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MIX NOTES

Wicked Ah Go Feel It – One of the great advantage for DJs in the digital age is access to music long out of print. This is particularly true with Dancehall Reggae. So many Dancehall artists were and still are incredibly prolific, recording for multiple labels in multiple countries. Case in point: I am still discovering wonderful Sugar Minott tunes that he voiced or Lloyd Barnes’ Bronx-based Wackies label. This Real Rock riddim gem came out on 12” in 1983, with Horace Andy’s “Musical Episode” on the flipside.

Movie Show Dubwise – Wackies’ house engineer Junior Delahaye was also a singer, releasing one album and a handful of singles between 1981 and 1984 on Wackies and his own breakout label, Sun Force. Even though the age of Digital Reggae had already begun, guys like him and Lloyd Barnes were still carrying the torch for dub reggae done in the old, analog way – and it really sounds fantastic. Worth noting that these Wackie re-issues are comingg out of Berlin, thanks to Moritz Von Oswald and Mark Ernestus (Rhythm & Sound), as part of their rerelease program of the complete Wackie’s catalog. Did I mention they also pretty much invented Dub Techno? Props.

Bushmaster Connection – Billy Boyo was invited to join Henry “Junjo” Lawes’ Volcano Sound in 1981 at the ripe young age of 12, alongside Little John and Little Harry, making all 3 of them child Dancehall sensations – coming up alongside heavyweights like Yellowman, Toyan and Eek-A-Mouse. He and Little Harry recorded one LP for Greensleeves, and he and Little John recorded a few tracks together for the Silver Camel label. His career stalled by the mid-80s, and he died tragically of a brain tumor in 2000.

Locked Dub – This mix was inspired by a bunch of newer Dub I’ve been buying lately, so you’re gonna hear a lot of it. I tend to play older stuff, but every now and then I want to hear the seriously deep sub-bass that these Drum n Bass / Dubstep kids are working with. This dude Sid3 Fx aka Dub Size comes out of Bayonne, in the Basque region of France. This came out in 2019 on Squinty Bass Records, a name I absolutely LOVE.

Meknes – More boomshots from France by way of Paris. Armand Gaste aka Ourman has been releasing tracks for the last 3 years or so on the Belgian label Duploc and UK imprints like Instigate, Noizion, Sub Audio, Locus and Fat Kid On Fire. This is precisely the kind of deep dubstep I can vibe to. It came out on White Peach in May of 2021. Meknes, you will recall, is an ancient Berber city in northern Morocco, which I drove through on my way to Fez but unfortunately never spent any time in. Next trip.

Golden Streets – This tune by Dennis Brown, ‘The Crown Prince of Reggae’, rounded out the B-Side of the Joe Gibbs produced “Best Of Dennis Brown” in 1975, so there must be a Joe Gibbs 45 somewhere. Some would consider Dennis’ mid-late 70s years with Joe and Errol Thompson to be his best, but that’s hard to pin down for me, since many of his bigger hits were with other dreads at the controls, well into the 80s.

Mau Mau Warrior Dub – The legacy of melodica master Augustus Pablo is alive and well, thanks to his son Addis Pablo, who is making brand new scorchers for a new generation of Reggae fans. Here, he teamed up with Zeke Stern aka DJ Green Lion, a dude from Maine that made waves right out the gate with his 2009 Collie Buddz bubbler “Come Down”. This track and the next are from the excellent “Green Lion Crew Meets Addis Pablo & Friends Uptown” LP, that came out in April of 2021.

Lockdown Cottage – West London deejay Micah Williams aka Mr Williamz hit the ground running in 2008 with his “Babylon in Helicopter” single. Since then he continues to bring some throwback, foundation realness to his Reggae vibes. Toasting over a rework of Augustus Pablo’s “Cassava Piece” Ridddim helps too

Live By The Day (EN Young Dub) – The Elovaters are a legit dub band out of Boston that formed in 2014 and has earned their stripes on the road, playing clubs and music festivals all over the US. This came out in August oof 2020 on their “Defy Dub” LP. Their new album “Castles” is due out this month. Allen Young aka EN Young is at the controls here, likely recorded at his highly-revered Imperial Sound Recording Studio in San Diego.

Police In Helicopter (Dubstrumental) – I caught these Subatomic Sound System dudes in their home base of Brooklyn when they toured with Lee Scratch Perry and I gotta say: they really do the live dub thing perfectly. This version of the John Holt classic came out in April of 2020, featuring Yaadcore and Jah9 on vocals.

Police In Helicopter – Sometimes you just gotta hear the original. John Holt released this in 1982 as a protest to the CIA-funded war on marijuana in Jamaica. The US backed the JLP party and armed its affiliated drug posses in an effort to destabilize the country and erode support for Prime Minister Michael Manley, who was loosely aligned with Castro. Much like the Contras, legend has it that the CIA sent places of guns to JA and those planes returned to Miami with ganja for Jamaican druglords stateside. The volatile political climate of the late 70s/early 80s is a central theme of plenty of early Dancehall songs.

Informa (Watch It) – More 1983 Wackies reissue niceness with Sugar Minott on the chorus and Anthony O’Meally aka Jah Batta pon the chat. The backing track is from Sugar Minott’s own Black Roots Players – a band that included host of all stars among their ranks, including Ansel Collins, Carlton “Santa” Davis, Leroy “Horsemouth” Wallace, Leroy Sibbles, and Sly & Robbie.

Lion Order – A co-production from Sean Alaric (Koffee, Toian) and Jason Panton (Wrd Sound Power), with Jesse Royal and Protoje making a strong plea to only run with the best. Jesse Royal was born in St James Parish but relocated to Kingston, where he came up under the guidance of Xterminator Records Chief Philip “Fatis” Burrell. He and Protoje continue to stand out in the long-overdue Roots revival that has been going on for the last 10 years or so (20?). This came out in June of 2021.

Plant It More – More Mr Williamz, this time on a re-imagining of the classic Baltimore riddim, which originated with Randy Newman, famously covered by Nina Simone, The Tamlins, and George Nooks. One of my favorite versions of this riddim is Sly & Robbie’s “Demolition City” from their 1985 Dub Experience LP. But I digress. This came out in May of 2021. These two first collaborated on Specialist Moss’ 2014 “Dub Style” EP.

Drips – Jim Coles aka Om Unit aka Philip D Kick released this in July of last year as the first track of his “As We Continue” EP on Astrophonica, which he claims to be his love letter to Detroit Techno.

Love In The Arena – Jah Buzz flipping the script on Roland Alphonso and The Soul Vendors’ Studio One “Death In the Arena” riddim from 1968. Jah Buzz released just a handful of 45s from 1977-79,. This can be found on the rather excellent SoulJazz “Studio One DJs” compilation, released in 2002.

Splashing Dashing – A reliable floor filler for any Reggae DJ, this classic from the late great Garnett Silk came out in 1994, produced by Bobby Digital. Garnett came up first as a DJ under the moniker Little Bimbo, chatting with sounds like Conquering Lion, Pepper’s Disco, Destiny Outernational and Youthman Promotion. He hooked up with Tony Rebel and eventually caught the attention of veteran Derrick Morgan. He eventually giggled with Bobby Digital and was working on his first album for Tuff Gong in 1994 when he died tragically trying to save his mother from a house fire he accidentally started, when his gun misfired and hit a propane tank inside her house.

Neighborhood Watch – An old favorite of mine, this Luciano & Selvie Wonder tune came out 1993, produced by the aforementioned Fatis Burrell. Selvie hails from Grange Hill in Westmoreland parish and is probably best known for his 1992 “Get Badder” - on the Stalag riddim via Supercat’s Wild Apache label.

Show It Off – Another certified floor filler, from one of the giants of Lovers Rock, Beres Hammond. Beresford was born in Annotto Bay in St Mary Parish in Northeast Jamaica. He recorded his first 7” at the age of 12 and was singing Roots Reggae with the (primarily) instrumental group, Zap Pow. You can hear him just starting to find his own voice on one of their early hits, “System Dread” from 1975.

Forward / A Nuh We Dat – Fast forward to 2021, with two slices of niceness on the Shishenkeh Riddim. First up is Lukie D, who started voicing tracks around 1989 and had his first certified hit in 1993 with “Center of Attraction” on the Firehouse label. Next we have Peetah Morgan, Brooklyn-born vocalist of the Roots revivalists Morgan Heritage, a band almost entirely made up of the children of Reggae/R&B veteran Denroy Morgan (“I’ll Do Anything For You” – 1981).

The Big Job – Iconic saxophonist Lester Sterling with The Aggrovators band, who got their name from producer Bunny Striker Lee’s Kingston record shop, Agro Sounds. I can’t seem to pinpoint the year the came out, but if I had to guess I’d say about 1977? I copped this from the very dope 2019 “Kingston Shuffle” compilation, released on Adrian Sherwood’s Pressure Sounds label, which specializes in releasing lost Reggae gems. Like the Rhythm & Sounds guys, This man is truly doing Jah works.

My World – One more Mr Williamz track from his new album “Soundkilla Mindset”, on a new rework of the Sly & Robbie’s classic Revolution riddim.

Revolution – Had to run the original Dennis Brown because you were already singing the chorus in your head.

Natty BSC – My man Dillinger & The Revolutionaries from Channel One studios in 1974. The title is a riff off the General Certificate of Education (GCE), which I gather is the final exam for graduating high school down a Yard. I think this was recorded when Channel One was still just an 8-track studio (!).

Things & Time – This Wailing Souls track is the very song that named this riddim, but it was actually first used by them in 1969 on the beautiful “Back Out With It”, which, if we’re being honest, could pretty easily be mistaken for a Bob Marley track from that same era.

Pull It Up – More Beres Hammond, this time with Buju Banton hyping up the party something fierce. This song blew up Brooklyn clubs in 1999 and remains a surefire crowd-pleaser to this day. Best line: “Everywhere I look is pure skanking I see no statue around!” And is it just me, or does Beres shout out Cecil “Skelly” Spence from Israel Vibration?

Guide Me – A couple of tunes on the brand new Uk riddim Speaker Box from DJ Sabz. J Kaz is a new artist from Midlands UK who manages to go light enough on the auto tune for my cranky old man ears. Sabz, based in Bournemouth on the Southern coast, has this own label, Lion Eye Records, and his own party, Island Ting.

Bad Gyal Anthem – One more track on the same riddim from Indie, who has a nice, easy flow. “Me up to da time me style a pon fleek!” Are they still saying fleek over there?

Sekkle & Bop – You gotta love hearing legit collabs in 2021 between Nigeria (Mr Eazi) & Jamaica (Popcaan). This shit, in a word, slaps. Andrew Hershey aka Dre Skull from Providence, RI is a truly versatile producer, blending genres and working with Burna Boy, Future, Lily Alle, Vybz Kartel and Rihanna, to name a few. Dude is KILLING IT.

Karen – Dancehall superstar Govana speaking on the angry white lady Karen phenomenon. “Gwan exile yuself wit yu fuckface” LMAO. This came out earlier this summer.

Free Rhodesia – Rockers legend Lawrence “Jack Ruby” Lindo with The Black Disciples with a succinct plea to “Free Rhodesia, or else!”, from somewhere around 1976, I reckon. The whole band gets a shout out: Leroy “Horsemouth” Wallace. Robbie Shakespeare. Tony Chin. Earl “Chinna” Smith aka Mel Cheswick The High Priest. Bernard “The Touter” Harvey. Brother Sticky. Richard “Dirty Harry” Hall. Tommy McCook. Herman Marquis. Bobby Ellis and Vin Gordon. These guys backed up Burning Spear on some of his greatest tracks. And are all legends in their right. The riddim is Coxsone Dodd’s Rockfort Rock (1971).

Double Dub – Some new stepper-type dub out of Italy from DJ Moy, who dabbles in Funk and Disco and Reggae and also sneakers, if you can believe it. Not the least bit mad.

Fall Into Oblivion – Drifting into Berlin Dub Techno, this 2010 track from Sven Schienhammer aka Quantec’s 2009 “Cauldron Subsidence” LP has a dope, trippy vibe. I made this mix to listen to on the beach in Oregon, and believe you me: the combo of the (very legal) Lambs In Space strain with a hot sun and some spacey, dub sonics like this is pretty much a perfect beach day for me.

Vestige – Divert your ears slightly Westward to check in on France’s Apnea imprint, and cast your gaze further southward to Barcelona to peep producer Ludowick’s 2020 3-song EP whence this came.

Argo Navis – Let’s pick up the pace and swing things a bit back in the steppers direction with Central France kings of Dub, Mahom (Auvergne) and Ashkabad (Avingon). Together they Voltron form into Bass Trooperz. Stay strong bros.

Rum On Ice – 2016 tune from Alex Orton-Green aka King Yoof from London. This track has great momentum and manages to mix nyabinghi percussion with classic melodica sounds from I-Lodica to come up with something kinda timeless.

Hypnotize Me – A bit of UK Garage meets drum n bass to switch things up and keep the party going. Not to mention the nice use of a Raw Silk sample. DJ Yosh seems to be well established in the Breaks scene over there.

A Yah Me Deh – I don’t really know too much about Clive Hylton aka Jah Clive aka Color Red. He has sporadic tunes that stretch back to the mid 70s, having gotten his start at Lee Scratch Perry’s Black Ark Studio. he made some noise with his first single “Judgement Day“. The dub of which appeared as a bonus track on Lee Perry & The Upsetters ‎”Ape-ology” compilation, released on CD in 2007.

Lamb’s Bread Herb – One last steppers track from the aforementioned “Kingston Shuffle” compilation. This first appeared on Tommy McCook & The Agrovators “Super Star – Disco Rockers” LP in 1977, with Bunny Lee at the controls. This is also where I got the cover at for this mix. Tommy was originally born in Cuba but moved to Kingston as a young boy. He attended the Alpha Boys School, a Catholic institution famous for its strict discipline and its stellar music program that has produced other notable stars like Trinity, Yellowman, Cedric Brooks and Johnny Osbourne. Tommy is a founding member of the Skatalites, and commanded a ton of other rhythm sections including Duke Reid’s Supersonics, Channel One’s Revolutionaries, Yabby You and Toots & The Maytals.

Source – Speaking of stellar saxophonists, this is a 2020 record from London’s Nubya Garcia featuring trumpeter Ms Maurice, saxophonist Cassie Kinoshi and trombonist Richie Seivwright. I can’t say enough about this lovely record, which blends Jazz and reggae and a host of other influences into something truly unique. And she’s barely 20 yrs old. Highly recommend. Buy Black Music.