Dub 8 Items

ZamZam 95 is a link with the enigmatic French producer Hiss Is Bliss. We’ve been fans since the very first drop on their 777Hz label and these two sides drive straight to the heart of the dub techno galaxy.

Little is known about Hiss Is Bliss beyond the fact that they hail from France, are steeped in esotericism, and create tunes as masterfully grounded in roots reggae as they are in techno and related strands of electronic music. Their releases are utterly free of hype, beautifully crafted 10” vinyl plates that let the singers and tracks speak for themselves.

At the risk of being cheeky, “Nope” is absolute dub techno bliss. The 808 kick propels the track relentlessly forward, saturated washes of color streak the night sky, while syncopated hi hats and warm, soulful chords bring life- dare we say funk- to a style too often stiff and clinical, too in thrall to the past to truly step forward. Matching Hiss is Bliss in mystery, Ras Lys’ vocal brings a Dread perspective on music and the sometimes shady business of music, a grounded contrast to the deep inner space explored by the tune itself. The B-side version “Abbadia” splits musical atoms through the desk, focusing squarely on the stripped 4/4 elements and gloriously distorted pads that echo and cycle like tides in a darkly shimmering sea.

'Africa' is the first release by Jamaican born singer Robert Dallas on Dub & Sound International, known for his releases on Roots Garden and Jamtone. Here he delivers one of his strongest vocal works, with lovely harmonies and the the theme of returning home to Africa, while B-side dub amplifies the rhythm and has electrifying energy that's perfect for the sound system. Dub & Sound International, a Finnish label, is quickly making a name for itself in reggae circles with its signature roots reggae sound and here again label boss Jaakko Penttinen handled the mixing in the best old school style. Stay tuned for more equally infectious releases later this year.

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.

The third solo album of the Italian producer is released eight years after his previous At Song Embassy, Papine, Kingston 6, an album/documentary recorded and filmed in Jamaica back in 2015. Over this eight-year span, Baldini intensively toured through Europe, United States and Latin America, and worked as a producer for artists like Mellow Mood, L.A.B., Forelock, Noiseshaper, Imperial Sound Army, Dubblestandart, and for well- established reggae labels like Pressure Sounds and Echo Beach. Differently from his previous albums, in which Baldini’s approach was tightly linked to the tradition of Jamaican dub (and where his works focused on re-editing and re-purposing materials coming from different sources), the starting point for the beat-making of In The Shell was the writing of original music, a blank page on which to develop every single track. This time, the core of the production and song-writing is rooted in the creation of instrumental tracks in the studio; only at a later stage did Baldini look on the outside, establishing the necessary connections and collaborations for the entire album. The shared element among the songs in the record is the use of a palette of ethnic sounds and samples, recorded and archived by Paolo Baldini himself during his various trips to Africa, and on which he later carried out his unique electronic production and post-production work – the distinctive feature of his musical aesthetics. The personal and family ties that led the Italian producer to visit Sub-Saharan Africa, and especially Senegal, granted him an exclusive observation standpoint on day-to-day contexts which are usually not accessible to those who don’t have a key to participate in the family life of these communities, and allowed him to respectfully use this advantage to record original and unique samples.