Stix Roots & Culture 14 Items

Stix Records, a sub-label of Favorite Recordings, is back with some heavy dub cuts from label regular Mato with its usual special skills as a tailor of reggae music. On Side A, Mato focuses on the infamous "Summer Madness", originally composed by Kool & The Gang. Providing a fresh dub rework, the song will make you dream of hot wet summer nights, gently rocked by beautiful guitar melodies and sweet Fender Rhodes chords. Just a perfect match for all forthcoming summers of love! On Side B, Mato takes care of "Use Me", originally composed by Bill Withers on his Still Bill album. Expect funky and bouncy clavinets and a nice melodica line for this rework of a timeless classic. As Mato once said, "Play it loud and burn a chalice!" Starting his reggae production career in 2006, Thomas Blanchot (aka Mato) has released music through various projects on EDR Records, Big Singles or Makasound ... In the meantime he developed a real trademark, taking over classics French, Hip-Hop, or Pop song, into roots reggae-dub new versions. Besides, since 2010, Mato has built a solid reputation thanks to his hot remixes of Hip-Hop classics on Stix Records.

Stix Records, a sub-label of Favorite Recordings, proudly presents Push Push, the new album by acclaimed producer Taggy Matcher aka Bruno "Patchworks" Hovart (Voilaaa, Mr President, The Dynamics, Uptown Funk Empire, Metropolitan Jazz Affair, Da Break, …). After the success of his previous LP Singasong, Taggy Matcher returns with 8 tracks exploring his wide range of Reggae & Dub influences, each time magnified by a fine crew of vocal guests as LMK, Birdy Nixon, Alexandra Charry, Hawa, John Milk & Elodie Rama. With a great sense of authenticity, they all bring their own touch to Taggy Matcher's compositions and covers. Always faithful to its inspirations, brilliantly produced, Push Push is your new invitation to follow the Lion to Zion. The album starts with "Push Push", a title already released last year as a vinyl single 7", in collaboration with rising singer LMK, who you may know from her successful previous reworks on Taggy's last album ("No Love Allowed", "My Man"). Sharing the same love for the early 80's Digital Rub A Rub productions, lyrics are about street harassment of women… with a pinch of humor! On "Little Things", Taggy invites old mate Birdy Nixon for a cover of an early rocksteady classic by Hemsley Morris. With the vintage bounce we love combined with modern sounds and productions, the song is all about tenderness and simplicity. "Volvere Mañana", the song has this very cumbia hip move with the participation of gifted singer Alexandra Charry from Cali in Colombia, where they both composed the song. Then, Taggy invited Boris Pokora to play the "gaita" local flute to give the song its proper Colombian Caribbean coast flavor. The album continues with "Two Dimes" featuring longtime collaborator Hawa (from Mr President to Mr Day and other numerous projects). This shaky disco reggae rockers is all about getting ready for the party… but with two dimes only! "Q Fashion" is a song full of wittiness and self-mockery wrote during the first Covid-19 lockdown. Parisian Soul singer John Milk was stuck in Paris while Bruno was in Lyon. On this minimalistic digital reggae tune, they give the ingredients to perfect your next quarantine outfit. Discoish reggae tune "Get Enough" featuring Birdy Nixon has a simple and successful recipe: just mix a big dose of Lovers with the same amount of Rockers and you've got this 100% soulful song. On "Suit and Tie", Taggy and John Milk go Pop with this version of Justin Timberlake, that fits perfectly with John's tender and mellow style. Finally, Elodie Rama with Taggy Matcher pay tribute to Erykah Badu and her legacy to the Soul music scene at the end of the nineties. The mood is jazzy, mellow and warm, with a tiny Lee Scratch Perry early 70's vaporous vibes.

Stix is back in 2014 with a scorching Disco Reggae Volume 2!

Great Disco-Reggae versions of classic hits by some artists as diverse as Madonna, Herbie Hancock, Justin Timberlake, The Commodores, The O'Jays, Curtis Mayfield, Harry Nilsson or Sugarhill Gang.

Stix Records, a sub-label of Favorite Recordings, proudly presents Disco Reggae Vol. 5, pursuing the highly acclaimed series started 10 years ago. Birth land of the Reggae music, Jamaica has also always been fed by Soul, Funk, R&B and Pop music from the US scene, delivering some of the best covers anyone could think of. With it’s Disco Reggae series, Stix Records therefore simply carried on this tradition, offering new versions of classic songs from a wide spectrum of musical styles. On this 5th edition, the list extend to famous name such as The Undertones, Bobby Caldwell, Cerrone, Patti LaBelle, or Ray Parker Jr. to name a few. At the control to tailor these hits with new and exclusive Reggae suits, you’ll find the best producers from the Stix’ roster like Soul Sugar aka Booker Gee, Taggy Matcher, Simon Nyabinghi, or Mato. Together they signed again a perfect soundtrack to extend your summer and fill your playlists, whether to light the dancefloors or just sip a nice cocktail facing the Negril’s sunset!

Stix Records, a sub-label of Favorite Recordings, presents this new stunning single release by Mato, this time taking over the famous hit of Bobby Caldwell, and inviting for the occasion newcomer label mate, Ethel Lindsey (1st album upcoming on Favorite Recordings). After the recent success of his Summer Madness / Maiden Voyage single, quickly followed up by the release of Jazz-Funk Dub Tribute LP, Mato and Stix got keen to pursue their journey within the wide and miscellaneous American groove music repertoire. In September 2022, just after the release of this same LP, Pascal Rioux (a&r of Favorite and its sub-labels) submited to Mato the idea of the Bobby Caldwell’s song and the start of a new “Mellow Reggae Series” focusing more specifically on the so-called AOR and BlueEyed-Soul genre. “What You Won’t Do For Love” by Bobby Caldwell, is one of this instant classic known and heard at least once by almost everyone on the planet, although its performer still remains quite unknown for most. With this thrilling version, Mato strikes again our ears of his matchless skills for dub production and the magic happens again. And while it was not an easy task to walk in the footsteps of Caldwell’s vocals, under the radar and upcoming singer and composer Ethel Lindsey sounds like a perfect match for the song, he just killed it with his soulful singing and great feeling. Starting his reggae production career in 2006, Thomas Blanchot (aka Mato) has released music through various projects on EDR Records, Big Singles or Makasound... In the meantime, he developed a real trademark: taking over classic French, Hip-Hop, OST, Classical or Pop songs, into roots reggae-dub new versions. His 15 years collaboration with Stix Records and label honcho Pascal Rioux gave life to many masterpieces and the story seems far from the end…

Following 2 acclaimed first editions, Stix Records presents the 3rd volume of its Disco Reggae compilation series.

Like previous one, the 9 tracks comp is made both from productions of the home labels now sold-out as vinyl, and from brand new exclusive music by the like of Taggy Matcher, Mato or newcomer Rosemary Martins, taking over classics titles from Donna Summer, Stephen Encinas, Roberta Flack, Herbie Hancock, Steve Parks, or Inner City.

The perfect soundtrack to extend the summer!!

Stix Recordings rounds up all those essential Mato 7" anthems onto this extended player, with all the cuts remastered for the occasion! Includes two unreleased hits featuring Blackstreet (No
Diggity) & Snoop Dogg and Dr. Dre (The Wash). Woopiwoop, that's the sound of reggae-hip hop perfection!

Stix Records, a sub-label of Favorite Recordings, presents the 3rd release from its new Mellow Reggae Series project. Following two stunning covers of Bobby Caldwell and Player alongside label mates Ethel Lindsey, Mato is now taking over the famous hit by Sylvia Striplin, this time inviting his longtime friend and singing partner, Lady Gatica.
Produced by Roy Ayers in the early 80s , “You Can’t Turn Me Away” belong to this kind of title recognized by everyone, while Sylvia Striplin remains a name known by just a few. Like always, Mato production skills perfectly fits with the original and his Reggae rendition sounds like coming out straight from Kingston. While with her long experience singing Soul, Funk and Disco, Lady Gatica is also a perfect match for the vocals.
Starting his reggae production career in 2006, Thomas Blanchot (aka Mato) has released music through various projects on EDR Records, Big Singles or Makasound... In the meantime, he developed a real trademark: taking over classic French, Hip-Hop, OST, Classical or Pop songs, into roots reggae-dub new versions. His 15 years collaboration with Stix Records and label honcho Pascal Rioux gave life to many masterpieces and the story seems far from the end…

Stix Records, a sub-label of Favorite Recordings, presents the 2nd release from its new Mellow Reggae Series project. Launched earlier this year by Mato & Ethel Lindsey with a stunning cover of the famous “What You Won’t Do For Love” by Bobby Caldwell, the series continues with the same duo, now taking over “Baby Come Back”, the underground AOR/Blue-Eyed-Soul classic from Player.
This time again and likewise could be told about Bobby’s most famous song, “Baby Come Back” can be considered as a “One-Hit Wonder”, reaching #1 on the US Billboard Hot 100 in 1977, while very few people might be able to name who performed it. Like he always does, Mato delivers an outstanding version, delighting us with his matchless skills for dub production. Already perfectly matching on Bobby Caldwell’s rendition, Ethel Lindsey ensure again the perfect vocals over Mato’s production. Currently preparing his 1st album to be released on Favorite Recordings, Ethel has a long music and singing experience, unless an almost blank discography. From his very young age, he’s developed a deep passion for AOR and Blue-Eyed-Soul style.
Starting his reggae production career in 2006, Thomas Blanchot (aka Mato) has released music through various projects on EDR Records, Big Singles or Makasound... In the meantime, he developed a real trademark: taking over classic French, Hip-Hop, OST, Classical or Pop songs, into roots reggae-dub new versions. His 15 years collaboration with Stix Records and label honcho Pascal Rioux gave life to many masterpieces and the story seems far from the end…

Marvin Gaye gets reworked for a cosmic reggae trip and a new life to “Enter The Dragon” by legendary composer Lalo Schiffrin is provided!

Stix Records rounds up all recent Mato’s 7inches anthems into this extended player, with all the cuts remastered for the occasion ... this collection
also includes four unreleased hits: “Gangsta Lovin’” by Eve, “La Saga”
by IAM, “Whateva Man” by Redman and “Off The Books” by The Beatnuts.

The King of “Reggae vs Hip-Hop” remixes is back with a new and last LP collecting all his 7inches released over the past few months and a bunch of unreleased new Rocksteady remixes, done for the occasion. Yaaaayyyyy!

Side A lifts the vocal from Devil’s Pie by D’Angelo and adds it to a nicely
rocking reggae groove result! And on the flip side there's a killer reggae dub version of WU-TANG’s
C.R.E.A.M !!