Reggae — All Formats  

Part soul music, part Caribbean sounds – and a much-needed look at the lover's rock genre in reggae – that unique blend of Jamaican rhythms and American soul that took place in the British scene of the 70s and 80s – and created some pretty amazing records overall! There's definitely echoes here of the reggae styles you'd know from big Kingston recordings of the 70s – but there's also a mellower, more laidback mode as well – yet one that's warmed up a bit by more soul-styled production – creating a sound that's almost linked to some of the American midtempo soul that was playing big on the steppers scene. Once again, our hat's off to Soul Jazz for doing such a great job with the project – pulling together excellent work from overlooked recordings – and finding a way to help send it all home with great notes and track selection. Titles on this second vinyl volume include "Stop & Think It Over" by Full Wood, "Caught By Love" by Christine White, "Paradise" by Jean Adebambo, "People Make The World Go Round" by The Cool Notes, "Thinking Of You" by Candy McKenzie, "We've Got One" by Wendy Walker, "Even Though You're Gone" by Louisa Mark, and "Goodbye My Love" by The Sadonians.

Ho!! Here's one to take you on a short trip down memory lane! We say short because in today's groove scene new sounds and movements take hold and shift to another scene so quickly, it's easy forget how recently they were birthed. So never mind dub step or broken beat or any of the grandchildren of the drum and bass scene and cruise back to the salad days of the mid 90s with this fab compilation showcasing the original breakbeat sound! Non-stop jungle tracks with relentless rhythms that sound as fresh today as they did when they were new, new unstoppable sound system rockers and neck snapping underground club anthems of East London. 13 tracks in all, including "Original Nuttah" by UK Apache & Shy FX, "Super Sharp Shooter" by DJ Zinc, "Illegal Gunshot" by the Ragga Twins, "No Doubt" by Shut Up & Dance, "Under Mi Sensi (X-Project rmx)" by Barrington Levy &Beenie Man, "Bad Boy Lick A New Shot" by Ninjaman, Bounty Killer, Beenie Man & Ninja Ford, "Press The Trigger" by Poison Chang and "Incredible" by M Beat with general Levy.

Killer funky organ – and 100% Dynamite! Jackie Mittoo is one of the all-time great organists – as essential to Jamaica as Booker T was to Memphis, or Jimmy McGriff was to New York. He's legendary these days as the player who completely transformed the Hammond sound with his unique Jamaican instrumental style during his early years with the Skatalites, and on his later solo recordings for Studio One. This set's probably the first time Mittoo's work has been properly packaged and remastered – and the folks at Soul Jazz have done an amazing job of selecting just the right tracks for such a project. The whole thing wails along with a stone rocksteady groove – with plenty of nice drum parts and funky rhythm bits underneath Jackie's soulful organ. If you dug the label's 100% Dynamite series, you'll really dig this one – and the whole thing's very much in the same vein. Tracks include "Drum Song", "Reggae Rock", "Hot Tamale", "Killer Diller", "Black Organ", "Stereo Freeze", "Wall Street", "Darker Shade Of Black", "Juice Box", and "Killer Diller".

Killer funky organ – and 100% Dynamite! Jackie Mittoo is one of the all-time great organists – as essential to Jamaica as Booker T was to Memphis, or Jimmy McGriff was to New York. He's legendary these days as the player who completely transformed the Hammond sound with his unique Jamaican instrumental style during his early years with the Skatalites, and on his later solo recordings for Studio One. This set's probably the first time Mittoo's work has been properly packaged and remastered – and the folks at Soul Jazz have done an amazing job of selecting just the right tracks for such a project. The whole thing wails along with a stone rocksteady groove – with plenty of nice drum parts and funky rhythm bits underneath Jackie's soulful organ. If you dug the label's 100% Dynamite series, you'll really dig this one – and the whole thing's very much in the same vein. Tracks include "Drum Song", "Reggae Rock", "Hot Tamale", "Killer Diller", "Black Organ", "Stereo Freeze", "Wall Street", "Darker Shade Of Black", "Juice Box", and "Killer Diller".

The 9th music & film collaborative effort in the FRKWYS series – in which free-thinking modern work with inspirational elder or otherwise further-traveled figures – this one finding Sun Araw and M Geddes Gengres meeting Jamaican music legends The Congos! M Geddes Gengres is skilled synth experimenter and Sun Araw works in a number of psych-steeped projects, and work respectfully with the words and Jamaican vocal harmonies of The Congos, though they fearlessly launch them into some tripped out atmosphere! Includes "New Binghi", "Happy Song", "Food Clothing And Shelter", "Sunshine", "Jungle", "Invocation" and "Thanks And Praise. The set also includes the hour-long Icon Eye DVD, documenting the making the of album as well as serving as a strikingly visual travelogue companion piece. Cool, ambitious stuff that combines classic Jamaican songcraft with wildly creative, experimental soundscapes!

The 9th music & film collaborative effort in the FRKWYS series – in which free-thinking modern work with inspirational elder or otherwise further-traveled figures – this one finding Sun Araw and M Geddes Gengres meeting Jamaican music legends The Congos! M Geddes Gengres is skilled synth experimenter and Sun Araw works in a number of psych-steeped projects, and work respectfully with the words and Jamaican vocal harmonies of The Congos, though they fearlessly launch them into some tripped out atmosphere! Includes "New Binghi", "Happy Song", "Food Clothing And Shelter", "Sunshine", "Jungle", "Invocation" and "Thanks And Praise. The set also includes the hour-long Icon Eye DVD, documenting the making the of album as well as serving as a strikingly visual travelogue companion piece. Cool, ambitious stuff that combines classic Jamaican songcraft with wildly creative, experimental soundscapes!

Not sure if this record will stop the spread of global conflict, but it's more than groovy enough to make us drop what we're doing and trip out with the grooves! As with other Wareika projects, the sound here is plenty dubby – lots of influences from older Kingston and London records, but also often given a uniquely earthy twist too – percussion that's a lot rootsier than you'd hear on any reggae record, and some wicked trombone lines that snake in and out of the grooves. Titles include "No More War", "Free The People", "Chant Rasta", and "Universe In Crisis".