Buscar:mikey dread

Mikey Dread's Roots and Culture for the first time on 7” inches.
B Side with Foxy Brown – Oh Yeah.
FOR PROMOTIONAL USE

Mikey Dread is known as one of the most multi-faceted artists, comfortably taking in both the positions of producer and artist. By the late Seventies he had started his own label, working with artists such as Edi Fitzroy, Sugar Minott and Earl Sixteen, as well as producing his own work. On his own label he released World War III in 1980. The album includes the tracks “The Jumping Master”, “Money Dread” and “Break Down The Walls”.

World War III is available as a limited edition of 1500 individually numbered copies on translucent yellow coloured vinyl.

• 180 GRAM AUDIOPHILE VINYL
• BLACK VINYL

Mikey Dread started out as an engineer with the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation when some of the most innovative reggae was being recorded in Jamaica. He convinced his bosses to give him his own radio program called Dread At The Controls and the rest is history. You can hear his radio announcements and shout outs before most tracks of his first record African Anthem Dubwise. It is one of the finest ‘80s era Reggae records as it features many styles.

The unconscious element to the conscious process.

The practice of dub techno and its tendrils is a fundamental for me, both aesthetically and from an engineering perspective.

I start every recording session with a dub inspired jam, the first piece I ever recorded in 1996 was an effort to recreate Phylyps Trak with only a Korg X3 and an Ibanez PUE5 (borrowed from Gary Howell). It was an awesome introduction to jamming, and the footing stones of noise, delay and saturation were explored with my foot hard on the enthusiasm pedal.

These practice jams are in some sense cathartic, the first step taken again & again, which helps me move forwards each session and additionally helps to 'warm the circuits' both of myself and the machines.

After realising the genius of Basic Channel is akin to the genius of peasant food, using every ingredient with nothing left to waste, (up to and including the oft maligned working noise of the machines themselves), this was a watershed moment for my own subjective progression. No longer tied to just emulation of something inspiring, but taking these learned tools into other areas of music helped to break free from a strong current of influence and also to progress into other areas with the new toolbox.

Dub:

The importance of the dub pioneers should never be understated, in modern music and my own practice. Yet with my initial inspiration being two german dudes issuing extreme techno variants with obscured label designs, who then signposted their listeners to their own inspirations (via their Wackies re-issues or nodded to on their Rhythm & Sound/Burial Mix sub-labels), meant that I started late and travelled backwards.

Learning to notice the live mixing of Mikey Dread or Lee Perry when the faders are bleeding through even when turned down, (echoed in BC's Quadrant Dub), or the brash send effects literally thrown into the mix also taught me that 'rough' mixing can inject a recording with life, uniqueness and the most right wrongness. Looking back Basic Channels very few elements helped me realise that the rules to be understood, are also the best ones to be broken.

Push the mixer into the red.

Amp that noise up from the tape delay cos it sounds sick.

Pseudo side-chain effects cos the kicks are way too loud and the mixer can't sum it nicely.

Spam the send knob into the delay units now, now and now.

Carelessness.

Noise:

Once I wrapped my head around the intrinsic 'noise' element that set those records apart, this became a torchlight into the alt noise movements which I was tentatively exploring at the time, and also is evidently a connection or thread into them.

Whether the Industrial/Post Punk UK scene (This Heat, TG, A Tent, F.E.) or the prolific output of the US Noise scene (Wolf Eyes, Live & Shave in LA, and subsequently following the lineage all the way back to Chrome's Alien Soundtracks), I had finally discovered a connection from techno to this 'free for all' corner of music.

This input from the Noise arena of sound is, in my experience, an all important step for a sonic artist, taking it's roots and extending out from Stockhausen/Pierre Henry and utilised/warped/mangled by thousands of adventurous pioneers ever since, I now see the line separating the high brow and the low brow is actually an artery carrying information from the head to the heart.

Vault is a selection of these jams that precede each of my solo recording sessions, for 30 years I've recorded hundreds of these 'workouts'. They are never intended as serious statements, just moments of naive enjoyment, yet most importantly they are time & space captured as practice.

The objective is always a warm up exercise, but sometimes those exercises turn a different corner, with a certain focus or direction dependent on what random samples are left in my machines from the previous session, instead of conscious choices, these unconscious elements can facilitate those 'positive mistakes' that make a piece of sound retain a different feel or colour and thus become special, or at least special to the creator.

I am quite conscious that the 'record everything' aspect of my ethos has been invaluable in cataloguing and saving these jams, while the attitude of carelessness during this process (after all, it's only a warm up jam) invites more enjoyment than seriousness ever could. Even if you don't feel the piece at the time, record it, because some years later it may well fit, or become relevant in a way you never intended.

-Miles

* 2026 REPRESS *
Handed to the legendary Channel One Soundsystem in exclusivity over a year ago, Don Fe's Jericho has been on constant rotation around the globe ever since. Cut to dubplate by Mikey Dread this tune has been securely locked down and spun exclusively as Channel One's last tune at places such as Notting Hill Carnival and many of the soundsystem's international sessions and festival appearances. After a very patient wait Steppas Records are extremely pleased to be able to offer this plate to the world, pressed to 12' vinyl, featuring two new mixes of Jericho and two exclusive cuts of the equally powerful Weep Not.

UK born musician and producer based in Spain for over 20 years, Don Fe's passion since the age of five has been music, classically trained in piano, flute and theory and as from sixteen reggae. From his humble beginnings in the 80s with a 4 track and a TDK D90 his riddims and productions are now being played by the world's most respected sounds - Channel One, Jah Shaka, Aba Shanti, Iration Steppas and many more all over the world.

This first single is not only available on digital platforms,
but also as a 7” record on a limited edition press,
with Tiempos Ruff on the A side and its instrumental riddim version on the B side.

A musical bomb, inspired by the great Mikey Dread, that will shake the ground while talking about the nowadays struggle and inequality.

"Return Of The Super Ape" was the final revelation from Lee Perry’s Black Ark Studio, a psychedelicized dub journey into uncharted sonic territories. The longplayer is now state-of-the-art remastered by Pete Norman (Finyl Tweek) and restored with original press artwork complete with inner disco sleeve!

The album from 1978 is the final chapter in the trilogy of albums in the period from 1976 - 1978 following "Scratch The Super Ape" (aka "Super Ape") and "Roast Fish & Cornbread". Produced, mixed and arranged by Lee Perry at the Black Ark Studio featuring on all tracks the skills of The Upsetters and additional vocals by The Full Experience on "Dyon-Anasaw" and "Tell Me Something Good". The frontsleeve artwork image was created by Lloyd Robinson (also known as the singer of the Studio One classic "Cuss Cuss").

Reggae expert Jeremy Collingwood says: "The Return Of The Super Ape that surfaced later in the year 1978 saw Perry way off the mainstream with a set that owed much to jazz with its loose structure and horn breaks. The title track took an early production from Perry, U-Roy's " OK Corral", and reshaped it into another futuristic outing - just like the original that had been a decade earlier. At the time few knew what to make of it and over the years its lack of proper re issue had meant it's remained a hidden Perry gem. It also marked the end of a hugely creative period at the Black Ark."

Tracklisting / side-split
Side One
A1 Dyon-Anasaw
A2 Return Of The Super Ape
A3 Tell Me Something Good
A4 Bird In Hand
A5 Crab Yars
Side Two
B1 Jah Jah Ah Natty Dread
B2 Psyche & Trim
B3 The Lion
B4 Huzza A Hana
B5 High Rankin Sammy

• Follow-up to the highly acclaimed dub album Super Ape, the album like its predecessor, was produced by Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry. This was the last album recorded by The Upsetters before Perry closed down his Black Ark Studio.
• The remastered album showcases the production skills of undisputed dub master with insanely layered textures and technical wizardry. With musical backing The Upsetters – Boris Gardiner, Mikey Richards, Sly Dunbar, Benbow Creary, Earl ‘Chinna’ Smith, Winston Wright, and Keith Sterling.
• Remastered by Pete Norman at Finyl Tweek
• Coloured Inner Bag

Michael Campbell started out as an engineer with the Jamaica Broadcasting Corporation and made reggae history presenting his Dread At The Controls radio program, after which he embarked on a successful career as an innovative performing artist, producer and bona fide dubmaster. As such, he was among the first to utilize the incredibly talented, young the Roots Radics to lay the foundations of his tracks. Much less relying on endlessly recycled riddims from the Studio One and Treasure Isle catalogues than many of his peers, Mikey mostly delivered crisp, original tunes. They were 'deconstructed' at King Tubby's studio - the birthplace of dub - in this case by virtuoso Scientist with Mikey himself. Dread at the Controls indeed! This catalogue includes the majestic "Two Track Dub" (a version of the Roots & Culture riddim) and "Demo Dub" (versioning Radio One, featured on the B-side of The Clash' Hitsville UK).

Dub Catalogue Volume 1 is available as a limited edition of 1000 individually numbered copies on translucent yellow coloured vinyl.

* Top notch slice of roots and dub from reggae legend Earl Sixteen, best known for his work with the likes of Lee Perry, Augustus Pablo, Mikey Dread, Leftfield and Dreadzone.

* Earl revisits and updates a track from earlier in his career, featuring two vocal cuts, one dub version and a drum-led nyahbinghi style instrumental workout.

* Production and mixing duties come from the long-established Cultural Warriors crew.

* Classic roots / dub track with vocals from reggae legend Earl Sixteen known for his work with the likes of Lee Perry, Augustus Pablo, Mikey Dread, Leftfield and Dreadzone.
* Earl first recorded `Zion City’ with Dreadzone in 1995 which was known as `Zion Youth’.
The cuts on this 7” were mixed by Manasseh in 1997, with strong support coming from the late great Jah Shaka.
* Previously unreleased dubplate vocal cut backed with dub-wise excursion.

* Classic roots / dub from 1992 produced by Nick `Manasseh’ and Jeremy `The Equalizer’ Armstrong, with vocals from reggae legend Earl Sixteen known for his work with the likes of Lee Perry, Augustus Pablo, Mikey Dread and Leftfield.
* Originally released on the Riz label, `Natural Roots’ gained popularity in sound system circles, with play from the likes of Jah Shaka. The original 12” cause distress on the collectors market
* Features one previously unreleased mix: `Natural Dub’.

Scratch The Super Ape is the 1976 studio album by Lee Perry’s studio band The Upsetters. The lineup consisted of Boris Gardener on bass, Mikey Benbow on drums, Earl Smith on guitar, Keith Sterling on keys and the horn quartet Bobby Ellis, Dirty Harry, Herman Marquis, and Vin Gordon. The album is recorded at Lee Perry’s studio and is both composed and produced by him.

This edition of Scratch The Super Ape features the original Jamaican album cover and is available as a limited edition of 2000 individually numbered copies on orange coloured vinyl.

Originally released in May 1982, ‘Combat Rock’ is the final album from The Clash line up of Joe Strummer, Mick Jones, Paul Simonon and Topper Headon. Featuring two of the band’s most well-known songs, ‘Should I Stay Or Should I Go’ and ‘Rock The Casbah’. Now rereleased as a 180gm 3LP special edition, with an additional 12 tracks compiled by The Clash.

Having returned to London following their pivotal 17 show residency at New York’s Bond’s Casino in 1981, the band rehearsed and recorded at The People’s Hall in the squatting Republic of Frestonia near Latimer Road in London and from there they embarked on a tour of the East and South East Asia, during which the album sleeve image was captured by Pennie Smith in Thailand.

The tracks on ‘The People’s Hall’ chart the period from what was their last single Radio Clash right up to the release of Combat Rock, including unheard, rare and early versions of tracks.

Also includes rare Pennie Smith images + history of Frestonia essay by Tom Vague.




















t d5 The Fulham Connection aka The Beautiful People Are Ugly Too




















[t] d5 The Fulham Connection [aka The Beautiful People Are Ugly Too]