Review: The Alien Edits label and in-house and eponymous production outfit serves up a pair of banging, Summer festival primed house edits. The first is a shuffle, high inapt take on a Wailer's classic with the original vocals left in for maximum bait for dancers. On the flip, it's another stone-cold gem that gets the treatment with 'Abacadabra' reworked into a big, bubbly house sound complete with vocoded Steve Miller vocals coming back from the future to infuse it with irresistibly hooky energy.
Review: Bob & Marcia's Young Gifted & Black album on Trojan came back in 1970 and was produced by Harry J. It included the title track, which was a UK top five hit that has remained a favourite. The cool and breezy groove carries a potent socio-political message and lo-fi drums that lodge deep. It is reissued here on anew 45rpm that is featured alongside Marcia Griffiths' soulful 'Working To The Top' which mixes authentic reggae and slightly more swaggering ska vibes and heartfelt, steady groove. Together, these tracks take it back to a golden age of reggae and are perfect for loud plays on sound systems this summer.
Cornell Campbell - "Heading For A Mountain" (3:00)
The Aggrovators - "Joe Frazer" (3:27)
Review: This rare gem from Bunny Lee's famously accomplished catalogue gets a welcome reissue and pairs a hard-to-find 1973 Cornell Campbell B-side, 'Heading For A Mountain', which was originally released on Duke UK, with a cosmic dub scorcher. The Cornell vocal is a soulful yet obscure cut that floats over a rootsy rhythm with a gloppy and wonderful bassline. On the flip, The Aggrovators 'Joe Frazer' is named in honour of the late great heavyweight legend of the 1970s. It's a great example of early synth experimentation in reggae with some filtered and shape-shifting leads reaching for the stars as the earth rhythms keep things rooted. A crucial slice of vintage roots and dub, full of mystery, groove and invention.
Review: A rare gem from the golden age of early reggae, this 1970 cut by Justin Hinds was originally released on a Duke Reid 7". It gets a welcome reissue here but still has plenty of lo-fi aesthetics, vinyl crackle and dusty sound that keeps it authentic rather than overly polished. Hinds' soulful vocal delivery and signature rhythm style shine as they capture the spirit of the era with subtle flair. On the flip side, a slinky, instrumental organ version by Gus McIntyre adds serious depth and makes this an irresistible double-sider or cracking up nice and loud through some towering speaker stacks.
Review: "Inokasira Rangers" translates from the Japanese to mean "Park Rangers". Living up to the name, this band's dub and rocksteady versions are like natural conservation efforts. Re-rendering their chosen songs in bobbing dub, Nirvana's grunge roll 'Smells Like Teen Spirit' is first revitalised, transformed into a sustainable form: "jello, hello, how low" becomes a relatively spooky perennation of Hammond, while Krist Novoselic's accompanying basslines become chop guitar, emblematic of the rocksteady movement. Meanwhile, Kool & The Gang's 'Summer Madness' is lent an eerier, dream-strung dub version, with an underwater wah effect providing an extra tchotchke on the windowsill of history.
Review: Tokyo's Inokasira Rangers have been crafting lo-fi reggae since the 1990s, yet remained a rather hidden gem outside Japan. Their release 'Can't Take My Eyes Off You' finally changed that when it dropped initially back in 2023 and sold out in quick time so now gets reissued. The A-side reimagines Frankie Valli's classic with a laid-back reggae twist while the B-side takes on Crystal Waters' '90s dance anthem with surprising charm. Infused with a subtle Shibuya-kei flair, both covers feel fresh yet timeless. The Waters rendition, in particular, sounds like a forgotten folk tune-so natural it's hard to believe it wasn't always this way. A breezy, nostalgic delight from a band overdue for global recognition.
Review: Rocksteady revivalists Inosikira Rangers have built a long and successful career out of unlikely cover versions, delivering killer reggae style interpretations of everything from 'Smells Like Teen Spirit', 'Anarchy In The UK' and 'Creep', to 'Born Slippy', 'Like a Virgin' and 'Happy'. Here, two of their most popular and potent covers are brought together for the first time on one "45". On side A they handle New Order's 'Blue Monday', re-casting it as a Hammond-heavy slab instrumental rocksteady, with Bernard Sumner's vocals being replaced by extended organ solos. Over on the flip, they slow down and skank out Kraftwerk's 'Autobahn', throwing in nods to krautrock and a dash of robotic vocoder to keep things fresh.
Review: Japan's best covers outfit, Inokasira Rangers, once again scores another knockout in dub. This time the instrumental group have procured a jaunty Louis "Satchmo" Armstrong ballad and a Glen Campbell re-blend respectively. Both songs have been lent a warm, clear-cut rocksteady flavour, substituting trademark vocal lines for instrumental renderings (both originals contain bittersweet legatos and leaping intervals, and deal in themes of gratitude and nostalgia, making it an extra challenge for the Hammond and electric piano to replicate them). But the task is nonetheless won, and pristine clarity achieved!
Curtis Baker & The Bravehearts - "Wooly Bully" (2:26)
Review: Across four artists and four versions, Original Gravity present 'Woolly Bully', a woollen repackaging of the longtime Sam Sham & The Pharoahs classic. Laid down in 1964, this terpsichorean prancer kept to a 12-bar blues progression, and made for the first American record to sell a million copies during the storied British Invasion. Its mixture of skiffly British rock and Mexican-American conjunto was an intentional blend, and a succesful one at that. Its enduring impact is now felt in these rollicking cover versions from Junior Dell, Donnoya Drake, Luchito & Nestor Alvarez and Curtis Baker, all roomy, costume vintage retrofits of the original. Listen closely to the lyrics for strange talk of a mythical creature: the original song's lyrics were so strange that some radio stations banned it for fear of popular befuddlement.
Junior Dell & The D-Lites - "Watch That Girl (Little Fatty Boom Boom)" (3:30)
Woodfield Rd Allstars - "Sharpen Up!" (3:11)
Review: Junior Dell & The D Lites so often and so brilliantly work together and this is another fin example of it. Red hot vibes and sunny soul flow freely throughout the airy and breezy 'Watch That Girl (Little Fatty Boom Boom)', which muses on a passing beauty with a lovely behind. It's a single bursting with catchy hooks and tight rhythms topped by Junior Dell's charismatic vocals and all coated in nice authentic lo-fi fuzz and analogue warmth. The Woodfield Rd Allstars provide a Hammond organ-laced groove with brighter melodies and still lush, dynamic instrumental backdrops that elevate the song's lively edge.
Prince Buster with Determinations - "Ten Steps Ahead" (3:58)
Determinations - "Two Steps Back" (3:44)
Review: Rock A Shaka continue to wring out their apparently exclusive tenancy of Prince Buster's so far unissued reggae and rocksteady works, this time dropping a fresh 7" one with the instrumentalist Determinations on dubbing duties, 'Ten Steps Ahead'. Buster's final recording before he died initially went by the name 'One Step Beyond', and it has here been renamed in requiem, perhaps to differentiate it from the repopularised Madness cover. Lodged behind the vault door for years, you can be sure that Rock A Shaka thanked their lucky stars when they re-found it: "why must I suffer so much on this land?" Buster's voice is unusually lonesome and spectral, revealing in the late artist a rarely obviated forlornness.
Nothing Can Come Between Us (Disco Boogie 45 version) (5:09)
Review: Who doesn't love a bit of sophisticated soul? We certainly do and it's always good to hear some reworks of the soul great's finest cuts for the dancefloor. And that's what we have here on a new 7" that opens with a disco version of 'Nothing Can Come Between Us' and doesn't go hard, instead building in some gentle drums and lo-fi melodies, swooning vocals and a mystical late night sense of romance. On the flip, we get a lovers rock version of 'Cherish The Day' which adds plenty of lovely guitar lines to bring that island vibe while the shuffling drums lock you in gently.
The Beat On The Street (feat Donovan Kingjay) (3:02)
Button Down (2:27)
Dis Sound Run Town (feat Horseman) (2:41)
Rudi's Serenade (2:35)
Review: Guillermo aka Existencia Pasajera is part of a new wave of artists from the Andes who is making rightful waves in the wider underground. He's got a few great releases dropping this year, and this one on the tasteful Prozpektiva is among them. 'Dreamless' starts off with an eerie piano progression that is suspenseful and noir as twitchy techno beats and synths bring an intergalactic feel. 'Universal Express (feat Dismal)' is a brightly melodic tech stomper with Italo overtones and then hints of garage underpin the nice and punchy 'Now Or Never'. 'Disco Cydonia' (feat Dismal)' best more wiry and weird again then 'Space Groove' closes out with more celestial energy and squelchy acid lines.
Review: Laurel Aitken's High Priest of Reggae album is an early classic of the genre from 1969, and it captures the ska pioneer at a pivotal moment when he was blending his Jamaican roots with the evolving UK reggae scene. It came on Pama Records and shows Aitken's versatility with cuts like 'Jesse James' and 'Landlords and Tenants,' both a testament to his storytelling lyrical prowess over inventive rhythms down low. Songs such as 'Haile Selassie' reflect his engagement with the burgeoning roots reggae movement, while the classic crossover jam 'Skinhead Train' nods to his influence on the skinhead subculture. This album earned Aitken the status of the "Godfather of Ska" and it's easy to hear why listening back to this reissue.
Blitzkrieg Bop (Jamrock Dub) (feat Susan Cadogan & Welton Irie)
Sheena Is A Rudie Now (Sheena Is A Punkrocker) (feat Alpheus & Ranking Joe)
I Wanna Be Sedated (feat Prince Ella & U Brown)
Do You Wanna Dance? (feat Sebastian Sturm & Ranking Joe)
Pet Sematary (feat Shniece & Horseman)
I Wanna Be Your Boyfriend (feat Keith & Tex, Dennis Alcapone)
The KKK Took My Baby Away (feat Jr Thomas & Ranking Joe)
I Believe In Miracles (feat Earl 16 & Oku Onuora)
Now I Wanna Sniff Some Glue (Featt Keith & Tex, U Brown)
Review: What if The Ramones had formed in Kingston, not New York? Swapping the raw energy of MC5 and The Stooges for the deep, echo-drenched sonics of King Tubby, their rebellious spirit would take on a whole new sound, one rooted in rocksteady and dub while keeping its punk urgency intact. Enter Dubmones, the latest project from the minds behind the 2008 album DubXanne (The Police in Dub). Reimagining Ramones classics through a dub filter, Dubmones In Dub transforms 'Blitzkrieg Bop', 'Sheena Is A Punk Rocker' and 'I Wanna Be Sedated' into a rocksteady-punk hybrid. A star lineup of vocalists - be they Dennis Alcapone, Keith & Tex, U Brown, Prince Alla, Earl 16, Ranking Joe and Susan Cadogan - brings said alt-history to life in full, bass-heavy glory.
Review: Built on two decades of collaboration between drummer Sam Hobbs and bassist Neil Innes - no relation to the Monty Python and Rutles man of the same name - the pair's new ATA project blends rootsy Jamaican groove with the syncopated strut of New Orleans funk. Though technically a new release, it's more a continuation than a debut: the lineup includes jazz organist Bob Birch and session guitarist Chris Dawkins, drawing from deep wells of soul, rocksteady and r&b. Tracks like 'Grafter' and 'Bust Up' land squarely in the crossover zone between Studio One and The Metersiraw but slick, with a tight pocket and loose-limbed flair. 'An Autumn Sun' leans sweet and sentimental, while 'Strong Fish' pays organ-heavy homage to Jackie Mittoo's Hot Milk-era work. Elsewhere, 'Power Cut' and 'Night Bus' arrive with horn motifs that seem tailored to I Roy-style toasting, and 'Tough Swagger' is a heavy-lidded jam that could've wandered in off a Bunny Lee tape. But it's 'Iron Fist' that best captures the group's method: groove-first, melody-second, built on intuition and the friction of mismatched rhythms. Despite the vintage touchstones, it never feels like pasticheithe record balances reverence with invention, keeping one foot in Kingston and the other in Treme. For a group with so much history, it sounds impressively fresh.
Review: LA based Black Market Dub like to rework great artists of decades gone by through a new sound system lens. This time it is the great 80s pop duo Hall & Oates who get the treatment with six of their most well-known tunes all reworked at slower tempos, with natty guitars, horns and rolling rhythms bring a new and sunny perspective. 'Private Eyes' in particular sounds superbly laid back and sun kissed for Balearic sessions and 'Maneater' also does the business with the original vocals soaring over lazy chords and amidst oodles of echo and reverb.
Review: One of Bob Marley's most acclaimed LPs on reissue here, and it's an album that overflows with funk, poise, and defiant overtones. Marley recorded the album in 1977 after surviving an assassination attempt at his home in Jamaica. Following the attack, he left the country and relocated to London, and it's here that the collection was captured. At times a commentary on the political violence that blighted Jamaica during the era, other times joyful celebration, the music is some of the reggae icon's most potent. The hypnotic groove and chanted vocals of the title track are an obvious standout, as are the feel-good flex of 'Jammin' and the heartfelt vulnerability of 'Is This Love'. Presented as a double pack, all the music gets the groove spacing it so richly deserves.
Review: This electrifying 1973 live broadcast captures Bob Marley & The Wailers during their US tour supporting the Burnin' album. Originally aired on KSAN-FM, the set showcases the legendary lineup of Bob Marley, Peter Tosh, Aston "Familyman" Barrett, Carlton Barrett, Earl "Wire" Lindo and Joe Higgs, all of whom were at the peak of their powers. The album takes in standout cuts from Burnin', including unforgettable contributions from Tosh and the performance follows their short-lived stint touring with Sly & The Family Stone. It's an unfiltered, visceral document of reggae history in the making that reflects the Wailers' seismic impact just before they exploded into international stardom.
Review: Veteran Wackie's artist and reggae don Coozie Mellers returns with a fresh ten-track long player that bridges the label's deep roots heritage with modern reggae sensibilities. It blends crisp digital rhythms with heartfelt lovers' rock and roots textures and features the standout track 'You Move', which was previously released as a 10" single in 2015. Mellers' vocals are beautifully soulful and glide over the smart dubwise arrangements and bring a mix of both warmth and grit, with jams like 'Special Friend' unfurling slowly and seductively and 'Your Love Is Dangerous' being sentimental heart swellers.
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