Reggae — All Formats  

One of our top 10 dub albums of all time! This album bridges the gap between the the low-fi, down and dirty excursions of the 70's dub era, and the later high tech dub revolution brought on by On-U, Mad Professor and Jah Shaka. The rhythms here are all first rate, drawn mostly from their Chill Out LP with a few from Red, fueled by Sly and Robbie and a cast of regulars from the Island/Mango stable. Sly & Robbie also handle the production duties, and there's no shortage of fat grooves and unrelenting rhythms, then taken to the next level with deep space echo drops and 21st century sound effects and tape edits. Includes "Ion Storm", "Big Spliff", "Boof'N'Baff'N'Biff", "Puffed Out" and "Android Rebellion". This CD reissue's been newly remastered, with 3 additional dubs as bonus tracks: "Cool Off", "Destination Unknown" and "Fire & Brimstone".

The follow up to the burning Showcase set and second LP finding the harmony trio of Michael Rose, Puma Jones and Duckie Simpson under the heavy guidance of Sly & Robbie. While it didn't produce as many singular hits as the preceding set or the following Red LP, this album's still solid from top to bottom, with mighty, might Taxi productions grooves throughout. 10 tracks in all: "Happiness", 'World Is Africa", "Push Push", "There Is Fire", "No Loafing (Sit & Wonder)", "Sinsemilla", "Endurance" and "Vampire", plus the added bonus tracks "Guess Who's Coming To Dinner (discomix)" and "Sinsemilla (discomix)", and newly remastered too!

Rare treats from the late 70s Black Ark archive – the Lee Scratch Perry-produced recordings of soulful singer Candy McKenzie! These numbers were recorded in 1977 when Scratch and Black Ark studios were in peak form – and sure enough, the production and musicianship is top notch and infused with some great oddball creative flourishes – but it's Candy's sweet, sweet vocals that push this over the top. Her voice is so lovely and so soulful, it's a shame that this material has been so tough if not impossible to find for so many years! Includes "Disco Fits", "Someone To Love Me", "Breakfast In Bed", "Walking In The Sun", "Jah Knows", "Ice Cream", "Sky At Night", "Keep Him Strong", "Tell Me A Lie" and "When The Big Day".

Top notch instrumentals from the loose collective dubbed Third World All Stars – recorded in the mid 70s at London's Chalk Farm and EFM studios – and featuring both London-based and visiting Jamaican legends in the mix! The production is billed to Count Shelly, and it features some base rhythms cut for Errol Dunkley's Sit And Cry Over You Record – released on Shelley's label. The rhythms are indeed impeccable, and there are all these unique soulful layers added to them that really give it a worthwhile life of their own as a soulful reggae instrumentals set. Players include Michael Bammy Rose on sax, Lester Sterling on trumpet and sax, Tyrone Downie, Gladdy Anderson and Winston Wright on keys, Jackie Jackson on bass and Winston Grennan on drums. Beautiful, timeless and soulful rhythms that are on par with the finest Carribbean music of the period – whether it was recorded in Kingston, London, or anywhere else. Essential! Includes "Rebel Rock", "Repatriation Remedy", "Our Dream World", "Patricia's Love", "Soothing In The Mind", "Black Moon", "For All Ways", "Just For You", "Train To Skaville" and "Moog In Blues".

Top notch instrumentals from the loose collective dubbed Third World All Stars – recorded in the mid 70s at London's Chalk Farm and EFM studios – and featuring both London-based and visiting Jamaican legends in the mix! The production is billed to Count Shelly, and it features some base rhythms cut for Errol Dunkley's Sit And Cry Over You Record – released on Shelley's label. The rhythms are indeed impeccable, and there are all these unique soulful layers added to them that really give it a worthwhile life of their own as a soulful reggae instrumentals set. Players include Michael Bammy Rose on sax, Lester Sterling on trumpet and sax, Tyrone Downie, Gladdy Anderson and Winston Wright on keys, Jackie Jackson on bass and Winston Grennan on drums. Beautiful, timeless and soulful rhythms that are on par with the finest Carribbean music of the period – whether it was recorded in Kingston, London, or anywhere else. Essential! Includes "Rebel Rock", "Repatriation Remedy", "Our Dream World", "Patricia's Love", "Soothing In The Mind", "Black Moon", "For All Ways", "Just For You", "Train To Skaville" and "Moog In Blues".

One of the deeper collections we've seen from Pressure Sounds – great stuff and largely overlooked numbers from the vaults of the Micron Music label – with crisply chopping rhythms, steady harmonies, and echoey dub from Junior Byles, I Roy, Bobby Ellis, Tommy McCook and many more! Micron isn't among the more famous Jamaican enterprises of the period but the tunes more than live up to the pedigree of its better known peers – with Pete Weston in the production booth for many of the tunes, and a couple with Bunny Lee and Lee Perry at the controls. There's an impressive range of artists and styles, and a number of tunes that have more than a little bit of Motown sounds in the mix, which we totally love. Titles include "Conference At Waterhouse" by Jah Sticah, "Lorna Banana", "Ain't Too Proud To Beg" and "Last Of The Love Songs" by Junior Byles, "Message From The Top" by I Roy, "Revolution Is For The Chinaman" by Pete Weston & The Flames, "Ska Baby" by Bobby Ellis, "Black Organ" by Blacker Black , "Our Rights" by Defenders, "Tribute To Muhammad Ali" by Tommy McCook and more. 20 tracks in all.

Lee Perry's monster dub records – Super Ape and Return Of The Super Ape – in a 2CD set with bonus tracks! Super Ape is an essential dub album, rendering Scratch's dense, multi-layered Black Ark rhythms in all their raw glory, with toasts and vocal snippets darting in and out of the dubs courtesy Prince Jazzbo, the Heptones, Dillinger and Scratch himself. Includes "Zion's Blood", "Croaking Lizard", "Dread Lion", "Patience", "Dub Along", "Black Vest", "Underground", "Curly Dub" "Three In One", "Super Ape" and more. Return Of The Super Ape is instrumental, but not strictly dub, and some cuts do have Perry's vocals on top. Slow rolling and a bit murky, yet infused with Perry's unique vision. Includes "Bird In Hand", "Psyche And Trim", "Huzza A Haha", "High Rankin Sammy" and many more. Each CD has a slew of bonus tracks – 11 in all: "When Jah Come", "From Creation", "Sufferer's Time (extended version)", "Party Time Parts 1 & 2" and more.

Blood & Fire dips into their excellent catalog of fine, fine reggae and pulls together an outstanding little compilation of some of the best tracks from the catalog! This nicely priced set focuses on vocal numbers, all voiced by top notch artists, showcasing the breadth of great music cut during the golden era of Jamaican music that makes up the body and soul of Blood & Fire's dynamite releases! 18 tracks in all, including "Fire Fe The Vatican" by Max Romeo, "Storm" by Gregory Isaacs, "Children Of Jah" by the Chantells, "Problems" by Horace Andy, "Rent Man" by Black Uhuru, "Chant Down Babylon" by Sylford Walker, 'Go Down In Silence" by Prince Alla, "Man Next Door" byDennis Brown, "Fight It To The Top" by Michael Prophet, "Every Knee Shal Bow" by Johnny Clarke, "At The Feast" by the Congos, "Yes Yes Yes" by Errol Holt, "Jah Jah The Conqueror" by Linval Thompson, "Give Jah Praise" by WIlli Williams, "Deliver Me From My Enemies" by Yabby You, "Judgement Time" by Junior Ross & The Spear, "Bandulu" by Cornell Campbell and "Remember Me" by Junior Byles & Rupert Reid.

The debut album from the second lineup of Black Uhuru, with Duckie Simpson, Michael Rose and Errol Nelson. Produced by Prince Jammy, this is a tremendous slice of rootsy rockers, even if it doesn't quite top the later version of the group with Puma Jones and Sly & Robbie's production. This later Greensleeves edition was remixed by Jammy at Tubby's in 1981, and includes "Time To Unite", "Love Crisis", "Willow Tree", "African Love", "Eden Out Deh", "I Love King Selassie", "Hard Ground" and a great version of Marley's "Natural Mystic".

One of the most sought after Upsetter sides, from the late Black Ark period! Back in the day, this was issued in a small batch and it was almost hopelessly hard to find for years. As for the music: on top of the incredibly fun Kung Fu exploitation vibe that proved to be so hugely influential, it's also a straight up excellent dub LP! Spare, hauntingly funky dubs rolling along on heavy bass, quacking clavinet and earth shaking drums. 12 smoking jams on the vinyl version. Includes "Enter The Dragon", "Hold Them Kung Fu", "Scorching Iron", "Black Belt Jones", "Fungaa", "Flames Of The Dragon", "Skango" and "Iron Fist".

A great set of purely classic level Studio One material – great stuff from the early 60s onward to around 1980 – and unfailingly amazing all the way through! Studio One opened up in the fall of '63, and soon after, the best of the best of Jamaican music greats of the time were wanting to record there for Coxsone Dodd. The set features the unstoppable rhythms of The Skatalites and timeless greatness from The Heptones, Maytals, Horace Andy, Lone Ranger, Freddy McKay, Wailing Souls, Willie Williams, Marcia Griffiths, Dub Specialist, Doreen Schaeffer, Ernest Ranglin and many more. 18 tracks in all: "Ball Of Fire" and "Fidel Castro" by The Skatalites, "I'm Your Man" by The Heptones, "Watch Your Step" by Freedy McKay, "Mr Music" by Pablove Black, "Sitting With Stupid" by Dub Specialist, "Let Me Hold You Tight" by Marcia Griffins, "Treat Me Bad" by The Maytals, "Everything She Want" by Lone Ranger and more.

A cool collection of cookers from the legendary Studio One Records – pulled together here in a collection that bears the Ironsides name of one of its sub-labels, as a great indication of some of the obscure tracks included within! The collection features loads of gems from the earliest years of Studio One – a mix of rocksteady and early reggae cuts that have that wonderfully rootsy feel that was the label's calling card – a way of laying down instrumentation and vocals with a bottom-heavy sound that filters everything together beautifully – and comes out with a wickedly seductive groove. The set's overflowing with cuts we'd never heard before – and titles include "Three Mile Skank" by Lone Ranger, "Rasta Don't Stop No One" by The Stingers, "Nanny's Corner" by Don Drummond, "Danger In Your Eyes" by The Paragons, "Mother & Child" by Fabian Cooke, "Mark My Word" by Marcia Griffiths, "Another Night" by The Soul Sister, "I'm still Waiting" by Cornel Campbell, and "Jamrec Dub" by Pablove Black.

Fantastic! This set features reggae and rocksteady versions of American soul and funk tracks from the late 60s and early 70s – quite fitting, considering how much of Jamaican reggae began as an attempt to copy American hits for the local market. The set may well be the best-ever in the essential series of compilations by Soul Jazz Records – and like the others, it features some of the best cuts ever recorded for the Studio One catalog. There's a total of 18 cuts in all – and tracks include "Soulful Strut" by Sound Dimension, "Still Water" by Jerry Jones, "Express Yourself" by Leroy Sibbles, "Message From A Black Man" by The Heptones, "The First Cut Is The Deepest" by Norma Fraser, "Deeper & Deeper" by Jackie Mitoo, "I Don't Want To Be Right" by Alton Ellis, "No One Can Stop Us" by Willie Williams, "Queen Of The Minstrals" by The Eternals, "Don't Break Your Promise" by The Chosen Few, and "Is It Because I'm Black" by Senior Soul.

A cool collection of cookers from the legendary Studio One Records – pulled together here in a collection that bears the Ironsides name of one of its sub-labels, as a great indication of some of the obscure tracks included within! The collection features loads of gems from the earliest years of Studio One – a mix of rocksteady and early reggae cuts that have that wonderfully rootsy feel that was the label's calling card – a way of laying down instrumentation and vocals with a bottom-heavy sound that filters everything together beautifully – and comes out with a wickedly seductive groove. The set's overflowing with cuts we'd never heard before – and titles include "Three Mile Skank" by Lone Ranger, "Rasta Don't Stop No One" by The Stingers, "Nanny's Corner" by Don Drummond, "Danger In Your Eyes" by The Paragons, "Mother & Child" by Fabian Cooke, "Mark My Word" by Marcia Griffiths, "Another Night" by The Soul Sister, "I'm still Waiting" by Cornel Campbell, and "Jamrec Dub" by Pablove Black.