Wackies

1980

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.

Wackies

1982

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 while the age of Digital Reggae had already begun, gguys like him and Lloyd Barnes were still carrying the torch for dub reggae done in the old, analog way – and it really sounded 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.

Top Rank

1983

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 of a brand tumor in 2000.

Subaltern Records

2019

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.

Ourman

2019

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 but unfortunately never spent any time in. Next trip.

Yvonne's Special

1981

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.

Green Lion Crew

2021

The legacy of melodica master Augustus Pablo is alive and well, thanks to his son Addis, 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 DJ from Maine that established himself right out of 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.

Green Lion Crew

2021

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.

Self-released

2022

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, undoubtedly from his higghly-revered Imperial Sound Recording Studio in San Diego.

12th Planet Productions

2019

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.

Greensleeves Records

1982

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 legend has it that the US backed the JLP party and its affiliated posses in an effort to destabilize the country and erode support for Prime Minister Michael Manley, who was aligned with Castro. The volatile political climate of the late 70s/early 80s is a central theme of plenty of early Dancehall songs.

Wackies

1978

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.

Easy Star Records

2017

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. This came out in June of 2021.

Necessary Mayhem

2011

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.

Teklife

2014

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.

Studio One

1978

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 DJ’s compilation, released in 2002.

Digital B

1992

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.

Xterminator

1993

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” tune on the Stalag riddim on Supercat’s Wild Apache label.

Blacker Dread

1992

Another certified floor filler, from one of the giants of Lovers Rock, Beres Hammond. Beresford was born in Anotto 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.

NeWave Music

2021

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. 

NeWave Music

2021

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).

Count Shelly

1968

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. This man is truly doing Jah works.

Necessary Mayhem

2015

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

Yvonne's Special

1983

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

Well Charge

1978

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 record3ed when Channel One was still just an 8-track studio.

Channel One

1974

This Wailing Souls track is the track that named this riddim, but it was actually first used by them in 1969 on the beautiful “Back Out With It”, which could easily be mistaken for a Bob Marley track from that same era.

Penthouse

1992

More Beres, this time with Buju hyping up the party something wicked. 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?

DJ Sabz

2021

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. DJ Sabz, based in Bournemouth on the Southern coast, has this own label, Lion Eye Records, and his own party, Island Ting.

DJ Sabz

2021

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

Mad Decent

2021

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.

Raheef Muzik

2020

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

Wolf

1975

Rockers legend Lawrence "Jack Ruby" Lindo with The Black Disciples with a passionate 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).

Reggae On The Move

2019

Some new stepper 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.

Echocord

2010

Drifting into Berlin Dub Techno, this 2010 track from Sven Schienhammer aka Quantec’s 2009 Cauldron Subsidence LP has a dope, spacey vibe.

D's Records

2020

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.

Bass Trooperz

2019

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.

Jungle Cakes

First Release Year: 2016

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

Yosh

2020

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.

Thompson Sound 

1976

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, He seems to have gotten his start at Lee Scratch Perry’s Black Ark Studio, making some noise with his first single Judgment Day. The dub of this appeared as a bonus track on Lee Perry & The Upsetters ‎”Ape-ology” compilation, released on CD in 2007.

Justice League

1978

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. Tommy was originally born in Cuba but moved to Kingston as a young boy. He attended the Alpha Boys School, which is 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.

Concord Jazz

2020

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.