Roots & Culture 213 Items

This release represents the first original Zion Train album in 5 years and features 9 vocalists alongside extremely talented musicians. Vocalists include Cara, Michel Grena Prince Jamo and Rider Shafique whilst amongst the musicians are such luminaries as Paolo Baldini, Don Fe and Gianni Denitto.Zion Train are working alongside the Stop Ecocide and Extinction Rebellion campaigns with the release of this music to help attempts to build a brighter future for our planet - to this end we are reprinting the Leap Manifesto authored by Naomi Klein and friends with this release.

music by King Earthquake & Word Sound and Power

music by Russ Disciples, Jonah Dan & Mighty Massa

Shaky Norman is a French musician who discovered the melodica through the music of Augustus Pablo.His influences range from classical to Jamaican music as well as punk, Celtic music, French traditional music and jazz. He has collaborated with Mad Professor in 1990 playing melodica on the album Psychedelic Dub.
His new eponymous album features eight original creations. It is set up as a 32 minutes musical journey taking you through different atmospheres kept together as a whole. The collaboration with prestigious Jamaican musicians like the late Ronald Nambo Robinson on trombone, who played with Bob Marley, Jimmy Cliff, Burning Spear, Sly & Robbie and so many others, and Glen Da Costa, the saxophonist of Bob Marley & the Wailers and Zap Pow, add an authentic depth to this album.

The Skatalites’ massive dancefloor ska Anthem + some serious dub on the flip

Recorded at Harry J & Channel One in 1982 with iconic musicians as China Smith, Flabba Holt, Robbie Shakespear, along with Norris Reid and Delroy Williams on backing vocals.The album include a recut of the classic "Java" and the singing of Hugh Mundell on "Ratafari Tradition". Reissue with the artwork of the original Jamaican press.

Greatest dub album ever. Combination between the "Far East" style of Augustus Pablo playing Melodica, Clavinet & Organ and Dub's master Osbourne Ruddock aka "King Tubby's". Featuring the finest Jamaican musicians, Aston & Carlton Barret, China Smith, Vin Gordon, Bobby Ellis...Mixed at King Tubby's Studio in 1976. Produced by Augustus Pablo. A must have !

Deep instrumental & dub album. Recorded in 1978 in the best Jamaican studios, including Lee Perry's famous "Black Ark" along (as always !) the cream of the musicians including members of "The Wailers". Pablo mystical & meditative sound take us far away, to the ethiopian roots.

Hollie Cook combines her unique vocal talent and charisma to craft a dynamic strand of lovers rock with enduring tropical vibes, weaving a path from her West London roots to an arena of diverse collaborations, critically acclaimed records, and iconic live appearances around the world. Cook’s ability to surprise, delight, and progress solidifies her position as one of the most exciting voices in reggae, and this is clear on her third full-length and Merge debut, Vessel of Love. Cook’s music career commenced at age 19, when family friend and punk trailblazer Ari Up asked Cook to join the raucous ’70s post-punk outfit The Slits for their reformation in 2006. Thrown into the deep end she thrived, and quickly cut her teeth with four years of back-to-back shows around the globe. Her talents recognized and nurtured, she then released her first solo album Hollie Cook in 2011, with a revered 2012 dub album follow-up, while singles such as “Milk & Honey” and “That Very Night” gained support from influential radio stations across Europe. Cook's latest, Vessel of Love was produced MARTIN "YOUTH" GLOVER (Killing Joke), who describes Cook’s songs as “sharp lyrical observations and clever word play combined with an exquisite and informed pop sensibility.” Special Indie Store version pressed on limited edition pink vinyl.

Record is close to VG+.
Cover as new with slightly dented corners.

The Hempolics return with ‘Kiss, Cuddle & Torture: Volume 2’, the follow-up to their triumphant 2017 album which won them accolades including a BBC 6 Music ‘Album Of The Year’ selection. The new release builds on their trademark mash-up sound of reggae, dub, soul and pop but explores new territories with elements of hip-hop, shoegaze and trip-hop welcome additions to the mix.
As with Volume 1, the release is underpinned by the masterful production of main man Grippa – an engineer who cut his teeth working with Faithless – and he’s once again joined by unmistakable Hempolics vocalists Dandelion and Nubiya, who continues to turn heads with her Amy Winehouse meets Hollie Cook timbre.
Highlights of the album include the upbeat soul and reggae hit ‘Play On’, the trip-hop meets dub-influenced single, ‘Full of Surprises’, and the British reggae-funk stomper ‘Bongadashi’. ‘Gotta Thing’ sees the band deliver a fast hip-hop house track laced with classic Hempolics’ reggae flavours, vocals courtesy of Miami rapper Cojack, whilst ‘Place Is Here’, written by Grippa alongside Faithless vocalist Pauline Taylor, is a 90’s shoegaze influenced cut with a languid psych groove.
These releases are to be collected, and hopefully Volume 3 isn’t too far away.

Find the most beautiful pieces of the Reggae legend "Bob Marley" reinterpreted by the Jazz scene. A selection of the most beautiful covers from "I Shot The Sheriff" to "Sun Is Shining" or "Jammin'" and "Jammin'". "Buffalo Soldier" with Pink Turtle, The Holmes Brothers, Sly & Robbie, Kim Waters...

It's been a long journey from the day in Nigeria when we found, inside an Alpha Kuffa - Messiah I sleeve, a blank test press of the Yangaman Bob Lp with a little Top Rank sticker on it to the day we met the producer, the great and brilliant George Dureke, who gave us the test presses of the remaining unreleased albums from his Top Rank label, till to the complicated audio Restoration handled by Colin Young and Bassi Maestro. After two years of hard and intensive work it's finally arrived the time for this compilation to be ready and see the light! Eight Unreleased Digital Roots tracks made in Nigeria in the late 80s, never released or pressed, if not on a couple of test presses made on recycled plastic. Surely it includes some of the most interesting Reggae Music made in the Roots Land call Nigeria! Now Ready to be spreaded worldwide!

Allan 'Ras Bombo' Kingpin's all time roots classic scorcher, better known as "Little Jimmy", it's working title during its pre-release. This release is a dubplate mix (original version here).

Great Disco-Reggae versions of classic hits by some artists as diverse as Madonna, Herbie Hancock, Justin Timberlake, The Commodores, The O'Jays, Curtis Mayfield, Harry Nilsson or Sugarhill Gang.

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…

The first and foremost exponent of the ‘singjay’ style, Eek A Mouse, has carried all before him over the past thirty years busily blurring the distinctions between roots, dancehall and crossover reggae. Eek-ology collects up a number of rare and in-demand non-album sides including the early self produced ‘Ripton Hylton’ recordings along with the Joe Gibbs sessions where he first unveiled his brand new Eek-A-Mouse style. Mouse’s long and successful partnership with producer Junjo Lawes is represented by the non-album ‘For Hire And Removal’ and tracks like ‘Rude Boys A Foreign’ recorded for Gussie Clarke and ‘Taller Than King Kong’ for King Jammy still ram the dance today!

A third and final volume of Jamaican doo wop & R&B records taken from the late 50s and early 60s.

These records represent a period in which sound-systems were beginning to dominate the island, with Duke Reid and Sir Coxsone Dodd stepping up their rivalry by beginning to make and release their own records rather than rely on US imports for use in their dances. Many of these records are definitely more-or-less imitations of the American records, as the uniquely Jamaican ska sound was yet to take hold - however many of the future stars of ska, rocksteady and reggae were beginning to cut their teeth in the industry on these records, incl. Alton Ellis, Derrick Morgan, Derrick Harriott and more, and provide a unique view into the fledgling independent record industry culture in Jamaica that would prove to be unbelievably prolific and unparalleled for an island of it's size.

Cut loud and proud with tracks carefully selected "Sweet Reggae Music" includes first time on LP appearances for the much sought after sound-system favorites "Whom Shall I Be Afraid Of", "Praise His Name" & "Pon Your Toe" alongside the broader than Broadway hits "Here I Come", "Mary Long Tongue", "Mini Bus" etc. - During this golden age of Jamaican music Barrington Levy was the undisputed lord of the dancehall - "Sweet Reggae Music" is 100% black vinyl proof!

"Blue Lizzard" is the first reggae instrumental album of its kind to come out of Jamaica since the heyday of Channel One and Joe Gibbs' studios in the late 1970s and Rico Rodriguez's influential "Man From Wareika". Packaged in a vintage style with additional printed inner sleeves with all musician credts and liner notes by Carter Van Pelt on the backside of the sleeve.

The album features original compositions and several classic adaptations, all arranged by Clive "Azul" Hunt, aka Lizzard, the veteran producer of The Abyssinians, Bullwackies, Beres Hammond, Jah9, Richie Spice, the acclaimed "We Remember Dennis Brown" tribute album and many more. The multi-generational roster of musicians contributing to the sessions included Dean Fraser, the late Bobby Ellis and Nambo Robinson, Robbie Lyn, Bubbler Waul, Wayne Armond, Squidley Cole, Kirk Bennett, and Clive Hunt, among others.