J ROBINSON Schallplatten & CDs

Review: J Robinson's productions on his own WhoDemSound label are always worth checking, and his latest missive - a hook-up with storied singer El Indio - is no exception. Indio is in fine form on "Roadblock", adding seriously soulful vocals to a Robinson digi-dub riddum (think crispy machine drums, booming bass and jaunty keyboard stabs). As usual, Robinson provides two top-notch flipside versions, "Road Dub" parts one and two. The first of the pair is deliciously rhythm-focused, with various tape delay-laden vocal snippets and piano stabs flitting in and out of the sound space. If anything, the second part is even more spaced out, with lengthy delay trails flitting back and forth across the stereo field. It's our pick of the bunch, though all three tracks are strong.

Review: "In this time of war and crime... in this time of frustration and tribulation... guide us!" A veritably desperate prayer against the vagaries of a newly established Babylon, Whodem's latest Christmas offering on wax hears stalwarts J. Robinson, Whodemsound and Bopper Ranking team up to scramble together every flammable resource possible, to produce something, anything, resembling a guiding light. In other words: desperate times call for radical, rootsier methods. The dub here is just as affecting as the A, basking in the pure freshness of verbed-out rims and lonesome metric-modded delays.