Back catalogue: Reggae

Review: South London's Slick n Bobby arrive in time for sound system season with a heavyweight debut that marries live dub chaos and hefty low-end sonics. Their double-sided single delivers two jolts of bass-driven, earth-shattering menace, both pressed loud and built for serious systems. The A-side, 'Belly Dub,' channels Boy In Da Corner-era sino-grime with eerie precision while 'OSOTB' dives into deeper dub territory-it has fluid, hypnotic and bass-loaded rhythms no one can ignore. Both tunes are nicely gritty, raw and finely tuned for chest-rattling impact so make for a bold and blistering entry into the UK dub underground.

Review: 70s and early 80s Jamaican producer Keith Hudson's approach to dub was never about smooth edges or easy rhythms. His productions are dense, disorienting, heavy with delay, bass and drums that sound like they're ricocheting down a well. The Soul Syndicate, his long-time studio band, provide the backbone hereideeply locked-in grooves that Hudson warps into something ghostly. 'No Commitment' staggers forward with stabbing guitar chops that seem to dissolve mid-strike, while 'Ire Ire' loops through warped vocal fragments and echo chambers that stretch into infinity. 'Bad Things' and its dub counterpart pull apart the rhythm until it feels skeletal, each hit landing in the empty space between delay trails. Hudson's use of reverb and tape manipulation isn't just about atmosphere, but about control as well. He shifts and reshapes the mix to turn steady rhythms into something unsteady, always shifting just out of reach. 'Desiree' drifts through flickering hi-hats and cavernous low-end, while 'Keeping Us Together' seems to slow down and speed up in the same breath. There's something darker, more claustrophobic in the way he structures space and silence. Even the brighter moments, like 'Mercy' with its open, rolling groove, carry an unease, as if the music itself is bracing for collapse. Hudson was an architect of mood, twisting familiar elements into something deeply immersive and strangely hypnotic.