Audio

STUDIO PANKOW -Heidelberger Platz -(City Centre Offices)
MURMUR -Polar -(Meanwhile)
THE CONNECTION MACHINE -Perception Fuse -(Down Low)
NOBODY -Tori Oshi -(Plug Research)
POPULOUS -Hip-Hop Cocotte -(Morr Music)
BARBARA MORGENSTERN and ROBERT LIPPOK -Winter -(Monika)
SANSO-XTRO -The Last Leaf -(Type)
NACHT PLANK -Carhaix Nonant -(Lampse)
THE REMOTE VIEWER -Last Night You Said Goodbye, Now It Seems Years -(City Centre Offices)
WORKING FOR A NUCLEAR FREE CITY -The Tape -(Blowout)
PARA ONE ft. TES & TTC -Beat Down -(Shadetek)
COUNT BASS D -Dollar Bill -(Ramp)
EDAN -Promised Land -(Lewis)
SOLO-MAN SPECTRUM -Popcorn In Heaven -(Botanica Del Jibaro)
SONAR BASE -Processing Plant -(SCSI-AV)
ADJ -B-Line -(Outside)
DR LINDH -Professor Laphroaigh -(SCSI-AV)
JEREMY ELLIS -'Lil 808 Thing -(Ubiquity)
PENDLE COVEN -R.E.S.P.E.C.T. -(Modern Love)
UNKNOWN ARTIST -Dry Ice Dub -(Shadetek)
DJ PINCH & P.DUTTY -Alien Tongue -(Tectonic)
STRATEGY -Unknown -(Community Library)
JOHN CONVERTINO -Curb -(Sommerweg)
CHRISTIAN WALLUMROD ENSEMBLE -A Year >From Easter #2 -(ECM)
RYAN TEAGUE -Prelude #2 -(Type)
GRIM DUBS -Volume 4A1 -(Werk)

Audio

Tommy Guerrero and Gadget-Funny to party-Function
Sun Electric-Tee-Apollo
Smadj-C’est comme si c’etait-Mind the Gap
X-Plastaz-Msimu kwa msimu-Out Here
Retina.it-Le buitar-Mousikelab
Ania Losinger-Xala pt. 11-Tonus Music
Epo -Doorstep-Scape
Riojii Ikeda-3’33’’-Staalplaat
De Portables-Flash (half way)-Kraak
Es-Sadepaivat-Fonal
James Mark Thomas-Ballad of Quecreek Mine-Beau Rivage
Si-Cut.db-Long Player-
Bembeya Jazz National-Armee Guineenne-Sterns’ Africa
Mix Master Mike-Full Range Ear Muff-Immortal
Ariel Pink-Immune to Emotion-Paw Tracks
MJ Hibbett-Work’s all right (if a proper job)-Artists against success
Louis Prima-Basin Street Blues-Putumayo
Danyel Waro-Bayoun-Rough Guide
Baka Beyond-Kobo-March Hare Music
Cottonwood-Self Talk 1977-Sans Culottes
Kate and Anna McGarrigle-Sunflower-Munich Records
Jose Gonzalez-Crosses-PeaceFrog
Cracklebox -Winter Instrumental-Earsugar Jukebox
Marco Passarani-Earth’s Heart-Peacefrog
Ether-Contra-Mousike Lab
Pan/tone-No pecas par favor-Bip Hop

Audio

Plant Life-When she smiles she lights the sky-Easy League
Chaka Khan-We Got Each Other-Warner Bros
Vanhunt-Down Here In Hell-Capitol
The Rebirth-Shahe It-Kajmere
A Bossa Electrica-Skindo Lele-Raw Fusion
Jagg-Take Time-Vinyl Masterpiece
Kings of Tomorow-Make Believe-Trouble
Average White Band-What you gonna do for me-RCA
Mille Jackson-Somethin ‘bout cha-Amigo
AG Thomas-The 1,2-Abbsoul
Frank McCombe-I’ll be A foul-Bobbeesound Music
Marvin Gaye-Let’s Get It On-
Sharon Jones-Genuine-BBE
Valerie abd Bobby Capers-West 4th Street-Warner’s
Fela Kuti-Sharkara-Universal
Harrison Crump-Ride-Electric Chair
Skyy-First Time Around (Disc Mix)-Salsoul
Sharlane Hector-Holdin’ Me-Atlantic Jaxx
Wild Sugar-Bring it on home-TSOB
Nate James-Set the Tone-OneTwo

Audio

Vangelis-Tears in the rain-East West
Marsen Jules-Aile d’aigle-City Centre Offices
Arovane-Ten houses-City Centre Offices
Kintopp-In fernen Landern/Brucke-Staubgold
SWOD-I think he was a journalist-City Centre Offices
Gaston-Slavsstein-Beau Rivage
Pornswordtabacco-Snake Cake Station-City Centre Offices
Michaela Melian-Brautlied-Monika
Robert Lippok-Rearrange-Monika
Cobra Killer-I like when it burns a bit-Monika
Toydeath-Mosher cat-CDR
Suicide-Devastation-Mute
Alter Ego-Rocker-Mute
Roy Shirley-Touch Them-Trojan
The Upsetters-Dub It-Trojan
The Ethopians-Muddy Water-Soul Jazz
Roots Manuva-Double Drat-Big Dada
DubTronix meets Dub Wise-Dark-Brainquake / Omega
65 Days of Static-Hole-65 Days of Static
Logh-Destinymanifesto-Bad Taste
Milli Encolin-Ray-Burning Heart
Caribou-Yeti-Leaf
Alec Empire-Go to get out-
No Arbuckle-Punk Rocker-Six Shooter Records
Matt Sweeney-Beast for thee-Domino
Blaze Foley-The Oval Room-Munich
Olaf Hund-Gymnopedia No4-10 Compactes
Pedro-Assembled By-Melodic

GLEN BROWN & FRIENDS

RHYTHM MASTER VOLUME ONE

HOT POT CD/LP

Its tough out there for specialist music labels so the imminent birthing of two new reggae revive labels is good news. Blood and Fire’s Steve Barrow is the expectant father of two, first up being Hot Pot, a subsidiary of Cooking Vinyl, shortly to be followed by the long-anticipated and equally overdue Microphonic – dedicated to the art of the DJ. Artist producer Glenmore ‘the Godson’ Brown is responsible for some of the toughest rhythms this side of Yabby You, and like the Jesus Dread many of his tunes were mixed down by the great King Tubby. The late eighties saw three great Greensleeves compilations on his work covering vocals, DJs and instrumentals/dubs; these are long gone now and the appearance of ‘Termination Dub’ a few years ago only served to increase demand and expectation for a serious reissue programme of his exceptional catalogue. And so the LP version of this first volume is a ‘one riddim’ selection of the immortal ‘Dirty Harry’ originally version by saxist Richard Hall from the vocal cut ‘Realise’ voiced by Glen and Ritchie MacDonald from the Chosen Few. The CD contains bonus tracks including Greg Isaacs ‘One One Cocoa’ and Glen Brown’s own vocal versions ‘Save Our Nation’ and ‘Away with the Bad’. A classic, recommended without reservation.

CALVIN ‘BUBBLES’ CAMERON

ONE PEOPLE

WAREIKA HILL SOUNDS 12" SINGLE

As Calvin ‘Bubbles’ Cameron is a veteran trombonist with time served in Tommy McCook's Supersonics, Count Ossie's Mystic Revelation, The Light Of Saba, and The Skatalites, one might expect brightly charging brass led dancer numbers mixed with throbbing nyahbinghi drenched chanters – and you would not be disappointed. Cameron is a long-time session player based in the Caribbean and his family is soaked in the music business. It’s shrewd of the team up at Honest Jons to mine this particular vein carefully as other labels might have easily come up with a set to fall under a strict nostalgia banner – let’s not forget that such musicians never made their living playing this kind of music, let alone jazz. ‘Sweet Incense’ is a mid-tempo casual bone vamp like one of those friendly warm up numbers before the brass hammer drops. And so it does on ‘One People’ where the full-line up swings in action on top of a much busier rhythm that’s rinsed out again on the pumping bass version, the cut that DJs will remember. Then all is back in balance with ‘Throne’, a binghi stutter in the true ‘Babylon Gone Down’ Count Ossie style. Rush for the first pressing, it’s a true piece coming in a three-colour silk-screened sleeve with handwritten notes by Mr. Cameron.

DADDY FREDDY

HARDCORE

PROUD OF THAT CD

Any early promise signalled by the UK fusion of ragga and hip hop spluttered and failed in the late eighties, its remains feeding the indigent embers of jungle. Although Daddy Freddy might have been largely forgotten following a series of superstar patronage, the boy certainly has done good in the career revival stakes over the last few years, working to best advantage his entrée into the new ruff chic so brutally engineered by the recently shy Rootsman on the great ‘Old School – New School’ set. But this new monster eighteen track album out of Germany’s P.O.T. label is too much chant, rap and scat packed onto an undistinguished set of lame one-dimensional riddims. Worse still the presence of Joseph Cotton and Freddy’s mentor Ranking Joe is wasted on weak material, unbelievably Joe is only put to work on unison vocal. Let’s hope Freddy meets Scud or Rupture one day.

HIGHVISATORS

IN A DUBTONE – HIGHTONE MEETS IMPROVISATORS DUB

JARRING EFFECTS CD

Two of the new French dub institutions come together in this set out last spring sometime – but only arriving in the UK via the Orient late in the year. Improvisators Dub have appeared spasmodically on tasty little 7" releases on imprints not unlike, and obviously in tribute to, Pablo’s red and yellow JA Rockers label. And their music is in deference to the late melodica king, deep and spiritually driven vibrations. The clash with High Tone was bound to be just that as they are the Gallic equivalent of ADF and it’s remarkable that they have not yet clashed with their UK counterparts given their connections with Marseille, North Africa and other points of south. I assume the (re)mixes here are on previously issued tracks and are credited to Lenfant, Manutension, Knarf and P-Rav, with the centrepiece being the latter’s muscular workout on ‘Dub Fever’, a stomping steppers with what sounds like Jah Youth samples on top of insistent horn stabs.

BILL LASWELL

VERSION 2 VERSION

ROIR CD

Glancing at the track listing titles like ‘Dystopia’, ‘Simulacra’ and ‘System Malfunction’ tended to cast a feeling of slight nausea over me before the music began and I can’t help thinking that if Jah Wobble, on bass duties here, had been asked to name the tunes then I might have been looking forward to the journey a little more. But what happened was that the warm thunder of Wobble’s bass wormed its way to the back of my brain and stayed there uninterrupted through a slow spinal massage of circa 80BPMs for fully five tunes and over forty minutes, right until the final track’s more urgent pace drew me back from the brink of total submission. This is Laswell’s fifth release for ROIR, a self-styled never ending dub caravan, with the same faithful crew on board, co-writer Wobble, keyboardist Bernie Worrell, percussionist Karsh Kale, and drummer/percussionist Abdou Mboup. It’s difficult to see how they will ever escape this inevitably alchemical orbit, condemned forever to wear a deep groove in the ionosphere.

RANKING DREAD

RANKING DREAD IN DUB

SILVER KAMEL CD

An overdue reappearance for one of the most celebrated album covers in reggae, originally released in 1982 this album gained cult status due in part to the artwork of Rod Vass, featuring the stylised head of a dread in black and white on red background. The first half has five tracks by Sly and Robbie mixed by King Tubby and his pupil Scientist mixes the Roots Radics for the second tranche of five tracks. Time plays tricks as I don’t recall the opening ‘Bom Dub’ as being so hopelessly off-kilter, but it’s rescued by the intro to a dub of the Wailers’ ‘I don’t want to wait in vain’ when the MC declares: ‘… I man don’t wanna watch no TV, I man wanna listen dub LP! Go deh …’ Exactly what the late Ranking Dread has to do with all this is less than clear although it seems that production provenance is tracked back to his work with Tapper Zukie. Its Tubbys all the way though as the classically mixed ‘Dub Land’ could easily grace any collection of his finest mixes and Scientist’s snappy take of Dawn Penn’s ‘No No No’, predictably as ‘Yes Yes Yes dub’, could walk away with best in show for all efforts on that rhythm, especially when utilising the wobbliest bass syndrum in town.

RANKING JOE

DUB IT IN A DANCE

TROJAN CD

Through the seventies Ranking Joe built a solid, if unspectacular, reputation as a DJ in Jamaica, but it was not until he came to the UK to tour as part of the Ray Symbolic Hi-Fi package – the first for a sound system – that his career rocketed on the back of his dynamic performances with selector Jah Screw. The set was recorded and released to cash in on that success and captures Joe at his very rude and rampant best. The more traditional roots tunes are backed by the Gladiators Band, but rougher sound of the Roots Radics emerges as dominant for the numbers inna early dancehall style. Strange now listening back to the assured slackness of ‘Cocks Man’ that predates the tentative street smarts of L.L. Cool J and Slick Rick by a good five years, and how innocent it all seems now that Kylie could make Joe blush. Joe’s DJ style had enough old school cultural nuance to make his developing tougher dancehall style acceptable to the reggae Taliban, his consequent stylistic swing made him unique – best evidenced on the opening track here a tribute to a legendary UK brand, ‘Clark’s Booty Style’ was never so hip

LEROY SMART

MR. SMART IN DUB

JAMIACAN RECORDINGS LP/CD

Leroy Smart is one of that elite pack of roots & lovers vocalists who never really hit the big time but nevertheless managed to keep on recording and generate a loyal audience amongst reggae aficionados, particularly for his immaculate work with Jimmy producer Radway. Mr. Smart, aka the Don, also came over as one heavy dude, a sort of meaner, moodier Cool Ruler who nevertheless often appeared to be on the edge of some sort of emotional crack-up in mid-song such was the quality in his voice and delivery. We don’t get that here in full effect, but all the dubs carry that voice in the intro and, compared to a lot of other disappointments in the series of Bunny Lee studio floor sweepings, this is a much more solid listen – primarily due to the retention of the horns in the mixes and the quality of the vintage rhythms but the highlight remains the pumping version of the title with plenty spring echo generated lashings through the mix. Speaking of mix though – no credits lead to suspicions of a more modern makeover.

VARIOUS

REGGAE GOODIES VOLUMES 1 & 2

WACKIES CD

Both of the original volumes of Reggae Goodies came out around 1977 on Bullwackies' City Line imprint, celebrating NY subway track ending at White Plains Road - and Wackies' headquarters. Both were compilations mostly made up from 7" A-sides that had appeared over the previous few years on associated labels like Versatile, Rawse and Senrab. Both are pure vocal affairs with the first volume covering the more JA-based roots concerns of the day, and that reflected in productions such as Don Carlos’ ‘Black Harmony (Killer)’, Stranger Cole’s broodingly intense ‘Capture Land’ and album highlight John Clarke’s starkly prosaic ‘Recession’. The second set is more a lovers thing, but the opener from the Love Joys, a febrile harmony treatment of Carlton & the Shoes ‘Sweet Feelings’ – last versioned so confidently by 2 Bad Card for On U Sound, the Chosen Brothers sequestering of Ken Boothe’s ‘Say You’ and ‘Black Root’ a tough closing instrudub from Wanachi can’t really rescue this weaker set. On the whole one for Wackies fanatics only.

WILLIE WILLIAMS & COUSIN MARSHALL

ROCKING UNIVERSALLY

BASIC REPLAY 12" SINGLE

In the early eighties, whilst both were moving between New York and Toronto, Jackie Mittoo and Willie Williams revived their respective Studio One classics ‘Real Rock’ and ‘Armagideon Time’ combination style for this new jazzier, rougher version. Drafting in Cousin Marshall, introduced on the label as ‘The Son of Alton Ellis’ and a percussionist with a nname staright out of the Mothers of Invention, Bongo Gene, they created this new cut aimed directly for the dancefloor. Rub-a-dub style deejaying runs throughout but Willie Williams' new vocal is cool to the point of narcolepsy, all delivered on top of shuffling tom-toms and the keyboards sounding like Jackie Mittoo has just had a private lesson from Monk. The dub side completes the otherness of the whole thing with daft random mumbling, sirens and assorted odd effects. Certainly the time is right for a ‘Real Rock’ one rhythm album.