Hip-Hop News

Grand Ancestor 3x7" sales pack including:
* The Illuminated vs. Distant Roots feat. Clinton Sly - Straight To Mi Brain / Straight To Mi Dub GA004
* MC Trooper / Jeph1 - Warrior GA010
* Jane Bee / Bukkha - DJ Mommy GA014

Less than a year after the well-received release of “Quicksand”, Stand High Records presents “Midnight Rock”. A new fundamentally Roots 7” single, the result of a second collaboration between Joe Yorke, Eeyun Purkins and Stand High Patrol.

This brand new single was mixed the old school way at the Kerwax studio. In a true traditional roots reggae manner, the A side offers Joe Yorke’s vocal version while Pupajim’s “Deejay Style” reply sits on the flip. These two tunes address social divisions in our modern society, which is in contrast with the unity felt and temporarily expressed within the dancehalls. Grooving all together to the rhythm, fuelled and constrained by our individual social condition, as soon as the music ends we remain alone.

On the two sides, the words “Midnight Rock” resonate on a riddim built for soundsystem sessions. “Midnight Rock”, an invitation for all skankers to enjoy the moment and make it last after the lights come on, a call to fight together against what divides us. “Midnight Rock”, time to join the dance. “Midnight Rock”, time to engage in combat.

A journey in the heart of Nigerian afrobeat from Orlando Julius to the ethnojazz of Alemayèhu Eshèté passing by the High-life of the Ghanaian Ebo Taylor…

The Ethiopians were one of Jamaica’s most popular bands during the late ska, rocksteady and early reggae periods. The much loved harmony group began working with the legendary producer Carl ‘Sir J.J.’ Johnson after a series of successful ska and rocksteady hits. This collaboration resulted in some of the biggest reggae hits of the late Sixties and early Seventies. Most notable hits were “Everything Crash”, “What A Fire”, “Feel The Spirit”, “Hong Kong Flu” and “Woman Capture Man”, which are all included on their 1969 debut album Reggae Power. The album cover features a photo of future Carry On Girls-actress Pauline Peart.

Firstly, there is also a new special limited-edition one-off pressing edition orange-pressed CD enclosed in jewel case and slipcase. 18 years on from its original release Studio One Dub remains super-hard hitting featuring classic + rare Dub tracks from Studio One, many available on vinyl for the first time in over thirty years.

Studio One Dub includes the dubs of many classic tracks such as Horace Andy’s “Skylarkin”, Johnny Osbourne’s “Truth and Rights”, John Holt’s “Hooligan”, Freddie McGregor’s “Bobby Bobylon” plus many more rare tracks.

The album also comes with two rare interviews - one with Clement 'Sir Coxsone' Dodd about dub and dubplates and one with the sound engineer Sylvan Morris, talking about his groundbreaking period at Studio One and his many innovations that he evolved there.
In short, this is a 100% essential album!



"Almighty slab of dub featuring loads of rare and classic dub versions of Studio One's foundation tracks." Rough Trade

“Quite a treat awaiting here for the unsuspecting reggae faithful – as always with Soul jazz chock full of a bunch of big tunes – but here in version form lies some of the freshest rhythms and most radical revisions of some of the greatest Studio One music. The darkest and the absolute deepest in the series – naturally essential.” Boomkat

"Continuing the Studio 1 Series this album features classic and rare Dub tracks from Studio One, many available for the first time in over thirty years. Studio One Dub includes the dubs of many classic tracks such as Horace Andy’s “Skylarkin”, Johnny Osbourne’s “Truth and Rights”,
John Holt’s “Hooligan”, Freddie McGregor’s “Bobby
Bobylon” plus many more rare tracks. In short, this is an essential album!" Wax Museum

Soul Jazz Records’ long out of print classic ‘Studio One Dub’ collection is being re-released in three new one-off limited-edition coloured pressing 18th anniversary format editions!
Firstly a heavyweight special limited edition one-pressing only orange 2xLP vinyl + download.

Secondly, there is also a new special limited-edition one-off pressing edition orange-pressed CD enclosed in jewel case and slipcase.
And thirdly there is a very limited unique new one-off pressing orange-cased cassette format (200 copies only)!
18 years on from its original release Studio One Dub remains super-hard hitting featuring classic + rare Dub tracks from Studio One, many available on vinyl for the first time in over thirty years.

Studio One Dub includes the dubs of many classic tracks such as Horace Andy’s “Skylarkin”, Johnny Osbourne’s “Truth and Rights”, John Holt’s “Hooligan”, Freddie McGregor’s “Bobby Bobylon” plus many more rare tracks.

The album also comes with two rare interviews - one with Clement 'Sir Coxsone' Dodd about dub and dubplates and one with the sound engineer Sylvan Morris, talking about his groundbreaking period at Studio One and his many innovations that he evolved there.
In short, this is a 100% essential album!





"Almighty slab of dub featuring loads of rare and classic dub versions of Studio One's foundation tracks." Rough Trade

“Quite a treat awaiting here for the unsuspecting reggae faithful – as always with Soul jazz chock full of a bunch of big tunes – but here in version form lies some of the freshest rhythms and most radical revisions of some of the greatest Studio One music. The darkest and the absolute deepest in the series – naturally essential.” Boomkat

"Continuing the Studio 1 Series this album features classic and rare Dub tracks from Studio One, many available for the first time in over thirty years. Studio One Dub includes the dubs of many classic tracks such as Horace Andy’s “Skylarkin”, Johnny Osbourne’s “Truth and Rights”,
John Holt’s “Hooligan”, Freddie McGregor’s “Bobby
Bobylon” plus many more rare tracks. In short, this is an essential album!" Wax Museum

FLASH's monstrous double-sided dynamite is quite hard to find in its original format. We here at TRAMP are mega happy to be responsible for this re-issue and we hope that everybody who learns about it is as pleased as we are. For those who are interested in FLASH's story we strongly recommend to check out PRAISE POEMS Vol.8.

The legendary Twinkle Brothers return on UK label Reggae On Top to give 'Praises to the King'.

Alvin Ranglin's memories about his productions with U-Roy

"At the time I started working with U-Roy on the LP Dread In A Africa in 1975, I already recorded a few good songs two-three years before with him. But sometime after this project with U-Roy my Record Village shop at 5 Hope Road -on Half Way Tree- got broken into, and these thieves set the place on fire. At the back of the shop, I had a storeroom in which I kept many of my tapes. So some tapes were destroyed with songs from artists like Eric Morris and also some of the U-Roy project. I rented that place from a Chinese lady and she wasn't insured so I lost a lot of money there! At that time this all happened I was in England for business. So it was very stressful to me as you can imagine. Anyhow, I decided a year later on to release the five songs which I still had on tape with some instrumentals from the backing band Skin, Flesh and Bones, as a kind of a showcase album. I don't know what at Dynamic Sounds where the album master was cut by Carlton Lee. Something went wrong as the stamper didn't came out 100% how it should have been. Anyhow, I pressed a very small number of the album, around 12 copies or so, and put them in blank jackets as I didn't made a printed jacket yet. As I rented a shop to TonyRobinson on Slipe Road it make sense a few of the U-Roy albums are carrying his sticker. It got a good reception on the test pressing so I just disbanded it as I thought it was better to concentrate on recordings I did with Gregory Isaacs and Maytones, which were big sellers at that time. U-Roy was of course going strong with Tony Robinson as his producer in 1976, so I'm glad after so many years passing by this album is finally getting a proper release on the Jamaican Art label.

First time repress from this unique record, a fusion of jazz, reggae, afro and of course maloya

Jean-Michel Fock, is a French singer from Reunion born in 1945. Ti'Fock's first record was released in 1980. In 1985, Ti Fock was the first Reunionese artist under contract with a major company and became a true legend even beyond the island. Later, Ti'Fock collaborated with Danyèl Waro, who wrote the lyrics for the song Mafate for him.

The development of the rock steady sound, late in 1966, enabled a new generation of young, dynamic music makers to make a mark upon Jamaica’s recording industry and of these, few proved more successful or influential than Clancy Eccles. In 1969 he scored his biggest hit, the rambunctious ‘Fattie Fattie’, which sold in huge amounts both at home and the UK. The single’s popularity prompted Trojan Records to issue Eccles’s debut long-player, Freedom, which gathered the best of his self-produced recordings as a singer. Freedom’s sleeve photo is one of the classic reggae music images, with Clancy riding a motorcycle through a rugged terrain absolutely screaming relaxed cool.

Available as a limited edition of 750 individually numbered copies on orange coloured vinyl.

* A UK Dub outing from 1996 from The Rootsman, originally appearing on his debut album on Third Eye Music - `In Dub We Trust’.
* A mid-paced steppers piece with more than enough weight to cause distress at any sound system gathering.
* This is the first time `African Style’ has been unleashed as a single.

“And now for a gentleman who’s come all the way from Kingston, Jamaica and a place called Cling Cling Avenue. We present to you the one and only, the Originator, the Godfather, Daddy U Roy!”

U Roy had visited Brighton before but there was something special about that balmy night in August 2017, when he walked out on stage at the Komedia to a hero’s welcome and immediately got the crowd cheering and dancing. There was so much warmth and excitement generated that night, and it’s all captured on this final live album of the reggae superstar’s illustrious career.

U Roy wasn’t quite the originator, but he was the first Jamaican deejay to dominate the Top 3 places on both radio stations and turn his predecessors’ simple exhortations into an artform – one that evolved into a global phenomenon. It was his performances on King Tubby’s Hometown Hi-Fi that made him the talk of Jamaica and led him to Treasure Isle studio, where he voiced hits like Tide Is High and Wear You To The Ball. From then on his catchy, uplifting rhymes could be heard on radios and jukeboxes throughout the island, as well as from behind the control tower of his King Stur Gav sound-system, where MCs like Josey Wales, Brigadier Jerry and Charlie Chaplin learnt their craft. The veteran deejay, who died in February 2021, continued recording and touring into his late seventies, and without abandoning either his musical standards or Rastafarian beliefs. At his peak, U Roy voiced for Jamaica legends like Lee “Scratch” Perry, Bunny Lee and Channel One, in addition to several European labels. What most of his recordings have in common is a sense of hope and often joy, because even Get Up Stand Up is delivered with optimism. They are the qualities that come across on this life-affirming set, recorded in front of an appreciative audience, and backed by some of the UK’s finest reggae musicians.

* The first and original version of sound system anthem `Rastafari’
* First appearing on A&O’s album `Watch and Pray’ in 1992, then surfacing on a Partial 7” in 2013, selling out fast. Now reissued due to demand.

The Frightnrs, The Heptones, Toots & The Maytals, Jimmy Cliff, The Wailers. A cross-country collaboration reaffirms that strong Ohio-California connection ever-present for many Colemine artists. This time, Mr. Wesley Bright (sweet soul singer and professional beekeeper) is stepping out over some heavy reggae with The Soul Chance! Sweetness all around! Wesley Bright has 80k monthly listeners on Spotify // Wesley's track "You Don't Want Me" has 2.3M streams

At the beginning of the eighties reggae music became increasingly in tune with what was happening in Kingston’s dance halls… probably more so than at any time since the sound system operators had started to make their own shuffle and boogie recordings in the late fifties. The international audience and the critics were too busy looking for a new Bob Marley to appreciate what was happening downtown and failed to acknowledge that this was a return to the real, raw roots of the music. Brash, confident, young record producers who were totally in tune with the youth audience stepped forward and seized the moment…

Oswald ‘Ossie’ Thomas began his apprenticeship in the music business at the age of fourteen and served his time as a record salesman for Bunny ‘Striker’ Lee and Winston ‘Niney The Observer’ Holness before moving on to Miss Sonia Pottinger’s Tip Top Records.

“I ended up working in three record stores on Orange Street from 1976 to 1981… Yeah man! Me deh ‘pon me bicycle till I buy my motorcycle! Them days records were coming out left, right and centre… every day!” Ossie Thomas

It was during his time with Miss Pottinger that Ossie began to produce records for himself and in 1979 Ossie and Phillip Morgan began the Black Solidarity label based deep in the Kingston ghetto on Delamere Avenue. Phillip initially inspired Ossie to start the label and soon Triston Palma, Phillip Frazer and “a youth named Gary Robertson” joined in although Gary later left for Canada.

The Soul Syndicate rehearsed in the Delamere Avenue area and Tony Chin gave Ossie a cut of a rhythm that he used for Triston Palma’s ‘A Class Girl’… the label’s inaugural release. The record was a sizeable success and paved the way for hit after hit after hit on Black Solidarity. Ossie worked with just about everybody who was anybody during this critical period of the music’s development including vocalists Robert Ffrench, Little John, Sugar Minott, Frankie Paul and most notably Triston Palma.

“But Delamere must be considered as a music street sheltering as it does such artists as Junior Byles, Don Angelo, Triston Palma, Phillip Frazer and producer Ossie of the Black Solidarity label…” Beth Lesser
And the man who had made his name in the business selling other people’s records now became one of the most important and influential record producers of the era.
With grateful thanks to: Paul Coote, Nick Hodgson & Hasse Huss

LIMITED STAMPED WHITE LABEL

* Dubplate style from The Disciples and Boomshackalaka Sound System from the early 90’s.
* In-demand heavy-weight instrumental in-a Jah Shaka style.
* Featuring 3 mixes for maximum speaker distress.
* Strictly limited to 300 copies only.

* Originally released on the Abba Jahnoi label in 1993, `Jah is Version’ is one of the holy grail’s of the UK roots reggae and dub scene.
* A raw and minimalist production style from Danny Red and crew with a stripped down dub version.
* Other versions and re-recordings of this track have emerged, but this is the original and best.

The Gladiators were founded by Albert Griffiths in 1968 after he experienced a positive reaction to early solo singles. Success came quickly for the new roots reggae band with “Hello Carol” which topped the charts in Jamaica. Working at Studio One in the early ’70s, the Gladiators produced a string of hits: “Roots Natty,” “Bongo Red,” and “Jah Jah Go Before Us.” Naturally the major labels came calling and the band was signed to Virgin Records where they cut albums for the rest of the decade. They started by revisiting their history on the classic ‘Trenchtown Mix Up’, on which the Gladiators recorded new versions of their early hits.
Roots reggae underwent a decline in popularity during the ’80s, but it was a busy decade for the Gladiators who were at the height of their powers. They recorded eleven albums during the decade, including three for the U.S. label Nighthawk Records. Those albums, Symbol Of Reality (1982), Serious Thing (1984), and their collaboration with Leonard Dillon (the Ethiopian) Dread Prophecy (1986), will all be reissued by Omnivore. The reissue program begins with Full Time, which was originally issued in 1992, and comprised of material from the productive sessions the band did for Nighthawk in the previous decade. The Gladiators’ Nighthawk sessions were all recorded and mixed at Harry J Studio by the legendary engineer Sylvan Morris. Released here on vinyl for the first time, and newly mastered from the original tapes by Grammy®-winner Michael Graves, this release features new liner notes from original co-producer Leroy Jodie Pierson. “Full Time” is a vital piece of the Gladiators history and essential to any reggae fans’ collection.

Five LP box set featuring some of the all time reggae greats.

1988 Bajan reggae with nice version

1987 nod to Bob Marley's Jammin, backed
with soca tinged dancer

1977 Palo Records, Barbados, Gregory Isaacs influenced conscious lyric backed with lovers

1979 Trex / Wirl release, plaintive harmony sufferer's from Barbados.

Radiation Roots continues its exploration of Jah Thomas' Midnight Rock label with the releases of this sought after and rare early dancehall album. Recorded at the legendary Channel One Studio, Osbourne and Palmer are two sublime vocalists and they are backed here by The Roots Radics, with Scientist on the mix.

Bump 'n Grind Wax's latest limited edition, hand-stamped 7" record is fresh-squeezed lemonade on a hot day. "Back Together Again," the underrated classic from Howard University alums Roberta Flack and Donny Hathaway gets the Reggae Roast treatment. UK vibes conductor, Adam Prescott and vocalist, Rachel Wallace make silky smooth waves with this Studio One inspired late 70's disco tune. A beefed-up bassline couples with an array of echoes and reverbs to guide both the A-side and B-side, "Dub Together Again." Ready for the return of reunions, dances, and block parties, this one is played best with overproof rum, over-sized speakers, Clarks, and hot coals in the jerk pan.

Emotional Rescue and HMV Record Shop (Japan) end their DISCO REGGAE LOVERS 7" series with reggae legend Sugar Minott and this utterly unique UK soul-boogie rarity, I Remember Mama.

Reggae star, vocalist, producer and sound system operator, Kingston JA born Minott released over 50 albums and hundreds of singles for the likes of Studio One, Wackies, Suffering Heights and his own Black Roots label.

His distinctive soulful voice pioneered the Dancehall style and following his UK hit "Hard Time Pressure" he moved to London in 1980, adopting the rising Lovers Rock sound. On a visit to Wackies' offices in Soho he met Steve Parr, who had recently opened a studio next door.

Keyboard player for the likes of Desmond Dekker and Geno Washington, Parr moved into composition, mixing, sound engineering and production, before setting up the Sound Design Studio in Dean Street.

Principally a studio, the meeting with Minott hatched the idea to create a label to showcase their capabilities. Produced by Parr, he played all the instruments except the distinctive sax by friend Andy MacDonald.

With Minott's heartfelt lyrics, this marriage created a one-off, a ground-breaking synthesised 4/4 rhythm track with funk groove and soulful vocals. Released on 7" and 12", the versions noticeably differ and is the perfect closing to the DISCO REGGAE LOVERS series.

Kenny Knotts - Never Get Burn / Soldiers of Jah

The second part in a collection of stunning Persian-tuned piano pieces, cut from Iranian national radio broadcasts made for the Golha programmes between 1956 & 1965.

Morteza Mahjubi (1900-1965) was a Iranian pianist & composer who developed a unique tuning system for the piano which enabled the instrument to be played in all the different modes and dastgahs of traditional Persian art music. Known as Piano-ye Sonnati, this technique allowed Mahjubi to express the unique ornamental and monophonic nature of Persian classical music on this western instrument - mimicking the tar, setar & santur and extracting sounds from the piano which are still unprecedented to this day.

An active performer and composer from a young age, Mahjubi made his most notable mark as key contributor and soloist for the Golha (Flowers of Persian Song and Poetry) radio programmes. These seminal broadcasts platformed an encyclopaedic wealth of traditional Persian classical music and poetry on Iranian national radio between 1956 until the revolution in 1979.

Presented here is a collection of Morteza Mahjubi's stunningly virtuosic improvised pieces broadcast on Golha between the programme's inception until Mahjubi's death in 1965 - mostly solo, though at times peppered with tombak, violin & some segments of poetry & song.

The vast collection of Golha radio programmes was put together thanks to the incredible work of Jane Lewisohn & the Golha Project as part of the British Library's Endangered Archives programme, comprising 1,578 radio programs consisting of approximately 847 hours of broadcasts.









i 09: Improvisation & Avaz in Isfahan (Golha-ye Rangarang #254) feat. Marzieh




feat. Abdolvahab Shahidi

180g

To mark 7 years of Steppas Records, we proudly present '3rd Kingdom', the eagerly anticipated 2nd album from Alpha Steppa. The son and nephew of UK dub pioneers Alpha & Omega (Greensleeves/VP), Alpha Steppa has been surrounded by soundsystem and dubplate culture from a young age. Now a talented producer in his own right, his productions connect the dots between the music which he has grown up around and the new generation of UK bass music of which he is a part. His dubbed out style draws upon the sounds of his musical heritage, filtered through an exploration of the newer sounds of contemporary bass music. Currently championed by a range of soundsystems and DJs from across the bass music spectrum; from Roots veterans Channel One Soundsystem and the legendary Jah Shaka Soundsystem to UK Steppers pioneers Iration Steppas and Dubstep household names such as V.I.V.E.K, Caspa & Rusko.

Emotional Rescue and HMV Record Shop (Japan) are delighted to present the first ever reissue of the 7" Mix of One Blood's classic Lovers Rock anthem Be Thankful, as part of their DISCO REGGAE LOVERS series.

While the King & City Records hit was reissued in its 12" form recently (ERC104), this unearthed 7" Mix perfectly distills the bands take on the William DeVaughn soul all-time.

At the forefront of the Lovers Rock movement, the 5 Robinson brothers that made up One Blood took their mix of Caribbean and South London heritage and crafted a uniquely black British sound, grown out of tensions, Sus law, Blues parties and sound system culture that acted as a counterpoint to the Rasta and Rocksteady styles around.

In 7" form, their cover version is taught, tight and succinct, hitting the highs, but retaining the dub. It is backed with a special mix by Tokyo producer Slowly. Closely associated with the esteemed Flower Records, Masato Komatsu aka Slowly also acts as Creative Director for the rebirth of the HMV Shops in Japan, so it is fitting his respectful dub mix dives from vocal opening straight in to the bassbins of a deep dub, this is one for the heads and collectors.