With Praise

Just got the sad news that Bunny 'Striker' Lee has passed away. The legendary reggae producer, inventor of the flying cymbal sound in the mid seventies and a big influence on dubmaster King Tubby later on, was 79. He had a hand in more crucial reggae and dub tracks, many of them big hits, than you can shake a stick at. Miss him, my brethren.

Stranger Cole & Lester Sterling - Bangarang

Derrick Morgan - Rasta Don't Fear

Bim Sherman - Down In Jamdown>

Johnny Clarke - Enter His Gates With Praise

I Roy - The Godfather

Bunny Lee & Brad Osborne - Super Star Dub

Full Dose

Trying to dub the evil virus away with a bass-heavy six pack of prime roots. All killer no filler, as it's brutal out deh.

Errol Brown - Black Forest Rock
Techniques All Stars - .357 Magnum
Augustus Clarke - Creation Dub
Harry Mudie & King Tubby - Full Dose Of Dub
The Revolutionaries - Atom Bomb
Phil Pratt - Walking Razor

Your History

New Pressure Sounds ahoy. Most of the fine fine tracks on this righteous helping of roots and dub were showcased before on Blood & Fire's classic Jesus Dread and King Tubby's Prophecy Of Dub collections. In case you missed out on these, Walls Of Jerusalem is a most irie alternative.

Yabby You - Go To School Jah Jah Children

Pressure Dub

Pressure Sounds, always on top. The long-lasting reggae reissue label upped the ante yet again by re-releasing two incredibily rare dub albums from '77 (Conflict Dub) and '82 (Dubbing In The Front Line) as one set. With the Aggrovators playing, Bunny Lee in the producers chair and Prince Jammy as engineer, what can possibly go wrong? You know what to do, my brethren.

The Aggrovators - Skilful Dub
The Aggrovators - Babylon Dub

Elephant Stone

Horns and jungle drums unite as Scratch & company dub it up dreader than dread. Trust me, this is upsetting. Find it on Blackboard Jungle Dub, a true reggae masterpiece. This one goes out to Marlon James by the way, first Jamaican to win the Man Booker prize. Can't wait to start reading his Brief History Of Seven Killings, my brethren.

The Upsetters - Elephant Rock

Version Galore

Two of my fave reggae compilations are credited to Rupie Edwards & Friends, and each one is based on a truckload of different versions of one particular riddim. Ire Feelings uses Everyday Wandering by Johnny Clarke as a basecamp of sorts, while Let There Be Version utilizes My Conversation by Slim Smith's Uniques to great effect. Dubs, instrumentals, deejay versions... When Rupie works his magic, it's all good. Six pack time!

Johnny Clarke - Everyday Wandering
Rupie Edwards - Ire Feelings
Rupie Edwards All Stars - Feeling Horn
The Uniques - My Conversation
El Cisco Delgado - Mi Nuh Matta
Joe White - President Rock

Do You Remember

The days of slavery? And how they worked us so hard... Presenting yet another rootsy six pack from the island.

Burning Spear - Slavery Days
Joe Higgs - More Slavery
Skulls - Black Slavery Days
Culture - Too Long In Slavery
Jack Ruby & The Black Disciples - Slavery Days Dub
Skin Flesh & Bones - Slavery Dub

Island In The Sun

Shame Jamaica didn't qualify for the footy world cup this time around. To make up for that a wee bit, here's a rootsy six pack from the island, about the island. "C'mon and smile..."

Bob Marley & The Wailers - Smile Jamaica/Version
Culture - Down In Jamaica
Joe Gibbs & The Professionals - Down Jamaica Way
Jimmy Cliff - Miss Jamaica
The Gaylads - My Jamaican Girl
The Meditations - Running From Jamaica

All-Mighty Africa

"I man an African, don't call I Jamaican..." On the island, most rasta's were - and probably still are for that matter - fascinated by Africa, the continent of their ancestors. Which means it's massive ten pack time here again, my brethren, in a roots & dub stylee. We're all African descendents after all...

The Sons Of Selassie - I Man An African
Hugh Mundell - Africa Must Be Free By 1983
Jack Ruby & The Disciples - African Birthright
The Black Notes - African Style
Alton Ellis - African Descendents
Prince Far I & The Arabs - Dub To Africa
Los Hombres - Africa
King Tubby - African Roots
Prince Francis - African Skank
Joe Gibbs & The Professionals - African Dub

El Salvador

If you're even remotely interested in reggae music, pick up Lloyd Bradley's indispensable book Bass Culture. Guy knows what he's talking about. Here's he is on Lee Perry's dub masterpiece Super Ape for instance: "...a jungle of a soundscape so thick you need a machete to hack through the undergrowth, while the vines and creepers continually swing back and hit you in the face. Like nothing else at the time, it shows how far roots reggae could have gone, as it explores roots both thematically as well as musically, Rastafari, righteousness and repatriation from a perspective so skewed it comes back into line as the absolutely spiritual. This man is the Salvador Dalí of dub."

Scratch & The Upsetters - Croaking Lizard

Unitone Skank

Skanking easy today with a genuine Jamaican ten pack, so turn up that bass if you please. Gotta keep on moving, y'all. This one's massive.

Augustus Pablo - Skanking Easy
Ray I - Weatherman Skank
Joe Gibbs & The Professionals - Ghetto Skank
Shorty The President - Yamaha Skank
Erroll Brown - Sky Nation Skank
The Silvertones - Rejoicing Skank
Little Joe - Tradition Skank
The  Upsetters - Kentucky Skank
Dr. Alimantado - Unitone Skank
The Revolutionaries - Rema Skank