very top musician, and with him you could put anything together, him do “Police And Thieves” and all that. You just tell him what you want and him can do it. A very great person.’

Boris is probably best remembered today for his huge international hit from 1986, the schmaltzy ‘I Want To Wake Up With You’. Yet in the 60s and 70s he was one of Jamaica’s top bass players and arrangers, having an international hit with ‘Elizabethan Reggae’, and creating a run of classic tunes at Studio One.

Boris Gardiner: ‘I did at least seventy or eighty songs at Studio One, all in this one short period between January and April 1968. And we used to work four days per week, and we did four rhythms per day for 30 pounds a week – it was good money. I played on songs like “Feel Like Jumping”, “Nanny Goat”, “Baby Why” by the Cables, the whole “Heptones On Top” album, and “Party Time”. Lee Perry used to be at Studio One same time as me, kind of working around, so he know me from there. So he came and roped me into the group when the Black Ark studio was in progress. He built it right there at the back of his home. So Scratch called me and asked me to come and do some sessions around his studio. I was always ahead of my time as I can see it, in the music in Jamaica. So the songs that I made you always hear chord progressions and changes. Sometimes I think it’s as if I was born in the wrong country, because I just couldn’t do a two chord tune – heheh! To me it need more than two chords to give it some excitement, like it need some changes or something.’

After years of moving between Jamaica’s competing facilities, Perry had decided to build his own studio at the back of his house in Washington Gardens.

Lee Perry: ‘The Black Ark make over a pile of shit – my pile and me put it under the Black Ark. I make the Black Ark over my shit piss, so the bass always go “Poo Poo Poo Poo”! Errol Thompson put the machines in there, and make the patch panel. So the studio was all waiting, but only me could operate it. I didn’t have the Soundcraft mixer then, I did buy a lickle thing you call a Alice mixer. We didn’t have anything professional, but the sound was in my head and I was going to get down what I hear in my head. And it’s like a toy, a toy affair, that’s the way music is. You see like when you buy a kid’s toy, well you bring a joy to them, so is that way I see music. I don’t see music like how other people see it, I see it just like a toy.’

Unusually, Lee decided to do everything himself, both producing and engineering. The film clip shows Lee fully relaxed as he simultaneously directs the musicians and adjusts his recording machines.

Boris Gardiner: ‘To me Scratch always knew what he wanted. Out of all of them Scratch was a true producer, because he would be in the studio and he would listen and say change this or I don’t like that, and he was his own engineer also, so he was always around there listening. So he knew what he wanted and how to try and get it from the start, unlike Coxsone Dodd or Duke Reid, who knew what they liked or didn’t like only after they heard it. Scratch was in there with everybody, so he is really doing a full production as a true producer.’

Lee Perry: ‘I used to do them all by myself. Anybody in my studio could sit down in the visitor’s chair and look, but me do everything – me have a chair that can move from here to there, a chair that have wheels. So I could be turning in any area or any direction, so I could have my hand over here and my hand over there. Heh heh.’

And at a time when 8 and 16 track recording had become the norm in most high end studios, Lee recorded everything to a semi-professional TEAC 4 track recorder, which he can be seen casually adjusting with a screwdriver in the film clip. He explained that since he would end up mixing down to a stereo (or two track) master, more tracks would just be a distraction.

Lee Perry: ‘It was not a professional tape recorder, I was using those TEAC 4 track set that they was trying like experiment to see what would happen. Well, I have it all set up. The first thing I’d think about, all right, is you have to mix everything back down to the 2 track stereo or 1 track mono. Then you can press it and release it. So I knew what I wanted at the end, and I balance it just like that in the studio with the instruments. Sometime when you put only four or five instrument in the studio, you have a better, cleaner record, you can hear what everybody play. And if you have maybe eight musician in the studio, it’s more like a confusion, because everybody wants to play a different thing, yunno. If you is the producer and you can tell them what you want to hear it will be better. So I can put the bass and drum together on one track because me know exactly what me need. If you don’t know, then you need more tracks so you can balance it later. So for the backing, I would just do the two tracks: the bass and drum and percussion track, that is one; and the guitar, organ and piano on another track, that is two. So you still have two more tracks if you want to do vocal, that would be three. And if you want to do horns or a harmony vocal, you can do that on the fourth track. To me it’s a waste of time, a waste of energy with a 24 track machine, waste of current and waste of money. Because it all have to come down to one or two tracks in the end.’

The early Black Ark sound was stripped down and minimal, often with only one or two musicians playing keyboard or guitar. Lee would also use extreme EQ to emphasize the bass and tops, and his hi-hat sound is instantly recognisable from the earliest days of the Ark.

Lee Perry: ‘Well, I used to have an equaliser for the bass drum, and it’s like for heaviness on the beat, and then I had another equaliser for the cymbal, to give it that “Ssshhh ssshhh”. So we have different machine to send different instrument through that they can sound different. I managed to change the vibration of the music, because the music was just local music produced by rum drinkers and cannibals. So me turn on the music to a higher range.’

Boris Gardiner: ‘I think I always use a DI box to record bass at the Black Ark. Because bass want to fade into the other instruments’ microphone, so we often plug it straight into the board and then Perry sets the EQ on the board and take it straight. Then we built a drum booth so the drums really sound separate too – it give him more control.’

As the Black Ark evolved, Lee developed a richer collage of sound, built around three primary effects: the Mu-tron Bi-Phase phaser, a spring reverb and a Roland Space Echo.

Boris Gardiner: ‘One thing about Scratch was that he always used his effects – that was his sound. He always phase the ska guitar, but you don’t always know he’s recording it like that until he play it back. So until he play it back you have no idea what it will sound like.’

Lee Perry: ‘I did have a phaser that I buy, and then when I’m in the studio, in the machine room, and phasing them, the musicians don’t hear it, what I am doing, until them come in the studio, and them hear the phasing. So we did it all live. And the musicians they won’t even know what goes on! While the musicians are playing, I am doing the phasing. I take the musician from the earth into space, and bring them back before they could realize, and put them back on the planet earth. The phaser was making things different, like giving you a vision of space and creating a different brain, a phasing brain. So that’s where I take the music out of the local system and take it into space. The Space Echo also have something to do with the brain. You send out telepathic message and it return to you, so that’s how the Roland Space Echo chamber come in – what you send comes back to you. And while you know you send the telegrams out, you are waiting for what is the reply of the telegrams coming back. So that’s why the Space Echo go and come, rewinding the brain and forward winding the brain. I was also using a spring echo chamber, but just for drum, for the clash of the drum. And everything just fit in, like the thing I want to do it just come to me and come from nowhere, and then it appear and it happen.’

Boris Gardiner: ‘He loved to do things that nobody had done before, him always try a new thing. And he was a good writer too you know. Perry bring in a drum machine sometimes and we use that on some songs for the Congos and everyone. Well I actually like playing with a drum machine cos a drum machine is always steady. Most drummers they either push forward or pull back – they call it the human touch, but I call it out of time! Hahaha. “Row Fisherman Row” was really the great hit with the Congos, but that is all real drums and percussion, it’s just that Perry makes it sound almost like a machine with his echoes on the percussion. I played on “Police and Thieves” and that was a big hit too, maybe it was Sly Dunbar on that. One day Bob Marley came to him with a song on a tape and said “boy Perry, I don’t really like the bass and drum on this song here, if you can do anything to it then just change it and see if we can get something better”. Well Perry had only 4 track tape at his studio, but this was a 24 track tape that Bob bring. So Perry called me and Mikey Boo and took us down to Joe Gibbs studio and started playing the rhythm and all that on the 24 track. So I was on bass and Mikey Boo was on drums and we listen and we listen, and then we dub it back over to make new drum and bass. Well that song became “Punky Reggae Party”, so that shows you how Bob trusted Perry.’

Lee’s other great innovation was adding layers of sound effects, sometimes live through an open mic, but often pre-recorded onto a cassette tape which he would add to the collage on mixdown. Because these effects – bells, cymbals, animal noises, dialogue from the TV – were not synched to the music, they would add a layer of randomness to the sound.

Lee Perry: ‘You know cassette? I make cassette with sound track, and all those things with cymbal licking, flashing. In my Black Ark studio if you listen the cymbal was high, like “Ssshhh ssshhh”. But I did have them all recording on cassette, and while I was running the track and it was taking the musician from the studio, I was playing the cassette to balance with the drum cymbals and things like that, so them didn’t have to play that because it was already on cassette playing. You could call that sampling. And I have this “Mooooow”, like the cow, running on the cassette, and it go onto the track that I wanted to sound like that. Somebody discover it in a toilet. You know when the toilet paper is finished, and you have the roll, and the hole that come in the middle. Well you put it to your mouth and say “Hoooooo”, and it sound like a cow. You put it to your mouth and you imitating a cow and say “Moooooo”. Heh heh heh. Yeah, sound sampling. Well somebody had to start it, and we was loving to do those things.’

Boris Gardiner: ‘Well the Black Ark did have a strong vibe, but, once everybody all there, most of those guys who smoke really like it, but those who didn’t smoke didn’t really like it, like myself. Scratch is a man who never joke fi draw him herbs, you know? Heheh. But I am not a smoker cos it’s not good for my heart. I have a heart problem called tachycardia, an irregular beat of the heart. So it could be upsetting at times when there’s so much smoking going on.’

By the late 70s the relaxed atmosphere at the Black Ark had soured, as Lee attempted to extricate himself from various outside pressures, and his behaviour became more erratic.

Lee Perry: ‘What happened I did for myself not to be working with jinx and duppy called dread. And those duppies they think that me owe them favour. I open the door, and the duppies them find that me is the door opener, and then the duppies them take shape inna me yard and inna me house, and they were a jinx. Jinx mean bad luck. So to get rid of them, me had to burn down the Black Ark studio fi get rid of jinx.’

Boris Gardiner: ‘Was Scratch crazy? Well some say now that he was just putting on an act. But I think, why did he put it on? After all the problems he was having and that sort of thing, and they were saying that he was getting off his head, and he start to act strange, well I just stopped going. I stopped working there. It wasn’t a good atmosphere – nobody could really enjoy that again. So I called it a day. It is sad after all the good work we did. But when you try to be smart and try to outsmart others, well it don’t work out for long with you. He came and did a show here in Jamaica the other day, but I didn’t really know Lee Perry as a singer. He won the Grammy not long ago, but I find it surprising that he got a Grammy as a performer not a producer. He’s been very lucky: now he is successful in a sense and some people love him cos he’s a character, and they don’t see nobody dressed like that. Hahahah!’

Speaking to Lee in February 2021, via WhatsApp to Jamaica, he sounded relaxed and positive, with more praise for Boris and optimism for the future.

Lee Perry: ‘Boris Gardiner was very good, very great in the brain. He really intelligent in music, and me and him work miracle together! And remember that there was no end to the Black Ark, the Black Ark will be coming back. The Black Ark keep on living and cannot die.’

A giant of the UK reggae scene since the late 70s and founder member of Matumbi. Bovell went on to produce a trail of classics by a genre-defying roster of artists, from Fela Kuti, dub poet Linton Kwesi Johnson, to The Slits and The Pop Group, while also recording as Blackbeard for EMI. As if that wasn't enough, he also recorded the early Lovers chart hit, Janet Kay's Silly Games, and later a slew of Lovers Rock.

An essential collection of late 70s dubs by this living legend.

The Do No Hurry project is an EP born from the musical synergy between vocalist Tenah and riddim artisan Oddy. It intricately weaves the finest vintage digital sounds of 80s reggae into a contemporary, current, and incisive direction. This is evident not only in the artistic and musical choices but also in the thought-provoking themes explored. It embarks on a musical journey, characterized by the vibrant tones of synthesizers, drum machines, and lyrics that gracefully navigate the realms of depth and lightness. The project is unequivocally infused with dub techniques and sound effects, making it an exceptionally original and distinctive endeavor.

Jump UP partners with Easy Star to release limited edition vinyl for the dub version of Loving PAUPER's latest "ladders" by the one and only Victor Rice. Random colored vinyl, hand numbered stickered sleeve limited to 200 copies. Darlings of BBC presenters DON Letts and David Rodigan.

Fredrik Lager/freddie Cruger (red Astaire) sadly passed away last year on June 12, 2022. This 10 track LP of unreleased instrumentals in a full color jacket pays tribute to FREDDIE's musical legacy, and reminds us why this beatsmith was a favorite of Giles Peterson, Erykah Badu, Jazzy Jeff and so many more. Gorgeous sleeve artwork designed by JJ Marley.

Fully remastered and licensed, ltd to 500 copies. Cult re-issue from this short-lived Bristol project. Their debut 4-tracks EP was self-released on Restriction Records in 1984 giving birth to a collective experience fueled by several members: Andrew Clarke (amj Almighty Groove, AMJ Dub Collective) Clive Smith, Rob Smith (co- founder of the influential trip hop band Smith & Mighty), plus members of Zion Band. Produced by Mad Professor at London Ariwa Studios and featuring extraordinaire trombone player Vin Gordon aka Don Drummond Jr. (The Skatalites, The Upsetters) this quintessential mini-album merged the original Jamaican reggae-dub feel with a more contemporary approach, focusing on the experience of established British bands like Aswad and Black Uhuru.

It was a busy 2019 for Asian Dub Foundation with the long-awaited reissue of their Mercury Prize-nominated 1998 classic Rafi’s Revenge. The reissue garnered ecstatic reviews, all of which agreed that the sound and the message that ADF threw down in 1998 is as relevant now as it was then-perhaps even more so. So it’s timely that in 2020 the band are set to release their 9th album “Access Denied” which finds them as uncompromising as ever. The album showcases ADF in full spectrum mode from the tough Jungle Punk sound of “Stealing The Future” and “Mind-lock” through to the orchestral meditation of “Realignment” and the reggae lament of the title track. With guestspots from Greta Thunberg, incendiary Palestinian shamstep warriors 47 Soul, Chilean revolt’s rap main figure Ana Tijoux and radical UK comedian Stewart Lee, Asian Dub Foundation continue their sonic opposition to the powers that be and “Access Denied” kicks harder and higher than ever.

On A Mission is an album by Gentleman's Dub Club, released in 2023. On A Mission includes a.o. the following tracks: “Sugar Coated Lies”, “Gone”, “Sleepwalking”, “High On Nothing” and more.

The reggae album is available in the following configurations:

CD
LP, Transparent

Two albums that shook the world! The release of these two ground-breaking dubs sets in 1975 altered the course of modern music forever. Dub From The Roots & Roots Of Dub make up a crucial selection of King Tubby’s mind-altering dub versions.
Produced by Bunny ‘Striker’ Lee – both albums are essential!

The ace reissue of these wicked dub albums collecting together classic 70's dub versions by dub pioneer and leader of ‘roots’ music in Jamaica, King Tubby! Tubby’s vast knowledge of electronics and Bunny’s vast catalogue of rhythms would lay the foundations of what today is taken as a standard. All the tracks on here are versions of classic tracks from Cornell Campbell, Johnny Clarke, Horace Andy, Linval Thompson, Derick Morgan & Hortense Ellis dubbed out by the King of Dub King Tubby!’

French synth-dub duo Froid Dub continue their blast of organic and digital material on this brand new 6-track album. Pushing the clash between synth wave and dub even further, the electronic beats of the TR 808 are more than ever engulfed in the slow motion vibes of the digi-bass echoes.

Upcoming album 'Fruit Of The Void' to be released later this fall. Kosmo Sound is a perfect balance of tight rhythms and extended melodies, and they constantly strive to push boundaries with their sound. Having worked together with dub legends Daniel Boyle and Alpha & Omega and having played as the support act for Adrian Sherwood, The Twinkle Brothers and Omar Perry, heavily inspired, they took refuge in the studio to record this album full of meditative sounds and dense grooves.

(Record Store Day Exclusive) Legendary A&O 90's album reissued in 2 volumes incl previously unreleased tracks!The vintage UK Dub sound: roots, spirituality and heavy basslines. Bass-music, play Loud! Incl "Jerusalem", "Stepping Up", "Promised Land", "Great Tribulations".

Released in 2014, "Greater Than Great" is the 5th album by Jamaican singer Skarra Mucci, the first for Undisputed Records, bringing together the cream of Reggae Digital productions from Bizzarri Records, DreadSquad, Irie Ites Records, Weedy G Soundforce, Deebuzz Musik, Hard2Def, Soulove / Delamix, D&H Records, Kskamp and Rawkaz Clan which the toaster comes to ride brilliantly. Greater than great, it's just legend! The album "Greater Than Great" offers eclectic versions navigating between Dancehall, Digital, Reggae and Raggamuffin. Skarra Mucci proves once again that he is one of the rare singers capable of putting his voice on all styles of Reggae with a capital "R" and transforming them into instant classics, like "My Sound », his biggest hit found on this album.

This is the first volume of the HOT Sauce compilation LPs dedicated to the Trojan related UK labels between 1965 and 1975. The initial plan is for at least 3 albums of 14 titles. HOT Sauce Volume 1 features Rocksteady, Boss Reggae, early Dub & early Reggae outstanding original Jamaican tracks including rare songs, overlooked gems, hidden treasures and some hits. The record labels showcased on the first volume are Attack, Amalgamated, Black Swan, Blue Cat, Downtown, Doctor Bird, Duke, Grape, High Note, Randy’s and Trojan. The tracks here have been selected according to their musical interest firstly, their rarity, and their complementarity. These tracks are all outstanding tracks, “killer tracks”, there are no “fillers” whatsoever. Particular attention has been paid to the way the songs are sequenced (or “mixed”) so that the album builds up nicely and gradually, generally starting with the Rocksteady songs on the A side and the 70s songs on the B side. HOT Sauce is a musical journey across the early Reggae UK labels and across different Jamaican musical genres & talents and the way they interact together. Since the early 70s “Tighten Up” series, no compilation have really explored these labels in depth on vinyl…

Bunny Lee as producer. Prince Jammy as engineer. The Aggrovators making the tracks. A Holy Trinity of Jamaican Music. Throughout the years, recorded music has been shaped by some enduring partnerships between producer and engineer, such as Teo Macero and Fred Plautt for Miles Davis, Jerry Wexler and Tom Dowd for Atlantic Records, and George Martin and Geoff Emerick for the Beatles. But possibly none were as prolific as the collaboration between Bunny ‘Striker’ Lee and Prince Jammy at King Tubby’s Studio between 1976 and 1982.

In 1977 and 1982 respectively, Conflict Dub and Dubbing In The Front Yard were released in London as white labels in extremely limited quantities. The two LPs found the triumvirate of Lee, Jammy and The Aggrovators on perfect form, with driving instrumentals, flashes of vocal beauty, and mixes that ripped apart and rebuilt traditional notions of sonic structure. Due to the nature of their limited release (not to mention the lack of artwork and even titles) the two dub LPs quickly disappeared into that mythic realm of records whispered about by only the most hard-core reggae collectors. This release is the first-ever reissue of these sought after LPs, and contains all the original songs in both vinyl form (double LP set with both albums on the original labels) and a lush double pack cd with 3 extra bonus tracks. The sleeve notes are by Diggory Kenrick with amazing photos by Howard Johnson, director of the influential Channel 4 documentary ‘Deep Roots Music’.
In 2018, Pressure Sounds celebrated its 100th album release since it’s founding in 1995. In that time, the label has been responsible for unearthing and celebrating some of the rarest, most influential and unique Jamaican records ever cut.

Stix Records, a sub-label of Favorite Recordings, proudly presents Disco Reggae Vol. 5, pursuing the highly acclaimed series started 10 years ago. Birth land of the Reggae music, Jamaica has also always been fed by Soul, Funk, R&B and Pop music from the US scene, delivering some of the best covers anyone could think of. With it’s Disco Reggae series, Stix Records therefore simply carried on this tradition, offering new versions of classic songs from a wide spectrum of musical styles. On this 5th edition, the list extend to famous name such as The Undertones, Bobby Caldwell, Cerrone, Patti LaBelle, or Ray Parker Jr. to name a few. At the control to tailor these hits with new and exclusive Reggae suits, you’ll find the best producers from the Stix’ roster like Soul Sugar aka Booker Gee, Taggy Matcher, Simon Nyabinghi, or Mato. Together they signed again a perfect soundtrack to extend your summer and fill your playlists, whether to light the dancefloors or just sip a nice cocktail facing the Negril’s sunset!

King Tubby’s Prophecies Of Dub almost looks like an album that was designed to confuse record collectors and dub enthusiasts. Firstly, the record carries nearly the same title as a slightly earlier release - also produced by Vivian Jackson, aka Yabby You.

Yabby You: “First we do ‘King Tubby’s Prophecy Of Dub’, it come just after my first vocal LP. Then there was ‘King Tubby’s Prophecies Of Dub’ that was mixed by Pat Kelly, who was working at Tubby’s at the time.”

Pat Kelly: “Well fortunately Yabby You put my name (on it). I think I made them three one night, and then another week also he come back and do another three, and so it was done over some period of time. Yabby was with me most of the time, but I was always left to do what I wanted with the mix.”

Secondly, King Tubby is named in the title, but the rear sleeve states that the album had ‘Pat Kelly at the control’. This is more understandable, as the record was mixed at Tubby’s studio and carries its signature sound. After 1975, Tubby had partly stepped back from mixing work, but was still credited with most of the music coming out of his studio.

And thirdly, further confusion comes from the fact that most of the backing tracks used were not actually produced by Yabby, but belonged to Bunny ‘Striker’ Lee.

Bunny Lee: “Yabby You and Pat Kelly go behind my back and make it up. Me never even know about it till years later when Steve Barrow bring it to my attention. But it was my riddims and they used them.”

Bunny stored his multitrack tapes in a big wardrobe in the studio, allowing King Tubby to cut dubplates from them to be played in the dances.

Whether due to a misunderstanding or some long forgotten agreement, it was these 4-track tapes that Yabby presumably felt entitled to use to create this LP. The two producers had shared backing tracks before, with Yabby recording Tommy McCook’s sublime ‘Death Trap’ over one of Bunny’s rhythms, and Bunny had long acted as a mentor to Yabby.

Whatever the reason, eleven of the album’s tracks were dubs of the latest Bunny Lee productions, and by delving into Bunny’s tape archives we can see that the rhythms were often pulled from the same 4-track reels, and sequenced pretty much in the order they came off the tapes. So the opening two dubs are from the same multitrack: Linval Thompson’s ‘Long Long Dreadlocks’, and an unreleased cut of ‘Simmer Down’ by Johnny Clarke on a modified ‘Move Out Of Babylon’ rhythm. This is followed by Johnny’s version of Curtis Mayfield’s ‘Ten To One’ as covered by the Mad Lads. Then there are four cuts pulled from Delroy Wilson’s ‘Sings For I’ album, and two from Horace Andy, ‘Serious Thing’ and ‘Man To Man’. After Johnny Clarke’s ‘Live Up Jah Man’ and ‘Stop The Tribal War’, the album concludes with the sole Yabby You rhythm, a dub of Dicky Burton’s ‘God Is Watching You’ that is noticeably different from the Tubby’s mix as heard on the ‘Beware Dub’ album. Throughout, Pat’s mixing is detailed and subtle, focusing the listener into the musicality of the backing tracks.

The LP was released in 1976 in very limited numbers on the Prestige label, probably with the involvement of Prince Tony Robinson, with a further limited pressing appearing on the Prophets label. This reissue at last allows an obscure and mysterious album to be enjoyed by a wider audience.

Yabby You: “Dub music carry the message. If you play the music it captivate your mood, it bring you and draw you out of that folliness, and brings you into consciousness.”

Musicians include:
Drums: Leroy ‘Horsemouth’ Wallace, Sly Dunbar, Carlton ‘Santa’ Davis
Bass: Aston ‘Family Man’ Barrett, Robbie Shakespeare
Guitar: Earl ‘Chinna’ Smith, Tony Chin
Keyboards: Aston ‘Family Man’ Barrett, Bernard ‘Touter’ Harvey, Ansel Collins, Winston Wright
Horns: Tommy McCook, Richard ‘Dirty Harry’ Hall, Bobby Ellis, Vin Gordon
Percussion: Noel ‘Scully’ Simms, Herman ‘Bongo Herman’ Davis

Recorded at King Tubby’s Studio, Dynamic Sounds, Channel One Studio, and Harry J’s Studio.
Mixed at King Tubby’s Studio, engineer Pat Kelly, produced by Vivian ‘Yabby You’ Jackson.

Ital Foundation came together in the winter of 1977, out of a shared belief in Rastafarianism and deep love of reggae music in their home place Bermuda. Their music tackles global issues of colonialism, poverty, prophecy and redemption. They released only one album in their legendary career, the 1980 release Ital Foundations Vol.1. A tumultous history rought with trial and tribulation resulted in Ital Foundation being an underground musical movement that saw record sales all over the world while the band languished in obscurity.

Hopeton Brown, better known as Scientist, has been a pioneering figure in the world of dub for nearly 40 years. His early love of electronics proved fruitful when (still a teenager) he was hired at King Tubby’s studio in Kingston. Brown quickly ascended the ranks and became heir to Tubby’s throne, producing imaginative and technically impressive mixes that solidified his forward-looking nickname.

Introducing Scientist – The Best Dub Album in the World, his 1980 debut LP, lives up to its boastful title. Recorded with Sly & Robbie at Channel One Studio and mixed at King Tubby’s, the album features hypnotic basslines, reverb-drenched keyboards, and fluid, start-stop rhythms. Opening track “Steppers,” with its well-balanced phrasing and organic contours, shows Scientist’s mastery of the studio-as-instrument concept. On “Scientific,” the effects-laden guitars are stretched to their outer limit to create magnificent, spaced-out textures and muted tension. Introducing Scientist displays the talents of a man obsessed with every element of production, drawing out the very best of the dub form.

Les Rythmes Ruban invites you to immerse yourself again in the unique sonic universe of Pupajim and Blundetto. ”Tancardub” is the Dub versions of Tancarville LP. Rock on!

Composed in the aftermath of family tragedy, NY Graffiti’s Burden is an album full of peace anthems, psalms, dirges, and confessionals. In the pursuit of consolation, the tectonics of techno, dub, and post-club aesthetics are pushed past their margins onto new emotional plateaus.

Like the series of EP’s that NY Graffiti has released in recent years – including a split with Subtext affiliate UCC Harlo – Burden is an amalgam of dub-informed club music, acoustic emulations, and doom-scroll sourced social media chatter, filtered through the artist’s unique sonic palette that has developed over years on the fringes of New York’s contemporary club scene.

From the largely-improvised opener (and closer) “Approximation”, to the discord of the steppa-inflected track “98 Prayers”, and the dystopian ambiance of “Reach” (evoking early Hype Williams), Burden constantly reconfigures itself in search of catharsis. The album's seven tracks are dense and claustrophobic yet unexpectedly grounding. Amid the weight of grief, and the bleakness of our shared geopolitical realities, the NYC-based artist provides moments of solace that are intimate, direct, and revelatory.

Burden was initially released as a digital album earlier this year and is now available on vinyl through NY Graffiti’s own Peace Anthem Records and Switzerland-based Präsens Editionen. While the former has primarily focused on releasing NY Graffiti’s own projects, the latter is the publishing house of zweikommasieben Magazin and has released music and sound works by artists such as Anom Vitruv, Red On, Belia Winnewisser, Martina Lussi, Samuel Reinhard, and Magda Drozd

Download code is included!

Huge 3 track 12" - A-side features two killer deep roots cuts, first time on single for both. B-side features a great and unique previously unreleased 'acoustic' roots tune. Comes in a Wackie's company sleeve.

New twelve inch of vintage Wackie's on City Line. The A-side features two of the best Wackie's deep roots tunes previously only released on compilation, which have long needed single release. Stranger Cole's somber "Capture Land" about the reality of squatting in the ghetto, followed by Wanachi's instrumental cut of the brilliant rhythm you might know from Azul's 'Black Rose.' The B-side features a really unique previously unreleased tune from one Moon Dread. Operatic, semi-acoustic and haunting, if you like early Ras Michael & The Sons of Negus, this tune offers a maybe less spiritual and more theatrical but still compelling take in that vein from about a decade later in the late 1970s. Comes in new Wackie's company sleeve.

All tunes composed, arranged, conducted and engineered by Prince Istari
and played by his house band The Virtualistics. Trombone Solos by Eugene
Rosebud. Packaged in a nice cover drawn by Markus Schäfer and frequency
shift and cut by LXC.

This journey started for Flox on the Reunion island, in the lost heights of the Mafate cirque. It is in this area cut of from the world, only accessible by foot, that the English multi-instrumentalist found himself face to face with the thrilling and endless feeling of being lost and in danger once again. A sensation that had faded away through time, weakening the flickering flame of inspiration.
Listening only to his instincts, leaving aside past experiences and moving forward freely are the main ingredients of this sixth album Taste Of Grey. An album conditioned by inspiration, each song catching the feeling of the moment and releasing unblemished emotions. At ease with the different lines of artistic creation, the multi-talented craftsman once again composed, arranged, played, and recorded Taste Of Grey; a complex mix of organic and digital music balanced between deep Jamaican rhythms and loose funky beats. Breaking down styles to build his own, spending hours reinventing a personal electro vibe that moves back and forth from rap to singing and from darker to lighter landscapes.
Rather than the simple choice of black or white, Flox has chosen a path with more subtle shades of grey. A step into the unknown, writing love songs when political issues had mainly been a major theme. Writing about feelings, unclenching fists to come up with an album that tells a full story. You could listen to the album Taste Of Grey in random but this would also change the story line…

Back in circulation after over a decade, Jahtari's seminal "Jahtarian Dubbers Vol. 1 EP" receives the long-awaited reissue treatment, reviving the raw, 8-bit-infused dub vibes that defined a new era of digital roots music.

Originally released in 2008 and quickly disappearing into dub obscurity, this heavyweight 12" returns with four essential cuts that perfectly encapsulate the Jahtari sound—where chiptune meets the echo chamber.

The EP kicks off with Blaze Dem's "Roots Defender", a hypnotic concotion of deep basslines and eerie samples from a Swedish cult ritual, setting a heavy tone right from the start. disrupt's cinematic "Kozure Okami" follows, channeling Black Ark vibes through 8-bit synth explorations.

On the flip, John Frum delivers the hauntingly beautiful "January Dub", while Rootah's slomo slammer "Holy Mount Part 2" closes the EP with Lynchian, echo-soaked vibrations that linger long after the needle lifts.

Timeless tracks, mastered by Cgb-1 at D&M in Berlin for maximum impact. Pivotal piece of Dub music!

Seminal 1979 roots LP from Barry Brown reissued here by Black Soldiarity, featuring classic production from Bunny Striker Lee.

Back in print. The Clash songs dubified. Limited to 555 copies.

Our first contemporary release on Avec Plaisir features a stunning collaboration of Munich-based Ly Nguyen and Super Sound Global's Nic Jalusi.

We discovered Suncream’s "Laguna Azur" already years ago through our friend Pia and kept playing it in our sets since then, which caused almost ridiculous amounts of ID-requests from audiences all over Europe. So when Ly and Nic agreed on working together on a physical release, we knew this is gonna be something special.

While the Original Laguna Azur Mix takes you on a motorcycle trip to a beach bar sipping cocktails in the early 90s (with denim jackets, cocktail umbrellas and the full program), Jalusi's Acid Dub is already starting the party, when the dubby bass hits like we wanna dance into the sunset, watching smiles on everyones faces, rumpled hair from the early evening breeze. 2AM – was it Hazme Sonar or Sueno Latino or the Balearic Eric & Nic Jalusi Dream House Mix – You’re in a sea of hands up in the air when those piano chords kick in after the break. You just want to dive into the ocean for another night swim and shake your drenched body on the sandy dancefloor. A handful of friends remain at the beach in the very moment when the sun comes up and you’ll hear the hypnotizing leftfield dub "My Heart“, lying on the shore, everyone’s eyes turn into the greenish-blue color of a mystical lagoon hidden in the palm forest. A salty taste remaining on your skin.

We're more than proud and excited to present you the summer record of 2024: Suncream’s Laguna Azur EP.

6 tracks including two new wigged out re-dubs from Paolo Baldini 'Dubfiles', demonstrating the effect of dropping an echo chamber down a sink-hole. Upsetter magic at its finest. Comes in a grey house bag.

Annivesary edition with new artwork on green vinyl including download code.