Back catalogue: Dub

Review: 1994's original pressing of Steely & Clevie's outstanding leftfield production with Johnny Clarke's vocals is well worth inspecting, but you might struggle to find one these days, and it'll be pricey if you do, because it's become something of a classic 45. Thankfully it gets reissued here with A-side original 'Leggo Violence' rolling lazy drums while the Clarke vocals soar high and sweet despite what they sing about. On the flip is a smooth rolling version that allows that super bassline to do its thing free from any distraction, and all with extra dub goodness.

Review: Chris 'The Dub Organiser' Lane meets Soothsayer Horns here and the results are simply irresistible. 'Soul Dragon Anthem' is a real gem with heart-swelling horn leads that toot and rouse. The chords are lazy and loose and a sprinkling of percussion and natty guitar riffs are integral to the rhythm overall. This 12" comes with some fresh artwork from Jeb Loy Nichols as well as three hefty dub versions, all of which do plenty of damage on a loud system. Another crucial 12" from Ital Counsellor.

Review: It's time to touch base with Errol and Alex Rita's Touching Bass here as the small but already great-sounding label hits release number eight with this fine Babylon Shuffle release. All six tracks from Last Nubian and Geneva's Sweet Fruity Brunch blend the sounds of inner city London with deep house and broken beats, starting with the party vibes of 'Call Yu Out'. 'In Da Morning/Shaka' (feat Achante) then has lithe and wispy synths shimmering over metallic broken beats with great vocals adding soul and 'Mango In Da Parish' is a b-side highlight with its beautifully delicate house drums keeping the dancefloor afloat next to jazzy flutes.

Review: Mellow Rose and Seargent Pepper's 'Imitation Love' proved a big-hitting reggae 45rpm when it first dropped and so now it has been reissued on this sweet, limited edition red vinyl 12". It first came on Studio 16 back in August of last year and is already worth a pretty penny on second hand markets. The A-side is a super sweet lover's rock sound with falsetto vocals up top, acoustic guitars and fleshy low ends sinking you into a romantic rhythm. On the flip, Seargent Pepper gets to work on 'Dub And Rub Ina Imitation Way' which is more sci-fi and futuristic in its sound designs, all with a hazy and stoner edge.

Review: Archive Recordings have fully licensed a reissue of this classic of Freedom Sounds roots from 1977, and press it up on a tasty bit of blue wax. "Black Rose" is a real heater, with swaggering drums and bass, noodling chords buried deep in the mix and lead organ lines that carry you away on a breeze. Making use of the heavyweight Stone rhythm and produced by the late Bertram Brown, this 12" also features a previously unreleased solo Prince Alla vocal and Soul Syndicate's take on the original rhythm track.

Review: Prince Fatty's 'Mercedes Benz' with Shniece and Horseman is a rub-a-dub version of a 1970s hit from Janis Joplin that now gets a very special pressing courtesy of Lovedub Limited. The A-side kicks off with the spine-tingling and epic original vocal before disappearing into a world of reverb. At that point the dubby low end arrives and brings a different vibe to the stunning vocals but one that really makes a mark next to new bars from Horseman, police sirens and funky riffs. It's a tough sound system groove that is backed with a fine version and has been a firm fixture of Prince Fatty's record box for a while now.

Review: Jimmy Riley, Sly & Robbie, and The Taxi Gang join forces on Sexual Healing: Jet Set Japan to deliver some superb reggae-infused renditions of soul icon Marvin Gaye's timeless classics. With Riley's smooth vocals, Sly & Robbie's legendary rhythm section and The Taxi Gang's stellar musicianship, each track is a vibrant fusion of different musical worlds. From the infectious grooves of 'Sexual Healing' to the laid-back vibes of 'Let's Get It On', these tunes have a magical air and irresistible charm that serve as a masterful tribute to Marvin Gaye's legacy, reimagined with the distinctive flair of Jamaican reggae.

Review: Shades of Black is producer Paul Fox. He is based in the UK and makes roots, reggae and dub with a global fee. It has been that way since he debuted in 1992 and in the ensuing hears has worked with the likes of Nick Manasseh, Robert Tribulation, Michael Rose, Alpha and Omega and many more. Here he is dropping one of a couple of new tunes on the Africa Mae Do Leao label out of Brazil. 'Promised Land' (Binghi Mix) is super slow dub with Indian melodic references. 'Promised Dub' (Stepper Mix) is heavier and darker and more for the club.

Review: The excellent and brilliantly consistent Shades of Black brings together many Black musical genres and messages on this new 7" for the Africa Mae Do Leao label out of Brazil. It is dub with a global twist - the dig-dub low ends paired with mystic synth leads, organic percussion and echoing hits. Vocals speak with conscious messages about being the enemy, fighting back and plenty more. If you prefer it more direct then check out the dub on the flip which has more rich melodies that ring out above the tight rhythms.

Review: Flower Records fusion masters Masato Komatsu and Ryo Kawahara are Slowly and are adept at everything from dub to disco, soul to post-rock. They have been turning it out at a steady rate recently on labels like Oscarson but mostly Flower. Following a couple of standout 7"s in 'Tripping Out' and 'Let Some Love In' already this year comes 'Time Trip.' It is a lush bit of slow motion big beat and dub, with heavily treated Japanese language vocals over a fat, churning rhythm. An instrumental is also included on this crucial 7".

Review: They say that something done well is made to look easy, and Star Dub sure do make things look easy. Their neat artwork, limited 12" drops and considered dub techno sounds are all exceptionally well executed and now this is the 15th time they have pull off that trick. 'Track 1' is the deep and cavernous underwater opener, 'Track 2' stumbles on a nice broken beat vibe, 'Track 3' slows it down to pure heady late-night smoker territory and closer 'Track 4' is the darker and more experimental cut for the afters. This is dub, but not as you know it.

Review: "Emotional Rescue presents the first ever reissue of Sugar Minott's rare 12" of I Remember Mama. Recorded in Soho in mid-80s London, the Boogie meets Reggae song comes in vocal and instrumental mixes, as well as a wonderfully teasing long Discomix by NAD aka Dan Tyler (Idjut Boys).

Having grown up and become a star out of Kingston, JA, with over 50 albums and hundreds of singles for the likes of Studio One and Black Roots labels, the legendary vocalist was a pioneer of the Dancehall and then later Lovers Rock sounds.

Based in London for much of the 1980s, a chance meeting in the Wackies offices he met producer Steve Parr, who had recently opened the Sound Design Studio next door.

Hatching the idea to create a label to showcase their capabilities, Parr played all the instruments except the distinctive sax by friend Andy MacDonald, while Minott's delivery is at his prime, storytelling in the Jamaica tradition of hardship and praise.

Released on 7" and 12", they have striking differences. The "Sound Design" instrumental / version sees the studio team craft a disco meets reggae in a cod-style to wonderful, almost Balearic effect.

The collaboration with Dan Tyler continues, as he again works his desk dubbing magic. Extending and editing between the two mixes, teasing the instrumental before finally bringing the sax and vocals together for a 'discodub' finale. "

Review: Disco-infused reggae and soulful grooves are on the agenda as Prince Fatty takes to the controls with regular vocal colllaborators Shniece and Horseman along for the ride too. For the Disco Deception album, he raids the reinvents various classics in the image of his own signature low-end energy and impeccable production, giving us original and dub mixes to choose from in several cases. His version of Krfatwerk's 'The Model', which features both Shniece and Horseman, was an underground smash when it emerged a couple of years back and sounds as vital as ever. 'Fever', made famous by Peggy Lee as far as 1958, gets some soul-stirring vocals from Shniece, and Tom Browne's 'Funkin' For Jamaica (NY)' is a glory of funky basslines to shimmering horns. A magnetic atmosphere that keeps listeners engaged from start to finish, all with character to spare.

Review: Way back in 2000, dub heavyweight Scientist got his mitts on the parts to Culture's 199 album 'Payday'. The resultant radical dub revisions were, somewhat predictably, brilliant - as this belated CD reissue of the classic set emphatically proves. As critics pointed out at the time, it's arguably far more of a Scientist album than a Culture one, with the latter's delay and reverb-laden vocals (plus some snippets of his backing band's instrumentation) seemingly bobbing and weaving around weighty basslines and echo-laden dub drums. The plentiful highlights include the brilliantly spaced-out 'Beam Me Up Dubby', the deep, driving and horn-heavy 'Intergalactic Excursion' and the thrillingly heavy and abstract 'E Equals MC Squared'.

Review: Death by Tickling is a masterfully intricate new collaborative album from Scotch Rolex and Shackleton. The is the sort of brain boggling and mind melting album that demand to be listened to loud, in the dark, on a great sound system or up close on headphones. It's a melange of languid dance music rhythms with experimental synths and percussion adding freaky details up top. Full of wildly unpredictable changes and weird time signatures, zoned out trance music and darkened dub, cosmic synth freak outs and ferocious sound designs, this is a truly unique record on every level.

Review: Micheal Smith's Mi Cyaan Believe It is a cult classic record from 1982 that pairs his superb dub poetry - delivered in fantastic patois style - with heavy rhythms. For this year's Black History Month it gets a special edition release. Sadly the precious talent and ferocious wordsmith recorded just this one album after going up in a rough section of Kingston, Jamaica influenced by the toasting style of I-Roy dub sounds of dons like Lee Perry and King Tubby. This one was recorded in England with members of Denis Bovell's Dub Band, British reggae favourites Aswad and legendary trombonist Rico Rodriguez. It remains an exhilarating and relevant listen.

Review: SND & RTN show their class here with a set of six sublime dub techno cuts that have been pressed to nice solver and heavyweight vinyl. There is nothing groundbreaking about the music here but what is done is done to an exceptionally high standard. The sound designs are faultless, from the bottomless bass to the pilot kick drums via the way in which their fizzing chords do nimble dances over the face of each tune. Some lean into the wind, some are utterly horizontal, all are great.

Review: Soffplaneten takes us deep into a world of downtempo delight with the Samlar Damm LP on Sunken Rock Recordings. It is an eight-track odyssey that veers from the gentle rhythms of the opener to the languid dub rotations of 'Kom Till Mitt Talt' complete with twanging guitars and soulful vocal seductions. 'Hoga Mamma Moln' is a more percussive and upbeat cut built from loose drums and tin pot percussion but held together with smeared and heat-damaged chords. 'Tunnelbanan' is a whacked-out and laid-back stoner joint while 'En Suddig Musik' gets more experimental and unusual in its sonic collage. A wonderfully irreverent new take on Balearic overall.

Review: Soul Revivers' Grove Dub is a great new record that comes on the heels of their earlier 2022 release On The Grove. The collaborative project finds esteemed producers David Hill and Nick Manasseh call upon reggae legends such as Ken Boothe and Ernest Ranglin as well as an array of vital UK musical talent. The already popular and critically acclaimed project now offers up more superb dub that draws on the rich history of West London reggae. You may have heard some of the tunes here as they have already been getting dropped on hefty sound systems and across the likes of the BBC and JazzFM.

Review: Steely and Clevie were amongst some of the most supreme rhythm makers in all of Jamaica in the 1980s and on into the 1990s. They worked together at King Jammy's in the aftermath of Sleng Teng with Steely doing the synth work and Clevie making the magic on his drum machines. They wrote a wide array of essential rhythms for the day's best emerging dancehall tautens and At The Top is a collection of crucial digital dub workouts "that strips bare the computerised wizardry at the duo's core." These are essential dubs for fans old and new of dancehall.

Review: Le Jardin de Lucy was the first album from Tom Dorn aka Sumac Dub. It has previously only been available on CD and digital but now Original Dub Gathering make it available in the format it is most suited to - vinyl. The sound here is electronic but warm, with deft pads and whimsical keys drifting like clouds of weed smoke above the stepping drums and wooden percussion. Meandering basslines add character and playfulness to these most heavy of tunes. 'Titania' has some exotic leads that bring the sunshine, 'Aloe' is riddled with cosmic motifs and 'Sinti Dub' is on a worldly tip.

Review: Michael Wadada was the leader of the Suns of Arqa collective which in its time has seen over 200 different musicians come and go. He started it back in 1979 and perfected downtempo and electro-ambient over 40 superb years. There was a great retrospective compilation 'Revelation XVII' put out back after Wadada's sad passing back in 2022 and now comes hits remastered version of their Revenge Of The Mozabites album. It is dub drenched in world music references, Indian tablas, wonderful eastern melodies and even Spanish guitar. It's a real collision of musical cultures.