Reggae — All Formats  

We give up! Just when we thought the gravy train had stopped running, the last train to skaville pulls into the station with 16 jaunty numbers fusing ska and rocksteady with a healthy dose of Jamaican soul at the hands of Jackie Mittoo and the Soul Brothers under the guidance of Coxsone Dodd! After the Skatalites busted up in the mid 60s, Dodd set about assembling a new house band, bringing Mittoo and a number of the original members of the Skatalites, including Lloyd Brevett and Roland Alphonso, together with some of the new, younger talent, and the fine folks at Soul Jazz have assembled a mighty, mighty set of their finest moments. But as Coxsone says in the liner notes, let's "Cut the chatter and spin the platter"! Includes "James Bond", "Voodoo Moon", "Chicken & Booze", "Hpney Pot", "Mr Flint", "Dr Ring Ding", "Got My Boogaloo", "Home Made", "Sufferer's Choice" and "Hot & Cold".

A stellar set of surviving 70s Black Ark productions by Lee Perry – with rare and unreleased cuts plus pivotal, if long-buried sides by Junior Byles, U Roy, Delroy Butler, Tinga Stewart, The Upsetters, The Flames, The Ethiopians, Jah T and more – Perry-produced gems for Kingston's cultural rebels and sufferers! The Sound Doctor compilation is really an essential, perfectly-collected batch on Pressure Sounds – the UK label that once again proves to be among the finest and most respectful of Sound Doctor devotees. Among the exceptional rarities are the unreleased "Army Of Love" by Junior Byles, an exclusive dub plate mix of the Upsetters "Horny Train", the raw original mix of U Roy's "006" and many more – stirringly soulful Black Ark singles and dub versions including "Sound Doctor" by Bobby Floyd, "Do Good" by Al Maytone", "Different Experience" by Brother Ray", "Smiling Faces" by Tinga Stewart, "It’s Impossible" by The Ethiopians, "Grandfather Land" by Jah T, "King Of Kings" by Pat Francis, "Be Prepared" by Keith Poppin, "Key Card" by Lee & Jimmy, "Start Over" by The Gatherers and more.

Titles include "Pressure Dem", "Dem A Murderer", "Dance Hall Scenario", "Ya Can't Test Me Again", "Ghetto Gospel", "Born Again Black Man", and "Hey Mr Rude Boy", with Brand Nubian.

Artists include Burro Banton, Bounty Killer, Lady Ann, and China.

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.

The mothership has landed! While attempting to make a definitive compilation of all of Scratch's productions would take well more than 3 CDs, this set does a fine job of touching on important highlights and unearthing a few hidden gems, from the fertile Black Ark period. 55 tracks in all, with a fat 52 page book with extensive notes and loads of great photos, we'll let the exhaustive track list speak for itself: Max Romeo "One Step Forward", "War In A Babylon", "Chase The Devil" and "Norman", Devon Irons "Vampire", the Heptones "Sufferer's Time", "Mr. President" with Jah Lion, "Why Must I (version)" with Lee Perry and "Make Up Your Mind", Junior Dread "Sufferer's Heights", The Congos "Don't Blame On I", "Feast Of The Passover" and "CongoMan", The Meditations "Much Smarter", "Life Is Not Easy", and "No Peace", Junior Murvin "Tedious", 'police & Thieves", "Bad Weed" and "Roots Train" with Dillinger, Mikey Dread "Dread At The Mantrols", Errol Walker "In These Times", "John Public" and "John Public (version)" with Enos Barnes, Glen DaCosta "Magic Touch", Jah Lion "Soldier & Police War", Raphael Green & Doctor Alimantado "Rasta Train", Augustus Pablo "Vibrate On", The Upsetter Review with Junior Murvin "Closer Together", Keith Rowe "Groovy Situation", George Faith "To Be A Lover (Have Some Mercy)", Lee Perry "Dub Revolution Pt. 1", "Dreadlocks In Moonlight", "Soul Fire", "Curly Locks" and 'Roast Fish & Cornbread" and The Upsetters "One Step Dub", "Vamp A Dub", "Sufferer's Dub", "Much Smarter Dub", "Life Is Not Easy Dub", "Revelation Dub", "In These Times Dub", "Grumblin' Dub", "No Peace Dub", "Party Time pt. 2", "Vibrator", "Bird In Hand", "Dyon Anasawa" featuring Full Experience, "Rastaman Shuffle", "Groovy Dub" and "Corn Fish Dub".

Another astounding set of heavy vibrations from Soul Jazz in there ongoing series of collections focusing on great Jamaican music! This bouncing set takes a long, deep look at Dancehall culture, and accompanies a great book by Beth Lesser! While dance halls have existed in Jamaican music for years, the focus here is Dancehall with a capital D, from the early 80s on, when Jamaican music took a turn away from the heavier, sufferer's themes of the Roots era and became more interested in rocking good times! This set is filled with certified classics, guaranteed to ram the dance and capture the heavyweight title in any soundclash, all bouncing numbers from the pre-digital era through more stripped down Casio-driven treasures. 17 tracks in all, including "Bam Bam" by Yellowman, "Pumpkin Belly" by Tenor Saw, "Cu-Oonuh" by Reggie Stepper, "Agony" by Pinchers, "Diseases" by Michigan & Smiley, "Cool Out Son" by Junior Murvin, "Entertainment" by Triston Palma, "Arleen" by General Echo, "Here I Come" by Barrington Levy, "Chop Chop" by Cutty Ranks, "M16" by Lone Ranger, "Trash & Ready" by Super Cat, and "Soon Forward" by Gregory Isaacs.

Another blistering treasure trove of Canadian reggae! You heard us right, this batch of deep and heavy roots comes all the way from Toronto, and though it may be geographically isolated from the Caribbean, the vibes are deeply rooted foundation rock, not unlike some of the other astoundingly great material the folks at Light In The Attic have reissued. Jerry Brown's Summer Records imprint churned out no small number of tremendous reggae cuts, as this excellent compilation documents, working with West Indian ex-pats, visiting luminaries and local talent, too! The tracks run the gamut from bright and crisp to murky smoked out but it's all unbelievably great and will open your eyes to a whole new scene in the same way that the refreshing Jamaica Toronto set did! 15 tracks in all, including "Love Makes The World Go Round", "Warrior" and "Jah Jah Live Forever" by Johnny Osbourne, "Sufferer" and "Awakening" by Earth, Roots & Water, "Run Them A Run" by Willi Williams, "Reach My Destiny" by Noel Ellis, "Dreadlock Lady" by Jerry Brown, "Come Together" by Bobby Gaynair and Earth, Roots & Water, and "Mankind" by Adrian Homer Miller and Earth, Roots & Water. Plus as a bonus, there's a DVD layer on the CD, with 20 minutes of excellent archival footage of Jerry Brown and his artists in the studio and at the dance!

A stellar set of surviving 70s Black Ark productions by Lee Perry – with rare and unreleased cuts plus pivotal, if long-buried sides by Junior Byles, U Roy, Delroy Butler, Tinga Stewart, The Upsetters, The Flames, The Ethiopians, Jah T and more – Perry-produced gems for Kingston's cultural rebels and sufferers! The Sound Doctor compilation is really an essential, perfectly-collected batch on Pressure Sounds – the UK label that once again proves to be among the finest and most respectful of Sound Doctor devotees. Among the exceptional rarities are the unreleased "Army Of Love" by Junior Byles, an exclusive dub plate mix of the Upsetters "Horny Train", the raw original mix of U Roy's "006" and many more – stirringly soulful Black Ark singles and dub versions including "Sound Doctor" by Bobby Floyd, "Do Good" by Al Maytone", "Different Experience" by Brother Ray", "Smiling Faces" by Tinga Stewart, "It’s Impossible" by The Ethiopians, "Grandfather Land" by Jah T, "King Of Kings" by Pat Francis, "Be Prepared" by Keith Poppin, "Key Card" by Lee & Jimmy, "Start Over" by The Gatherers and more.

"Aritcal" is a dope mid-90's hip hop/dancehall track from with dancehall vocals from Whitey Don who, we think, never released a full-length LP. The highlight here are the verses from Phife, who uses a little harder rhyme style than usual.