Back catalogue: Reggae

Review: Black Uhuru and Sly & Robbie was a powerhouse collaboration that gifted reggae some of its most vital anthems. Backed up by the toughest rhythm section in the business, Black Uhuru were able to push a new urgency in Jamaican music which has lost none of its power over 40 years later. This compilation on TABOU1 gathers together a treasure trove of A-sides, dub mixes and even especially resotred dubplate specials from Black Uhuru's purple patch between 1977 and 1980, when they were recording almost exclusively for Sly & Robbie's Taxi label. Some of these tunes are beyond the wildest dreams of any reggae devotee who knows their onions, but even for the casual listener there's magic in every riddim.

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: Sade's Lovers Rock marks a significant evolution in the band's sound and image. Departing from their signature luxuriance, the album embraces a sparser, knottier sound that beautifully balances past influences with contemporary trends. Adu's vocals, thick and low as ever, blend seamlessly into the breezy landscape of acoustic guitar, reggae bass, and simple percussion, creating an atmosphere of understated sensuality. The album's themes range from new love to motherhood to societal issues, showcasing Adu's lyrical prowess and her ability to navigate the complexities of human emotions. Lovers Rock also pays homage to the cultural influence of Caribbean Britishness, both in its title and its musical style, adding depth to Sade's sonic palette. While the album was released amid a pop landscape dominated by shiny, slick productions, Sade remained true to their sound, avoiding obvious trends and opting for a more introspective approach. The album's impact reverberates through contemporary music and allowed Sade to maintain their unique identity and continue evolving with each release.

Review: Samory I, one of Jamaica's most promising reggae artists to watch, releases his eagerly-awaited solo debut album Strength. The LP follows Black Gold, his 2017 collaborative album with the iconic producer Rory 'Stonelove' Gilligan. Named after Samory I's affectionate moniker for his son, Strength is an 11-track storied opus produced by esteemed Jamaican producer Winta James, whose credits include hits with Protoje, Chronixx and Damian Marley. Samory I said the LP represents "the struggles I've overcome, both mentally and physically." Growing up in Kencot, a rougher neighborhood in Kingston, Jamaica, he faced many adversities and found reggae music as a form of salvation. He used his voice as both an instrument and vehicle for social change in his community. The album is a true reflection of its title, proving that courage and love prevails above all.

Review: That the musical backlog of Hopeton Overton Brown took on a clinical name in the popular imaginary was not an accident. Before becoming known as Scientist, he was also known as the "Dub Chemist", owing to his technicality, incisiveness and exactingness in the studio. This is not, however, licence for us to prescribe, daresay dub, a too-rigid image of or name for the sound-doctor-as-artist; and it's releases like 'Direct To Dub' that prove this intractability, this willingness to break from the main. In sharp contrast to Scientist's albums - which are more or less studio opuses, and bear the marks of grand concept and perfectionism - 'Direct To Dub' is a much rawer direct-to-dubplate - and thus direct-to-dome - set of tracks. In the release's preceding sessions, Brown was joined by Amsterdam-based trombonist Salvoandrea Lucifora and backing vocalists Alyssa Harrigan and Peace Oluwatobi; prior to their arrival, he went about taking the studio apart and reassembling it to his specifications. The result was a liver take on Brown's talents; playing less the cold trepidation of a pharmacist, and more the carpal quickness of a spin-doctor. Brown, of course, knew that even the apparently 'cold' attitude of removal connoted with mixing and engineering was in itself a performance: "In dub mixing, the engineer now becomes the artist and it's a performance that the engineer do," he himself said in the run-up to this Night Dreamer reissue.

Review: This is the first reissue of Scientists' groundbreaking 1983 LP The People's Choice, which was the debut album created on King Tubby's then-new and soon-to-be legendary 16-track mixing desk. Featuring ten powerful dubs from the dubmaster himself, it opens with the masterful 'Everlasting Version' which is a fierce take on the iconic You Know A Rude Boy/Survival rhythm. The tracks were produced by Roy Cousins and recorded with the Roots Radics at Channel One and then taken to Tubby's studio for final dubbing perfection. This release really is a cornerstone of dub that very much captures the vital era's sonic innovations and Tubby's unmatched production skill.

Review: Kintsugi is the Japanese art of fixing broken stuff in beautiful ways and thus embracing the item's history. It is also in part the name of this new Kintsugi Soul Stepper's album that mirrors that concept by "celebrating the beauty found in piecing together diverse fragments to create a harmonious whole." Filipino Canadian collective seekersinternational and beat-maker jjuwanstockton lead the charge, on a record that celebrates the fusions of many diverse sounds from dub to soul to nostalgic 1980s Japan, as well as many different cultures, and identities.

Review: Celebrate The Bullet was the revered second album by The Selecter back in February 1981. It came on the heels of the massive debut Too Much Pressure and a serious run of singles including the likes of 'Missing Words' and 'On My Radio.' Here though things slowed down a little with lyrical commentaries still coming thick and fast on everything from racial to social issues. At the time, the recent murder of John Lennon and an assassination attempt on U.S. President Ronald Regan meant the album got little to no mainstream support because of the title. For this special reissue, the original production tapes were dug out and remastered by Alchemy Mastering at AIR.

Review: Sexo Y Fantasia previously released one EP of brilliantly eccentric music on Glossy Mistakes - in the press release accompanying their debut album, Oneirotic, they're described as a 'Belgian-Italian aural freak show', a fantastic description in anyone's book. It's certainly an inspired, hard-to-pigeonhole set that sees them cloak sparse, shuffling rhythms, tongue-in-cheek spoken word vocals, sun-splashed synth-sounds, baked acid lines and memorable melodies in plenty of delay and reverb. It's a little bit Balearic, a touch new wave, and undeniably quirky. As you can see, we're struggling to accurately describe it, but the key thing is that it's really good - one of the most imaginative, entertaining and off-kilter albums we've heard in 2022.

Review: One online reviewer described Shakeena's sole album, 1987's 'Dance Music', as a 'lover's rock jewel'. We tend to agree. Now available again on wax for the first time since the 80s (when it was pressed and released by a tiny label and sunk without trace), the album offers an enticing mix of echo-laden drum machine beats, dub-wise reggae basslines, cheery 'FM' synth-sounds, soulful vocals and nods towards freestyle, boogie and '80s soul. Highlights are plentiful throughout, with our picks of a very strong bunch including the club-ready title track, the glossy 'Your Love' (where Shakeena raps as well as sings), the classical lovers rock of 'Reggae Music' and the sweet and tender 'We Are The Mothers of the World'.

Review: Janett Silvera's When I Need You is a remarkable 1977 album that originally came on Federal. It's a vocal-laced and mellow reggae delight that features covers of classics by Patti Austin, Albert Hammond, Bob Marley, and more. The album also includes backing vocals by the legendary Marcia Griffiths. From the opening moments of the super smooth 'Oh If I Should Lose Your Love' to the more upbeat and funk fuelled workout that is 'Dancing To My Own Heartbeart' via the sentimental and super deep soul of 'When I Need You' this is an escapist classic.

Review: Working in partnership with Light in the Attic and curated by Grammy-nominated producer, DJ and journalist Kevin Howes this wonderful new collection chronicles a vital musical migration: in late-1960s Toronto, Caribbean immigrants infused the city with ska, rocksteady and reggae and recorded some of the era's toughest tracks. Originators from Studio One, Treasure Isle and Trojan Records all united and broke racial and cultural barriers to build an influential yet under-appreciated Canadian reggae scene that is now showcased with a 20-page booklet with archival images, artist bios and essays on this double vinyl set.

Review: The Skatalites were among the brightest stars in Jamaica's ska and rocksteady heyday, exploding onto the early 1960s scene with early hits such as 'Black Sunday' and 'Passing Through'. This new compilation brings together the band's most essential tracks, recorded almost entirely with extra bandmates Don Drummond (trombone), Roland Alphonso (sax), Lloyd Knibb (drums) and Jackie Mittoo (keys). Under the production purview of one Arthur 'Duke' Reid - the esteemed producer whose work centred on the label Treasure Isle - this 28-track extravaganza hears the band's myriad influences 'go ska', as they liked to put it.

Review: Originating in Manhattan in the early nineties, The Slackers have long retained their place as one of the quintessential ska-punk acts, fusing elements of rocksteady, reggae, dub, jazz and punk to incomparable effect. Respected and adored for their highly prolific nature, their 2008 eleventh full-length Self Medication came hot on the heels of the previous year's more faithfully rooted (no pun intended) The Boss Harmony Sessions LP, and re-instilled much of the garage-rocksteady dub-punk inflections that won over listeners more than a decade prior.

Review: Slyly reissued for the new millennium, Lowell "Sly" Dunbar hears his flame relit as both the front face and back beat of Sly & The Revolutionaries, on this reissued 1980 collaboration with Jah Thomas. The second LP to be released by the in-house Channel One Studios band, then under the auspices of Chinese-Jamaican exec Joseph Hoo Kim, this is a red-and-black insurrection in sound, induing beret, spliff and bayonet. Dunbar, the prolific reggae drummer, is heard in almost crystalline sound here, reflecting the scrupulous recording quality of Channel One employ in the late 70s. Each track is a tribute to a drug or paraphernalia, and our faves have to be 'Rizla' and 'Cocaine'.

Review: ***B-STOCK: Sleeve damaged but otherwise in excellent condition***


Youthman Skanking, a classic roots reggae album from 1982, produced by Prince Jammy at Channel One and King Tubby's, gets a reissue on vinyl for 2024. This album includes the hit singles 'Isim,' 'Skism,' and 'Ain't No Me Without You,' alongside the authentic title track. This albym stands as a sterling addition to the Roots-based 'Waterhouse Sound,' a movement spearheaded by Black Uhuru. This album marks the beginning of Smith and Jammy's influential journey, which would later revolutionise music with their genre-defying hit 'Under Me Sleng Teng.'This rare album, finally reissued with a beautiful German pressing, showcases Smith's early style, reminiscent of Linval Thompson. Youthman Skanking offers excellent rhythms and is a true treat for reggae enthusiasts.

Review: Youthman Skanking, a classic roots reggae album from 1982, produced by Prince Jammy at Channel One and King Tubby's, gets a reissue on vinyl for 2024. This album includes the hit singles 'Isim,' 'Skism,' and 'Ain't No Me Without You,' alongside the authentic title track. This albym stands as a sterling addition to the Roots-based 'Waterhouse Sound,' a movement spearheaded by Black Uhuru. This album marks the beginning of Smith and Jammy's influential journey, which would later revolutionise music with their genre-defying hit 'Under Me Sleng Teng.'This rare album, finally reissued with a beautiful German pressing, showcases Smith's early style, reminiscent of Linval Thompson. Youthman Skanking offers excellent rhythms and is a true treat for reggae enthusiasts.

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: Hardly a week seems to go by without the arrival of another essential collection of sounds form Acid Jazz. This one presents a superb album by Nick Manasseh and David Hill's Soul Revivers which was an always ambitious and passionate coming together between the two. It features musicians form across the ages such as modern jazz trumpeter MS. MAURICE (who famously works with Kokoroko And Nubya Garcia), and vocalist Alexia Coley. The record takes us on a trip thorough the moodier end of the reggae spectrum with progressive sounds and innovative new ideas in each cut.

Review: Voodoos & Taboos unveil their anticipated new LPs series with Human Aventura, the debut self-titled album from the promising Corsican producer. An unusual dance release modelling itself on electro and chiptune, but finding itself somewhere in the hidden interstice between them, this is a self-described "libidinous Mediterranean spoken disco" album, giving elements of Telex or Kraftwerk, albeit with a progressive bent best heard on pithy cuts 'Solid State Scouter'. Not one to be missed for those who like it intelligent, fidgety and FMmy.

Review: The 40th Anniversary edition of In The Studio by The Special AKA celebrates one of the most unique and politically charged albums of the 1980s. Originally released in 1984, the album fused an eclectic mix of reggae, jazz, soul, and Arabic rhythms, with Jerry Dammers leading the band's bold shift in sound. Despite its modest commercial performance, In The Studio has since gained recognition as an underappreciated classic, thanks to its deeply reflective lyrics and innovative arrangements. The album's standout tracks, 'Free Nelson Mandela' and 'What I Like Most About You Is Your Girlfriend', blended infectious energy with serious political messages. This newly remastered, half-speed mastered edition, overseen by Dammers, gives the album the sonic depth it deserves. With its themes of social unrest and global awareness, In The Studio feels as relevant today as it did four decades ago, a testament to its enduring power.

Review: This special 40th anniversary edition of More Specials has been mastered and cut at half-speed by Miles Showell at Abbey Road Studios using the original production tapes. It also includes a 7" bonus that first came with the original album in 1980. Of course, the band remains a defining act of the 70s and 80s for all their work on Two Tone Records. Mixing the edgy of punk, the rolling rhythm of rocksteady and their own Special magic, they launched a whole ska revival and remain as popular today as ever.

Review: More Specials is the second studio album from the Coventry band, originaly released in 1980 and reportedly splitting opinion among their fanbase, although it's come to be seen as a classic containing many of their best loved songs, from ska knees up 'Enjoy Yourself' to the deadpan reggae of 'Do Nothing'. Produced by the band's own keyboardist Jerry Dammers, it had a more eclectic and less obviously punk sound than its Elvis Costello-produced predecessor, with the band's constant disagreements on the direction of the sound proving a creative rather destructive force here, even if it would - barely more than a year later - cause them to eventually split.

Review: It's been 40 years since The Specials changed the ska game with their self titled debut, so what better time to remaster and re-cut it at half speed at the legendary Abbey Road Studios. Spread out over 2 x 12" vinyl it was originally produced by Elvis Costello and was a loud and proud blend of big and energetic tracks, no-messing lyrics and hard hitting grooves. It includes a few covers along the way, such as their fabulous take on Dandy Livingstone's "A Message to You, Rudy" and red-hot version of the Maytals' "Monkey Man". A strong anti-racism message on "Doesn't Make It Alright" sits next to the tongue in cheek takedown of local pubs on "Nite Club" and much more.

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: Paul Dickow is the man behind the Strategy project and this album was first released by Khaliphonic in 2018 and now reissued on wax. The artist has long been thought of as a musical polymath who has spent his life immersed in hardware and crafting unique sounds across the dub spectrum. This record proves that and then some with a mix of dub techno, digi-dub and everything in between. The rhythms are deep and involving, the synths often icy and the percussion is just enough to elevate each tune next to sci-fi signifiers and cosmic motifs.

Review: Swedish duo Studio's debut album, released in 2006, is a masterful blend of genres that defies easy categorisation. Drawing from Balearic beat, disco, and krautrock, the album offers a refreshing take on contemporary music. Opening the LP, "Out There" sets the tone with its expansive, atmospheric soundscapes, inviting listeners into a world of lush melodies and intricate rhythms. As the album progresses, tracks like 'West Side' and 'Self Service' showcase the duo's ability to craft infectious grooves, seamlessly merging organic instrumentation with electronic elements. The closing piece, 'Indo', serves as a contemplative finale, leaving a lasting impression with its hypnotic progression. This album stands as a testament to Studio's innovative approach, offering a timeless listening experience that continues to resonate.

Review: Natsu Summer's 2024 release, Orange Tsushin (Orange Communication) was produced by Cunimondo Takiguchi of Ryusenkei and now arrives on vinyl closely after the cassette format previously. It's a vibrant fusion of danceable lovers' rock and smooth city pop enriched with amapiano and across the seven cuts includes a standout cover of a 90s Japanese lovers' rock gem that mixes blending reggae and city pop influences. Rach format features unique jacket artwork which further showcases Takiguchi's creativity. Orange Tsushin pays homage to Natsu Summer's Ehime roots and captures the essence of mandarin oranges through its music and visuals for both a fresh and nostalgic listening experience.