Roots & Culture 179 Items

The Minyo Crusaders' 2017 debut album “Echoes of Japan” LP will be back in stock on vinyl! Purists beware, as these ten Japanese musicians have decided to give a cumbia, reggae, salsa, ethiopian groove and afro-funk twist to min'yo, an ancestral Japanese folk song genre of which they were all fans before they met. Their debut album, the eminently exotic (even zany) Echoes Of Japan, features ten tracks from the min'yo repertoire sung in the grand tradition of the style, to the sound of Afro-Latino brass and percussion. A delightful example of successful fusion, however unlikely it may seem.

On the 50th anniversary of the band's inception at an event in Harlem, NY to commemorate Malcolm X's birthday on 19 May 1968, influential spoken word artists, poets and commentators The Last Poets are set to make a glorious and relevant return with their first album in over 20 years, 'Understand What Black Is'.
Produced by Ben Lamdin (Nostaglia 77) and Brighton legend Prince Fatty, whose speciality is traditional reggae and dub production's, 'Understand What Black Is' is a ten-track album which speaks of a revolutionary struggle defined by both race and identity, that has never sounded more relevant. Released on Studio Rockers, there will also be an accompanying single featuring remixes of the title track "Understand What Black Is" by Mala (South London collective Digital Mystikz) and UK Dance music innovators Dego and Kaidi.
Since the initial line-up of Dahveed Nelson, Gylan Kain and Felipe Luciano formed in East Harlem's Marcus Garvey Park, The Last Poets have produced under various guises over the subsequent years. However, it was their seminal output, namely 1970's 'The Last Poets' under both Umar bin Hassan and Abiodun Oyewole that secured their legacy, becoming one of the most important influences in early hip hop.
Throughout the last 20 years, the band have remained largely on hiatus. But their influence could still be felt with their tracks being sampled by The Notorious B.I.G, NWA, A Tribe Called Quest, Dr.Dre and Snoop Dogg. Umar has recorded various solo albums and featured on Common and Kanye West's Grammy Nominated 'The Corner'. Abiodun appeared on the Red Hot Organization's album, Stolen Moments which was named "Album of the Year" by Time. He also conducts weekly open house poetry readings, where he constructively critiques upcoming poets, helping to nurture them. He has also conducted classes at Columbia University, where he teaches creative writing.
The inauguration of Donald Trump as US President in 2016 inspired Hassan and Oyewole to resurrect the group to create a brand new record, modern and edgy, and deeply relevant and reflective of our times.
Tracks on 'Understand What Black Is' include 'How Many Bullets', which bridles with defiance as Oyewole works through a litany of injustices suffered by black people in the US: " You've Tried
To Blow My Brains Out With Bigotry, Chopped Off My Wings, So I Couldn't Fly Free, And Dared Me To Be Me, Took My Drum, Broke My Hands, Yanked My Roots Right Up Out Of The Land, And Riddled My Soul With Jesus" 'What I Want To See' describes a utopia - a refuge from hurt and those who'd make "our vision blurred, and our faith obscure", whilst the title track 'Understand What Black Is' aims to transcend ethnicity: "understand what black is….It's the source from which all things come...black is a hero, not a villain."
The album even takes reference from Prince's 2003 album of instrumentals, 'News', which Hassan drew comparisons from with his own childhood experiences: "That poem took me about a year to write….I just kept writing and writing but not getting too far and then I heard that album and the musicianship was amazing. I was left wondering if it was jazz, classical, rock or maybe something new but all those images that I write about came to me from listening to that album. I loved Prince in that movie Purple Rain because my father was a talented musician but he was into brutalising Mama at times and in the movie there's a Jerome and my name is Jerome, so it was like he was telling my life story as well."
The album acts as a body of work between individual members each speaking of their own personal journeys, but feeding into the much larger narrative of struggle and oppression, alongside a fervent hunger for social change. These are struggles and tests of personal resolve that have directly shaped and moulded the bands' unique sound over the course of an impressive 50 years, and their powerful and influential commentary remains as relevant as ever.

A definitive guide to Dancehall Reggae! Over 30 killer tracks from Yellowman, Eek a Mouse, Gregory Isaacs, Tenor Saw and loads more.

Featuring Johnny Clarke, King Tubby, Dillinger, Prince Jazzbo, Tommy McCook, The legendary Aggrovators, The Mighty Diamonds & many more.

A great collection of classic roots recordings from the mid-70's for the singer who came close in challenging Bob Marley & Dennis Brown for reggae's crown. All re-mastered recordings available as 30-Track 2CD-Deluxe Digipak and 23-Track 2LP-set in a gatefold sleeve, both with in-depth sleeve notes by Noel Hawkes. The release is supported by several summer festival appearances.

Only Johnny Clarke would come close to challenging Bob Marley & Dennis Brown for reggae's crown, his unequaled run of hit songs, powered by Bunny Lee and King Tubby's aggravating versions, continued without a pause during the mid-70's leading Johnny to twice being named Jamaica's Artist Of The Year (and the signing of a two album recording deal with Virgin's Frontline label). Many of Johnny Clarke's classic roots recordings gathered here were first given wider international exposure in 1998 with the release of Blood & Fire's excellent 13-Track "Dreader Dread - 1976-1978" compilation, which has disappeared from the market for several years. Now re-mastered and drastically expanded, with a new artwork and entitled "Creation Rebel" the release captures the very essence of what is now regarded as the golden age of roots music!

The studio and label Digital B of producer Bobby "Digital" Dixon became the ruling production house in the musical revolution that swept through Jamaica from the mid-80's onwards with a lethal selection of dancehall weapons and chartbusting reggae hits. "X-Tra Wicked" gathers many of his bestever productions from those heady times when specialist stores were awash with 7-Inch singles, freshly arrived from Jamaica, and reggae music was once more on the rise. This great double 2LP-set presents 24 selected tracks in a double wide vinyl jacket, with just the top hits from the two Bobby Digital Reggae Anthology releases.

Repress of Mad Professor's 90s Japanese Mono Lovers remix masterpiece 7" S.S.W. Yoshiko Gotoh is also known as the vocalist of Denki Groove's 'Niji'. This is the first 7" release from '19, coupling the classic "First Light" with a superb dub mix of "Nameless Pierce", and is now being repressed in a limited edition of 300 copies Yoshiko Goshima was described as "a genius female singer with a five-octave voice" in the 1990s and early 2000s. She is a talented artist who is popular for her soulful singing that combines sweetness and toughness, and her 1999 hit single 'Open Up', which was used in a TV commercial, is also memorable. This 7" couples two rare remixes by the reggae dub scene's Mad Professor. The A-side features the 'Mad's Lovers Smooth Mix ver.' from the 'First Light Remixes' 12" single, which was released as a promo-only single in '97 and is now hard to find. A light dub number with dreamy synths and a stretched high-tone voice that feels great, the B-side is the "Mad's Summer Swim Mix" of "No Name Earrings" from the CD single "Swingin' the Swing", also released in '97. " from the CD single 'Swingin' the Swing', also released in '97. It is a moving song with powerful yet melancholy and delicate vocals and a chorus work that builds to euphoria towards the latter half of the song

Record is close to NM!

Limited Edition.

Studio One Freedom Sounds is the new collection from Soul Jazz/ Studio One focussing on the intense period in the second half of the 1960s when Studio One’s vast and unbeatable output of ska, soul, rock steady and reggae made it literally one of the hottest musical empires in the world.
During this highly successful period, Clement ‘Sir Coxsone’ Dodd released hundreds and hundreds of superlative singles seemingly on an almost daily basis, in the process making huge stars out of Jamaican singers such as Alton Ellis, Delroy Wilson, The Wailers, Slim Smith, Jackie Opel and many more.
Powered by the finest in-house musicians working in Jamaica, whether it was The Skatalites, Jackie Mittoo’s Soul Brothers, The Sounds Dimension or The Soul Vendors, Studio One functioned as hit factory on the scale of Motown in the USA, shaping and defining reggae music for decades to come.
Singlehandedly Studio One’s founder Clement Dodd was able to create the most successful vertically-integrated record company that Jamaica had ever known with pressing plant, printers, studio, shops, and sound systems all running at once, with over 50 employees and hundreds of artists working with Studio One during this time.
Studio One Freedom Sounds tells the story of Studio One in the 1960s with a stunning set of ska, soul, rock steady and reggae killer tunes as well as informative sleevenotes and track-by-track info by Noel Hawks. The album is released as heavyweight double vinyl (+ free download code), deluxe CD and digital album.

This is the second installment of deep roots Rastafarian reggae at Studio One and features classic music from some of the most important figures in reggae music – Alton Ellis, The Heptones, Jackie Mittoo, The Gladiators – alongside a host of rarities and little-known recordings, such as a truly rare Mystic Revelation of Rastafari seven-inch single, Willie William’s first ever recording ‘Calling’ and Horace Andy’s righteous (and equally rare) masterpiece ‘Illiteracy.’
Black Man’s Pride 2 extends the legacy of Studio One’s ground-breaking path in roots reggae which began at the end of the 1960s and continued throughout the 1970s. The album tells the story of how the rise of Studio One Records and the Rastafari movement were interconnected, through the adoption of the Rastafari faith by key reggae artists – everyone from the Skatalites and Wailers in the 1960s, major singers such as Alton Ellis and Horace Andy at the end of the decade, through to major roots artists such as The Gladiators in the 1970s – and how Clement Dodd consistently recorded this heavyweight roots music throughout Studio One’s history.
The sleeve-notes to this album also discuss the links between Rastafari and Studio One in time and place, noting how both the religion and Clement Dodd’s musical empire had their roots in the intense period of pre-independence Jamaica in Kingston, expanded in the 1960s following the visit of Haile Selassie in 1966, and how roots music then came to dominate reggae music in the early 1970s. Also discussed is how the outsider stance of both reggae music and the Rastafari movement relate back many hundreds of years to the original rebel stance of the Maroons, escaped slaves who set up self-sufficient enclaves in the hills of the Jamaican countryside.

Jr. Thomas & The Volcanos’ sophomore effort Rockstone is more than just a love letter to the roots of Jamaican music. It’s an actual love letter. Tom McDowall aka Jr. Thomas explains, “I could write a musical love letter to all things I loved: my wife, my family, my friends, my band mates. I could write a song to tell me to Chin Up when times got tough. I could give gratitude to the Jamaican artists that paved the way for the beautiful music we now call reggae. I could write a song about what it’s like to lose someone important to you. Or write a song to invigorate me spiritually. Music is healing and that’s the best therapy there is for me.”
Rockstone isn’t just another throwback record to an era gone by. It’s a record that takes risks within the genre, but more importantly it’s a genuinely honest record.
“I called the album Rockstone because true love cannot be defeated. It lives forever. We write tributes on our tombstones because they live on beyond our lives as a remembrance of something special and important to us.”
Recommend for fans of: The Frightnrs, Toots & The Maytals, Jimmy Cliff

Limited edition for Record Store Day 2018!

Debut album from DC roots reggae / lovers rock band mixed by VICTOR RICE. Formed by current and former members of THE PIETASTERS, feat lush vocals of KELLY DI FLIPPO. Think THE BEATLES meets DENNIS BROWN, a must for fans of THE FRIGHTNRS, HOLLIE COOK or THE SKINTS. Songs of heartbreak...

Wonderful album. Previously released on CD within the Paris DJs Reggae Boxset, this album is now re-mixed and re-mastered by Grant Phabao. Gem!

Following 2 acclaimed first editions, Stix Records presents the 3rd volume of its Disco Reggae compilation series.

Like previous one, the 9 tracks comp is made both from productions of the home labels now sold-out as vinyl, and from brand new exclusive music by the like of Taggy Matcher, Mato or newcomer Rosemary Martins, taking over classics titles from Donna Summer, Stephen Encinas, Roberta Flack, Herbie Hancock, Steve Parks, or Inner City.

The perfect soundtrack to extend the summer!!

"I Man A The Stal-A-Watt" gathers together 13 sure shots from Cornell Campbell blending the very best of his all-conquering hit run of forty-fives for Bunny "Striker" Lee alongside a stretch of crucial cuts produced by Joe Gibbs - from the 1970s - 80s classic era. The title is a boast from the early soundclash era when many of Campbell's tracks, here produced primarily by Bunny Lee, would play first on King Tubby’s Home Town Hi-Fi in Jamaica. The songs run the range from clash-ready standards like "Mash You Down" and "The Gorgon" to cultural commentaries like "Jah Jah Me Horn Yah" and "Bandulu" to the lover’s masterpiece "The Investigator" which leads off the set. Stretching into the early 80s, the collection includes two originals that would spawn countless re-interpretations, "Rope In" and "Boxing Around".

Ten selected tracks have been compiled for the LP-vinyl edition with Singers on side one and the Deejays on side two, including Tessanne Chin's "Breakfast In Bed" and Noah Powa's "No Stress" feat. Shams The Producer as exclusives. The cover art is by Japanese illustrator Murasaki.

Jah Cure is a musical adventurer, exploring rhythms, moods and meaning with his latest album "Royal Soldier", his first longplayer since "The Cure" in 2015. Jah Cure writes songs about love and consciousness and reality. His music moves between classic roots and smooth R&B and often challenges the boundaries of the reggae genre, his presence and influence among Caribbean fans has reverberated around the globe and earned him top status among reggae artists internationally. The music videos for set-up tracks "Telephone Love", "Risk It All" and "Marijuana" are all +1 million streams on YouTube. Guest appearances on "Royal Soldier" include Damien "Jr. Gong" Marley, Popcaan, Melanie Fiona, Mya, Phyllisia Ross, Tory Lanez two special multi-feature tunes with Yami Bolo, Junior Reid & Capleton ("Street Kings") and Dru, Sketch Carey & Alx ("Eyes On Your Body")

"Music Is Our Business" is a premium blend of the very best of Cocoa Tea's non-album tracks recorded for Bobby Digital alongside a gold leaf selection of previously unreleased nuggets. All recorded between 1985 and 1986.
The tracks gathered together here are amongst the most loved tunes in Cocoa Tea's illustrious catalogue and this collection is sure to please Cocoa Tea's many fans both old and new, his message are songs of the struggle, Love, Peace...
The success of VP's recent two Bobby Digital anthologies "X-Tra Wicked" and "Serious Times" has shone the spotlight bright and alight on the outstanding work that was coming out of the Digital B studio during this golden period. The release of "Music Is Our Business" shows there is still a lot more gold in the Digital B vaults.

Heavy Channel One business one more time!
Back in the early 80's with Soul Power & Sound in fine style.

Famous meditation Roots track called Yard Music for the first time on Maxi 12inch 45rpm.
The flip side receive a loud Steppers called Trample Romans.

Both sides Alternate extended mixes from Master Tapes!

"Dub For The Radicals" are ten unearthed rock solid Roots Radics rhythm tracks dub charged by Alborosie and Flabba Holt at Shengen Studio, Jamaica. This is speaker shaking drum and bass from the original Roots Radics - pure dub fire - Alborosie meets The Roots Radics at their best in a heavyweight dub showdown! - It is Alborosie's fifth dub project following the strictly dubwise albums "Dub Clash" (2010), "Dub The System" (2013), "Dub Of Thrones" w/King Jammy (2015) and "Freedom In Dub" (2017).

"Step Forward Youth" takes a serious look at the reggae of the punk rock era in England and its resulting global impact. Here are 12 selected tracks especially for LP-Vinyl including the obscure roots reggae heat such as the Barry Ford Band's "Rebel" plus Prince Far I's "Heavy Manners", Culture's "Two Sevens Clash" and furthermore great tunes by Dr. Alimantado (as well pictured on the album's cover) alongside Jah Stitch, Lee Perry, Gregory Isaacs, Augustus Pablo, Keith Hudson, Michael Rose, Junior Murvin, Tappa Zukie and the dub version to Johnny Clarke's "None Shall Escape The Judgement.

"None A Jah Jah Children" collects the eight best tracks from the two longplayer "Rastafari" and "Kibir-Am-Lak" that Ras Michael & The Sons Of Negus made for producer Tommy Cowan in the 1970's, all tracks re-mastered by Kevin Metcalfe. This are nyah chants made sound system ready by the Talent Corporation with the heavyweight musical back-up of Robbie Shakespeare, Peter Tosh, Earl "Chinna" Smith, Robbie Lyn, Tommy McCook, Carlton "Santa" Davis and the Sons Of Negus with the all the various drums like the 1st, 2nd and 3rd funde, akete bass drum, repeater, bass funde and trap drums. The original recordings happened at Dynamcic Sound and at Joe Gibbs studios. The LP-Vinyl includes also a nice printed inner sleeve with images and linernotes by Harry Wise

Red vinyl

Released in 2017, the much-talked-about Yasuyuki Horigome & THE NEW Shoes "Aliens (Lovers Version) (12")" will be re-released by Urban Discos in limited quantities! The flip side features a dub version of the song, as on the first pressing. It was re-cut from the original master and retains the 12" 45rpm spec.

Brand New 2017 Recut - finally available on Vinyl for the First time. 2LP+Mp3 in full Original Coverart. The legendary movie soundstrack based out of Kingston, Jamaica in April 2008, telling the story of the original vocalists and musicians involved. The sixteenth release on the Moll-Selekta label shares its title with a wonderful film, a heartwarming homage to the golden age of rocksteady. It documents the recordings being made for this very album at the Tuff Gong studios, Kingston, Jamaica in April 2008, telling the story of the original vocalists and musicians involved. Excerpts from an all star reunion concert staged in Kingston and older archive material complete the picture. Never before in the history of Jamaica, which already occupies a unique place on the world map of song, its sound embraced by western popular music, has such an illustrious collection of singers and players been assembled. The album showcases 15 rocksteady classics in sparkling, deeply inspired new versions, recorded in the studio which also played host to album sessions of a certain Bob Marley. Under the musical direction of Ernest Ranglin, a guitarist of considerable renown not only on the reggae circuit, but also on the jazz scene, mixed by legendary engineer Errol Brown - in Duke Reid’s employ at the Treasure Isle studio in the sixties - and freshly arranged by Lynn Taitt.

At long last, in proper quality and officially licensed, here's a pair of records long worked at, historically important, largely unheard, and most of all, musically brilliant. Above all, the dub mixes on these records are known among connoisseurs as being among a handful which can not only be considered a definitive King Tubby's style statement, but also among the most radical, transformative and forward thinking mixes ever committed to tape by the King himself. This is proper King Tubby's music; Tubby the man, not just Tubby's the studio. These two 12"s represent most of the known cuts of this brilliant rhythm, played by the Wailers' Barrett brothers, alongside Earl Chinna Smith, Augustus Pablo and Gladdy Anderson, all together truly a rhythmic force to be reckoned with. "Message from the Congo" and "God Is Love" are two vocals cuts produced via the mid 1970's partnership of Milton "Billy Hutch" Hutchinson and the late Linton "Bob Soul" Williamson. Together these upstart artist-producers operated from a base of operations on King St. in downtown Kingston, nothing short of a historic location that was both concurrent with and adjacent to both the Wailers own record shop and Channel 1's first pressing plant.

With the Barrett brothers at the helm of the session, the rhythm was laid at Randy's studio with Errol Thompson as engineeer, then brought to Tubby for voicing and mixing. "Message from the Congo" finds Bob Soul & The United Stars chanting a message of rastafari over the propulsive uptempo rhythm driven by the late Carly Barrett's masterful drumming. The harmonizers in the "United Stars" as they are dubbed on this record, were actually members of both the Righteous Flames and Rocking Horses vocal groups. The dub mix, "Congo Dread Chapter 1", is actually worthy of the type of genre cross-referencing hyperbole I normally decry in music writing. In hindsight we find in this track, Tubby prefiguring not only the remix and the 'edit', but also the frantic yet orchestrated chaos of a lot of the complex electronic dance music that would being to come into its own a full decade later. To try and describe the magic herein would be pointless, you must simply listen to Tubby deconstruct and reconstruct the rhythm using a melange of his now famous tools and techniques to devastating effect. Indeed, it is tracks like this one which made the man himself and those very techniques now so famous. These two tracks were originally released in Jamaica on both the Gemini and Danger Zone labels (in identical mixes). On the flip side of this first 12" we find Billy Hutch's little known vocal on the rhythm, entitled "Ten Long Years." The soulful vocal finds Bill in top form, and this track was originally released on Bill's very first album "Reggae Showcase", released only in NYC and extremely tough to track down. Rounding out the 12" is a real treat, a previously unreleased different take of "Message from the Congo", with different harmonies, and a background voice telling you "this is a message…", bringing the title of the song sharply into focus.

The album was originally released in Nigeria by Tabansi Records and recorded at Afrodisia/Decca studio in Lagos. The Lp never really saw a commerical issue and was probably pressed in very few promotional copies for Radios and Djs making the original nearly impossible to be found nowdays.
Musically it comes with some dope , slow and one-a-way digital roots riddims filled with mad synths , deep conscious lyrics and a deep bassline, it's quite unique as the two main track comes with a raw Dub which is very hard to be found on any other African Reggae albums , the last track call “If I'm To Rule The World” is a very interesting blend of Reggae and Boogie.
We have been working together with the lead singer of the band , Sharon Escco Wilson that we met personally in Lagos, to finally make the album available worldwide.
The cover have been fully restored and the Audio remastered , in the LP we'll add an insert with Lyrics , original pictures from back in the days (and a few new ones) , a newspaper article from 1990 and an extensive interview by Sharon Escco Wilson.

Long established as one of New Zealand’s finest acts, South Pacific reggae-soul legends The Black Seeds return with their long awaited 6th studio album ‘Fabric’.

While firmly based in the island grooves that inspired the birth of the band nearly two decades ago, The Black Seeds’ sound casts a wide net, layering funk, soul, Afrobeat, and other eclectic elements over their dub/reggae foundations. It’s “contemporary groove music with influences from soul and funk and reggae rhythms – and even rock...” explains guitarist/vocalist Barnaby Weir.

Lead track “Better Days” is a Black Seeds classic and an exciting taster of what is to come from the new record. Rich with chugging guitars and soothing vocals, the track is warm with a positive message: “Better Days are calling, lonely nights are leaving. I see better Days, are just around the corner. No it wont be long till something good happens for ya.”

Described by Clash Magazine as “one of the best live reggae acts on the planet,” The Black Seeds legendary eight-piece live show infuses raw en¬ergy and good vibes wherever they go, fueling multi-platinum sales and a growing worldwide following. With countless sold out tours behind them and performances at many of the world’s leading festivals, The Black Seeds will be bringing touring the new record around the world this summer.

2019 reissue.

Green Vinyl.
Record is close to NM.
Includes original insert.

Reissue of 2017 dub reworks of their evergreen Bitty McLean Bond St. recordings.

Willie Williams' roots rock reggae classic Armagideon Time – the rare 12" extended Discomix version split into two sublime heavyweight slices and cut super-loud on a 12" single.

Produced by Studio One supremo Coxsone Dodd this is a huge Reggae anthem on the classic 'Real Rock' rhythm, famously covered by The Clash and sampled by KRS One, The Fugees and many more.