Invasion Of The Mysteron Killer Sounds

 

Wow, the mighty SoulJazz have pulled it off once again. I just love how the label is always on top of things, but go about their business with a different angle. With the current explosion of the genre most commonly known as "wotyoucallit?" (in which hiphop, reggae, dubstep, house, steeldrums, 90's dance and whatnot are beautifully amalgamated into something new) the label decided to release a compilation of their own. Not with the biggest, newest and illest tracks of the moment. Anyone with an internet connection and a guide to Soundcloud can do that. No, Souljazz started digging their crates and came up with a selection of tracks from producers from all over the world, who were far ahead of their time (Jamaican producer Dave Kelly of Madhouse was actually aeons ahead of his time) and who (might have) influenced the craftsmen of today. And by doing that, they actually did come up with the illest, baddest and dopest beats around. Which the label gratefully stacked onto a compilation with a million dollar name. Cop it, listen to it, use it, learn from it and start digging some more. Mix 'em with anything new and your set will never be same...

1.	Steely & Clevie — Street Sweeper			PLAY
2.	Redrose — Now Thing			PLAY
3.	Roots Manuva — Doogoo Dub			PLAY
4.	Dave Kelly — The Return			PLAY
5.	Harvel 'Gadaffi' Hart — Summer Bounce			PLAY
6.	Max Glaser — Flatlands Dub			PLAY
7.	Steven 'Lenky' Marsden — Diwali			PLAY
8.	Matt Shadetek — Yoga Rhythm			PLAY
9.	Stereotyp — Alleycat			PLAY
10.	Da Grynch and Tippa Irie — Agony			PLAY
11.	Fresh Ear Productions — Hummer			PLAY
12.	Diplo — Diplo Rhythm			PLAY
13.	Mark Pritchard — Bazooka Riddim			PLAY
14.	Marlon Williams — Pitbull			PLAY
15.	Redlight — MDMA			PLAY
16.	The Bug — Aktion			PLAY
17.	Fat Eyes — Clothes Pin			PLAY
18.	Steven Ventura — Throw Your Hands Up			PLAY
19.	Sly Dunbar and Christopher Birch — Corners Boy			PLAY
20.	David Jahson — King of Kings			PLAY
21.	Fat Eyes — Steel Plate			PLAY
22.	South Rakkas Crew — Red Alert			PLAY
23.	Parara and McCoy — Them Can't Hold Yuh Girl			PLAY
24.	King Tubby — Fat Thing			PLAY
25.	World Beat — Goldmine			PLAY
26.	Andre 'Suku' Gray — Sign			PLAY
27.	Henfield and Shadowman — Babatunde			PLAY
28.	Firehouse Crew — No False Hair			PLAY
29.	Computer Paul — World Talk			PLAY
30.	Fat Eyes — Overdose			PLAY
31.	Prince Jazzbo — Great Dub			PLAY
32.	Kickin' Productions — What You Gonna Do			PLAY
33.	Pliers — I'm Your Man Dub			PLAY
34.	Wiz Kidz Team — In My Heart Version			PLAY
35.	Jammys Jam2 James — Peenie Peenie			PLAY

Pre-order here: http://www.soundsoftheuniverse.com/releases/index.php?id=23718&ao=yes

Dub Echoes Trailer

more info: http://www.dubechoes.com/

New Souljazz release: The Sound Dimension

An essential new compilation of classic recordings from the funkiest group in the history of Reggae! Available to buy in all good record stores or online here now at Soul Jazz Records The Sound Dimension have recorded some of the most important songs in Reggae music; songs such as “Real Rock”, “Drum Song”, “Heavy Rock”, “Rockfort Rock”, “In Cold Blood” – all classic songs that have become the ‘foundation’ of Reggae music, endlessly versioned and re-versioned by Jamaican artists since the time they were first recorded to the present day. As the in-house band at Studio One in the late 1960’s, The Sound Dimension also played alongside everyone from The Heptones, Alton Ellis, Ken Boothe, Marcia Griffiths and more. Similar to their US counterparts The Funk Brothers at Motown and Booker T and The MGs at Stax, The Sound Dimension recorded on a daily basis incredibly catchy and funky tunes matched by a seamless musicality.Featuring musicians of the calibre of Ernest Ranglin, Jackie Mittoo, Eric Frater, Leroy Sibbles, Don Drummond Jnr, Deadley Headley and more, the Sound Dimension existed from around 1967-70 and all the recordings featured here were originally released during this period. For a band with a fluid line-up, they had an amazingly consistent sound laying down classic rhythms for the singers of the day at Studio One as well as stretching out with their own recordings. None of this can explain the importance of this music. “Real Rock”, “Mojo Rocksteady”, “Rockfort Rock”, “Drum Song”, “In Cold Blood” – the melodies to these classic songs are a thousand times better known than the musicians who originally created them. Played and re-played by every house band for every producer on the island, these iconic rhythms became the basis for dancehall and laid the foundations for the future of Jamaican music.This album can be seen as a companion to the earlier Sound Dimension release “Jamaica Soul Shake” and together these two albums make a unique and definitive document of a seriously important set of recordings.

NEW BOX OF DUB & BURIAL DUE

After the debut "Box of Dub" released earlier in the year the amazing amount of publicity around the Dubstep movement continues to get bigger by the day: Skream fronting the cover of DJ Magazine and rave reviews and features in all the leading publications such as The Observer alongside other key dance press.

Box Of Dub 2 once again clearly shows the influences of original electronic dub pioneers such as King Tubby, Scientist and King Jammys have had on the new generation of artists and producers featured on this excellent album

Emerging out of South London, Dubstep has grown from its roots in Grime and Drum and Bass scenes to create a new movement of artists influenced by Sound-system culture as well as technology. With heavy bass-lines and complex drum patterns, this is dance music that works for the mind, being both progressive and innovative.

The second instalment is due on nthe first of november and continues the onward journey of dubstep, with scene favourites such as Digital Mystikz, Kode 9, Pinch drawing upon new sounds and influences to bring some of the freshest sounds heard in dance music in recent times. With a distinctly UK urban sound, this new album also continues to show the music's nod towards Jamaican Dub and electronic wizardry.

For those of you who can't wait there'll be a a super-limited one-off pressing of two killer tracks from the album: one track by Digital Mystikz and one by Kode 9.

Check the sounds here










After the surprise success of his self-titled, low-key debut on Hyperdub , Burial returns with an eagerly awaited follow up album, ‘Untrue’. The new record is weird soul music, hypersoul, lovingly processing spectral female voices into vaporised R&B and smudged 2step garage. Voices are blurred, smeared, pitched up, pitched down and pitch bent until their content becomes irrelevant and they whisper their saccharin sweet nothings into the void.

UNTRUE continues with the first album’s crackle drenched yearning and bustling syncopations haunted by the ghosts of rave, but also reveals some new Burial treats with a more glowing, upbeat energy. UNTRUE kicks off with the skittering 2step syncopations and vocal science of ‘Archangel’, ‘Near Dark’ and ‘Ghost Hardware’, before descending into a space of radiant divas and ambience. While Burial’s first album was humid, suffocating and unrelentingly sad, UNTRUE is less sunless. Many of the tracks are so sweet, they become toxic, underscored by the almost geological rumbles of growling basslines. Whereas the mood of Burial’s first album was overpoweringly melancholy, its now better described as a downcast euphoria typified by the epic, muted optimism of the album’s last track ‘Raver’. Forget central heating. The radioactivity of this album is all that you’ll need to keep you warm this winter.

Check an interview with Burial here

GET THESE!

Though best known nowadays for releasing excellent albums covering the Studio One stalward, I always find SoulJazz records to be even more interesting when they enter new areas. These newbies are always incredibly fresh, right on top of things or sometimes even ahead of times. Furthermore, and this is both strictly personal as well as odd, the label always seems to come up with a release that's closely connected to my current musical interests. Don't know what that says about me though...

For now I'm on the lookout for these two gems:

VARIOUS ARTISTS: RUMBLE IN THE JUNGLE
Lately my interest in reggae seems to have slighty shifted from the roots rock reggae 70's style into the 80's rub-a-dub. Don't know why, it's just the way it is. And as it also happens to be, this 80's rub-a-dub was the main source of sampling for many producers of early (ragga) jungle. Mix that with my heavy crush on dubstep, which itself, for a great deal anyway, is rooted in the same ragga jungle, and you have a picture perfect. Souljazz now releases an album that's aiming to be the "story of jungle and its connection with Reggae music." Don't know if they succeed in reaching that goal exactly, since it's quite a bold statement to make, but it still is wicked to hear some of them "oldie hits" like DJ Zinc's "Super Sharp Shooter" and Cutty Ranks' "Limb By Limb" again. The rest is, how could it not be, way up to par:

1. Asher Senator — One Bible
2. Ninjaman, Bounty Killer, Beenie Man and Ninja Ford — Bad Boy Lick A New Shot
3. M Beat With General Levy — Incredible
4. Barrington Levy & Beenie Man — Under Mi Sensi (X-Project Remix)
5. Ragga Twins — Ragga Trip
6. Poison Chang — Press The Trigger
7. Shut Up And Dance — No Doubt
8. UK Apachi & Shy FX — Original Nuttah
9. Ragga Twins — Illegal Gunshot
10. DJ Zinc — Super Sharp Shooter
11. Ben Intellect With Ragga G — Oh Jungle
12. Cutty Ranks — Limb By Limb
13. Ragga Twins — Tan So Back


VARIOUS ARTISTS: BOX OF DUB: DUBSTEP & FUTURE DUB
Dubstep. A scene that's still very much in motion and in progress. Exciting, new, fresh and almost every new record is a blast. Sceptics like to go 'round wondering how long it'll take for this scene to blow up "just like drum 'n bass did," but I'm not one of them: I just go along, dig in and enjoy every little detail of it. Dubstep is, as I wrote before, the best new thing in music that came about in 5 odd years or so (it seems I too can come up with some bold statements :-)). It's a deep love. An expensive cost also, since I buy a lot of 10"s and 12"s these days, not just to keep up or update my collection, but merely for the sheer excitement every record keeps giving me. Like I said, deep love. SoulJazz gladly does their part and is about to offer us a collection of newly recorded dubstep anthems. All new, all fresh and probably: all good.
Can someone please send me an advance copy now??!!

STUDIO ONE RUB-A-DUB

We lost count somewhere along the way, but here it is...another great comp by SoulJazz Records: Studio One Rub-A-Dub. No matter what they've named it this time, it's yet again filled with great music! Here's the tracklist for ya:

Cornell Campbell - My Conversation
Lone Ranger - Screw Gone A North Coast
Judah Eskender Tafari - Danger In Your Eyes
Rapper Robert & Jim Brown - Minister For Ganja
Freddie McGregor - How Could You Leave
Barry Brown - Give Love
Len Allen Jnr - White Belly Rat
Johnny Osbourne - Forgive Them
Alton Ellis - Live And Learn
Horace Andy - Happiness
Rapper Robert & Jim Brown - Pirate
Willie Williams - Keep On Moving
The Heptones, Freddie McGregor et al - Equal Rights 12'
Papa Michigan And General Smiley - Jah A The Creator
Ethiopian - Empty Belly
Earl 16 - No Mash Up The Dance
Lone Ranger - Natty Chalwa

Upcoming Reggae Release Fest

Some of our favourite labels are about to release interesting stuff, so be warned!
First, there's the new Soul Jazz compilation: 100% Dynamite! Dancehall Stylee. Artists include:
Early B, Lady Saw, Tippa Irie, Ladybug(The Bug & MC Warrior Queen), Anthony Redrose (Tempo), Digital Mystikz, Kiprich, Fat Eyes, Powerman, King Tubby, Shinehead(of course, Billy Jean), King Baucho, Beenieman, Michigan & Smiley (Diseases), Dillinger, Wayne Junior, Pompidou and Cecile.

Then, the Blood & Fire Label re-issues the classic Yabby You album Deliver Me From My Enemies with loads of bonustracks. Classic Roots in a righteous way! Releasedate: Oct 23. (info from from Dance Crasher site!)


1. Deliver Me From My Enemies
2. Deliver Me From My Enemies Version
3. Judgement Time
4. Blood A Go Run Down King Street
5. Love In Zimba
6. Zion Gate
7. Lonely Me
8. Stranger In Love
9. Pound Get A Blow
10. Pick The Beam11. And Amlak (One God)
12. Jah Vengeance / Yabby You & Trinity [12" mix]
13. Free Africa / Yabby You & Trinity [12" mix]
14. Babylon A Fall / The Prophets [12" mix]
15. Falling Babylon / Tony Tuff [12" mix]
16. Pick The Beam / previously unreleased dubplate Mix 1
17. Pick The Beam Version / previously unreleased dubplate Mix 2

Finally, the Pressure Sounds Posse strikes back with another great compilation of tracks produced by Tommy Cowan: Life Goes In Circles (Sounds from the Talent Corporation 1974 to 1979). Releasedate: Oct 2.
1.Jerusalem - Devon Irons (Extended Version)
2.Love Comes And Goes - The Abyssinians
3.Love Comes and Goes Version - The Abyssinians
4.Ghetto On Fire - Jacob Miller
5.Mother Country - Little Madness
6.Mother Country Dub Side - Little Madness
7.School Tonight - Desi Roots
8.The Way - Augustus Pablo
9.City Of The Weak Heart - Earl Zero .
10.Dub The Weak Heart - Circles & King Tubby
11.The Road Is Rough - Leroy Smart
12.Life Goes In Circles - Dennis Brown
13.False Rumour - Two Rasta Man
14.False Rumour Version - King Tubby
15.Please Officer - Earl Zero
16.King Tubby's Version - Talent Crew
17.Speak Softly Love - Ken Boothe
18.Hit Song - Roman Stewart
19.Natty Sings A Hit Song - Dillinger
20.Dub Songs - Dillinger and King Tubby

GO FETCH HOT GEMS!

Hot times like these call for hot tunes to accompany the beer/cocktail/bbq laden days we are about to spend lying on a sunbed in the garden. Luckily for us there is lots of great music coming at us in the near future. Check these fine gems:












A friend of mine just got himself a nice beamer so he is able to watch some nice vids projected on a big white wall out in the yard without getting all sweaty (sunburned, but not sweaty). He's lucky: A great dvd about the life of majestic producer Lloyd 'Jammy' James, "King at the controls" just hit the streets. Here is a small preview of this VP produced gem:



For those of us that don't wanna watch videos in a hot steaming room: this dvd comes with a nice "best of King Jammy" cd that works perfectly well sipping a Caiparinha under your inflatable palm tree. Here is the tracklist:

Mr. Landlord – Half Pint
Carpenter – John Holt
Agony – Pinchers
Punany – Admiral Bailey
Music Lover – Shabba Ranks
I Love King Selassie – Black Uhuru
Father Jungle Rock – Nicodemus
Water Pumping – Johnny Osbourne
Boom Shack – Junior Reid
Deh Wid You – Super Black
Children of the Ghetto – Cocoa Tea
The Exit – Dennis Brown
Run Down The World – Nitty Gritty
Sleng Teng – Wayne Smith
She's My Baby – Leroy Gibbons
Rock Them One By One – Eccleton Jarrett
Let Off Sup'm – Leroy Smart
One Scotch – Admiral Bailey & Chaka Demus
Serious Time – Admiral Tibett
I Know The Score – Frankie Paul













Our good friens over at SoulJazz also keep 'em coming like an ever flowing stream. This time it's "studio One Scorchers part 2" that sets the room on fire. A fine blend of instrumentals coming from the mother of all reggae studios, this is. As ever, the quality is high, there are some familiar and some unknown tracks and the sound is, as always, superdeluxe. Thanks to Pete Reilly for providing this gem and the tracklist. Also thanks to Dancecrasher for the sleevepicture.

Here is the tracklist:
Dick Tracy - The Skatalites
Frozen Soul - Soul Vendors
Joe Grazer - Vin Gordon
Black Wax - Pablove Black
Father Forgive Him - Cederic Brooks
High Locks - Pablove Black
Nimble Foot - Roland Alphnso
Sidewalk Doctor - Vin Gordon
Cousin Joe Pt. 1 - Sugar Belly
A Big Car - Jackie Mittoo
Sound Almighty - Soul Defenders
After Christmas (12" mix) - Jackie Mittoo & Pablove Black
Race Track - Brentford All Stars
Jamaica Bolero - Tommy McCook
Black Is Black - Im & David
Gumbay Jump - Dub Specialist

100% DYNAMITE!

For those of you living in Holland: be sure to come and check out 100% DYNAMITE in Tivoli de Helling this friday. The previous three editions were a smash as the SOULJAZZ SOUNDSYTEM lived up to their reputation already set with comps like the DYNAMITE and STUDIO ONE series. Expect a lot of reggae, dancehall, roots, ska and funk. Inna DYNAMITE STYLE!

INFO HERE

THE FOUNDATION LABEL

The story of the mighty Studio One imprint, founded by legendary producer Coxsone Dodd in 1956 and home to many greats such as the Skatalites,Bob Marley, Jackie Mittoo and Sugar Minott is probably common knowledge by now (if not: watch the great documentary made and released by SoulJazz Records). Even if one has just a slight interest in reggae music it's impossible not to stumble upon Studio One, because sooner or later you're bound to hear a song, an artist or even a riddim that was originally created in the legendary studios on Brentford Road. Thanks to the hard work of many great labels such as Heartbeat and SoulJazz records we are able to listen to hard to find or unreleased gems. Thanks to avid fans such as Rob Chapman, we know what the original 7"s look like, which albums are bogus or bootlegged (for instance: all Trojan albums containing Studio One releases are illegal), and which items we should be on the lookout for.

The story about the label might be well known, as stated above, but how do you cover a fifty years period of reign in one documentary or even in a series of samplers? It can not be done. Luckilly there are thousand and thousands of interesting websites on the internet dealing with nothing but Studio One. A little bit of crawling keeps you informed and always yawning for more.
Two new interesting sites just hit the web:
Studio One heartbeat contains a timeline, wallpapers and some interesting links, but most of all: it contains every Studio One album released by the Heartbeat label and, here comes the good part: you can listen to all of the songs!

Studio One Style contains way too much information about 7"s, 10"s, 12"s, artists, new releases, old releases and more. It's good but unfortunately also for a great deal written in french. Not my strongest language I'm afraid..

thanks to dancecrasher for the links.

Also be on the lookout for two great new releases on the SoulJazz imprint containing nothing but goodies. These come highly recommended!!

Studio One Soul part 2
(click to see tracklisting and info)










and: Sound Dimension: Jamaica Soul Shake part 1

SISTER NANCY ON THE RISE!

2006 is going to be the year in which M.I.A. and LADY SOVEREIGN are bound to hit the charts big time. And they deserve it, 'cause they know how to ride a riddim and how to be creative without selling out. Back in the eighties it was up to SISTER NANCY to do just the same. Although she hit big with the "Bam Bam" single on the mighty stalag riddim, she never made it into the big league. But recently she reappeared on the stage in the USA, showing the public her skills are still very, very good and...up to date!. SoulJazz Records (always a big fan of Sister Nancy tunes) recognized this immediately and are now the proud owner of her comeback tune, produced by Kid 606 and Dj Rupture. I'm certain this won't hit the charts, but I'm also certain that I'm very keen to play this 12" record in the dancehall. Because it competes with the sisters of today, big time!!! Listen here

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Yup, it's that time of the year again: time to make up a list of "best of's." A horrible task indeed, because it's never complete, it always lacks a few greats after publishing, it's bound to give credit to those who don't deserve it (that much) because of aforementioned reason and it's always narrowed down to a "top ten" or even a "top five" on most accounts. But here at LOCK IT DOWN we take things easy...we don't bother, we just want to give full attention to those who deserve or need it and we will take up to 20 posts to do so if needed. So here it is...my first attempt to list all worthwile tunes, reissues, albums or riddims of 2005...

ALBUMS

Bantu featuring Ayuba - Fuji Satisfaction
well, you read it before on this blog....this is a killer record featuring afrobeat, dancehall, hiphop, juju and more...KILLER!!!





Wax Tailor - Tales of the forgotten melodies
Forgotten melodies? yes that might be just the case here..DJ Shadow already did this kind'o stuff way back in '96, but Wax Tailor is a bit different. It sounds alike, but then again, it doesn't. This album's got that eerie vibe that can also be found on albums by french dubmasters High Tone. Now, mix that sound with a certain Tricky-like triphop flavour, or more specifically a Martina Topley Bird flavour, an up-to-date-but-refreshing hiphop sound, some real good juggling skills and a fine nose for samples and you'll get a slight idea of what I'm talking about here..

Modeselektor - Hello Mom!
Yes! Although made by one artist (a crazy German duo), this albums has got all the symptomes of a compilation. And a good one it is! It features all styles of music I like: beautifull electronica, deep 'n mellow dub (with Paul st.Hilaire/Tikiman on the mic), harsh but melodic techno and booty, BOOTY dancehall(featuring Sasha.) Modeselektor does it all, but never fails to provide the goods with quality. Quite impressive, indeed.

REISSUES

Various: Studio One Roots 2
Genuine masterpiece. Even better then volume one, which is quite an achievement by itself, this compilation is the ultimate roots rock reggae compilation that no one, and I mean no one, should miss out on. Don't boast that "you've already got all the tracks" because you don't. And even if you do, they will not sound like this, because this gem's got that great SoulJazz fat heavy bass sound that lacks the original 7"s..Reggae never sounded better. Got it? Go get it..

Various: Hit the Rhodes
Brown Sugar never fails to impress. Although I'm not too fond of late 70's funk, this label always succeeds in making me think otherwise. Instead of putting out releases stacked with all kinds of unreleased, very-hard-to-get-by stuff just for the sake of it, they release their albums with much devotion and a pure love for music. Even when that means including an evergreen. This one here is a highly recommendable, funky 'n disco-ish tribute to the Fender Rhodes organ, and that, my friend, I like! I don't like late 70's funk??? Hell, because of this compilation I just bought my first David Axelrod lp! And that is the true power of a good compilation.

Various: Soul Power, Funky Kingston 2
And even at the reissue-our-own-catalogue-over-and-over-again-factory Trojan they decided to put a little effort in it this year. And, sad but true, they should do it more often because they got the goods to back it up. This compilation of, mainly, English reggae goes funk is a true manifesto of groove! Every track on this double lp is right on the spot, and when it's done it still leaves you craving for more...MORE....MORE!!!

REGGAE RIDDIMS

In reggae, it's all about the riddim. Produce a good riddim, and you're bound to have a line-up of big artists waiting outside your studio, anxious to ride it. Here are my faves of 2005:

- WORLD A MUSIC: first a big hit for Ini Kamoze in the eighties (World a reggae), then a big hit for Damien Marley (Welcome to jamrock) riding the original riddim. But the first price goes to the Bad 2000/Maximum Sound crew for their heavier, faster and more brutal update of the riddim. Whooooha! Listen here

- PRESSURE AND SLIDE: A big hit for the Tennors in the rocksteady era (1967.) Lovely updated by the Down Sound Crew. Thanks to the big smash "Hungry" by upcoming superstar Fantan Mojah, it almost became THE anthem of 2005. Listen here

- TRUTHS AND RIGHTS: a big hit for Johnny Osbourne in 1981 on Studio One. In 2005 he hits again with an ultra heavy version by the Massive B crew. It's good, but the man who records faster than his shadow, takes the credit for the best cut: Chuck Fender (All about the weed) Listen here.

- HARD DRUGS: A big smash for Gregory Isaacs on the Taxi imprint, and now it re-appears as a HUGE one drop anthem by the Delperies crew. Listen to a combination drifter by Buju Banton and slick rick Anthony Cruz here

More to come, for sure! But first, why don't you share your list? we like to know!