Roots & Culture 260 Items

Echoltd006: 12" LP 180g black / slightly silver vinyl. 2 stickers included.

We are glad to present to you the 1st Abeng Maxi 12'' : "Sun Will Rise" and "Eastern Lights" are two instrumentals based on the same riddim, one a way style Roots & Culture Music done during the LockDown of 2020. Mix and Dubwises are handled by Roberto Sanchez at A-Lone Ark Muzik Studio (es) , ready to play loud on your HiFi or Sound System!

Soul Jazz Records follows up one its most popular Studio One releases with a brand new selection of rare and classic releases by women in reggae. Featuring legendary artists such as Marcia Griffiths, Rita Marley and Hortense Ellis (with a guest appearance by her brother Alton), alongside a host of rarities from lesser known names such as Nina Soul, Nana Mclean, Denise Darlington, Myrna Hague and also Doreen Schaeffer, a vocalist who was a founding member of The Skatalites. There are notable covers (from Tyrone Davis' soul classic Can I Change My Mind to the Band's 60s psychedelic classic Turn Turn Turn in a rub-a-dub style!). Doreen Schaeffer reversions Alton Ellis's seminal I'm Still in Love with You, Nina Soul reversions the slack rocksteady anthem Barb Wire. A number of these tracks are almost impossible to find and many have never been issued ever since their initial release. The music on the album is of course 100% killer and features backing from all of the seminal groups at 13 Brentford Road including The Skatalites, Sound Dimension, Soul Brothers and the Brentford All Stars, and ranges from ska, rocksteady, roots, lovers and more from the 60s, 70s and 80s. All produced by Clement 'Sir Coxsone' Dodd at Studio One Records, the number one sound in reggae music.

For us at Dig This Way Records it's always a pleasure to coronate years of friendship with great musical releases. This is what happened for this upcoming 45rpm Jah Bast - Ova Yunda [dtws015]

Jah Bast has a special voice and a deep approach to Reggae Roots music. He's been part of Darker Shades of Roots in Geneva and now he is running a new studio and label. After more than 10 years knowing each other we are proud now of having him singing on the same riddim of "Run Come Rally" with another deep interpretation and vocal by Jah Bast, one of the deepest voices we had on our label till now. Mixed and Dubbed by Michael Exodus at his Dub Basement Studio in Rome, Italy.

Twenty years on, The Black Seeds mark the 2 decade anniversary of their debut album ‘Keep On Pushing’ as a first ever vinyl release. In 1998, The Black Seeds formed their roots in Wellington - a creative, 90s rock based community that was embraced by the sounds of the likes of Shihad, Fur Patrol and Weta.

2001 marked the beginning of the Welly Roots sound and the release of The Black Seeds – ‘Keep On Pushing’ – reaching platinum sales in New Zealand and shaping the funk, soul, Afrobeat and other eclectic elements over their dub/reggae foundation.

Keep On Pushing’s bold themes of love, optimism and solidarity has resonated with fans across the world, shaping them as the creative, vibrant 8 piece band they are today.

"This album marked a change culturally as well as in sound, a south pacific take on soul, where we were proud of our multicultural heritage and our accents. It was a move away from DJ’s to a big band sound. It was the beginning of The Black Seeds as a party band, we wanted to create a funky feel good sound that embraced everyone who experienced it."

- Barnaby Weir, Lead singer and founding member

This special anniversary vinyl edition will feature mixes of all ten tracks from the original album.

Released in 2012 as the opening song of the CD album " Far Eye " featuring Daba Makourejah, Calabash Rock have remained unknown for most rockers reggae aficionados. And that was a shame. The Rockers Disciples and Dig This Way Records decided then to strengthen their collaboration by releasing this wonderful instrumental piece of music, deeply influenced by Aswad’s « Warrior Charge '' and Rico Rodriguez’s vibrant music. A 7 ‘’ record, including a vertiginous dub version on the flip. Enjoy the Calabash style!

PSK - Disco Season is one of the most in demand and surely rarer Disco-Funk/Reggae LP ever made in Nigeria and for us at DTW records it is the continuation of a cooperation with our friend Austin Rigar who was also one of our references for the Jicco Funk project as being lead singer of "The Combats" For this release we decided to press the two best tracks of the LP on a phat sounding 12'' pressed at 45rpm which is housed in a full colour disco sleeve.

In the last months we had the pleasure to open a connection with Eeyun Purkins, he helped us to mix some Abeng riddims and sent us some riddims to work with. February/March/April /May , the "lockdown months" have been very active and "Moonlight Runner" is one of the results of the collaboration we created during that period , Ian ‘Upsettah’ Burgess , Eeyun Purkins & Abeng worked independently on it so it's for us a pleasure to publish this music on our Dig This Way Records! We hope you enjoy this moody roots music... In the next months we will press more chunes born from this Roots-Heads meeting!

The album classic was originally issued in 1977 in Jamaica only and 20 years later in 1997 released by the Blood & Fire label as the outstanding but now deleted "Heart Of The Congos". VP Records' sub-label 17 North Parade release now the definitive 2017 re-mastered 3CD / 3LP deluxe edition put together with both respect and gratitude to that illustrious antecedent.

This new 3 disc-set and 3LP-Vinyl-set is the first to feature the now almost impossible to find, original mix of the album, unavailable since producer Lee Perry withdrew the set in 1977 following the refusal of Chris Blackwell's Island Records team to licence the album (Disc 3), together with the more well-known mix, dubs, disco mixes, seven and twelve inch versions and "Don’t Blame It On I" an overlooked previously unreleased track unearthed (Disc 2) and the 'Blood & Fire' Kevin Metcalfe master (Disc 1).

Lead single from the new Flowering Inferno album, a project from Will ‘Quantic’ Holland’s extremely popular dub/reggae project!

New Zealands Soul-Dub powerhouse returns after 4 years!

Years ago we were lucky enough to get an incredible and uncredited Acetate with a deep instrumental cut of Satta Massagana , long story short after few weeks we got it the plate totally cracked and became unplayable. We managed to send the plate to Rome at Vinyl restoration who made a little miracle and somehow fixed it well enough for us to export a digital crackling recording of it to keep in our archives. Few years later , we played the noisy recording to the great musicians from Dig This Way All Stars and we decided it was absolutely the case to attempt a modern remake of it. Thats how Abeng , Sere and Monz made the structure of the Riddim , than Rootikal Horns handled the Trombone and Sax version , Nicola Gallo did the Organ part and Jonny De Ambassador played the percussions! The final touch is done by Yakka who mixed a couple wicked dubwises of it and Pressure Mastering that made it sounds proper! The 45rpm is pressed in 250 black copies.

Reissue from 1989, amazing leftfield Lovers Rock featuring extended dub version - emotional love bomb. Re-mastered and restored.

2013 UK release

Record Store Day 2023 exclusive release on Africa shaped vinyl, limited to 1200 copies wordwide.

The reggae classic issued for RSD 2023 on an Africa shaped picture disc.

Before his tragic death at the age of 21, Hugh Mundell was a rising star in Jamaica’s burgeoning reggae scene. In 1976, the Kingston native released the single “Africa Must Be Free By 1983”, produced by dub legend Augustus Pablo. The song would eventually become the title track on Mundell’s classic debut album, released through Pablo’s iconic label Rockers.

Now, Nature Sounds is partnering with Augustus Pablo’s family for a limited-edition Africa-shaped vinyl picture disc highlighting this indelible track. Written by Hugh Mundell and recorded when the famed singer was just 14 years old, “Africa Must Be Free By 1983” is an uplifting anthem steeped in the Pan-African ideals Mundell championed during his brief but memorable career. To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Rockers, this historic single is receiving a dazzling new deluxe vinyl pressing, complete with two rare Augustus Pablo dub mixes on the B-Side.

Soul Jazz Records their classic Studio One Soul is now available in a new edition on black vinyl + download code.Owned and founded by Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, Studio One"s output serves as a comprehensive guide to the history of Reggae music.Studio One Soul tracks the link between American Funk and Soul and Jamaican Reggae at the legendary Studio One Records.Curtis Mayfield, Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, The Temptations, King Floyd, Booker T and The MGs - all these artists had a huge influence on Jamaican artists and this album contains versions of songs by all of them. Featuring classic and rare Reggae Funk and Soul cuts from the Reggae giants alongside rarer cuts, Studio One Soul spans over 20 years of classic Reggae from the Rocksteady Funk through to the deep Roots music.

Das Album mit dem Kultcover von Tony McDermott aus dem Jahre 1984 gibt es wieder auf Vinyl! - Aufgenommen im Channel One Studio mit den Roots Radics als Backing Band sowie der Top Horn-Section um Dean Fraser & Nambo Robinson, am Mischpult sass Soldgie (aka Cedrica Anthony Hamilton) und als Produzent fungierte Henry 'Junjo' Lawes.

Terrific single from Patrick Andy, written and produced by Yabby You. This is the first time this track has been released on vinyl. Killer dub on the flipside mixed at King Tubby’s. Heartfelt uncompromising and rootsy vocal from Patrick Andy as good as anything he recorded for Yabby. A smooth rhythm punctuated by Tommy McCook’s led horns section. Comes in a Yabby You sleeve. You need this.

The seed for this album comes from a tape compiled but never released by Vivian “Yabby You” Jackson, labelled “The Best Of Patrick Andy”. On the tape were three unreleased tunes, one unreleased dub, and stereo mixes of several singles which had only been heard in mono before. So “Living In Mount Zion” is in full stereo on the tape, as opposed to mono on the released 7”, with Yabby’s characteristic production trick of switching the panning of the horns and rhythm tracks back and forth from left to right, as also heard on several of his albums. “You Don’t Want Me” is also different to the 7” cut, presented in stereo and with extra horns overdubbed. The three unreleased songs are all well worthy of inclusion in this compilation, showing Patrick Andy’s spiritual side over some heavy rhythms. Together they form a fitting tribute to a fine singer and a legendary producer.

With Happy Hour, her ravishing new LP, Hollie Cook matures into the queen of modernday "lovers rock"... the lush girly harmony reggae style beloved in Britain since the 1970s. Evolution rings from the bittersweet opening title track; tender yet assertive, Hollie's voice caresses evocative lyrics through the arrangement's tumbling changes. Hollie dares to invite listeners into her true personality through these alluring songs, which she co-produced with her General Roots band members Ben Mckone and Luke Allwood, and executive producer Youth. "Particularly with the songwriting, I was trying to really push myself and be open, to not be restricted in any way. I have always been a fan of theatrical pop music and wanted to experiment more with the song form." Indeed, the dizzying arrangement of "Gold Girl" shows Hollie as boldly orchestrated, cinematic. "Now I don't shy away from it when I want to be dramatic," she declares. Full of emotion, leaning into healing and understanding, Hollie's lyrics on Happy Hour speak directly to our pain and confusion and steer us towards resolution on tracks like "Moving On," "Unkind Love," and "Love in the Dark." Touring as a teenager with punk legends The Slits encouraged the fierceness within her sweetness. Hollie's mentor was Ari Up, the band's lead singer and a lifelong friend of Cook's parents (Sex Pistols drummer Paul and her singer mother Jeni). "My father always said I would be a singer. But I discovered lovers rock on my own. I heard it on pirate radio and at friends', and I was bewildered, enchanted," she recalls. "The Slits are the reason I have pursued this career. I was surrounded by powerful women at a young age, and when my time came, I was never fazed by male dominance. They were my wall of courage." From those feisty roots, Hollie has only grown. Her soulful directness on Happy Hour is relatable and authentic.