Back catalogue: Reggae

Review: This new 45rpm single on Humble Action includes the original version of 'Musical Healers' by Hummingbird as well as a remix by Aryeh Yah. The a-side version is a nice twisted dancehall cut with some hot stepping rhythms that sound like they could well have been sampled by The Streets at some time. It's a future sounding cut even now with its sleek synth leads. It's a real trip too at over eight minutes long, and the remix is no less adventurous but has a more heavy low end.

Review: Mercy is a collaborative work between the late great Lee "Scratch" Perry (during his post-Black Ark Studios era), Peter Harris and Fritz Catlin, the drummer from the industrial funk dub act 23 Skidoo. What they cook up is unashamedly experimental outsider works that collide mad mixing desk trickery, Perry's trademark vocal mutterings and plenty of occult sound designs. Melodies are smeared and smudged, rhythms are drunk and off balance and moods range from balmy to bonkers, often within the same damn track. A maverick collage, for sure.

Review: Back in 2006 French dub bands High Tone and Zenzile first joined forces to create the Zentone project, and nearly 20 years later they realigned to go even further into the echo chamber. The resulting album, Chapter 2, is a testament to both bands' long-standing dedication to dub and the way they've each managed to put their own stamps on the sound. There are some notable guests, not least the late, great Nazamba whose gravelly tone remains an unmatched force in modern reggae vocalists, and Rod Taylor lighting up 'Hotter Than Hot'. Dub devotees, listen up.

Review: Heads On Platters is the third instalment in a trilogy of vinyl records that delves into the intersectionality of queer pleasure and the pandemic. Supported by the Canada Council for the Arts, the series, titled Undetectable: Queer Pleasure and Pandemic, amplifies voices on queer sexualities, chemsex practices, and emerging cultural responses amidst rising global LGBTQ+ challenges. Through exploring themes of public sex and evolving queer cultural expressions, the project confronts pervasive homophobia, transphobia, and violence. It celebrates resistance, acknowledging that true defiance often arises amidst revelry, challenging societal norms and amplifying marginalised voices in a powerful cacophony of sound and expression.

Review: First released in the UK by Tottenham-based Atra Records in 1974, The Black Breast Has Produced Her Best Flesh of My Skin Blood By Blood has long been considered one of the edgiest roots albums of the period and a must-have for serious reggae collectors. The album resulted in its creator, the sadly departed Keith Hudson, being dubbed "the dark prince of reggae". Listening back to this welcome reissue, it's easy to see why. For starters, the lyrical content is highly politically charged and righteous, while Hudson's weighty musical arrangements are far more trippy, hazy and dimly lit than those found on most roots reggae records of the period. This edition also includes three additional tracks not found on the original release, plus exhaustive sleeve notes from Hudson biographer Vincent Ellis.

Review: The dark prince of reggae Keith Hudson was a legendary studio talent who brought his own signature style to dub. His Pick A Dub long player is one of the finest showcases of his work and a perennial favourite amongst dub heads that never goes too long without a new reissue. This latest one on VP is another great reminder of his talents. The 12 tracks show his great range, from happy and harmonic led jams in a hurry to go nowhere via heavier, more raw cuts like 'Part 1-2 Dubwise' and the musical delights and sunny charm of 'Michael Talbot Affair.'

Review: 70s and early 80s Jamaican producer Keith Hudson's approach to dub was never about smooth edges or easy rhythms. His productions are dense, disorienting, heavy with delay, bass and drums that sound like they're ricocheting down a well. The Soul Syndicate, his long-time studio band, provide the backbone hereideeply locked-in grooves that Hudson warps into something ghostly. 'No Commitment' staggers forward with stabbing guitar chops that seem to dissolve mid-strike, while 'Ire Ire' loops through warped vocal fragments and echo chambers that stretch into infinity. 'Bad Things' and its dub counterpart pull apart the rhythm until it feels skeletal, each hit landing in the empty space between delay trails. Hudson's use of reverb and tape manipulation isn't just about atmosphere, but about control as well. He shifts and reshapes the mix to turn steady rhythms into something unsteady, always shifting just out of reach. 'Desiree' drifts through flickering hi-hats and cavernous low-end, while 'Keeping Us Together' seems to slow down and speed up in the same breath. There's something darker, more claustrophobic in the way he structures space and silence. Even the brighter moments, like 'Mercy' with its open, rolling groove, carry an unease, as if the music itself is bracing for collapse. Hudson was an architect of mood, twisting familiar elements into something deeply immersive and strangely hypnotic.

Review: Stephen Vitiello, Brendan Canty and Hahn Rowe pull strings in strange and rewarding directions on Second, the chameleonic follow-up to their 2023 debut piece First. Vitiello, having left behind a vista's trail of ambient, lowercase and electroacoustic work with the likes of Taylor Deupree and Pauline Oliveros, now sketches raw forms with Rhodes, guitar and modular gear before looping in Canty and Rowe. The former adds drums, bass and piano with typical restlessness; the latter, once of Hugo Largo, folds in bowed guitar, viola and 12-string textures. There's a thread of freeform drift here, but it's sotted in dub weight, Krautrock pulse and post-punk lean. "We're coming from three different schools," Vitiello notes. Throw in a guest spot from Animal Collective's Geologist on hurdy gurdy, and it's a strange little world built on sideways logic.