Hip-Hop News

Low Jack and Clara! seal a killer first year for the mutant dancehall series 'Les Disques De La Bretagnes' with this necessary doublepack including their long sold out instalments
for the series, Launched earlier in the year as a sublabel of Editions Gravats, Les Disques De Las Bretagnes has become a go-to home for ruffneck, forward new spins on the Black
Atlantic links between dancehall, reggaeton and electronic music. Now, following Iueke's sold out 'Champion' 12' - as played by Aphex Twin - the label extend a very handy catch up of Low Jack and Clara! y Maoupa's 12's packaged as a 2LP with new sleeve art, Of Honduran heritage and based in France, Low Jack brings a unique sidespin on dancehall templates with his 'Riddims du lieu-dit' LP. Originally one side of a split tape with Equiknoxx for Bokeh Versions, its edits of Industrial obscurities and classic
dancehall made for a rude, refreshing take on '80s and '90s digi-dub and dancehall that sold out within a week. Likewise, Clara! y Maoupa treated reggaeton with a mix of reverence and daring, twisting classic '90s ragga with bumping dembow while also introducing the Spanish artist as a deadly vocalist. Her Ruge is without question one of the deadliest tracks of the year - so good!!!!
100% deadly.















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I'm back with another edit; 400 hand-stamped white labels like Mr MacDonald. Make sure you don't miss it! Lorenzo.

Another super special split and limited 7inch from Butter Sessions HQ! This time Sleep D present their dub influenced moniker, DJ Mind Leaf & The Herbalist for the first time with the deep dancehall tinged party original 'See Mi Rockin' before joining forces with the man from Moss and former collaborator DJ Fett Birger! The twisted rhythms, earth shaking basslines and synths were originally recorded at a jam session in Melbourne in 2016 and later Ricanstructed by the birger man for the special rooftop party in Melbourne on November 25th. 7inch Limited to 300 copies and comes in 4 different sleeve colours!

Great and often overlooked album produced by Alvin GG Ranglin in 1983 utilising a cast of top class musicians including Willie Lindo, Lloyd Parks, Winston Wright and Mikey Boo Richards at Channel One. Another great reissue from Onlyroots.

Hard to find 1988 Uptemo Digital Roots album from Blacka T, Produced by Augustus Pablo for his label Message. Recorded in Jamaica at Music Works & Tuff Gong with Sylvan Morris & Soljie and in the U.K. at Dub Vendor / Class A studios by Chris Lane.

Easily one of the greatest roots reggae albums of all time, Soul Rebels resulted from the intensive partnership brokered by the group and maverick producer, Lee 'Scratch' Perry. It was the first Wailers 'concept' album, conceived as a long-player based on a rebellious theme, rather than a collection of isolated singles, and the presence of the Barrett Brothers in the rhythm section pointed the way for greater glories to come. The Wailers first formed as an unruly 5-piece in 1963, with Junior Braithwaite as lead singer and Beverley Kelso an early member, sometimes replaced by Cherry Green. During their long tenure at Studio One, Bob Marley gradually shifted to the lead vocal role and the robust core of Marley, Peter Tosh and Neville Livingston, aka Bunny Wailer, soon emerged as the mainstays of the group. Perry was involved with the Wailers at Studio One, using their talents for backing vocals on some of his solo work, but the partnership that yielded Soul Rebels was in an entirely different league. The title track, Tosh's anguished '400 Years and 'Corner Stone' are legendary for their intense power; 'It's Alright' set the template for the later 'Night Shift,' 'My Cup' was an individual barebones reading of James Brown's 'I Guess I'll Have To Cry Cry Cry,' while the playful 'Try Me' and 'No Water' are suggestive odes. Tosh's dejected 'No Sympathy' and the spirited 'Soul Almighty' are other winners and the 'Cloud 9' revamp 'Rebel's Hop' is another joy. All killer, no filler!

In the early 1970s, top-ranking toaster Lester Bullock got his start on the El Paso sound system in the mean streets of western Kingston. Initially known as Young Capone, since he was a protégé of the better-established Dennis Alcapone, he was renamed Dillinger by Lee 'Scratch' Perry, the first producer to record a significant number of tracks with the youth. 'Dub Organiser' and 'Tighten Up Skank' were somewhat popular when released in 1973 and there were individual tracks cut for Phil Pratt, Augustus Pablo, Prince Tony Robinson and Joe Gibbs, as well as Studio One, who issued debut LP, Ready Natty Dreadie, in 1975. By then, Dillinger was recording a series of singles for hit-making produce Bunny 'Striker' Lee, particularly on Johnnie Clarke's rhythms, though recordings for Channel One and the CB 200 album were what catapulted him into overseas consciousness in 1976, once the outstanding single, 'Cokane In My Brain,' reached the European pop charts. Marijuana In My Brain dates from 1977 and placed the toaster over some of the Striker's hottest rhythms, previously utilised for Johnnie Clarke scorchers like 'Satta' and 'Poor Marcus' (along with the odd Ronnie Davis track); Clarke's reading of 'Going To A Ball' is here transformed into an ode to the Bouncing Ball, then one of the most popular clubs for black Londoners, and his 'African Roots' anthem gets the Dillinger treatment too. Of course, the title track was the biggest hit of the bunch, an ode to the 'wisdom weed' driven by cosmic space synth overdubs.

For half a decade, Doncaster deejay Parly B has been a fixture of the UK and international sound system scene. His first album on Glasgow's Scotch Bonnet Records, Lyrics Spree, builds on 2016's EP 'This Is Digital'. Blessed with a voice as deep as Bounty Killer's, a crowing gimmick reminiscent of the great Dennis Alcapone and a bottomless bag of verbosity, Parly is the complete microphone talker. He rides a shopping trolley load of digital rhythms by likeminded producers - including Danny T & Tradesman, Stalawa, Interrupt and Mungo's Hi Fi - ranging from upbeat celebratory skanks to sweltering body winds. Tracks include the exuberant 80s vibes of the title tune, the brass-driven UK sound of You Mi A Look featuring fellow Mungo's mic man Charlie P, and the moody reality chant Skylark. Lyrics Spree is infectious, verbally dexterous dancehall, spraying lyricism in your direction

Lowell Dunbar and Robert Shakespeare are the renowned Jamaican rhythm section that has worked with a range of international stars, including Bob Dylan, Mick Jagger, Joan Armatrading, Garland Jeffries and countless others. They first came to know each other in the early 1970s, when both were based in rival bands playing in clubs on Kingston's Red Hills Road and started working together at Channel One studio in the mid-1970s, when Sly was musical arranger for the Revolutionaries house band and Robbie the main bassist for Bunny Lee's Aggrovators. After a stint of international touring in Peter Tosh's Word, Sound and Power band, which exposed them to the tastes and markets of overseas audiences, the pair joined forces more concertedly with their Taxi label, producing hits with Gregory Isaacs, Dennis Brown, Sugar Minott and the Wailing Souls. At the same time, as the driving force behind the Compass Point All Stars, they brought Grace Jones to prominence worldwide and made Gwen Guthrie a star through reggaefied disco, and then brought Black Uhuru into the top spot in the wake of Bob Marley's passing. Then, when Jamaican music went digital with the 'Sleng Teng' craze of the mid-1980s, Sly and Robbie made the shift in that direction too, becoming among the most prominent producers as the 80s gave way to the 90s. Dubs For Tubs: A Tribute To King Tubby is a digital dub salute to the King issued shortly after his terrible murder; it is mostly comprised of synthesizer re-cuts of classic Jamaican rhythms, with 'Dub For Joy' being a tough re-working of the Heptones' 'Love Me Girl' and 'Dub To Make You Move And Groove' a take on their 'Party Time'; Dennis Brown's 'Here I Come' is here mutated to 'Dub For Roots People' and his 'Here I Come' anthem shifted into the spongy 'Dub For All Seasons.' An intriguing offshoot of 'Sleng Teng' is among the other highlights.

A classic white label that has been out-of-print and hard-to-find for many years is now remastered and reissued with an all-new B side from edit maestro Mr. K. The original release is coveted not only for the quality of the edit but also for the beautiful sonics on the vinyl itself. The sound quality of the vintage release has been meticulously recreated on this new edition.

2 track Single from Augustus Pablo / Alton Ellis released by Stamma/Dub Store Records

2 track Single from Baba Brooks / Patsy Millicent Todd released by Gay Feet/Dub Store Records

2 track Single from Count Ossie Band released by Gay Feet/Dub Store Records

2 track Single from Delano Stewart released by Gay Feet/Dub Store Records

2 track Single from Dennis Alcapone released by Inbidimts/Dub Store Records

2 track Single from Earl Flute / Chuckles released by Mafia/Dub Store Records

2 track Single from George Beaufort / Twelve Tribes Of Israel Band released by Orthodox Muzik/Dub Store Records

2 track Single from Joe Higgs / The Conquerors released by Gay Feet/Dub Store Records

2 track Single from Keith Hudson / Earl Flute & Horace Andy released by Mafia/Dub Store Records

2 track Single from Keith Hudson / Horace Andy & Earl Flute released by Mafia/Dub Store Records

2 track Single from Ken Boothe / Earl Bailey released by Inbidimts/Dub Store Records

2 track Single from Patsy Millicent Todd released by Gay Feet/Dub Store Records

2 track Single from Patsy Millicent Todd / Leslie Butler & Count Ossie released by Gay Feet/Dub Store Records

2 track Single from Roland Alphonso & The Soul Brothers / Tommy McCook released by Studio One/Dub Store Records

2 track Single from The Afrotones / Lynn Taitt & The Jets released by Gay Feet/Dub Store Records

2 track Single from The Conquerors released by Gay Feet/Dub Store Records

2 track Single from The Gaylads released by Gay Feet/Dub Store Records