Reggae & Dancehall 52 Items

The final release in the Eight Trigram series. Alpha Steppa concludes the Trigram series with an etherial heavyweight dub staying true to the Trigram sound. Super limited edition press housed in the reverse-board Trigram house bag. Raw, unadulterated tribal bass music with a deep roots foundation.

Hard to find 1988 Uptemo Digital Roots album from Blacka T, Produced by Augustus Pablo for his label Message. Recorded in Jamaica at Music Works & Tuff Gong with Sylvan Morris & Soljie and in the U.K. at Dub Vendor / Class A studios by Chris Lane.

Rare chance to own a test pressing of Blundetto’s album “Slow Dance”.The vinyl version is pressed on 180g vinyl.The new album features Jahadan Blakkamoore, Cornell Campbell, Lord Sandwich, Ken Booth, Kid Charlemane, Biga Ranx and others.

Easily one of the greatest roots reggae albums of all time, Soul Rebels resulted from the intensive partnership brokered by the group and maverick producer, Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry. It was the first Wailers ‘concept’ album, conceived as a long-player based on a rebellious theme, rather than a collection of isolated singles, and the presence of the Barrett Brothers in the rhythm section pointed the way for greater glories to come. The Wailers first formed as an unruly 5-piece in 1963, with Junior Braithwaite as lead singer and Beverley Kelso an early member, sometimes replaced by Cherry Green. During their long tenure at Studio One, Bob Marley gradually shifted to the lead vocal role and the robust core of Marley, Peter Tosh and Neville Livingston, aka Bunny Wailer, soon emerged as the mainstays of the group. Perry was involved with the Wailers at Studio One, using their talents for backing vocals on some of his solo work, but the partnership that yielded Soul Rebels was in an entirely different league. The title track, Tosh’s anguished “400 Years and “Corner Stone” are legendary for their intense power; “It’s Alright” set the template for the later “Night Shift,” “My Cup” was an individual barebones reading of James Brown’s “I Guess I’ll Have To Cry Cry Cry,” while the playful “Try Me” and “No Water” are suggestive odes. Tosh’s dejected “No Sympathy” and the spirited “Soul Almighty” are other winners and the “Cloud 9” revamp “Rebel’s Hop” is another joy. All killer, no filler!

Following multiple classic re-issues and freshly produced dubplates from UK Dub innovators, we bring you 2 brand new productions on 10” vinyl: Inna Mount Zion / Prophecy Step.

All-time classic rocksteady album with the evergreen rewind Love me Forever, and more.

One per customer only!Born Marian Himburg, Causa has been on the rise for several years now, with a tight and impressive discography on labels including Crucial Recordings, Infernal Sounds, and J:Kenzo’s Artikal Music UK. Known for carefully focused cuts that marry dub sensibilities with dubstep weight, his debut for ZamZam is exactly what you’d hope: heavy 140 wares for deep dances. “Space Dub” is an orbiting station of decaying delays and insistent bleeps that resolve into an absolutely massive riddim that causes pure murderation on the floor. Machine sounds and lasers spar over dread, lurching bass, while thick snares cut through the reverb haze to reveal the cold, starry cosmos beyond. “Concrete Dub” works with a similarly industrial sound palette in the service of a minimalist, skanking steppers that drives hard into the heart of sound system. Disembodied voices, growling-deep horn stabs, a single piercing flute note, and a myriad of other sonic signifiers emerge and retreat, as if being pulled under by the unrelenting force of the primordial sub & kick attack. You’ve been warned!

A welcome branching out into the reggae universe, Rocafort is proud to present The Circle of Confusion featuring the legendary sweet falsetto voice of Cornel Campbell. Lausanne Switzerland meets Kingston Jamaica in this heartfelt, stripped back, feel-good homage to the late 70s roots reggaestyle.The Circle of Confusion are a Swiss production duo: Seb.K (Shakedown productions) and Phil'eas (Black Diamond Sound). Diehard reggae fans, they dared to contact their favourite Jamaican singer and got a result with Campbell delivering the lyrics on the spot, written on the day of Nelson Mandela' death. There's depth and feeling in this wonderfully lilting, plaintive song, typical of Campbell's social consciousness and beautiful soul. Hard to believe it was all strung together in a shiny, clean Swiss studio when the sound is so simply warm and Jamaican. Beautiful run on the keyboards by Jah Lou.If you were moved by the Rhythm and Sound album of 2001, you will not be disappointed with this splendid roots collaboration. We can only hope there's more to come.

"Music Is Our Business" is a premium blend of the very best of Cocoa Tea's non-album tracks recorded for Bobby Digital alongside a gold leaf selection of previously unreleased nuggets. All recorded between 1985 and 1986.The tracks gathered together here are amongst the most loved tunes in Cocoa Tea's illustrious catalogue and this collection is sure to please Cocoa Tea's many fans both old and new, his message are songs of the struggle, Love, Peace...The success of VP's recent two Bobby Digital anthologies "X-Tra Wicked" and "Serious Times" has shone the spotlight bright and alight on the outstanding work that was coming out of the Digital B studio during this golden period. The release of "Music Is Our Business" shows there is still a lot more gold in the Digital B vaults.

Daniel Savio has been producing hi quality releases for 20 years in groups such as Hundarna från söder, and a bunch of reocords in his own name, and as Kool DJ Dust. Most notably is his disco edits on releases as "The Disco Opera" and his contribution as a skwee originator on Flogsta Dancehall. Now Daniel Savio makes his debut on Kings Chamber with four efortlessly cool digital dub tracks, on wich he manages to take on a new genre and still keep his signature sound.

In the early 1970s, top-ranking toaster Lester Bullock got his start on the El Paso sound system in the mean streets of western Kingston. Initially known as Young Capone, since he was a protégé of the better-established Dennis Alcapone, he was renamed Dillinger by Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry, the first producer to record a significant number of tracks with the youth. “Dub Organiser” and “Tighten Up Skank” were somewhat popular when released in 1973 and there were individual tracks cut for Phil Pratt, Augustus Pablo, Prince Tony Robinson and Joe Gibbs, as well as Studio One, who issued debut LP, Ready Natty Dreadie, in 1975. By then, Dillinger was recording a series of singles for hit-making produce Bunny ‘Striker’ Lee, particularly on Johnnie Clarke’s rhythms, though recordings for Channel One and the CB 200 album were what catapulted him into overseas consciousness in 1976, once the outstanding single, “Cokane In My Brain,” reached the European pop charts. Marijuana In My Brain dates from 1977 and placed the toaster over some of the Striker’s hottest rhythms, previously utilised for Johnnie Clarke scorchers like “Satta” and “Poor Marcus” (along with the odd Ronnie Davis track); Clarke’s reading of “Going To A Ball” is here transformed into an ode to the Bouncing Ball, then one of the most popular clubs for black Londoners, and his “African Roots” anthem gets the Dillinger treatment too. Of course, the title track was the biggest hit of the bunch, an ode to the ‘wisdom weed’ driven by cosmic space synth overdubs.

Three murderous steppers dubs on a propulsive, rat-tat-tat rhythm, combining mystical spaciousness with detail and ferocity. Angry-lion bass and smears of brass, fusillades and explosions, scares and shocks, oriental pentatonics, clattering percussion and synthy transcendence… the business. The second mix is nastiest; the third is the wildest and most discombobulated (and our favourite).Letter-pressed, poly-lined sleeves.

Precious, timely, moody reflections on migrating from Côte d’Ivoire to Moss, in Norway, over ruff breakbeat funk supplied by the nimble bass-playing of Maimouna’s old man (from Kambo Super Sound), and the expert conga and kit-drumming of Stliletti-Ana (from Jesse, in Helsinki). Even in their delirium, b-boys and girls will savour traces of the Incredible Bongo Band, in the chorus. Over the eight minutes, and going deeper on the flip, the mix lifts off into a cosmic steppers dub, featuring Gilb-r alongside Sotofett on keyboards, with no let up for the dancefloor in energy and vibes.In beautifully letter-pressed, poly-lined sleeves.“It was in 2001 / I got the letter / A letter that said / I would travel to a cold world / Not knowing what would happen / I was full of loneliness / No country / Everyone was different / Not only skin colour / The way people spoke / The way people behaved / That’s the adventure / Obey / This is the story we’re told / The key to success / So we can do everything for our parents / Who need us / Desperate for a better life / That’s the adventure

Despite maintaining an strong following amongthe New York Latin music scene of the late-60sand early-70s, and a reputation as a prolificsongwriter for contemporaries like Eddie Palmieriand Ray Barretto, bandleader and vibraphonistHarvey Averne never reached high heights ofsuccess during his short-lived recording career.He would achieve greater things as the head ofthe legendary Latin label Coco Records, but as arecording artist Averne languished in obscurity,apart from having penned the Latin club classic"Never Learned To Dance", while peers likeRalfi Pagan and Rubén Blades found increasedpopularity on a wider scale.This is unfortunate, as Harvey Averne'sdiscography contains some truly remarkableexamples of top-tier salsa, chicano rock, andboogaloo records. Chief among them being1971's Viva Soul, which contained the famedtrack "Never Learned To Dance", as well as 11other pieces, featuring punching stacatto brass,frantic electric pianos, and some truly funky Latintakes on songs by The Beatles and Little Anthony& The Imperials, among many others. ThoughAverne's recording career never flourished, VivaSoul has rightly become a highly sought-afterpiece of vinyl, and his discography a treasuretrove for collectors.

One per customer only!J:Kenzo is a certified don of contemporary sound system music, whether dubwise or otherwise, 140 to 160 and beyond. Kenzo is a highly respected label head (Artikal Music UK & Lion Charge Records), heavyweight producer, master disc jockey and host of one of the most passionately-followed radio shows in all of dubstep on Rinse.fm. Needless to say we are thrilled to build with him once again. Absolute control over sound design, timing, tension and dynamics mark all of Kenzo’s productions, and the pair he delivered for his second ZamZam are no exception. Where his first release was a more meditative affair, “Kingston Hot” and “Concrete Jungle” both revel in a harder, darker vibe. "Kingston Hot” enters rocking a sleigh bell riddim and builds quickly into a stormer that has been pummeling crowds worldwide on dubplate with support from the likes of J.Sparrow, Mala, and Headland to name just a few. At once spacey, sultry, heady, and menacing it’s both eyes-down and hands-in-the-air material, all bass weight and reverb space, with every flick of the wrist in the mix another reason to recognize that the man’s stature in the world of bass music is well-earned. Concrete Jungle’s thinned intro kick, spare hand drums, and paranoid minimalist melody set the stage for a hard 140 stepper composed of a sidewinding, distorted bassline, smeared snares and panned percussion that drives deep into primal sound system territory. Frequent sparring partner in the live arena Sun of Selah makes a guest appearance on the mic with a single dread declamation that perfectly captures the tone of the tune, a gritty vibe that feels like swaggering through a near-future urban wasteland on the way to a dance that may not be much safer than the streets.

While Montego Bay natives Jackie Bernard, his brother Footy Bernard and cousin Lloyd Kerr recorded under various guises in the early ’60s, their collective arrival as The Kingstonians in 1967 marked a sea change not only in the vocal trio’s productivity and popularity, but also in the emerging Reggae sound. The Kingstonians made several chart-topping singles between 1968 and 1970, including the massive hit “Singer Man” whose success ultimately led to the release of their sole LP, Sufferer. Originally issued on Trojan, Sufferer collects a dozen of The Kingstonians’ best-known songs. Produced by Derrick Harriott, these truly boss sounds would pack dancehalls on the island as well as become the soundtrack for working-class youth across ’70s Britain. The title track remains a classic of the early Reggae era with impeccable arrangements, stuttering organ and soul-steeped lyrics. The Kingstonians’ shift away from Rocksteady modes is perhaps most apparent on the aforementioned “Singer Man”—an irresistible forward groove, prompting a deeper danceability that is rightly centered on real feeling. Antarctica Starts Here presents the first-time domestic release of Sufferer. Reproducing the original sleeve design, this reissue is part of an archival series that focuses on Trojan’s essential ’60s and ’70s catalogue. Liner notes by Laurence Cane-Honeysett.

Promised land riddim

To mark over 1 million plays on Spotify, Lotek is releasing a limited edition, gold vinyl, remastered re-issue of "Rebel HiFi" from the LP International Rudeboy. The track features vocalist Spikey Tee and the 7" includes both the original vocal mix and dub mix on the B-side. The tracks have been remastered through vintage hardware.

Low Jack and Clara! seal a killer first year for the mutant dancehall series ‘Les Disques De La Bretagnes’ with this necessary doublepack including their long sold out instalments for the series. Launched earlier in the year as a sublabel of Editions Gravats, Les Disques De Las Bretagnes has become a go-to home for ruffneck, forward new spins on the Black Atlantic links between dancehall, reggaeton and electronic music. Now, following Iueke’s sold out ‘Champion’ 12” - as played by Aphex Twin - the label extend a very handy catch up of Low Jack and Clara! y Maoupa’s 12”s packaged as a 2LP with new sleeve art.

Midnight Groovers burst onto the musical scene in the early 1970s led by Phillip Mark aka "Chubby" and his brother "Coe". This compilation puts together for the very first time all the best reggae tracks of the famous Dominican band. Their music spreads a strong and deep message, a message of resistance.

One of the greatest reggae vocal harmony trios of all time, The Mighty Diamonds formed in 1969 in Trench Town, the infamous west Kingston ghetto that gave rise to Bob Marley and the Wailers and countless other vocal groups. They began recording for Rupie Edwards in the early 1970s and cut soul covers for Stranger Cole and lesser-known producer, Roy Ross, before singing noteworthy material for Lee “Scratch” Perry, such as “Talk About It,” as well as backing hit singles such as Susan Cadogan’s “Hurt So Good.” Subsequent material for Bunny Lee was also popular, but the real breakthrough came when the deejay and producer Jah Lloyd introduced the group to the Hookim Brothers of Channel One, leading to a series of incredible hits and internationally acclaimed albums issued overseas by Virgin. Then, in the 1980s, after Virgin turned away from reggae, The Diamonds had another career boost through recordings for perceptive producer Gussie Clarke, who issued popular albums such as Changes and The Root Is There. The album Backstage was another fine set for Gussie, recorded at Dynamic Sounds studio in Kingston and issued in extended-play style, with each of the album’s six conscious late-roots tracks mixed to include dubs.

Denmark's sharp-dressed nutty boys return with their first studio album in nearly 30 years. A unique blend of British 2-Tone, Jamaican ska, rhythm and blues with sixties-style soul, thirteen songs including new versions of 4 fan favorites from original demos. Fans have been waiting!

Wicked lost Canadian business from 1984. Fisherman is a low-fi proto digital masterpiece which predates the release of King Jammy’s Sleng Teng by a full year. Hooky as a fishermans rod. DEADLY! TIP!Peter Allen released only one tune, recorded at Aquarius Studio in Kingston, Jamaica in 1984.

Onlyroots continue their Pablo Moses re-issue project with this album, the 1980 follow up to the classic Revolutionary Dream they put out a few months ago and the brace of 45's that preceeded that. Produced, arranged and engineered by Geoffrey Chung at Dynamics in Jamaica and Island's Basing Street studio in London and featuring a star studded caast of musicians, two of the tracks Dubbing Is A Must and Revolutionary Step were issued back to back on an Island 12" back in the day, and One People emerged on a Jamaican issued 7". Pure quality roots reggae.

Cultures of Soul is very excited to announce this killer tropical reggae cover of Sade's Smooth Operator. Recorded at Circle Sound Studios in Miami the backing track was recorded by members of the famous reggae outfit Inner Circle with vocals by local area rising star at the time, Sabrina Rich. Sabrina (her real name is actually Sabrena) had been making records in her and her ex-husband's studio in their garage for years. The result of which was the disco 12" Exit/Whispering. Around this time Sabrina was performing in the Palm Beach / Boca Raton area of Florida and performed with Jimmy Bo Horne. Some time after Sabrina worked with a man named Kenneth Corey who mastered her recordings. Kenneth referred her to Roger and Ian Lewis of Inner Circle to help press up their vinyl. They became friends and around 1985 recorded Smooth Operator. During this time they were working and partying hard and experimenting with different ideas and sounds. The track was originally released in small numbers as sort of a demo and never really took off. Shortly after Inner Circle went on tour in Europe and the single went into obscurity until many years later when copies of the record turned up in New York and Toronto. This 12" includes a special discomix edit by Duckcomb a.k.a. Patrick Billard, DJ and record collector extraordinaire.

New 7” from ultra-cool Helsinki-based roots, dub and reggae label / sound system Intergalaktik Sound.

Lowell Dunbar and Robert Shakespeare are the renowned Jamaican rhythm section that has worked with a range of international stars, including Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger, Joan Armatrading, Garland Jeffries and countless others. They first came to know each other in the early 1970s, when both were based in rival bands playing in clubs on Kingston’s Red Hills Road and started working together at Channel One studio in the mid-1970s, when Sly was musical arranger for the Revolutionaries house band and Robbie the main bassist for Bunny Lee’s Aggrovators. After a stint of international touring in Peter Tosh’s Word, Sound and Power band, which exposed them to the tastes and markets of overseas audiences, the pair joined forces more concertedly with their Taxi label, producing hits with Gregory Isaacs, Dennis Brown, Sugar Minott and the Wailing Souls. At the same time, as the driving force behind the Compass Point All Stars, they brought Grace Jones to prominence worldwide and made Gwen Guthrie a star through reggaefied disco, and then brought Black Uhuru into the top spot in the wake of Bob Marley’s passing. Then, when Jamaican music went digital with the “Sleng Teng” craze of the mid-1980s, Sly and Robbie made the shift in that direction too, becoming among the most prominent producers as the 80s gave way to the 90s. Dubs For Tubs: A Tribute To King Tubby is a digital dub salute to the King issued shortly after his terrible murder; it is mostly comprised of synthesizer re-cuts of classic Jamaican rhythms, with “Dub For Joy” being a tough re-working of the Heptones’ “Love Me Girl” and “Dub To Make You Move And Groove” a take on their “Party Time”; Dennis Brown’s “Here I Come” is here mutated to “Dub For Roots People” and his “Here I Come” anthem shifted into the spongy “Dub For All Seasons.” An intriguing offshoot of “Sleng Teng” is among the other highlights.

Heavy Channel One business one more time! Back in the early 80's with Soul Power & Sound in fine style. Famous meditation Roots track called Yard Music for the first time on Maxi 12inch 45rpm. The flip side receive a loud Steppers called Trample Romans. Both sides Alternate extended mixes from Master Tapes!

There were some cool ska albums released at the turn of the millennium, including 2 albums by THE SPECIALS! Both “SKINHEAD GIRL” and “CONQUERING RULER” dig into the TROJAN RECORDS songbook, and the band’s sound was top notch, lead by RODDY RADIATION, NEVILLE STAPLE, HORACE PANTER, and NEOL DAVIES. The release of these records on vinyl from Black Butcher Classics gives the albums a new lease on life and will be enjoyed by an entire generation of vinyl fans!

Tapper Zukie’s ‘Black Man’ album originally came out in 1978 as a Jamaican only release on Tapper’s’ Stars imprint. Long deleted it has become a classic in Mr Zukie’s vast cannon of musical biscuits and is well overdue this worldwide release for the first time.

The legendary Twinkle Brothers return on UK label Reggae On Top to give 'Praises to the King'.

Ultraexklusiv. Oberste Boxklasse: Hamburg, Barnerstraße 16. Hier denken sich Menschen Sachen aus, "die einfach und schwer und wichtig sind, die in dem Leben und in den Sternen sind." Sie "haben Fantasie und Poesie im Kopf" und diese lassen sie auf dieser bereits zweiten Zusammenstellung gebündelt raus. Auf das "Behindertenpoetische Manifest" von Story Teller, aus dem hier zitiert wurde, folgt "Ich bin so wie ich bin" von Stille Vann. "Ich wollte gerne mehr können als ich kann." Das allein zeugt schon von einem Können, denn dass kann kaum jemand zugeben. "Ich steh oft unter Strom, doch das kann auch Antrieb sein!" So wie eine Platte, die keine Promo hat, auf einem neuen Minilabel rauskommt genial sein kann. Wenn Kraftwerk KUKUs "Geisterbahn" hören, fahren sie von ihrer Autobahn runter und ölen nochmal nach. Hitverdächtig wird es dann mit Karl Freitag: "Weihnacht im Zillertal". Clubtauglicher als jeder andere Song, der uns ins Zillertal lockt. Pump ab! Es geht nonstop so weiter, kunterbunt und unterhaltsam, nie banal, nie egal, immer aber ganz eigen und rund produziert, ob jazzy Gypsy Kings "Step Right Through" oder das vom Saxophon gehaltene "Kinderfahrrad" von Birgit Hohnen. Sounddrops bringen als Chor, begleitet durch Beatboxing, die Scala & Kolwasauchimmerbrothers in Bedrängnis. Ihr "Eleonor Rigby" ist fantastisch. Danach gibt es eine Krawallnummer, Heavy Punk, laut und brachial, "fuuuuuck! M.F.B. lebt! Und wie. Noch etwas Kraut von kink kOng und viel mehr. Als Stargäste sind Station 17 & Jacques Palminger dabei. King Dubby & the Barnervaters! "Shake it, don't break it!" Das jetzt auf Vinyl haben zu können, ist ein großes Geschenk. Die zweite Kompilation, auf der sich die komplette Bandbreite des Künstlernetzwerkes barner 16 vorstellt! Eine großartige Platte, absoluter Tipp!

As the truth about the inhuman conditions in South African apartheid became commonly known around the world, countless Jamaican artists were inspired to voice their concerns and extol praises on the nation’s most prominent freedom fighter… Nelson Mandela. The musical support for Nelson Mandela and dissent and disgust of the apart-heid system from Jamaica was not only confined to culturally inclined artists who had fought long and hard to assert their “declarations of rights” but also from every corner of reggae music. From velvet voiced vocalists renowned for their romantically inclined love songs to the “rockstone” delivery of dance hall deejays, established veterans and youthful newcomers all came together to address the common cause of South African freedom. Feature tracks include "Freedom Fighters", "Free Mandela", "Gunshot For Botha" and the haunting "Can You".