Reggae & Dancehall 321 Items

Cover close to NM

Manchester reggae band X-O-Dus are best known for their single English Black Boys, produced by Dennis ‘Blackbeard’ Bovell and released on Factory Records (Fac 11) in February 1980. This remastered compilation collects together 7 of their best tracks and is limited to 500 copies on 180 gsm vinyl (plus digital copy). Talent-spotted by Joy Division manager Rob Gretton, X-O-Dus performed at live events such as Zoo Meets Factory Halfway (August 1979) and Factory By Moonlight (April 1980). In time-honoured Factory fashion Fac 11 was released almost a year late, being the only reggae record to appear in a sleeve designed by Peter Saville. Digitally remastered by Peter Beckmann in 2021, this 7 track vinyl edition includes both sides of the Factory single as well as 5 album demos recorded in 1980. For optimum sound quality the album is pressed on 180 gsm vinyl. The vinyl inner bag contains sleeve notes by former manager Martin Dunlop, along with archive images including previously unseen shots from the Moonlight Club show on 4 April 1980 by Peter Anderson.

"Brand new production recorded at The Arch studio in Tottenham by the Horus All Stars. Track laid live down to tape.. legendary UK reggae singer Winston Reedy gels in perfectly with a beautiful vocal. Heavyweight dub on the flip"

Solid production from the Riz crew aka Nick Manasseh and Gil Cang (Tuff Scout) featuring the legendary Willie ‘Armagideon Time’ Williams from 1995.

Jamwax Records proudly presents We Sing Gregory. On this album, jamaican producer Bravo used the best roots and culture band, the undomitable Roots Radics, featuring Flabba Holt on bass, Style Scott on drums and Keith Sterling on keyboards, and hired legends Robbie Lynn on keyboards, Cat Coore and Chinna Smith on guitar, Stick on percussion, Dean Fraser on horns, thus ensuring a heavy and flawless riddim foundation and superb arrangements. The Roots Radics were Gregory Isaacs band in the early 80's, playing on the Night Nurse and Out Deh! albums, touring around the world with the cool ruler. Gregory Isaacs' songwriting is magnificient and the subjects are always treated with humbleness and consideration for others.

This album here is a lightning roller coaster musical journey through the music of Studio One, the most important record company in the history of Jamaican reggae music. Ska and Rock Steady feature from the greatest names in reggae: The Skatalites, The Maytals, Marcia Griffiths and The Heptones alongside vocal and roots styles from Horace Andy, Willie Williams and Wailing Souls; DJ and dancehall styles from Michigan and Smiley, Prince Jazzbo and Lone Ranger; plus some wicked instrumental and dub. It's all here! 100% essential foundation style.

CD comes in a soft case, instead of the original crystal case. All booklets included.

CD comes in a soft case, instead of the original crystal case. All booklets included.

Dancehall knowledge Felix Hall presents a momentous 20 year follow-up to Mo Wax’s pivotal, highly influential 2001 instrumental showcase ‘Now Thing’ a blueprint of sorts for the likes of Equiknoxx almost two decades later. This new set - almost two years in the making - reunites original comp players Lil Toby, Will Bankhead and Oliver Payne (on compiling and artwork duties) and features 16 prime Jamaican bullets for Felix Hall’s shockout label, Chrome. Resetting the timeline to 1997-2020, ‘Now Thing 2’ expands on the crucial first set - which was a gateway to the world of dancehall for many heads - with deadly cuts from the scene’s leading producers; spanning Dave Kelly to Steely & Clevie, from NYC’s Bobby Konders to Ward 21, and including killer side-spins on ‘90s rave and R&B. bTwo decades since the first set, it’s astute to say that dancehall has exerted a huge degree of influence over dance and club music of all stripes over the interim. Much like how roots reggae and dub influenced disco and post-punk in the ’70s; Dancehall, with its origins in the digidub of Jammy’s ‘Sleng Teng’ riddim, has irrevocably informed jungle, rap, garage, and even pop and techno for the past generation, and ‘Now Thing 2’ is the strongest primer you’ll likely come across.. It’s a proper sound-system thing, deeply rooted in the competitive, inventive nature of Jamaican music, which would, according to ‘Bass Culture’ writer Lloyd Bradley’s liner notes “constantly reinvent itself as a way of staying ahead of the sound system on the next corner.” With access to new technology, producers persistently pushed their paradigm along the axes of function and distinction, with each asserting their individuality in a syncretic style and its permutations of tresillo drum patterns, all at the service of bringing bodies to the dance and keeping them there.