Back catalogue: Reggae

Review: We may not all have Common Ground between us, but we can certainly agree on many things when we look back on our vernal roots. This fresh 7" by the UK label homes in on one of the greatest lights to brave the Caribbean sonic Sea, Al Campbell. 'When Spring Is Around' was put out again by the label only last year alongside Ansel Collins on the B, but now a properly labelled version also materialises through their sublabel Jah Fingers. Campbell's canny song is a crackly breeze, detailing the lush renewal of love in the earliest months of the year. Keep your frog's hunkers coiled for this one, so that you can spring on it when Spring springs!

Review: Periodica sublabel Serie Pegaso launched last year to carry further works from the network of artists related to the Italian groove stable. After a mini album from Rosa and an LP from The Funkin' Machine, the latest drop features a new project called Capinera. If you're into any of the sounds Periodica are known for, you're sure to find a lot to love about this sunny slice of synthy, yacht-ready disco funk. 'Il Volo' is nestled on the A-side in a swirl of smooth sax, mellow chords and a supremely laid back rhythm section. 'Suonno' on the flip has a slightly peppier step, but it's still chilled enough to keep from breaking a sweat. This is sophisticated party music, after all.

Review: Jahug is a brand new label that kicks off with a heavy rhythm from Carl I aka producer Carl Gayle. 'Deputy Dawg' is the tune and it has a low-slung low end that is couched in plenty of warm reverb. The vocals up top are raw and unaffected and filled with a sense of yearning. Add in some fresh hits and classic reggae guitar riffs and you have a nice fresh roots cut. On the flip, more horns are brought to the fore to give it some subtle warrior energy while extra effects and fleshy reverb all add more weight to the original.

Review: CASQUIAT's ability to balance heavy, floor-filling beats with thoughtful, experimental layers is on full show in this new 7" from DATUM. The two cuts push the boundaries of hip-hop and bring in a raw electronic edge. 'The Stopper' is a high-energy cut that collides skittering percussion and intricate rhythms to make for an intense yet hypnotic club vibe. In contrast, OG Ranks takes a deeper, more introspective route with moody undertones, spacious production, and a sharp focus on atmospheric tension. They make for a fine yin and yang and cannot fail to make their mark in the club.

Review: The mighty Chazbo is behind this heavyweight new 12" on Dubshop.nl. It come son bright yellow wax and opes with 'New Life' which is a classic and tough stepper with tumbling bass notes, wet hits and endless reverb all making it a plump, inviting, fat as you like dub sound. The dub version is even more fleshy and dropping wet and a Dubplate mix adds more subtle, melon twisting studio desk trickery. 'Shaka The Great' keeps the vibes flowing in the flip and gets the same two mixes to make for a broad and brilliant package.

Review: The first in the Reggae 45 Series, Cheeba's Reggae Sound Boys reimagines classic Jamaican sounds from the 60s and 70s, blending them with fresh beats, samples and FX for a modern twist. Expect skanking breaks and deep, dubwise grooves that serve as a nod to reggae's roots while pushing boundaries. This release delivers both nostalgia and innovation, capturing the spirit of classic reggae with a unique edge, designed to keep the energy high and the vibes flowing for fans of the genre.

Review: The reissue of Annette Clarke's 'Sinner Man,' produced by the legendary Lee Perry, is a gem for reggae enthusiasts and vinyl collectors. Released on Harlem Shuffle Records, this 7" vinyl brings back the sought-after 1973 track that seamlessly blends reggae with a touch of ska, adding an extra layer of allure for fans of the genre. Side-1 features the original 'Sinner Man,' a track from early reggae days while hinting at the infectious energy of ska. Clarke's vocals are compelling, and Perry's production gives the song a timeless quality. On Side-2, the Lee Perry dub version takes the track to another dimension. With heavy echo effects and the rhythm pushed into the background, Perry's dub creates an immersive experience that highlights his genius as a producer.

Review: Progressive quartet Combo Chimbita launches their own label with a psychedelic-infused track merging dub reggae's rootsiness with cumbia's guacharo and chicha-influenced guitar. 'Margarita' and its dub counterpart 'Nene' form a lush duo that marks a new phase in Combo Chimbita's evolving sound. After honing their act from an improvisational collective to a captivating ensemble, they entered a period of introspection and experimentation and sought guidance from producer Victor Axelrod, aka Ticklah. With a focus on their Colombian roots, they fused traditional elements with reggae nuances, exploring themes of displacement and identity. This release symbolises their journey.

Review: Coyote release the second instalment of their continuing journey into all things Dub. 2 heavyweight tracks with their own unique expression of Dubness. Always ever-present in Coyote productions in some form or another here its front and centre.For big speakers and squidgy black.'Light like a feather-heavy as lead'

Review: Timeless digital roots and dub from The Disciples here featuring the late Jamaican singer Creation Stepper, who i most famously well known for his iconic 70s roots reggae classics. This release includes a fresh take on Stepper's 1978 track, 'Kill Nebuchadnezzar' and it is paired with another vocal gem, 'Ozone Layer,' plus two powerful dub versions. Originally mixed and produced by Russ D in The Disciples' studio in 1991, this music finally saw the light of day in 2011 on the Disciples Vintage label where it quickly sold out. Now back on a great sounding 12", this is a must for roots and dub heads.

Review: The Plymouth soundsystem and collective known as No Ice Cream Sound take their namesake after the historic Johnny Osbourne song 'No Ice Cream Sound', which hears one of the many most popular faces and voices of reggae decry "ice cream sound", his shorthand for tunes and soundboys who'd dare soften the original intended rawness of roots music. Here the boys take a thousand-watt megabulb to a gelato the size of a glacier with 'This & That', which hears residents Charlie P and Jman go back to back, trading verses and rhythms in a soundsystemic pattern. Fusing influences of both rubadub and roots, the two versions featured here are truly twin whirlwinds, not for slackened belts by any stretch.

Review: Cool Up Records's latest 12" maxi single features Spanish vocalist Yeyo Perez on two dynamic tracks, each presented in dual versions. 'King inna di Ring' and 'Burning in Flames' is fresh digital reggae that pays homage to traditional Jamaican MCs while infusing authentic new school style. The A-side showcases Perez's commanding vocals over a bass-driven groove, which is reminiscent of classic reggae clashes. Powered by the Casio MT-40 keyboard, it embodies the signature digital-dub sound and on the B-side, 'Burning in Flames' introduces Coronel Brown's smooth chorus, blending lovers' rock with Perez's rugged delivery. Crafted with dub and riddim variations, alongside rich instrumentation, this release exemplifies Cool Up's production prowess.

Review: A rather calming lovers rock track reissued on 12". When reggae drummer Lindel Lewis teamed up with singers Vincent Taylor and Claudia, few could anticipate the sonic romance that would blossom. 'You, Me & He' seems to capture two such triangulations, one lying at the heart of the real collaboration between artists, and the other evoked in the imaginary love tryst explored in the song. Wafty reverb vocals from the sweetly voiced Claudia give an admissive, coy impression of the persona she channels, which is lent a soothing antiphony from Taylor. Lewis, meanwhile, evidences his solo drumming and dubbing chops on the smooth 'Me & He' versions under the name One Man Band, twinning coldness and haziness.

Review: French-Spanish, Latin soul and Afrobeats singer-songwriter Manu Chao returns to the fore with Viva Tu ('Long Live You'), a heartwarming Latin ska and worldbeat album dedicated to uncovetable, amicable neighbourly relations between members of the public. After the release of the eponymous lead single, the full record comes now in full cordial force. With its sleepily descendant vocals giving off the sense of a narrator too sunkissed to care, Viva Tu is an al fresco listening experience, one that also nonetheless betrays Chao's seasoned, well-tanned skin in the game. Now 63, this is a comeback album "inspired by (Chao's) travels and people's daily lives", and it hears him hark after something like a universal language, flexing his multilingual chops by singing in Spanish, French, Portuguese and English. All this forms part of Chao's mission to address the various global issues facing humanity today, in such a manner as only he can do best; he treats music as a vehicle for a humanistic global activism, aiming to promote anti-capitalist, antifascist and without-borders content.

Review: French Latin ska/dancehall artist Manu Chao (Los Carayos, Hot Pants) shares 'Viva Tu', his latest single pre-empting his upcoming solo summer stomper of an album. A wholesome ode to the neighbourly charms of his Chao's home city, 'Viva Tu' translates to "long live you!", and sports a universal message of simple merriment and streetwise hobnobbing. From "the one who sells tickets on the subway, to the street-sweeper", Chao's call for love - mediated by the irresistible sweetmeats of rhythm guitar and trilling ad-libs - excludes no-one. It's also a great, sweet-hearted song.

Review: For the label's latest essential two-disc trawl through the archives of Jamaican music culture, Doctor Bird has decided to take us back to the late 1970s and the dawn of dancehall - then a kind of harder, more upbeat take on reggae rather than the drum machine-powered rhythmic powerhouse it became. The Volcano Dancehall Albums Collection features a quartet of full-length excursions produced by early dancehall hero Henry 'Junjo' Lawes: Barrington Levy's influential 'Bounty Hunter', 'Weh Dem a Go Do' by young deejay/toaster Cocoa Tea, and a pair of sets by fellow patois proto-rapper Charlie Chaplin ('Sound System' and the superb 'Dancehall Rockers'). Throw in a handful of essential bonus cuts (including the full 12" version of Barrington Levy's take on Horace Andy favourite 'Skylarking') and you have an indispensable collection of formative dancehall classics.