[ aquarius records — Reggae Dub ]

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Showing results 151 through 200 of 699.

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY. Hip hop remix. Rhythm = "Oh Yeah" (Foxy Brown) mixed with Maytals "54-46". B-side says "version" but has Elephant Man's theme song instead.

With an album title like "Log On" you know that Elephant Man wants to let his audience know that he's still on the cutting edge... er, maybe. But this 2001 release does seem to follow in the trend of many rising stars in dancehall by working in a hip hop flavor

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SORRY. Hip hop remix. Rhythm = "Shake Ya Ass" (Mystikal).

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY. Hip hop remix. Rhythm = "One Minute Man" (Missy Elliott).

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SORRY. Hip hop remix. Rhythm = "One Minute Man" (Missy Elliott). B-side says "version" but it actually has Capleton's "Forward Inna Clothes" (different mix?) on it.

Another Jamaican dancehall 7". This time the rhythm is again"One Minute Man" (Missy Elliott). And the B-side has a completely unrelated version. Yes indeed, as the title implies this is Elephant Man and Ricky Rudy paying homage to Bob Marley here, singing a slightly altered version of "Time Will Tell".

MPEG stream: Log On
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Classy!!! That's the first word that comes to mind whenever we think of Alton Ellis and his sister Hortense. Without a doubt, two of the smoothest and most elegant voices to ever be captured on tape. Alton Ellis is not only one of the greatest singers in the history of Jamaican music, he just might be one of the best singers ever! One of THE original artists in the early years of Clement S. Dodd's Studio One, Ellis helped usher in an era of rocksteady and ska that would influence generations to come. But truth be told, Ellis was a classic soul singer. Making words melt in ears, taking sentiments of longing, love, and heartbreak and making them sound so sweet, smooth and irresistible. We've yet to hear a bad track from Ellis which pretty much says it all. With such warm and dreamy Studio One rhythms surrounding the vocals, it just doesn't get any more soulful and seductive then this. Every single one of these 18 tracks is pure gold. And 8 of them are graced by Hortense's equally delightful vocal stylings. The perfect record to mend a broken heart. Music that will make you melt!

MPEG stream: I'm Still In Love With You
MPEG stream: Sitting In The Park
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As a proud rocksteady collector, I'm a little embarrassed to say I never gave Hortense Ellis much time until we got this nice collection in recently. Hortense was the sister of the much-more-famous Alton Ellis, and she dueted with him on many tracks, as

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Recorded circa 1979, this debut record from Noel Ellis (son of reggae legend Alton Ellis), has finally been reissued by the Light In The Attic label as part of their "Jamaica To Toronto" series, launched with the excellent comp of the same name. Vocalist Noel Ellis's hard to find album (originally released in '83) is really fantastic, six tracks of dubby, soulful, spacey reggae grooves, recorded at Summer studios outside of Toronto, a little bit of the West Indies in the Great White North, a place frequented by such local and visiting reggae luminaries as Johnnie Osbourne and Jackie Mittoo (both featured here). One of this album's tracks, originally released as a single in '79, is a killer version of "Rocking Universally", a song later to be covered by the Clash as "Armageddon Time". All in all, another treasure trove of rare reggae essential dug up and dusted off by Light In The Attic. Righteous. In a digipack, with 16-page cd booklet full of in-depth liner notes and vintage color photos.

MPEG stream: To Hail Sellassie
MPEG stream: Rocking Universally

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SORRY. Hip hop remix. Rhythm = "Southern Hospitality" (Ludacris).

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY. Hip hop remix. Rhythm = "Let Me Blow Ya Mind" (Eve).

While the Flying Lizards are best remembered for their new wave / post punk antics in the '70s -- avantgarde electronic novelty covers of pop tunes, most famously the dub influenced tinkering of their jaunty version of "Money (That's What I Want)" from '79, they had a more serious interest in dub and experimentation as well. "The Secret Dub Life..." is an example of such that should not go unnoticed, and here we have a reissue to check out. The somewhat murky story is that back in 1978, Flying Lizards main man David Cunningham was given the chance to remix some tracks laid down by Jah Lloyd and some unidentified Jamaican musicians. Confronted with a mono master only (and with no fancy studio or samplers at his disposal) he had to be rather inventive with the mixes, doing them in his free time so that this album was only fully completed and released in 1995! (Although, his original experience with these mixes informed much of his subsequent work through the eighties, we're told in his liner notes.) Real nice, authentic sounding low-tech ambient dub stuff, loaded with weird sound effects, and really not at all like the Flying Lizards "hits" you may have heard. MPEG Download: "Preface" [/audio/flyinglizardspreface.mp3]

MPEG stream: Preface

Newly reissued on vinyl, here's what we said about the cd: While the Flying Lizards are best remembered for their new wave / post punk antics in the '70s - avantgarde electronic novelty covers of pop tunes, most famously the dub influenced tinkering of their jaunty version of "Money (That's What I Want)" from '79, they had a more serious interest in dub and experimentation as well. "The Secret Dub Life..." is an example of such that should not go unnoticed, and here we have a reissue to check out. The somewhat murky story is that back in 1978, Flying Lizards main man David Cunningham was given the chance to remix some tracks laid down by Jah Lloyd and some unidentified Jamaican musicians. Confronted with a mono master only (and with no fancy studio or samplers at his disposal) he had to be rather inventive with the mixes, doing them in his free time so that this album was only fully completed and released in 1995! (Although, his original experience with these mixes informed much of his subsequent work through the eighties, we're told in his liner notes.) Real nice, authentic sounding low-tech ambient dub stuff, loaded with weird sound effects, and really not at all like the Flying Lizards "hits" you may have heard.

MPEG stream: Preface

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SORRY. Hip hop remix. Rhythm = "What It Is" (Busta Rhymes).

In a career of odd outings, this one is perhaps the oddest, but it works soooo well! This is Serge Gainsbourg's REGGAE DUB record from 1979. But this isn't just a bunch of French cats doing their own take on Jamaican reggae, this one is home-grown in Kingston using some of the finest session players: Sly and Robbie, Rita Marley, Ansell Collins, Judy Mowatt, Marcia Griffiths, and Leroy Wallace doing a full on Compass Point / Lee Perry-style dub and dread burner. There's a story that most of the musicians who signed up for this session first cast a suspicious eye on the white man they were to be working for, but once they figured out this was the man behind "Je T'aime Moi Non Plus", a global make-out hit, the ice was broken and the players were fully on board. And what prevents this from straying into full on camp territory is Gainsbourg's allowance of his tunes to be transformed by the musicians while his vocals stay in the laissez-faire mode of being sort of chanted rather than being sung. Of all the later day Gainsbourg releases out there, this one is really worth your time!

Sometimes you can just look at a record and you know it's gonna be good. And oh it's so nice when that gut feeling turns out to be so right on. Such is the case with this record by the unknown to us until now Gala Drop. Something about its tribal psychedelic cover that caught our eye so we rushed to play it and ever since we've been totally hooked. Deep and hazy electronics and dubbed out percussion creating a sound like Four Tet and Tussle jamming at a seance for King Tubby. So subtly psychedelic and trippy with sounds that melt, linger and pulsate with such sizzling perfection. At times we're even hearing a sound like Heldon doing dub. Wow. The first half of the record is all instrumental and then the last few tracks have really nice, icy cool vocals that play out more like an extra instrument then an actual voice. We even hear hints of the spaciest sides of Sonic Boom (Spacemen 3, Experimental Audio Research) as well as a possible Magma / Christian Vander influence. This Portuguese trio has found a way to make dubbed out sounds that reveal themselves in such swirling patterns and compelling color. So good!

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THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY.

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY. Hip hop remix. Rhythm = "Wait A Minute" (Ray J).

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY. Hip hop remix.

Double cd anthology of rocksteady and reggae tracks from producer Joe Gibbs. Gibbs started his career with a bang, recording Lyn Taitt & the Jets "Hold Them" in 1967 -- a song that would later be hailed as the first rocksteady release. Gibbs had the good

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Collection of Joe Gibbs productions from the late seventies and early eighties tracing the evolution of dancehall and Gibbs' role within it. Working with Sly & Robbie and their group (under Gibbs they were known as the Professionals) Gibbs produced a number of successful tracks and, more importantly, helped establish a modus operandi which would become de rigeur among producers through the eighties on to the present. Most importantly, inspired by Bunny Lee, was the concept of the recycled rhythm -- done to save money (no need to come up with and rehearse a new rhythm, hoping it would become a hit) -- the bulk of which initially came from classic Studio One tracks. Another was the requisite dub side for every single released. While Bunny used King Tubby, Gibbs went to Errol Thompson. Soul Jazz has culled together 19 tracks, both classic and rare, typifing the Gibbs production sound from his most successful period. Included are classics like Culture's "Two Sevens Clash", Junior Murvin's "Cool Out Son", oddballs like the Joe Gibbs & The Professionals sound effects laden dub "Massive Fire" and the troll like vocal track "Dreader Mafia" by Snuffy And Wally. Includes a 14 page booklet of liner notes and historic photos.

MPEG stream: Massive Fire
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A real nice collection of dubs from Joe Gibbs and Errol Thompson. The two were responsible for recording some of Jamaica's hottest tunes in the mid-seventies. Joe Gibbs was an electrical engineer by trade, but was seduced into the music business after he began selling records on the side in his television / radio repair shop. His early successes in his career eventually led him to an introduction to Randy's legendary house engineer Errol Thompson who he subsequently stole away from the studio, forming a lasting and very successful professional relationship. The dubs here are all taken from roots productions the two did at the height of their career. Along with lots of great keyboard and piano solos, echoey horn sections, and the reverbed out rocker rhythms of Sly Dunbar there are plenty of dubs which show off the uninhibited creativity of the pair: using mics to pick up car horns, bubbling and running water, crying babies and other sound effects to mix into the pot. Comes with a decent four pages of liner notes, photos and a handsome outer paper sleeve.

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This appears to be dub versions of tracks from the Gorillaz record. Said outfit, you will recall, is a project of AQ-pal Dan the Automator (Dr. Octagon, Deltron 3030) with main guests Damon Albarn (Blur), Miho Hatori etc. Bearing little resemblance to the original Gorillaz album, or indeed its other, first remix record spinoff, all vestiges of rock and hip hop are stripped away in order for the bass to get heavier, the vocals to get echo-ier, the pace to slow down. As dub, it's decent, if a trifle formulaic. Melodica, horns, organs, even a flute round out the sound. This is my favorite of the Gorillaz-related projects.

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New dub / jazz project brewed here in the Bay Area. Reggae backbone with jazz soloing on guitar, organ, trombone, trumpet, saxophone, flute and vibes. Features many local jazz heads including Gino Robair, Jeff Chan and even local turntablist DJ Zeph. Only available on LP at this time.

Wow! This is by far the best modern dub record we've heard in ages! And you know we love us some vintage dub (Lee Perry, King Tubby, Prince Jammy, etc.) but we've been pretty underwhelmed with so much newly recorded dub these days. Most dub records recorded in the last decade tend to be nothing more but slick exercises in smoothed out reggae and cheesy electronics. Maybe perfect for swanky lounges and as backdrops for radio dj's but when we want dub we want it to be in our face, raw and vibrant, sizzling and brimming with heat and magic. And the debut full length from Habitat Sound System delivers just that! This is REAL dub, designed to ring in your ears and move your body. No laptops or electronic middle of the road shortcuts here, instead you get a record that echoes with the true sound of organic dub. The instrumentation includes bass, piano, melodica, harmonica, organ, trumpet, electric and acoustic guitar, array mbira, analog synth and of course tasty blown out vocals. When demos from this record started surfacing, dub folks were freaking out, as they were hungry for something new and exciting in a scene that had been overtaken by dull and predictable modern dub, drab and boring and so pointless. Even some of the true originals like Scientist and Mad Professor heard this and gave it major props, in fact Mad Professor ended up doing additional mixing, and even mastered the disc. We first heard Habitat Sound System, fronted by Irwin's brother Preston, earlier this year on a great split with Monosov Swirnoff on Eclipse records, and while this is a way different beast than what Swirnoff does when he plays with Ilya Monosov or in his psych-rock outfit The Shining Path, there is no doubt that he definitely has his finger on the pulse of dub in a way that's been totally kicking our asses! When we first got this in and were playing it in the store, it not only had everyone working nodding their heads and subtly sort of grooving, but customers who instantly bought copies didn't believe us when we told them it was a brand new record, as they were convinced that this was a lost seventies gem from Jamaica. Truth is, Habitat Sound System have created a timeless and near perfect slab of summery dub. So damn good and of course highly recommended!

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Many of you might remember that several years ago we flipped for the debut release from Habitat Sound System, a dub-centric project lead by Preston Swirnoff (Monosov/Swirnoff, The Shining Path, etc, and our very own Irwin's brother!). It was one of the most warm and authentic sounding new dub records we had heard in ages. We've been patiently waiting for more, and the wait was so worth it! This new 10" finds HSS expanding their sound, into something warmer, more lush, more mystical. While it's still rooted in the history of classic dub, it's a looser and more expansive interpretation this time out. Any time you can make a record that sounds perfect alongside David Axelrod, Cedric Im Brooks, Count Ossie, any Ethiopiques collection, and even a Slits record, you've stumbled onto something so deliciously golden and unique! It's refreshing to hear all these analog sounds set amidst some truly rich instrumentation - organ, piano, melodica, synths, guitar, horns, flute, balafon, bass. Swirnoff and his talented entourage (David Hurley, Ilya Monosov, Zuri Waters, Manny Vega, etc) are modern masters. One minute a song is riding a thick dubbed out groove, and then suddenly in comes some tripped out psych guitar transforming the sound into something impossibly lush and hypnotic... While most modern groups trying to make classic sounding dub these days play it safe by going the predictable ultra minimal route, Honeydrippers demonstrates the exciting possibility of having a more expansive musical vision and using dub as a backdrop to that music, stretching the sound, sparkling, twisting and turning, creating a whole new sound that hits so hard, deep and emotionally resonant... Highly recommended! (There were only 300 of these pressed, and we only have a handful, so you know what that means.)

Limited edition 7" from one of our favorite modern day dub makers. Features a brand new track that was not on the full length that we flipped out about a few years back. The 'b' side is a remix by Dub Traffik Control. We only have a couple of these laying around and then this is gone for good.

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SORRY. Hip hop remix. Rhythm = "Get Ur Freak On" (Missy Elliott).

THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

SORRY.

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SORRY.

The Brothers Hinds return with another eclectic release. Don't let the title fool ya, this is a far cry from a typical dub mix collection. It's a super trippy meltdown of jazz, drum'n'bass, and yes, some dub too. As always, well executed and with a few unexpected twists thrown into the mix.

Great two disc anthology of Jamaican vocalist John Holt's output throughout the sixties and seventies. Holt is probably most known for his work throughout the late sixties as the vocalist for The Paragons and, more specifically, the song "The Tide Is High",

RealAudio clip: Ali Baba
RealAudio clip: Got To Get Away
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This long sought after collector's item holy grail finally gets reissued. And while we don't exactly have the same Pavlovian response when slapping this album on the deck as the collecting world at large does, it's an interesting document nonetheless. Primarily it is Hudson's fragile, practically off key, trembling voice baring himself wide open for the whole world that makes this record almost creepy. The production here is standard fare, not as out there as his later Wackies collaboration "Playing It Cool & Playing It Right" which we listed before, and possibly a little too dependent on synthy-sounding keyboards for an early seventies Jamaican release. But still pretty cool.

MPEG stream: Flesh Of My Skin
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Lotsa folks we know seemed real excited about the prospect of this reissue. Apparently this 1981 album, a collaboration between Hudson and fellow Jamaican turned Yank Lloyd Barnes (Wackies), was reknowned as an especially far-out dub treatment, way gone on the studio fuckery as these things go. Having now heard it, we agree that the production IS a big part of this record's appeal. But it's not THAT experimental, really. We think it's just as great that it's such a sunny n' soulful slice of Jamaican vocal/groove reggae. Sure it's super dubbed out at a times, with sped up/slowed down tapes, massive echo fx, filters, distortion, all that good stuff, but these songs are also really soulful and smooth, funky even. Actually, we're really reminded of the loose, swampy sound of Funkadelic's early efforts. Productionwise, this is druggy, sure -- not as wasted as the LSD-fried production of Funkadelic's "Free Your Mind And Your Ass Will Follow", but close at times. Anyway we're talking about dub reggae here, laid back and head noddin'. Dub fans take note, this is a good 'un. It's over a half-hour long but seems kinda short just 'cause it's so good and groovy that you just want it to keep on keeping on...but that's what the repeat button is for. So, excellent call on the part of Basic Channel's new Jamaican reissue imprint Basic Replay for making this album available again!

MPEG stream: Playing It Cool
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1976 recordings of some classic toasting by I Roy. Produced by Bunny Lee and Recorded at King Tubby's studio.