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.

STUDIO ONE MUSEUM

The Jamaica Gleaner runs an interesting interview with Norma Dodd, widow of Clement "Coxsone" Dodd, founding father of the legendary Studio One recording facility, in wich she unveils the plans for the establishment of a Studio One museum. Although Jamaica already is a hotspot for reggae afficionados, with the King Tubby, Treasure Isle and Joe Gibbs studios still intact, this new museum sure sounds promising enough to again tickle my urge to get on a plane and cross the ocean...

Read the full article here

BOB MARLEY UNCOVERED

Heartbeat Records is pleased to announce the release of Bob Marley & the Wailers - Another Dance – Rare Sides from Studio One on October 16.

This album consists of 18 rare Wailers titles, alternate takes, and original single mixes, all recorded between 1964 and 1966 for late producer Clement Dodd at his Studio One recording studio in Kingston, Jamaica. The release of these seldom-heard tracks will be a cause for celebration among true Wailers collectors. All titles, takes, and mixes presented here were issued as singles in Jamaica on Dodd-owned labels like Coxsone, Studio One, Supreme, Tabernacle, and Wincox.

Over the years, Dodd supplied tapes with post production overdubs to companies leasing his material for foreign issue. Although Heartbeat always sought the original mix of each song, Dodd sometimes provided the overdubbed tape when he could not locate the original mix. This album restores the original single mixes of seven Wailers classics including signature Bob Marley songs like “One Love,” “I’m Still Waiting,” and “Lonesome Feeling.” Neville Livingston, when interviewed in 1990, reported that the Wailers nearly always recorded alternate takes of songs recorded for Dodd. This album includes alternate takes of eight well-known Wailers recordings. They are completely different than the takes used on previous Heartbeat albums by the group. In addition, this album restores to the catalogue four rare titles never previously released on Heartbeat in any form.

Track Listing:
1. Another Dance
2. I’m Still Waiting
3. Ska Jerk
4. Playboy
5. Love Won’t Be Mine
6. Don’t Ever Leave Me
7. Straight and Narrow Way
8. Lonesome Feeling
9. Cry to Me
10. One Love
11. Somewhere to Lay My Head
12. It Hurts to Be Alone
13. Where Will I Find
14. Lonesome Track
15. Let Him Go
16. Love and Affection
17. Guajara Ska
18. I Left My Sins

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

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

Clement Coxsone Dodd is still the Ruler!

Studio One and its producer Clement Dodd are essential in understanding reggae and music in general. The Heartbeat label released many essential Studio One compilations and albums and their website now features a 12:49 movie about the history of Jamaica & Studio one. Absolutely recommended!

click here to see the movie clip!

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

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!