Rare and unreleased Lee Perry dubplate mixes – brilliant productions from the creatively fruitful, boundary busting 70s years – with the mighty Upsetters and numbers featuring Junior Murvin, Candy Mackenzie, Leo Graham, Jimmy Riley, George Faith, Jack Lord and The Silvertones! This is the second Sound System Scratch compilation from the deep treasure diggers at Pressure Sounds – who have again assembled staggeringly adventurous and hard to find Scratch productions from an amazing period at Black Ark. A number of the tracks are previously unreleased, others are exclusive dubplate mixes, all incredible – be it smoked out, hazy dubs and surprisingly accessible and soulful reggae. Includes "Righteous Rocking" by The Upsetters, "Get Ready (Bongo Mix) by Junior Murvin & The Upsetters, "Kis Me Mix" by The Upsetters, "I've Got The Dub" by George Faith & The Upsetters, "Enter The Upsetter" by Lee Perry & The Upsetters, "Darkness In The City" by Jimmy Riley & The Upsetters, "Rejoice Jah Jah Children" by The Silvertones and more. LP, Vinyl record album

... CD

Includes tracks by Dennis Brown, Junior Delgado, Black Uhuru, Sly Dunbar, Sugar Minott, John Holt, Third World, Chalice, Barrington Levy, Ini Kamoze, Cocoa Tea, and Gregory Isaacs. CD

Delroy Witter's the producer, a key underground talent on the London scene during those big years of homecrafted reggae records – and he gets help here from a range of wonderful singers who really bring out the most soulful currents of the lovers rock promised in the title! The set's a well-done selection of obscure singles that were all initially done by Witter with his Success Sound System – and tunes include some great later lovers rock remakes of American soul tracks, plus a few original numbers too. The set's overflowing with mellow stepping gems – including "Ooh Baby Baby" and "Just For Your Love" by Sonia Ferguson, "Mind Blowing Decisions" and "Tell Me Why" by Tyrone David, "Happiness Togetherness" by Cassandra, "I Do Love You" by Janet Kay, "Little Girl" and "Natural Woman" by Heptics, "Loving Time" by Jackie, and "Don't Cry" by Sugar Minott. LP, Vinyl record album

Delroy Witter's the producer, a key underground talent on the London scene during those big years of homecrafted reggae records – and he gets help here from a range of wonderful singers who really bring out the most soulful currents of the lovers rock promised in the title! The set's a well-done selection of obscure singles that were all initially done by Witter with his Success Sound System – and tunes include some great later lovers rock remakes of American soul tracks, plus a few original numbers too. The set's overflowing with mellow stepping gems – including "Ooh Baby Baby" and "Just For Your Love" by Sonia Ferguson, "Mind Blowing Decisions" and "Tell Me Why" by Tyrone David, "Happiness Togetherness" by Cassandra, "I Do Love You" by Janet Kay, "Little Girl" and "Natural Woman" by Heptics, "Loving Time" by Jackie, and "Don't Cry" by Sugar Minott. CD

A second set of super-rare tracks from the Bob Marley side of the universe – not material that was issued by Island Records as part of his run of hit albums in the 70s – but instead some very obscure dubs that were taken from acetates that were initially only circulated through Jamaican soundsystems back in the day! The material here is very different than the cleaned-up hits – as the tracks often mute the vocals, bring up the rhythms, and go for an echoey brilliance that must have sounded great coming out of some massive speakers in the street! You'll definitely have to turn your stereo up to 11 when playing this one – for titles that include "Black Survivor Dub", "Top Rankin Dub", "So Much Trouble Dub", "Babylon System Dub", "Ride Natty Ride Dub", and "One Drop Dub". LP, Vinyl record album

An excellent 2CD primer of material collected during the dawn of the reggae age by the Trojan label on their 8 volume Tighten Up series. Bringing together some of the finest rocksteady & reggae cuts produced by Duke Reid, Leslie Kong, Scratch Perry & Joe Gibbs, the original compilations went a long way towards widening the appeal of the then poorly distributed Jamaican soul singles. The 52 songs spread out over these 2 CDs read like the playlist from a top selector's sound system, including The Untouchables' "Tighten Up", Val Bennett's "Spanish Harlem", The Uniques' "Watch This Sound", Clancy Eccles "Fatty Fatty" and "Rod Of Correction", The Upsetters' "Return Of Django", Niney's "Blood & Fire", Bob Andy's "You Don't Know", The Wailers' "Duppy Conqueror" & Johnny Clarke's "None Shall Escape The Judgement". CD

Unity Sounds was one of the top, if not the top sound system in London throughout the 80s, and like so many Jamaican greats, went on to start cutting their own rhythms. In the post Jammy's era, this meant stripped down digital beats – round, bouncing basslines and tinny Casio drums, the reggae equivalent to the nascent electro sound of early hip hop. Each of the tracks here is followed by it's version, and they're all voiced by singers, no deejays, twenty one tracks in all, over seven mighty rhythms, including Selah Collins' "Pick A Sound", Richie Davis "You Ha Fe Cool", Kenny Knots "Ring My Number", "Run Come Call Me" and "Watch How The People Dancing", Peter Bouncer "Ready For The Dancehall Tonight" and Mikey Murka "Ride The Rhythm". Plus there's a nice fold out with photos and an extensive interview with Ribs of Unity Sounds. LP, Vinyl record album

A sly little set from the hands of British producer Dennis Bovell – a record that was done to appear as an obscure Jamaican import – from the stripped-down packaging to the stripped-down sound in the grooves! The feel here is a bit looser and more laidback than some of the other UK productions of the time – roots work that has some occasional dub-style production at points, or a more straightforward groove at others – on many instrumental cuts that are perfect for blasting over a larger soundsystem! Titles include "None Ah Jah Children", "Skatter Skatter", "Sure Shot", "Younger Generation", "Bounty Hunter", and "Tribute To Idi Amin". LP, Vinyl record album

Another round of Studio One butter from the folks at Soul Jazz! By this point you're well informed about the status of Coxsone Dodd's Studio One operation as the cornerstone of so much Jamaican music, and Soul Jazz has approached the catalog from just about every angle, covering nearly all the bases before landing here on this dub set. The sly Island grooves are stripped down to their bare essentials, then given a tasteful bit of dubby gloss at the hands of Sylvan Morris, for a massive collection that'll rule your stereo like Studio One rocked the sound systems back in the day. 17 tracks in all, wrapped in a nice package that includes interviews with Morris and Dodd, and fully annotated as to which numbers the rhythms were originally cut as the backing for. Includes "Bionic Dub", "Sky Rhythm", 'Taurus Dub 2", "Hooligan", "Dub Rock", "Hi Fashion Dub", In Cold Blood Version" and "Feel The Dub". LP, Vinyl record album

Really cool work from the UK reggae scene of the early 70s – a set of obscure early albums from the hands of British producer Dennis Bovell – issued in a series of unassuming packages that were done to appear as obscure Jamaican imports – from the stripped-down packaging to the stripped-down sound in the grooves! The feel here is a bit looser and more laidback than some of the other UK productions of the time – roots work that has some occasional dub-style production at points, or a more straightforward groove at others – on many instrumental cuts that are perfect for blasting over a larger soundsystem! These records were a slight mystery at the time, and haven't been reissued much over the years – and together here in a single set, with fantastic notes from the Doctor Bird label, they are finally brought together as a whole! The set features four full albums – Ah Who Se Go Deh, Leggo A Fe We Dis, Scientific Higher Ranking Dubb, and Yuh Learn – plus 8 related bonus tracks too. CD

Bob Marley material that goes way past the obvious – not the big hits of the Island Records years, but instead a whole host of much more obscure recordings from the 70s – tunes that were either rare Jamaican-only singles, or titles that were created only as dubplates for use in sound systems! Bob's vocals are still in place on most numbers, but the dubs are heavy, and the tunes resonate most strongly with basslines and rhythms, bubbling along with a very deep, moody sort of vibe – hardly the sound of Marley's chart-topping hits. Titles include "African Herbsman Version", "Turn Me Loose Dub", "War (alt take)", "Man To Man Version", "Soul Rebel Dub", "Rat Race Dub", "Concrete Jungle Dub", and "Man To Man Dub". LP, Vinyl record album