Roots & Culture Vinyl 12 Inch 293 Items

"Rough and Rugged sees Toronto Reggae Don Nkrumah pairing up with the analogue production wizards behind the enigmatic Local Dish label for a wild, synthy Dub excursion. Sounding something between 80's Dancehall and a late 70's Cabe Verde grail, Nkrumah's cool baritone rides this deeply funky, synth soaked analogue riddim. Originally released as a lathe cut 7" in miniscule quantities this is an edition of just 500 copies. Just wait until you hear the Dub!"

Get ready for a double dose of roots fire with the next Jack Ruby reissue! This 12" packs a serious punch on both sides. First up, the legendary Tyrone Taylor with "Move Up Black Man." Originally recorded in 1976, this anthem for empowerment is finally getting its rightful release as a single. Next up, for an absolute deep roots experience, we have "Free Rhodesia" a monumental instrumental on the "Rockfort Rock" rhythm featuring the full lineup of the Black Disciples backing band. Jack Ruby himself introduces the band one by one, and for those who remember, this track gets a mention in the iconic film "Rockers," where Ruby requests the drumming talents of the one and only Leroy "Horsemouth" Wallace.

"Good music never dies!" - This was Diane Ellis' mantra when she set out to produce this, her first record, in 1979. She recalls hearing the Rose Royce classic Love Don't Live Here Anymore on the radio and instantly thinking it would make for a great reggae cover, immediately envisioning the sound she was looking for. Drafting in the legendary Boris Gardiner and vocalist Sharon Forrester they created this timeless version of a perennial classic - now available here in it's full extended discomix glory for the first time on 12" since it's original outing, and backed with hornsman cut placing Dean Fraser's sax front row center.

The record was made when Ellis was studio manager for the world-famous Tuff Gong studios, but wanted her outing as a record producer to be a totally independent venture - gaining the great Bob Marley & the TG team's blessings in the process. And so Aquarius Studio in Half Way Tree was where it was all laid-down. Diane credits the Legendary owner and pioneering producer, Herman Chin Loy, as also being of great help on the record, providing a guiding ear throughout the process.

Despite this the evident strength of this first production, Ellis would follow up with only one other production, Junior Tucker's cover of "One of the Poorest People" (this time one recorded at Tuff Gong studios, and releasing the 56 Hope Road subsidiery). While both records performed well on local radio and charts, Diane exited the music industry shortly after. Now 43 years later, Diane is overjoyed her production is having a comeback, saying that "the support and love felt during the project can never be replicated, and I give thanks to all who supported then and now".

The next official reissue oozes the feelgood factor, a reggae disco cover of ‘Ain’t Nobody’ by Jamaican artist Yvonne Archer. For the first time since the original release in 1980 the full length original 12” mix gets the reissue treatment along with the Lovers Rock leaning ‘Checking Out The Way I Feel’.
On the flip Jura Soundsystem provide 2 edits, a main edit that pulls back on the electric guitar from the original and a Dub adding subtle delays and sparse use of the Vocal to let the groove work its magic. This is the first of two 12”s licensed from producer John Rubie that will appear on Isle Of Jura in 2020.

Kitchens inc. is a new label set up by Leeds based DJ and Producer duo, Marcus and Chris Kitchen. The first release comprises of three original tracks of their own material and will appeal to those that seek out genre crossing music. On a minimalist house tip, expect eery off tones and unearthly vocals that are seamlessly woven into understated grooves. Each track has its own personality, switching between 4/4 and breaks with a discordant jazz theme that runs throughout the EP.

A stunning cover version of Errol Dunkley’s ‘Movie Star’ originally released on Brooklyn label Witty in 1987. Produced by Paul Beecher, the 707 drums are phat & crisp and the keys shine brightly in the mix to complement the incredibly soulful vocal from Melody Beecher. Backed with Dub Version and an extended 12” mix, housed in a sky blue and red IOJ Island Disco sleeve with sticker designed by Bradley Pinkerton.

Diggin deep, two treasured cuts from the John Collins vaults, remastered, reissued and sounding oh so weighty. The lush Lovers vibe of Victor Romero Evans - At The Club and the mind-bending, cosmic, space-echoed dub from The Detonators - Lift Off. Both written and produced by the mighty John Collins, producer of some seminal tracks from the likes of Janet Kay and Rick Clarke, it was his production prowess on these two tracks that led Jerry Dammers to get Collins in to produce The Specials - Ghost Town / Why? / Friday Night, Saturday Morning after hearing the magic of this EP. With originals trading hands for £70 it's high time a reissue came around.

Emotional Rescue is delighted to reissue for the first time, the legendary Ernest Ranglin teaming up with Noel Williams aka King Sporty, on this 1983 meeting of reggae guitar legend and Miami disco boogie don that resulted in this highly sought after 6 track mini-LP.
A defining guitarist and composer in the development of Jamaican music, Ranglin leads little introduction. In a career spanning over 50 years, he was involved in the move from mento and calypso to ska and on to reggae, playing on the groundbreaking recording of My Boy Lollipop itself, before going on to work with the likes of the Skatalies, Prince Buster, Jimmy Cliff and Bob Marley. Born in 1932 in Manchester, West Jamaica before moving to Kingston, Ranglin's self-taught chordal and rhythmic approach blended jazz, mento and reggae with percussive guitar solos. On moving to Florida in 1982, he teamed up with scene king, Williams to present 'a new style', mixing the bass heavy boogie disco the producer was famous for with Ranglin's unique playing. Featuring a who's who of the Miami scene including Bobby Caldwell, Timmy Thomas, Betty Wright and Williams himself, the rearranged order starts here with Soft Touch. A retake of Thomas' TK Disco and Cosmic) classic Africano, before a skanking remake of the William's standard, Keep On Dancing and title bomber Be What You Want Be, crown the match of reggae and vocal disco. Also, included is a beautiful take on Anthony Hester's R&B classic, In The Rain, while the record closes with the choice Papa "Doo" and jammer Why Not.

Barry Biggs hit song from 1976. On the flip, Clarence Wears guitar version. Both (vocal & guitar) followed by its dub.

Jamaican trio Israel Vibration are one of Reggae's great vocal groups from the 1970s roots era. The trio re-formed in 1988, signed to the RAS label and set to work on a new album known as 'Strength Of My Life'. Produced by Doctor Dread and backed by the mighty force of the Roots Radics, the I-Vibes returned to form and found a new strength and power. The Radics perfectly complement their songs, laying down bass driven rhythms to create a masterful backdrop over which the harmonies conjure up a wide spectrum of moods. Featuring on this Limited 12" release is the crucial and perhaps more relevant to our current climate 'Middle East' plus 'Greedy Dog' with guest musician Augustus Pablo on melodica duties. Under licence and for the very first time ever with their Dub counterparts this release is one for the fans!

Vaughn Benjamin, the voice of Midnite and Akae Beka, was one of the best and most prolific reggae vocalists of the modern era. He was a scholar, poet, teacher, and solver of mysteries. A voracious reader, he was incredibly creative - constantly writing poems and songs. Those close to him advise that he had a photographic memory, which helps explain the broad field of topics he discussed with precise detail in his work. He released over 70 albums in a 20-year period.

Living Testament is the final album Vaughn Benjamin recorded before he transitioned in November of 2019. In late October of 2019, he travelled to Grass Valley, California, recording this 11-track album at Ras Biblical’s studio, Trinity Farm, over a period of 2 days. The producers gathered 11 masterful musicians on these tracks, including Manuel “Go A Chant” Guerra, Denfield “Ras Pulse” Potter, Walker Pillow, Scott Lynwood Davis, Befekadu Assefa and Tuff Lion. Together, these musicians weaved together a powerful family of songs that that tell a timeless and truly unique story, a masterpiece of roots reggae.

Living Testament includes the single ‘Who Will Go For Us’ which was released on January 6th 2024 with a video filmed on location in Ethiopia. In the coming weeks, we’ll be speaking with Go A Chant and Biblical, who were present for the creation of this album. We’ll learn about these recording sessions and what happened behind the scenes.

/ jammin / i shot the sherrif

Dennis Brown's roots classic "Milk and Honey" freshly remastered, complete with Clive Hunt's original "Bitter Sweet" dub (under his Azul moniker) on the A Side. On the B side, Jay Glass Dubs unfolds a skewed and deconstructed contemporary dub. Strictly limited-edition white label vinyl.

Nazamba & Dubsetters kicked off this new Finnish Dub & Sound label in a superb style recently and what better way to follow that up than with the reggae master, smoking king and weed aficionado Linval Thompson. This might sound like one of his classic lost cuts from the 70s but it is actually an all new tune from the Jamaican reggae icon. Dubsetters provide the gentle, percussive rhythms which are organic and deep, with Linval's smooth mic work up top adding to the global conversation about the decriminalization of cannabis. Flip it over for an even more mellow and dubbed out sound on the b-side.

Dub anthem from 2011 by Ethiopian vocalist Wellette Seyon. Comes with 3 dubs including some stellar melodica play. Produced by Ras Kush & mixed by Jonah Dan.

Got to be Conscious’ was a massive underground hit back in 2002 and is well worthy of a reissue presented here by Partial Records.

We are delighted to announce our brand new release : BG and Fibre - Evil Devil [dtwm05] , a Nigerian Reggae Masterpiece plus fresh re-cuts. We have been fan of BG for a long while , "Evil Devil" has been a favourite in the DTW headquarters for almost a decade now.In 2018 we had the big pleasure to meet Boye Gbenro with his wife in Lagos where we had a long talk about his career and the possibility to cooperate in order to reissue his "Evil Devil" track.It took us few months to understand the best formula to issue the track ,The problem we faced was due to the fact that the multitracks were lost and this made impossible to work on a dubwise not originally mixed. Nothing is impossible!!! We are lucky to be surrounded by many talented friends. To our rescue came Daniel Tuff from Shaolin Sound (uk) who made a 1st demo of the riddim and with it in our hands, talking with BG, we agreed that the best solution was to re-sing it and propose the 1st original cut and the brand new. It's said that one idea leads to another. So having some new materials in our hands we decided to ask Gabri and Filippo from Rootikal Horns (Italy) to play horns in substitution of the synth line and Abeng to overview the recording. During the studio's time the enthusiasm was so much that once Abeng returned home, he re-played an alternate cut of the riddim. Now with 3 cuts in our hands , the icing on the cake came from Sue and Monica (Rootikal Foundation chorists) , who sealed the track with their great backing vocals! Big Thanks goes also to Michael Exodus for mixing the Abeng Vocal and Dub, Stonehouse Prod. to overview the Abeng recordings and cut, Matteo Serenelli for the precious work to restore the original recording, Pressure Mastering who wisely put his hands on the three cuts making them sounds good together and Greg Jata for the graphic assistance. A special thanks goes to Boye Gbenro who took his time and enthusiasm to re-sing this track after such a long time. It took around 4 years to finalize this maxi that includes all the good that came out from this wide cooperation!!!

Stone-cold classic - the ultimate Studio One tune and the ultimate rhythm & blues/soul to reggae cut as Dawn Penn vamps on Bo Diddley, Willie Cobbs. Floor-shaking, speakerbusting Seminal tune! The original Studio One Classic Dawn Penn's soaring hypnotic vocal cut 'No, No, No' first time ever on 12"! Super loud and with a killer dub version on the flip!

paper sleeve

Ajukaja & Mart Avi shake claws on “Scorpio”, a sweet and sour digi-dub skirmish. Having worked together for a number of years, this is the duo’s first proper release. It’s jittery shape may come as a surprise, but it gets straight to the point. Just listen to Avi sing and let your heart ache – it’s okay! We suggest you slide it in your bag next to “Spirit World” by Tapes & Superstar. Out to all the digi-dub and lovers rock heads. The original is in good company on the 12” with not one but two lengthy remixes by Wah Wah Wino affiliate Morgan Buckley.

Two highly sought after tracks from Jackie Mittoo's legendary 'Showcase' album, originally released on Studio One in 1980. Hypnotic, blissed-out funky reggae from Jamaica's finest - Bagga Walker on bass, Leroy 'Horsemouth' Wallace on drums, Ernest Ranglin on guitar and, of course, the inimitable Jackie Mittoo on keyboards. Cut super loud on a 12" single, it's literally impossible to find a copy of this album, and if you did it would set you back hundreds of as. Housed in a heavyweight card Studio One sleeve these won't be around for long! Very Limited edition 1000 copies worldwide 12" pressing.