Pivotal early dub! Depending upon whose history of the Jamaican recording industry you subscribe to, this is can be considered by many to be the first dub LP – and whether that's proveable or not, it's certain among the first! History aside, it's a mighty set with some raw early dub style workouts at the hands of Errol Thompson at the renowned 16 North Parade recording studio run by Randy's, with some deft production by Clive Chin. Needing virtually no introduction, the Impact All Stars drop some incredible rhythms, many which will be immediately recognizable as having been versioned from massive numbers for Augustus Pablo, Junior Byles and the Soul Vendors. Titles include "Java Dub", "Cheating Dub", "ET Special", "Ordinary Version Dub", "Hide Away Dub" and "Black Man's Dub". CD

Sublime future jazz from Alex Attias – one of the key forces in the cosmic London scene of the 21st Century, stepping out here in a long-awaited full-length set that served up the full complement of his talents! As you'd expect from Alex, there's plenty of snapping beats and spacey keys on the set – an extrapolation of 70s funky jazz, into the spacier and headier realm that's been explored by Attias and the best of his contemporaries on recent singles. But over and above the high quality usual, there's also a farther-reaching set of rhythms and modes of expression going on here – as Alex uses the freedom of the full-length to work in modes that are sometimes subtler, sometimes more experimental – occasionally just grooving instrumentally, but also getting plenty of help from guest stars that include Vanessa Freeman, Jessica Lauren, Bembe Segue, Colonel Red, and Mark De Clive-Lowe. Tracks include "Help Me", "Closer To Me", "Future Jazz", "In The Jungle", "Back Home", "Everchanging Times", "Darker Side Of Light", "Angels", "Confusion", and "Transformation". CD

An essential reissue of an essential roots album! A mid 70s landmark of harmony roots, the Abyssinians' Satta Massagana, aka Forward To Zion, is hard to beat for hardcore, spiritual roots delivered over hypnotically pulsing rhythms, and Heartbeat ups the ante by digging deep for some excellent and essential dubs and extended mixes, plus several sweet bonus numbers. Sly and Robbie, plus Horsemouth and Boo Richards, Micky Chung, Chinna Smith, Clive Hunt and Geoffrey Chung are among their erstwhile co-conspirators on this self produced gem. 14 tracks in all, including "Declaration Of Rights", "The Good Lord", "Forward Unto Zion", "Know Jah Today", "Abendigo", "Y Mas Gan", "Black Man's Strain", "Satta Massagana", "I & I", "African Race", "Leggo beast", "Peculiar Number", "Reason Time" and "There Is No End". CD

One of the best new Afro Funk albums we've heard in years – a tremendous effort from percussionist Lekan Babalola, served up with a full bonus disc of remix material! The core grooves here are a fair bit jazzier than most other efforts of this type – still with heavy percussion from Lekan, but also featuring beautiful sax and trumpet lines on most tracks – boldly stating themes, then stretching out in well-spirited solos that break the record past typical rhythmic conventions for this sort of set! There's also some really great electric keyboards on the record too – snaking out in the grooves to give them a nice little 70s touch – and really coming to the forefront on some of the remix work by Phil Asher, Bob Sinclar, IG Culture, and others! Main tracks include "Kabioye", "Aso Kere", "Oba Laye", "Oososi", "Oya", and "Ide Osun" – and remix tracks include "Oba Awon Oba (Afronaught vs Misa Negra vocal)", "Oya (Broken Beats Le Pico rmx)", "Aso Kere (IG Culture rmx)", "Kabioye (Mark De Clive-Lowe rmx)", "Kabioye (Phil Asher Restless Soul mix)", and "Elegba (Bob Sinclar remix)". CD