Back catalogue: Dub

Review: This 2xCD set celebrates Dennis Bovell's exceptional talent during the golden years of reggae, from 1977 to 1981, a time when he was also playing a pivotal role linking punk and post-punk to reggae via collaborating with Orange Juice and producing key records such as The Slits' debut Cut. Featuring a mix of major hits and rare tracks, this collection highlights his brilliance as a producer, arranger and pioneer of roots, dub and lovers rock. Not only was he one of the first to blend disco with reggae but he was also important for fusing the disco standard 12" and using for Lovers Rock artists. His use of the format to create dynamic dub edits is a standout element, cementing his legacy in reggae production. Disc 1 includes Errol Dunkley's title track, Marie Pierre's soulful gems and Janet Kay's classic 'Silly Games', which brought lovers rock to mainstream audiences. Tracks like Errol Campbell's 'African Queen', Angelique's 'Cry' and Africa Stone's 'Choose Me' capture the era's emotional depth and Bovell's masterful touch. Disc 2 delves into 12" extended mixes, showing Bovell's innovative fusion of reggae and disco. A lifetime of great music within just two discs.

Review: Dennis Bovell's Sufferer Sounds compilation highlights a pivotal period in his prolific and diverse career, focusing on his work from 1976 to 1980. Best known for traversing reggae, dub, lovers rock, post-punk and disco, Bovell's production genius is evident throughout the album. Featuring deep cuts and lesser-known versions, the compilation includes works from his time with the Jah Sufferer Sound System, showcasing Bovell's ability to craft dynamic, emotionally resonant music. The CD version offers 15 tracks, including a rare dub mix of Janet Kay's iconic hit 'Silly Games', lovingly restored and remastered at Dubplates & Mastering in Berlin. This version features Bovell's intricate arrangements with a pristine sound, allowing the listener to fully appreciate the depth of his production. Accompanied by track-by-track notes written by Bovell himself, Sufferer Sounds offers fascinating insights into the creation of these tracks, bringing listeners closer to the mind of a reggae pioneer. This carefully sequenced collection showcases Bovell's versatility across reggae, dub, and lovers rock, making it an essential listen.

Review: On the latest volume in the Late Night Tales series, Don Letts has dug deep into his crates to present a selection of some of his favourite dubbed-out reggae cover versions, alongside dub style remixes of more contemporary covers. It's a simple concept, brilliantly executed, with Letts offering up some exclusive, dubplate style remixes amongst the classic cuts and recent gems. Highlights include, but are in no way limited to, the full vocal dub of Capitol 1212's take on Joy Dvision's 'Love Will Tear Us Apart', Mad Professor's insanely weighty 2021 dub of John Holt classic 'You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine', Blackbox Recorder's oddball reggae-soul version of 'Uptown Top Rankin' and Easy Stars All Stars' deliciously mystical interpretation of The Beatles' 'Within You Without You'.

Review: Mad Professor (Neil Fraser) is renowned worldwide for his dub recordings, captivating live sets showcasing the creativity of dub sound engineers, and his collaborations with both reggae and non-reggae artists alike such as Lee Scratch Perry, Jah Shaka, Sade, The Orb, Massive Attack and Grace Jones. Above all, he is celebrated for his prolific output in the genres of dub, lovers rock, reggae; now this reissued version of this original 1984 release for Ariwa Sounds is sure to turn just as many heads as his originals do. Known to be the yield of the label's first ever collaborative effort - after Fraser set up his South London studio with no prior experience - 'The Early Session' is one of the purest incarnation of the Mad Professor sound we know today and set the tone for the label thereafter.

Review: This double-disc collection offers a fascinating glimpse into Lee Perry's evolution as a producer during a pivotal year in reggae music. 1970 saw Perry at the top of his game, fresh off the success of Return Of Django, and these recordings capture his adventurous spirit and groundbreaking studio techniques. The compilation features a wealth of instrumental works, showcasing the proto-dub experiments of his backing band, The Hippy Boys. With 14 tracks new to CD and many others unavailable since the 1990s, this release is a treasure trove for dedicated Upsetter fans. From the infectious grooves of 'Yakety Yak' to the dubwise explorations of 'Bush Tea' and the soulful sounds of 'Let It Be', this collection is a must-have for any reggae enthusiast.

Review: Having devoted volumes three and four of the ongoing 'Heavenly Remixes' series to reworks by the late, great Andrew Weatherall, this double-disc follow-up offers a more eclectic selection of reworks drawn four almost four decades of Heavenly Recordings releases. As with its predecessors, it's a fantastic collection packed to the rafters with highlights, from the shuffling synth pop-goes-dubby nu-disco flex of Ewan Pearson's dub of Out Cold's 'All I Want' and the squelchy, acid-fired indie-dance excitement of Confidence Man's rework of The Parrots' 'Let's Go To Bed', to the psychedelic big beat brilliance of the Chemical Brothers 1996 take on St Etienne's 'Like a Motorway', the 80s new wave-goes-industrial funk excellence of Trevor Jackson remixing Raf Rundell, and the creepy late night techno hypnotism of Daniel Avery's inspired revision of David Holmes.

Review: The latest in Heavenly's colossal milking of the late Andrew Weatherall's extensive remix career comes in the form of a CD bundle of the first two collectible vinyl compilations, the Weatherall Remixes Volumes 1 and 2. The man occasionally known as Lord Sabre provided plenty of reworks for the London-based imprint over a 30-year period, and you'll find most of his greatest here, including the legendary two-part dub of St Etienne's 'Only Love Can Break Your Heart', his peerless, 15-minute peak-time 1992 take on Flowered Up's 'Weekender', a delightfully dubbed-out, Asphodells-style rework of Gwenno from 2015, and a stunningly spaced-out dancefloor dub of Mark Lanegan's Band.

Review: The Irie Ites label, founded by the French production collective of the same name, has long been one of the international reggae scene's leading lights - an impression only strengthened by the Le Mans-based stable's latest annual compilation. Comprising a mixture of 2024 label highlights and previously unheard cuts, the set offers a range of quality conscious and roots cuts (as well as a few curveballs such as the reggae/hip-hop fusion of Anthony B hook-up 'Rub-A-Dub (Stop That Sound Riddim)') featuring such global stars as Eek-a-Mouse, Sly & Robbie, Linval Thompson, Solo Banton, Screwdriver and Frankie Paul. To top it all off, crew member Jericho d'Irie Ites serves up a quintet of quality dub versions to get soundsystems rattling and dancefloors shaking.

Review: Back in 2019, Soul Jazz marked Record Store Day by releasing a rather tidy seven-inch box set of classic Studio One reggae jams, the simply titled Showcase 45. Six years on, they've decided to reissue the collection on CD in expanded, 18-track form (the original edition featured 10 tracks stretched across five 45s). It provides a perfect introduction to the Studio One universe, showcasing cuts from such masters of reggae, rocksteady and ska as Freddie McGregor ('Beat Down Babylon'), Bob Marley and the Wailers (the original version of the later re-recorded 'One Love'), Jackie Mitoo (the rhythm & blues-tinged, Hammond organ-rich 'Mixing'), the Heptones (the horn-heavy shuffle of 'How Can I Leave You'), Horace Andy (the cheerful-sounding 'Miami Blue') and the Skatalites (bona-fide dancefloor gem 'Sudden Destruction').

Review: Although most associated with punk thanks to his now canonical history of the movement, England's Dreaming, Jon Savage has always had far broader taste than most - not to mention an acute sense that the late 1970s were aa genuinely exciting musical free-for-all that paved the way for much of what came next. This excellent double-disc compilation gives a taste of what he was listening to in that period, moving between reggae, dub (the Revolutionaries, Joe Gibbs & The Professionals), throbbing Euro-disco (Space, Giorgio Moroder), American garage-rock (Iggy Pop), spaced-out spoken word eccentricity (John Cooper Clarke), formative new wave synth-pop (The Normal, The Human League), industrial (Cabaret Voltaire), punk (and lots of it), and much more besides.