Hip-Hop Novedades

Leading the ska revival of the '80s, Madness brought the ska sound to mainstream audiences all over the globe.
Madness achieved most of their success in the early to mid-1980s. Both Madness and UB40 spent 214 weeks on the UK singles charts over the course of the decade, holding the record for most weeks spent by a group in the 1980s UK singles charts.
Madness have had 15 singles reach the UK top ten, one UK number one single, House of Fun', and two number ones in Ireland, House of Fun' and Wings of a Dove'.

Total Madness is the definitive compilation of the best that these British heroes of Madness have to offer, finally available on two 180 gram of vinyl. All the hits are included on the album: One Step Beyond', Baggy Trousers', Our House', Night Boat To Cairo', It Must Be Love' and many more.

This is the heavy heavy monster sound!

With the Super Wings in mutiny and a trail for the manslaughter of his former bandmate, Spuds Nathan, still hanging over his head, Manford Best came out swinging with Come Go With Me. It's a chirpy, calypso-influenced insight into the state of his mind and his first solo album. Recorded at Godiac Studios with the guys from Rock Town Express and a few of the Super Wings, Come Go With Me was the first album recorded on a new Tascam system that Goddy Oku had just bought back from London. The sound is crisp, clean and bright, perfectly suited to tracks like 'Come Go With Me' and 'Good Morning' and a welcome respite to the darker lyrics on 'Nobody Cares' and 'Far Far Far Away.' One of the stranger cuts is 'There's a Woman On My Mind (Mother)'. Manford regarded his mother as something of prophetess and would act instantly and without hesitation on the revelations in her 'dreams'. Come Go With Me was self-financed and released on Manford Best's own MacSeries Records label. Only 1,000 copies were pressed and he distributed them from the back of a Toyota van himself. A rare Afro gem, deserving of its place in the sun again. - Peter Moore.

With the Super Wings in mutiny and a trail for the manslaughter of his former bandmate, Spuds Nathan, still hanging over his head, Manford Best came out swinging with Come Go With Me. It's a chirpy, calypso-influenced insight into the state of his mind and his first solo album. Recorded at Godiac Studios with the guys from Rock Town Express and a few of the Super Wings, Come Go With Me was the first album recorded on a new Tascam system that Goddy Oku had just bought back from London. The sound is crisp, clean and bright, perfectly suited to tracks like 'Come Go With Me' and 'Good Morning' and a welcome respite to the darker lyrics on 'Nobody Cares' and 'Far Far Far Away.' One of the stranger cuts is 'There's a Woman On My Mind (Mother)'. Manford regarded his mother as something of prophetess and would act instantly and without hesitation on the revelations in her 'dreams'. Come Go With Me was self-financed and released on Manford Best's own MacSeries Records label. Only 1,000 copies were pressed and he distributed them from the back of a Toyota van himself. A rare Afro gem, deserving of its place in the sun again. - Peter Moore.

How do you follow up a stone-cold Afro Funk classic like Village Boogie Simple. Gather together some of the hottest players in Nigeria, take them down to the Phonodisk studios in Ijebu Igbo and let them loose on a bunch dancefloor fillers you spent the last four years 'road testing' in Kaduna. And don't forget to get Lady Franka and Mariam Pledge in on backing vocals. Those girls know how to fire up a party. It helps, of course, if you're Steve 'Dudu' Black. Steve had a God-given knack for writing combustible dance tunes and the contacts in the industry to get the likes of Willy Nfor, Willy Roy and Felix Lebarty to make them explode. From the opening track, 'Osasuima', the heat never stops. On 'No Stopping Me Now' and 'Ololufe/ Stay The Night', it's almost too hot to handle. Polished in a studio in London while Musical Youth recorded Pass The Dutchie in the next room, Happy Birthday To U is the gift that keeps on giving - an irresistible blend of Highlife, Afro Beat and Afro Funk that is guaranteed to start a party on any dance floor. - Peter Moore.

How do you follow up a stone-cold Afro Funk classic like Village Boogie Simple. Gather together some of the hottest players in Nigeria, take them down to the Phonodisk studios in Ijebu Igbo and let them loose on a bunch dancefloor fillers you spent the last four years 'road testing' in Kaduna. And don't forget to get Lady Franka and Mariam Pledge in on backing vocals. Those girls know how to fire up a party. It helps, of course, if you're Steve 'Dudu' Black. Steve had a God-given knack for writing combustible dance tunes and the contacts in the industry to get the likes of Willy Nfor, Willy Roy and Felix Lebarty to make them explode. From the opening track, 'Osasuima', the heat never stops. On 'No Stopping Me Now' and 'Ololufe/ Stay The Night', it's almost too hot to handle. Polished in a studio in London while Musical Youth recorded Pass The Dutchie in the next room, Happy Birthday To U is the gift that keeps on giving - an irresistible blend of Highlife, Afro Beat and Afro Funk that is guaranteed to start a party on any dance floor. - Peter Moore.

It's hard to get a handle on Nigerian musicians Nash Dodoo, Charlie Cuul and Jonas Caulley. In 1980 they released an album of face-melting gospel boogie as the BML chapels. And in the same year, calling themselves the Beta Yama Group, they put out Free Love, a belated love letter to San Francisco's Summer of Love and an album altogether focused on more worldly concerns. Free Love is a small slice of Haight-Ashbury transported to the Polygram Studios in Lagos. 'Te Revoir' is Mamas and Papas jamming with Sergeant Pepper's Beatles. 'Free Love' offers a respectful nod towards Je T'aime-era Serge Gainsbourg. Sure, 'Revolution' gets hard and funky and 'Rain' flirts briefly with a calypso reggae sound, but the majority of the album is cheesecloth and flowers in your hair. Insanely rare - and worth buying for the freaky cover art alone - Free Love is a funky, reverb heavy call for love, peace and sweet, sweet loving. What more could you want from an album - Peter Moore.

It's hard to get a handle on Nigerian musicians Nash Dodoo, Charlie Cuul and Jonas Caulley. In 1980 they released an album of face-melting gospel boogie as the BML chapels. And in the same year, calling themselves the Beta Yama Group, they put out Free Love, a belated love letter to San Francisco's Summer of Love and an album altogether focused on more worldly concerns. Free Love is a small slice of Haight-Ashbury transported to the Polygram Studios in Lagos. 'Te Revoir' is Mamas and Papas jamming with Sergeant Pepper's Beatles. 'Free Love' offers a respectful nod towards Je T'aime-era Serge Gainsbourg. Sure, 'Revolution' gets hard and funky and 'Rain' flirts briefly with a calypso reggae sound, but the majority of the album is cheesecloth and flowers in your hair. Insanely rare - and worth buying for the freaky cover art alone - Free Love is a funky, reverb heavy call for love, peace and sweet, sweet loving. What more could you want from an album - Peter Moore.

Its early 2015. Welcome to Africa Seven. We are a new record label. We may be based in Paris and London but our hearts firmly rooted in the universal motherland. We love African music, we want everyone to hear it and we want to spread the love. We are a collective of crate diggers, afro music-heads, label spotters and vinyl buying obsessives. We don't have any particular musical release agenda apart from, "is it of African origin, does it have a beat, do we like it". For the first few releases on Africa Seven we are exploring a rich seam of creativity and groove from the 70's. Stand by for re-issues from Manu Dibango, Jake Sollo, Jo Tongo, Pasteur Lappe and Tala AM to name but a few.

Trying to decide our first release was a long drawn out affair. Everyone had their favorites...;. Would it Manu, Tala, Ray, Jake or Jo In the end we just couldn't decide. To keep the peace we settled on a taster compilation called "African Airways Vol 01". Think of it as a statement of intent. A sample of aural treats in store. As for the cheesy name, well...;.. we like African Music, who doesn't like air hostesses and we are aeroplane geeks. It was a no-brainer really.

Volume 1 of Africa Airways focuses on the funkier side of 70s African music. We can't think of any better way to start an African compilation than some pounding, powerful, masterful African drumming. Thank you Ekambi Brilliant, you sure know how to set up an opening track. Next up we jump to the Cameronian king of the Tchamassi dance, Tala Andre Marie (Tala AM is his snazzier moniker). "Black Gold" is a track that really says it all. Cant-sit-still grooves, masterfully jangly guitars and a really cool nascent use of synthesizers. Is it possible to play a song over and over again 300 times - we think so. Elvis Kemayo is next up with the funky assault. Big brass, big basslines and happy times. Cameroonian native Jo Tongo, now lives in New York but back in the 70s he was part of the Fiesta label massive who were cranking out great records in Paris. "Jangolo" is quite possibly his finest moment. Keeping things Cameroon to finish up side one is the Saxophone master Manu Dibango. "Mimbo" is jazzy, darty gem. Manu recently turned 80 and celebrated with a series of gigs. A true afro legend with over 30 albums to his name. Quite a few have never been re-issued since the 70s and they are now patiently queued up on our release schedule.

Opening side two of our vinyl is Jo Bisso. Give It Up is a funky, brass however from 1977 on the Disques Esperance label. Next up is "Mbongui". Did you think a flute in African music could sound this funky Nigerian Jake Sollo met with an untimely death but his music lives on. Jake was a leader of one of the first wave of funky afro bands to come out of Nigeria in the early 70s, "The Funkees". "Father Time and Mother Nature" retains all those key elements of what made his band so successful. Sookie are next up with their US style funk...; but with an African twist. To finish up the LP Paris based "African Soul Band" bring out the dark strings, chanted Senegalese vocals and mirroring marimbas for their epic closer "Nande" from 1978.

Stay tuned for more Africa Seven releases on CD, Vinyl and Digital. Our next release is from the Cameroonian Saxophone master Manu Dibango with a rare 1977 Film Soundtrack "Ceddo". Think thoughtful, brooding afrobeat meets Shaft.

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We are more than ten releases in here at Africa Seven. It has been a wild ride... It was eight months ago that we launched our label and released our debut release the Compilation "Africa Airways 01: Funk Connection". It did better than we ever imagined and we had to repress the darned thing twice... So predictably for a follow up we humbly present you with "Africa Airways 02: Funk Departures 1973-1982". We have unashamedly stuck to the formula of our debut; keeping the funk deep and the groove pan-African. Heading straight for the afrobeat, dance-funk jugular.

We open up Volume Two with an absolute corker... "Na Real Sekele Fo Ya" from Cameroonian-in-Paris Pasteur Lappe. Produced by Jacob Desvarieux of Kassav fame, this track is an instant grabber; Think of the Blockheads "Rhythm Stick" goes Afro chant with deep, soulful moog grooves and on-point brass stabs. Next up is M'Bamina an Italian / Ivory Coast band who swing things heavy with "Kilowi Kilowi". Sweeting strings, funky bass lines wrapped around a late 70s style disco groove.

Ekambi Briallant is next up with his floor tappingly catchy afro soul "Aboki (Mon Copain)", produced by one of our favorite producers Slim Pezin. To round off the A-side of the vinyl we present the first outing from the Makeba family. Here the (sadly prematurely departed) Bongi Makeba, daughter of "Mama Africa" Myriam Makeba, shows the world just what an amazing artist she would have developed into. Bongi wrote a fair number of her mother's tracks in her later years and "Don't Do It" shows us what true talent for the song she was blessed with. The track her powers along with wah-wah guitar and masterful alto sax. A real treat.

Friend of Africa Seven and Cameroonian native Jo Tongo opens thing up on Side B. Jo now lives in New York but back in the 70s he was part of the Fiesta label collective who were cranking out great records in Paris. "Piani" is his purest dancefloor moment, here again in full glory.Next up we bend our African remit ever-so slightly and head off to Holland for a James Brown style fuelled funk stomper "Relax.. Before Doing Sex" from Oscar Harris and his crew. Its big, its bold, its brassy...;.. It's fun.

The power trio of Bozambo are next up. Between them they have released over 12 solo LPs and here together with "Get it On The Music" they power through with a keyboard/synyh driven afro-funk groove years ahead of its time...; made in 1978 but sounding like 1984. Misse Ngoh is one great guitarist and a masterful adaptor of the Makossa rhythms of his native Cameroun. The title track from his Esperance 1979 LP "Tata Ngoh" mixes in his trademark rhythms and grooves with slap bass and striking brass lines. One heck of a catchy song too.

This is the highly antcipated re-press of the much sought afer and long unavailable sophomore album from South American producer Chancha Via Circuito who molds local South American rhythms into global artstry.
Rio Arriba bubbles up from the Andes like percussive lava, seething as it is soothing. Layers of drums play out like water and earth batling heat on Rio Arriba, where South American folklore takes the reins and, under Chancha's steady hand, obscure backwoods rhythms take on a top shelf lifestyle as folklore hits the club. Cumbia made Chancha's frst album Rodante a stand out, Rio Arriba takes his sound primal, rooted in rhythm, but worldwide in scope. The album mingles remixed songs with instrumentals that apply clubland aesthetcs — sampling, patent repetton, isolaton of individual elements — to folky rhythms and
sounds.' The New York Times The sophomore album from Chancha Vía Circuito ofered shufing Latn rhythms, pastoral
melodies, hints of Latn folk, and, above all, an exquisite listening experience.' XLR8R Rio Arriba is a dreamy, neo-primitve mix of chopped-up pan futes, folk guitar, Coke-botle percussion, and booming, electronically treated drums-- an almost shamanistc sound that carries its own landscape: underbrush, riverbanks, campfres.' Pitchfork

Repressed! Great album from founding member of NYC ska/reggae/soul legends THE SLACKERS. A fantastic mix of original Jamaican ska and reggae channeled through a blues/jazz mindset, featuring legendary Jamaican percussionist LARRY McDONALD, EDDIE OCAMPO, and RICH GRAIKO.

Blue vinyl.

As the sixties came to a close, Laurel Aitken was firmly established as Britian's favourite Jamaican performer, enormously popular with members of both the country's West Indian ex-pat communities and its rapidly growing Reggae-loving Skinhead population. Unsurprisingly, competition to gain rights to his works among the country's leading Jamaican music companies was fierce and often bitter, so when, early in 69, Pama Records acquired his signature, the achievement was rightly regarded as a major coup by the London-based operation. Over the weeks that immediately followed, Laurel duly provided Pama with a number of best-selling singles, and while single artist compilations by Jamaican artists were still considered a rarity, such was the demand for the singer's music the company wasted little time in issuing a long-playing collection: Scandal In Brixton Market. Featuring a handful of previously released sides along with seven recordings exclusive to the collection, the LP also featured guest appearances from two of the UK's most popular Jamaican acts, Girlie and celebrated trombonist, Rico Rodriquez. A must-have collection for all Reggae fans, Scandal In Brixton Market quickly sold out at stores the length and breadth of the country, and over the years that have followed it has become increasingly scarce. It is therefore with great pleasure that some 45+ years after its original release, Radiation Reissues is able to present it again on vinyl.

A replica of the inaugural release from the Nutmeg label, with the original's music and cover transported intact from 1989 Tokyo. Recorded live-to-tape in a small bar in Shimokitazawa, this release features two loosely swinging, loving covers of the classic songs "Just You Just Me" and "South of the Border". The melodic and wistful melodica of Pianica Maeda, who appears on the Tomatos 7" (EMC004), is accompanied here by a group billed as Good Baites, which was organized by Kiyoshi Matsutakeya, the leader of Tomatos. Also present, supplying some fine upright bass work, is the renowned Takayoshi Matsunaga. A lovely, pleasing record.

A reproduction of one of the first releases on Japanese label Nutmeg, the Tokyo band Tomatos with their urbane, wistful cover of George McCrae's early disco classic "Rock Your Baby", backed with one of the earliest remixes by now-celebrated engineer Izumi Miyazaki. This 1990 recording features Takayoshi Matsunaga, a renowned bassist in the Japanese reggae/club music scene, who was also a member of Mute Beat, on bass. With the lyrics delivered in a mix of English and Japanese, the recording also features some plaintive melodica work from Pianica Maeda. Smooth and sweet, a low-key treat.

Night Visions is a collection of stories which dance alive over an infectious blend of Afro-Latin rhythms and contemporary dancefloor beats. Told by a variety of characters, drawn from the vibrant imagination of Chico Mann, these stories take place in an endless night, where we move through dimly lit clubs, jungle moonlight, pitch black desert plains, and the internal shadows of personal darkness. While the characters often stumble and search blindly in the dark, the persistent presence of a distant light provides an underlying direction and hopefulness to all the songs. Captain Planet's production, informed by his regular crowd-moving DJ sets, keeps the album sounding effortlessly danceable & contemporary. Meanwhile, Chico's vocals have an instant classic appeal, hinting at old Cuban rumba and vintage Afrobeat LP's. The two are aided by guest vocals from regular collaborators Kendra Morris & Brit Manor, as well as some talented friends who contributed additional horns, guitar & marimba.

Night Visions highlights the creative symbiosis of two of the biggest names in contemporary alternative Latin sounds. The result is a truly unique album that speaks as much to listeners who don't understand Spanish as it does to old abuelos. The feelings and rhythms that flow through these songs are universal, appealing to hearts and hips all around the world.

Chico Mann has created a musical time machine that simultaneously fuses the sounds of 1970s Afrobeat, 1980s Freestyle and Afro Cuban in a hybrid beast of culture and tone. Its the big 'what if' Freestyle, Afrobeat & Afro Cuban converged and hit the mainstream for an army of Chicos to pick up where Stevie B, TKA, George Lamond, Sa-Fire, Information Society, Noel, and Cult Jam, and Expose left off. Chico's choruses of multi-layered vocals with funky guitar lines helps to cool off the heat created between the bass and rhythm... creating a unique conversation of color and value that pays homage to the past but raises the bar for the future.

Captain Planet is a world travelling DJ & music producer who blends global roots music styles with forward-thinking hip-hop, dancehall and electronic beats. After cutting his teeth in the competitive New York City club scene, he went on to host a popular radio show on WNYU Radio, and started the globally renowned music blog www.MixtapeRiot.com. He has released 3 full-length albums featuring his trademark "Gumbo Funk" sound on Bastard Jazz Recordings, and can be heard on the soundtracks to multiple popular TV shows such as "Orange Is The New Black", "Entourage" and "CSI:NY" to name a few. In 2016, his song "Un Poquito Mas" featuring Chico Mann was featured in a major Honda ad campaign and passed a million plays on Spotify. The success of that song, in conjunction with Chico Mann relocating to Los Angeles, encouraged the two artists to focus on a full collaboration album together.

Night Visions is a collection of stories which dance alive over an infectious blend of Afro-Latin rhythms and contemporary dancefloor beats. Told by a variety of characters, drawn from the vibrant imagination of Chico Mann, these stories take place in an endless night, where we move through dimly lit clubs, jungle moonlight, pitch black desert plains, and the internal shadows of personal darkness. While the characters often stumble and search blindly in the dark, the persistent presence of a distant light provides an underlying direction and hopefulness to all the songs. Captain Planet's production, informed by his regular crowd-moving DJ sets, keeps the album sounding effortlessly danceable & contemporary. Meanwhile, Chico's vocals have an instant classic appeal, hinting at old Cuban rumba and vintage Afrobeat LP's. The two are aided by guest vocals from regular collaborators Kendra Morris & Brit Manor, as well as some talented friends who contributed additional horns, guitar & marimba.

Night Visions highlights the creative symbiosis of two of the biggest names in contemporary alternative Latin sounds. The result is a truly unique album that speaks as much to listeners who don't understand Spanish as it does to old abuelos. The feelings and rhythms that flow through these songs are universal, appealing to hearts and hips all around the world.

Chico Mann has created a musical time machine that simultaneously fuses the sounds of 1970s Afrobeat, 1980s Freestyle and Afro Cuban in a hybrid beast of culture and tone. Its the big 'what if' Freestyle, Afrobeat & Afro Cuban converged and hit the mainstream for an army of Chicos to pick up where Stevie B, TKA, George Lamond, Sa-Fire, Information Society, Noel, and Cult Jam, and Expose left off. Chico's choruses of multi-layered vocals with funky guitar lines helps to cool off the heat created between the bass and rhythm... creating a unique conversation of color and value that pays homage to the past but raises the bar for the future.

Captain Planet is a world travelling DJ & music producer who blends global roots music styles with forward-thinking hip-hop, dancehall and electronic beats. After cutting his teeth in the competitive New York City club scene, he went on to host a popular radio show on WNYU Radio, and started the globally renowned music blog MixtapeRiot. He has released 3 full-length albums featuring his trademark "Gumbo Funk" sound on Bastard Jazz Recordings, and can be heard on the soundtracks to multiple popular TV shows such as "Orange Is The New Black", "Entourage" and "CSI:NY" to name a few. In 2016, his song "Un Poquito Mas" featuring Chico Mann was featured in a major Honda ad campaign and passed a million plays on Spotify. The success of that song, in conjunction with Chico Mann relocating to Los Angeles, encouraged the two artists to focus on a full collaboration album together.

It's fair to say that the inclusion of Iganda's sole 7" single "Mark of Slavery" / "Slow Down" spread across the first two volumes of the "Midlands Roots Explosion" series, has not only greatly raised the profile of the band, but also sent the price of the original release through the roof. At its heart, reggae is a singles based music and although we've made the two tracks available on vinyl, CD and digital download, there are many reggae lovers who would like "Mark of Slavery" and "Slow Down" available again on the original format.

An obscure double sided roots gem from the golden age of the Midlands reggae scene.

The tracks on this compilation certainly demonstrate Lloyd Park's
gifts as a conscious lyricist and soulful vocalist, who fully deserves to be ranked in the frontline of Jamaican singers.

Most bands with a history that stretches back four decades are content to go through the motions, their creative peak somewhere in the past, not Talisman. Their new album includes some of the strongest material they've ever recorded, with seven brand new songs and the corresponding dub counter parts, this is their finest album to date.

With such strong material we knew we had to pull out all the stops when it came to the final mixes and who better than legendary musician, producer, engineer and all round British reggae genius Dennis Bovell (Matumbi, Steel Pulse, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Aswad, Madness, Orange Juice, The Slits) who has taken the songs to the next level and given us the strongest British reggae album in years.

The album kicks off with "Relijan", a roots anthem with lyrics that resonate with contemporary relevance whilst the music has the timeless feel of the best seventies roots. This track raises the game for Talisman and puts them on par with such British greats as Aswad, Steel Pulse and Misty in Roots at their best, without doubt destined to be seen as a classic of the genre. The pace and the lyrical intent doesn't let up: "Talkin' Revolution" is a brand new song yet imbued with the feel and vibes of early eighties Talisman."She Look like Reggae" is a charming piece of observational song writing that rewards repeated listening with hidden depths and use of a full horn section.

It's hard to overstate Dennis Bovell's contribution to British music, reggae in particular and we can't think of anyone more qualified to mix these tracks. Dub mixes really are his forte and the seven dub versions here, deliver in every way, true dub re-imaginings and not mere afterthoughts

Most bands with a history that stretches back four decades are content to go through the motions, their creative peak somewhere in the past, not Talisman. Their new album includes some of the strongest material they've ever recorded, with seven brand new songs and the corresponding dub counter parts, this is their finest album to date.

With such strong material we knew we had to pull out all the stops when it came to the final mixes and who better than legendary musician, producer, engineer and all round British reggae genius Dennis Bovell (Matumbi, Steel Pulse, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Aswad, Madness, Orange Juice, The Slits) who has taken the songs to the next level and given us the strongest British reggae album in years.

The album kicks off with "Relijan", a roots anthem with lyrics that resonate with contemporary relevance whilst the music has the timeless feel of the best seventies roots. This track raises the game for Talisman and puts them on par with such British greats as Aswad, Steel Pulse and Misty in Roots at their best, without doubt destined to be seen as a classic of the genre. The pace and the lyrical intent doesn't let up: "Talkin' Revolution" is a brand new song yet imbued with the feel and vibes of early eighties Talisman."She Look like Reggae" is a charming piece of observational song writing that rewards repeated listening with hidden depths and use of a full horn section.

It's hard to overstate Dennis Bovell's contribution to British music, reggae in particular and we can't think of anyone more qualified to mix these tracks. Dub mixes really are his forte and the seven dub versions here, deliver in every way, true dub re-imaginings and not mere afterthoughts

Dub Communication: A new label with a mission to push the sound of Dub music. Focussing on the more electronic variants from Dub Techno to the modern day Steppers.

For the first release, DUBCOM001V, we have a 7" containing 2 tracks from Frenk Dublin. Founder of this new label aswell as the founder of Dubstep Rotterdam Records.

'Analog Dub Sessions' is where Frenk's music hits vinyl for the first time, while he's using analog synths to come up with some catchy, unique basslines. In both tracks the stepper riddim provides a solid groove, a deep 4 x 4 kickdrum, halftime phasing and reverbing snares, offbeat snares for a polyrhythmic feel and hihats for some steady top end while the chords and FX sounds are completing the mix and applying even more depth and texture. 2 unique sound system bangers!

Tearaway sufferers anthem, roaring out of the blocks in 1989.
Piercing, unforgettable song-writing by the Tetrack spar — jam-packed with anecdote, observation and warning — over a sick, breakneck, apocalyptic rhythm, with an ace dub. A digi classic.

JUMP UP issues new SPECIALIZED charity singles from their latest BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS tribute "ONE HEART". This traditional "Jamaican" one features THE SKATALITES w/ DOREEN SHAFFER, CHARLEY ORGANIARE w/ AKASHA, CALYPSO JOE and the PRESSURE TENNANTS. Random colored vinyl limited edition.

Opening the series with "Live Forever" a stiff, in depth roots rhythm featuring one of the key figures of the new generation rasta singers Dre Island. Reminds us the voice of Jr. Gong his vocal delivers a strong and moving message of our existence. Backed with heavy dub cut proving the high work ethic of the duo.

2 track Single from Don Drummond & The Skatalites released by Dub Store Records

Ekambi Brillant was born in the village of Dibombari in Cameroon in 1948. In 1962 he attended school in Yaounde and learned his musical craft. In 1971 he heads off to the big city lights of Douala. Here he finds himself in a French TV, music competition hosted at "Le Domino" nightclub. It is here where he brushes shoulders with other Cameroonian music legends such Manu Dibango and Francis Bebey.

The music contest win gives him the break he needs and in 1972 and with the support of fellow troubadour JK Mandengue he finds himself with a record deal with Phonogram and his first hits in France.

Its in 1975 where we pick up this merry tale. Because it is in 1975 when things start to get a bit funky. Which is just how we like it here at Africa Seven. In partnership with French producer, guitarist and all around hero, Slim Pezin he creates the "Africa Oumba" album. He goes on in the two subsequent years to record the Soul Castle and Djambo's Djambo's albums also with Slim.

Our compilation focuses on the funkier end of Ekambi's music drawn mainly from the 1975 to 1978 period. Things open up with our theme tune "Africa Africa" (of course). It's tribal twisted psych funk is the perfect start to any album. We then move to "Aboki" possibly Ekambi's finest dance floor filler. Next it's the choppy disco strings and slap bass of "Nyambe" and the swirling African swing of "N'Kondo" and the pulsing chop-funk "Ekila".

The flip side starts off with "Soul Castle" an ordinary day tale for our hero. "Massoma" and its funk boogie get things bopping next up before "Machine Ma Bwindea" gives us some punchy brass and low slung funk grooves. "Mother Africa" shows us the songwriting power of Ekambi while also managing to have one of the funkiest flange basslines we have heard in a good while. Things close off with swing-time of "Lambo Lena".

Ekambi Brillant would go on to become one of the big name legends of Cameroonian music with nearly 20 albums to his name. He has contributed to the emergence of several Cameroonian artists such as Marthe Zambo, Valery Lobe, Aladji Toure and Africans. He now spends his time in Cameroon and Washington DC. Ekambi, we salute you sir.

2 track Single from Federal Singers released by Dub Store Records

2 track Single from Little John released by Dub Store Records

2 track Single from Prince Junior released by Dub Store Records

After having released the first vinyl from the talented Italian producer Strictly Sound, we strikes back with another killer digital featuring the vital don Derrick Parker on the vocal attack.

Inspired by the Impression Riddim from the late Zen Bow, Strictly recreates the instrumental with his unique digital reggae touch. "Long Night Riddim" was made using several audio hardware like Yamaha TX7, Moog Minitaur, Korg MS2000, Beni Dub Reverb and Echo, Simmons SDS among other n the Strictly Sound Lab in London, UK.

Finest roots anthems from the late 70ies by the legendary singer Sylford Walker compiled and re-issued with the seal of quality of the Glen Brown production and the King Tubby mix.
Available again as LP-Vinyl with eight tracks including the three 12Inch-Single mixes of "Deuteronomy", "Eternal Days" and "My Father's Homeland", the longtime deleted Greensleeves longplayer from 1988) Sylford Walker's heart-stopping 70's roots anthems recorded for Glen Brown are rightfully regarded like holy relics of reggae. The "Lamb's Bread" album gathers up these classic sides and once again makes them available for the roots disciples. Mixed by King Tubby at King Tubby's, this remastered reissue is the quintessential sound of 1970's Jamaica. An album so full of roots, you may have to scrape the mud out of your amp after playing!

"Favourite tunesThe tunes are like my children....there is a whole heap of them !! Iwant to tell you this though...some of them i never released properly but 'A Class Girls' through it was the first one me love that, the rhythm! I don't know how the song never hit in Jamaica but listening to it back now its like you are branding the girls A and B so (perhaps) the girls weren't happy with it.But it was a good tune,wicked tune.
Tony Chin wrote it ,but it was Tony Chin and Chinna who taught me these thingsso I have to lovethose men forever"
Ossie Thomas

Triston Palmer was born in 1962 and grew up in Waltham Park,Kingston.
Triston knew from a very early age that he was destined to become an entertainer and his first visit to an recording studio at the age of 16 was with Ossie Thomas.
Their initial release was 'A Class Girls',which was a hit in England and Triston's subsequent releases on their Black Solidarity label laid the foundation for his rapid rise to dance super stardom.
As the 80's progressed and Dancehall began its inexorable rise to ubiquity the popularity of Triston Palmer who had 9 songs in the top forty was unstoppable.
So sit back and enjoy this selection of killer tunes.....

"In Cape Verde, we had no access to electronic instruments," said Tchiss Lopes, a Cape Verdean singer baed in Rome. "In Europe, we had access, but we had to adapt. Audiences expected electronic sounds, but we still stayed true to our sound."

"At first, the music was just to cater to Cape Verdean immigrants, but soon, people of Napoli especially started feeling it, then Rome."

In the 1980s, that feeling transpired across Lisbon, Paris, Rotterdam, and Boston, as one the largest waves of migration from a single country, propelled by political instability and economic uncertainty, sent thousands of Cape Verdeans to the West's cities.

Through 18 diverse tracks, this compilation reveals how immigration from the Cape Verde Islands to Europe and the United States gave us an alternate history of the electronic music that dominated hearts and minds across the world in the late 1990s. But the story doesn't start in a major Western cultural hub, rather in the small cluster of islands 400 miles off the Senegalese coast, and offers an unparalleled insight into the longterm cultural splendor catalyzed by migration.

Movement and mobility are intrinsic aspirations of the human condition. What we've come to know as immigration is as old as civilization. Yet today we measure immigration through a series of cold data. Immigrants are either condemned as disposable threats or celebrated as entrepreneurial treasures, rarely occupying a space in between.

Seldom do we peer back into the past to examine the tangible and timeless creations born from the movement of peoples, overlooking cultural innovations arguably ahead of their time, precursors to consuming global trends.

Cape Verde today is justifiably hailed as an African political success story, but things were different in the 1980s.

A war of independence from Portugal was won in 1975, and Cape Verde suffered the familiar ills of a society born from colonialism and slavery struggling to integrate into a globalized world.

This detachment fostered a yearning to integrate, to connect in anyway possible. The new found homes in the multiculti metropoles of Europe offered little respite. Cape Verdean immigrants were deemed "hot blooded," and perceived as "dropouts" and "juvenile delinquents."

The ready availability of electronic instruments, a doorway to a long denied 'modernity' and an anchor in their adopted homes, was seductive.

"Cape Verdeans were celebrating their independence and with that the dancing became even more important," said Val Xalino, an unsung pioneer in the development of his country's electronic sound, based in Gothenburg, Sweden. "People wanted to hear something different. They wanted the synthesizer!"

Emigre musicians began traveling to and from Europe and their home islands, their luggage containing stock of synthesizers and MIDI instruments. Travel to the countryside to learn the rhythms of rural farmers became common. The melodies of the charmingly off-tune, often damaged accordions were transplanted onto synthesizers.

A cultural supply chain was established. Largely detached from global capitalism, music perhaps was, and in many ways still is, Cape Verde's most effective gateway to synthesize with the world, immigration the engine and lifeblood.

The hearts and minds of a musically-inclined people were captured. One mercurial youngster, Paulino Vieira, arguably Cape Verde's most important musician, the real mastermind behind the islands' melodic majesty, was especially drawn to keyboard instruments, having honed his skills at a Catholic seminary. He arranged or contributed to half the songs in this release.

Vieira was an integral member of Cesaria Evora's backing band, and while her cavaquinho-driven traditional songs registered Cape Verde as a cultural force worldwide, an electronic movement burgeoned just beneath the surface.

It soon found its headquarters in Lisbon, where Vieira had emigrated at age 18 to lead a reworked Voz de Cabo Verde, the commanding, enigmatic ensemble that enticed Cape Verdean musicians from around the diaspora to collaborate.

"Paulino was the most visionary," said Elisio Gomes, a Paris-based singer who collaborated with Vieira often. "He always had this gift to be 10 years ahead of his time. That's why our music sounds like it was produced today."

Largely overlooked outside the Lusophone realm, Cape Verde's Astro-Atlantic gumbo of instrumentation and rhythm offers a timely lesson of migration's power to produce cultural innovations ahead of its time.

This unknown, ultra-progressive sound could not have been perfected without the induction of Cape Verde's artistic human capital into the West.

As we watch with heavy hearts the tragic crisis unfolding across the Mediterranean, as people fleeing similar circumstances strive to settle in Europe, a measured hint of patience will ultimately justify their vast inclusion. There are poets, writers, artists, thinkers, and, of course, musicians, raised in an age of technology, that are making the treacherous journey by boat, or by land on foot, from Syria, Eritrea, Libya, Iraq, and elsewhere. Paulino Vieira's heir, and lush cultural innovation bound to bear the same fruit, lie among them.

Annual Bass & Riddim split 7" by Kambo Super Sound & Don Papa. Almost anthemic and definitely a proper sub-rider with space-dub synths on the A. Don Papa sets free yet another cracking riddim from a mind set as close to the caribic as you get coming from Moss Norway.

Limited Represses! Tubby & Lee Perry on the mix

***LP includes download code

Since 1996, John Brown's Body has been at the forefront of the American reggae scene, blazing paths with its patented Future Roots sound. This year the band celebrates 20 years by releasing its eleventh full-length release Fireflies, out on Easy Star Records September 9th, and embarking on a national tour. Since releasing Kings & Queens (2013) and its follow up Kings & Queens In Dub (2015), JBB has criss-crossed the nation debuting new material alongside classic hits in live settings such as Red Rocks, Cali Roots Festival, and Summer Camp Festival. They are now proud to premiere the first track of the Fireflies album - New Fashion' - via Billboard.
With its current lineup arguably its strongest to date, JBB's founding members Elliot Martin (lead vocals) and Tommy Benedetti (drums) are now joined by Jay Spaker (guitar / vocals), Jon Petronzio (keys), Dan Africano (bass), Sam Dechenne (trumpet), TJ Shaper (trombone), and Mike Vitale (tenor saxophone). The current group continues to push boundaries in the studio, this time with long time JBB collaborator Craig Dubfader' Welsch (10 Ft. Ganja Plant) at his Rear Window Studio (Boston, MA).
Fireflies is the perfect release to celebrate a fruitful 20-year career, encapsulating the evolution of the band while demonstrating that they are nowhere close to stopping.