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Night Visions is a collection of stories which dance alive over an infectious blend of Afro-Latin rhythms and contemporary dancefloor beats. Told by a variety of characters, drawn from the vibrant imagination of Chico Mann, these stories take place in an endless night, where we move through dimly lit clubs, jungle moonlight, pitch black desert plains, and the internal shadows of personal darkness. While the characters often stumble and search blindly in the dark, the persistent presence of a distant light provides an underlying direction and hopefulness to all the songs. Captain Planet's production, informed by his regular crowd-moving DJ sets, keeps the album sounding effortlessly danceable & contemporary. Meanwhile, Chico's vocals have an instant classic appeal, hinting at old Cuban rumba and vintage Afrobeat LP's. The two are aided by guest vocals from regular collaborators Kendra Morris & Brit Manor, as well as some talented friends who contributed additional horns, guitar & marimba.

Night Visions highlights the creative symbiosis of two of the biggest names in contemporary alternative Latin sounds. The result is a truly unique album that speaks as much to listeners who don't understand Spanish as it does to old abuelos. The feelings and rhythms that flow through these songs are universal, appealing to hearts and hips all around the world.

Chico Mann has created a musical time machine that simultaneously fuses the sounds of 1970s Afrobeat, 1980s Freestyle and Afro Cuban in a hybrid beast of culture and tone. Its the big 'what if' Freestyle, Afrobeat & Afro Cuban converged and hit the mainstream for an army of Chicos to pick up where Stevie B, TKA, George Lamond, Sa-Fire, Information Society, Noel, and Cult Jam, and Expose left off. Chico's choruses of multi-layered vocals with funky guitar lines helps to cool off the heat created between the bass and rhythm... creating a unique conversation of color and value that pays homage to the past but raises the bar for the future.

Captain Planet is a world travelling DJ & music producer who blends global roots music styles with forward-thinking hip-hop, dancehall and electronic beats. After cutting his teeth in the competitive New York City club scene, he went on to host a popular radio show on WNYU Radio, and started the globally renowned music blog www.MixtapeRiot.com. He has released 3 full-length albums featuring his trademark "Gumbo Funk" sound on Bastard Jazz Recordings, and can be heard on the soundtracks to multiple popular TV shows such as "Orange Is The New Black", "Entourage" and "CSI:NY" to name a few. In 2016, his song "Un Poquito Mas" featuring Chico Mann was featured in a major Honda ad campaign and passed a million plays on Spotify. The success of that song, in conjunction with Chico Mann relocating to Los Angeles, encouraged the two artists to focus on a full collaboration album together.

Night Visions is a collection of stories which dance alive over an infectious blend of Afro-Latin rhythms and contemporary dancefloor beats. Told by a variety of characters, drawn from the vibrant imagination of Chico Mann, these stories take place in an endless night, where we move through dimly lit clubs, jungle moonlight, pitch black desert plains, and the internal shadows of personal darkness. While the characters often stumble and search blindly in the dark, the persistent presence of a distant light provides an underlying direction and hopefulness to all the songs. Captain Planet's production, informed by his regular crowd-moving DJ sets, keeps the album sounding effortlessly danceable & contemporary. Meanwhile, Chico's vocals have an instant classic appeal, hinting at old Cuban rumba and vintage Afrobeat LP's. The two are aided by guest vocals from regular collaborators Kendra Morris & Brit Manor, as well as some talented friends who contributed additional horns, guitar & marimba.

Night Visions highlights the creative symbiosis of two of the biggest names in contemporary alternative Latin sounds. The result is a truly unique album that speaks as much to listeners who don't understand Spanish as it does to old abuelos. The feelings and rhythms that flow through these songs are universal, appealing to hearts and hips all around the world.

Chico Mann has created a musical time machine that simultaneously fuses the sounds of 1970s Afrobeat, 1980s Freestyle and Afro Cuban in a hybrid beast of culture and tone. Its the big 'what if' Freestyle, Afrobeat & Afro Cuban converged and hit the mainstream for an army of Chicos to pick up where Stevie B, TKA, George Lamond, Sa-Fire, Information Society, Noel, and Cult Jam, and Expose left off. Chico's choruses of multi-layered vocals with funky guitar lines helps to cool off the heat created between the bass and rhythm... creating a unique conversation of color and value that pays homage to the past but raises the bar for the future.

Captain Planet is a world travelling DJ & music producer who blends global roots music styles with forward-thinking hip-hop, dancehall and electronic beats. After cutting his teeth in the competitive New York City club scene, he went on to host a popular radio show on WNYU Radio, and started the globally renowned music blog MixtapeRiot. He has released 3 full-length albums featuring his trademark "Gumbo Funk" sound on Bastard Jazz Recordings, and can be heard on the soundtracks to multiple popular TV shows such as "Orange Is The New Black", "Entourage" and "CSI:NY" to name a few. In 2016, his song "Un Poquito Mas" featuring Chico Mann was featured in a major Honda ad campaign and passed a million plays on Spotify. The success of that song, in conjunction with Chico Mann relocating to Los Angeles, encouraged the two artists to focus on a full collaboration album together.

It's fair to say that the inclusion of Iganda's sole 7" single "Mark of Slavery" / "Slow Down" spread across the first two volumes of the "Midlands Roots Explosion" series, has not only greatly raised the profile of the band, but also sent the price of the original release through the roof. At its heart, reggae is a singles based music and although we've made the two tracks available on vinyl, CD and digital download, there are many reggae lovers who would like "Mark of Slavery" and "Slow Down" available again on the original format.

An obscure double sided roots gem from the golden age of the Midlands reggae scene.

The tracks on this compilation certainly demonstrate Lloyd Park's
gifts as a conscious lyricist and soulful vocalist, who fully deserves to be ranked in the frontline of Jamaican singers.

Most bands with a history that stretches back four decades are content to go through the motions, their creative peak somewhere in the past, not Talisman. Their new album includes some of the strongest material they've ever recorded, with seven brand new songs and the corresponding dub counter parts, this is their finest album to date.

With such strong material we knew we had to pull out all the stops when it came to the final mixes and who better than legendary musician, producer, engineer and all round British reggae genius Dennis Bovell (Matumbi, Steel Pulse, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Aswad, Madness, Orange Juice, The Slits) who has taken the songs to the next level and given us the strongest British reggae album in years.

The album kicks off with "Relijan", a roots anthem with lyrics that resonate with contemporary relevance whilst the music has the timeless feel of the best seventies roots. This track raises the game for Talisman and puts them on par with such British greats as Aswad, Steel Pulse and Misty in Roots at their best, without doubt destined to be seen as a classic of the genre. The pace and the lyrical intent doesn't let up: "Talkin' Revolution" is a brand new song yet imbued with the feel and vibes of early eighties Talisman."She Look like Reggae" is a charming piece of observational song writing that rewards repeated listening with hidden depths and use of a full horn section.

It's hard to overstate Dennis Bovell's contribution to British music, reggae in particular and we can't think of anyone more qualified to mix these tracks. Dub mixes really are his forte and the seven dub versions here, deliver in every way, true dub re-imaginings and not mere afterthoughts

Most bands with a history that stretches back four decades are content to go through the motions, their creative peak somewhere in the past, not Talisman. Their new album includes some of the strongest material they've ever recorded, with seven brand new songs and the corresponding dub counter parts, this is their finest album to date.

With such strong material we knew we had to pull out all the stops when it came to the final mixes and who better than legendary musician, producer, engineer and all round British reggae genius Dennis Bovell (Matumbi, Steel Pulse, Linton Kwesi Johnson, Aswad, Madness, Orange Juice, The Slits) who has taken the songs to the next level and given us the strongest British reggae album in years.

The album kicks off with "Relijan", a roots anthem with lyrics that resonate with contemporary relevance whilst the music has the timeless feel of the best seventies roots. This track raises the game for Talisman and puts them on par with such British greats as Aswad, Steel Pulse and Misty in Roots at their best, without doubt destined to be seen as a classic of the genre. The pace and the lyrical intent doesn't let up: "Talkin' Revolution" is a brand new song yet imbued with the feel and vibes of early eighties Talisman."She Look like Reggae" is a charming piece of observational song writing that rewards repeated listening with hidden depths and use of a full horn section.

It's hard to overstate Dennis Bovell's contribution to British music, reggae in particular and we can't think of anyone more qualified to mix these tracks. Dub mixes really are his forte and the seven dub versions here, deliver in every way, true dub re-imaginings and not mere afterthoughts

Dub Communication: A new label with a mission to push the sound of Dub music. Focussing on the more electronic variants from Dub Techno to the modern day Steppers.

For the first release, DUBCOM001V, we have a 7" containing 2 tracks from Frenk Dublin. Founder of this new label aswell as the founder of Dubstep Rotterdam Records.

'Analog Dub Sessions' is where Frenk's music hits vinyl for the first time, while he's using analog synths to come up with some catchy, unique basslines. In both tracks the stepper riddim provides a solid groove, a deep 4 x 4 kickdrum, halftime phasing and reverbing snares, offbeat snares for a polyrhythmic feel and hihats for some steady top end while the chords and FX sounds are completing the mix and applying even more depth and texture. 2 unique sound system bangers!

Tearaway sufferers anthem, roaring out of the blocks in 1989.
Piercing, unforgettable song-writing by the Tetrack spar — jam-packed with anecdote, observation and warning — over a sick, breakneck, apocalyptic rhythm, with an ace dub. A digi classic.

JUMP UP issues new SPECIALIZED charity singles from their latest BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS tribute "ONE HEART". This traditional "Jamaican" one features THE SKATALITES w/ DOREEN SHAFFER, CHARLEY ORGANIARE w/ AKASHA, CALYPSO JOE and the PRESSURE TENNANTS. Random colored vinyl limited edition.

Opening the series with "Live Forever" a stiff, in depth roots rhythm featuring one of the key figures of the new generation rasta singers Dre Island. Reminds us the voice of Jr. Gong his vocal delivers a strong and moving message of our existence. Backed with heavy dub cut proving the high work ethic of the duo.

2 track Single from Don Drummond & The Skatalites released by Dub Store Records

Ekambi Brillant was born in the village of Dibombari in Cameroon in 1948. In 1962 he attended school in Yaounde and learned his musical craft. In 1971 he heads off to the big city lights of Douala. Here he finds himself in a French TV, music competition hosted at "Le Domino" nightclub. It is here where he brushes shoulders with other Cameroonian music legends such Manu Dibango and Francis Bebey.

The music contest win gives him the break he needs and in 1972 and with the support of fellow troubadour JK Mandengue he finds himself with a record deal with Phonogram and his first hits in France.

Its in 1975 where we pick up this merry tale. Because it is in 1975 when things start to get a bit funky. Which is just how we like it here at Africa Seven. In partnership with French producer, guitarist and all around hero, Slim Pezin he creates the "Africa Oumba" album. He goes on in the two subsequent years to record the Soul Castle and Djambo's Djambo's albums also with Slim.

Our compilation focuses on the funkier end of Ekambi's music drawn mainly from the 1975 to 1978 period. Things open up with our theme tune "Africa Africa" (of course). It's tribal twisted psych funk is the perfect start to any album. We then move to "Aboki" possibly Ekambi's finest dance floor filler. Next it's the choppy disco strings and slap bass of "Nyambe" and the swirling African swing of "N'Kondo" and the pulsing chop-funk "Ekila".

The flip side starts off with "Soul Castle" an ordinary day tale for our hero. "Massoma" and its funk boogie get things bopping next up before "Machine Ma Bwindea" gives us some punchy brass and low slung funk grooves. "Mother Africa" shows us the songwriting power of Ekambi while also managing to have one of the funkiest flange basslines we have heard in a good while. Things close off with swing-time of "Lambo Lena".

Ekambi Brillant would go on to become one of the big name legends of Cameroonian music with nearly 20 albums to his name. He has contributed to the emergence of several Cameroonian artists such as Marthe Zambo, Valery Lobe, Aladji Toure and Africans. He now spends his time in Cameroon and Washington DC. Ekambi, we salute you sir.

2 track Single from Federal Singers released by Dub Store Records

2 track Single from Little John released by Dub Store Records

2 track Single from Prince Junior released by Dub Store Records

After having released the first vinyl from the talented Italian producer Strictly Sound, we strikes back with another killer digital featuring the vital don Derrick Parker on the vocal attack.

Inspired by the Impression Riddim from the late Zen Bow, Strictly recreates the instrumental with his unique digital reggae touch. "Long Night Riddim" was made using several audio hardware like Yamaha TX7, Moog Minitaur, Korg MS2000, Beni Dub Reverb and Echo, Simmons SDS among other n the Strictly Sound Lab in London, UK.

Finest roots anthems from the late 70ies by the legendary singer Sylford Walker compiled and re-issued with the seal of quality of the Glen Brown production and the King Tubby mix.
Available again as LP-Vinyl with eight tracks including the three 12Inch-Single mixes of "Deuteronomy", "Eternal Days" and "My Father's Homeland", the longtime deleted Greensleeves longplayer from 1988) Sylford Walker's heart-stopping 70's roots anthems recorded for Glen Brown are rightfully regarded like holy relics of reggae. The "Lamb's Bread" album gathers up these classic sides and once again makes them available for the roots disciples. Mixed by King Tubby at King Tubby's, this remastered reissue is the quintessential sound of 1970's Jamaica. An album so full of roots, you may have to scrape the mud out of your amp after playing!

"Favourite tunesThe tunes are like my children....there is a whole heap of them !! Iwant to tell you this though...some of them i never released properly but 'A Class Girls' through it was the first one me love that, the rhythm! I don't know how the song never hit in Jamaica but listening to it back now its like you are branding the girls A and B so (perhaps) the girls weren't happy with it.But it was a good tune,wicked tune.
Tony Chin wrote it ,but it was Tony Chin and Chinna who taught me these thingsso I have to lovethose men forever"
Ossie Thomas

Triston Palmer was born in 1962 and grew up in Waltham Park,Kingston.
Triston knew from a very early age that he was destined to become an entertainer and his first visit to an recording studio at the age of 16 was with Ossie Thomas.
Their initial release was 'A Class Girls',which was a hit in England and Triston's subsequent releases on their Black Solidarity label laid the foundation for his rapid rise to dance super stardom.
As the 80's progressed and Dancehall began its inexorable rise to ubiquity the popularity of Triston Palmer who had 9 songs in the top forty was unstoppable.
So sit back and enjoy this selection of killer tunes.....

"In Cape Verde, we had no access to electronic instruments," said Tchiss Lopes, a Cape Verdean singer baed in Rome. "In Europe, we had access, but we had to adapt. Audiences expected electronic sounds, but we still stayed true to our sound."

"At first, the music was just to cater to Cape Verdean immigrants, but soon, people of Napoli especially started feeling it, then Rome."

In the 1980s, that feeling transpired across Lisbon, Paris, Rotterdam, and Boston, as one the largest waves of migration from a single country, propelled by political instability and economic uncertainty, sent thousands of Cape Verdeans to the West's cities.

Through 18 diverse tracks, this compilation reveals how immigration from the Cape Verde Islands to Europe and the United States gave us an alternate history of the electronic music that dominated hearts and minds across the world in the late 1990s. But the story doesn't start in a major Western cultural hub, rather in the small cluster of islands 400 miles off the Senegalese coast, and offers an unparalleled insight into the longterm cultural splendor catalyzed by migration.

Movement and mobility are intrinsic aspirations of the human condition. What we've come to know as immigration is as old as civilization. Yet today we measure immigration through a series of cold data. Immigrants are either condemned as disposable threats or celebrated as entrepreneurial treasures, rarely occupying a space in between.

Seldom do we peer back into the past to examine the tangible and timeless creations born from the movement of peoples, overlooking cultural innovations arguably ahead of their time, precursors to consuming global trends.

Cape Verde today is justifiably hailed as an African political success story, but things were different in the 1980s.

A war of independence from Portugal was won in 1975, and Cape Verde suffered the familiar ills of a society born from colonialism and slavery struggling to integrate into a globalized world.

This detachment fostered a yearning to integrate, to connect in anyway possible. The new found homes in the multiculti metropoles of Europe offered little respite. Cape Verdean immigrants were deemed "hot blooded," and perceived as "dropouts" and "juvenile delinquents."

The ready availability of electronic instruments, a doorway to a long denied 'modernity' and an anchor in their adopted homes, was seductive.

"Cape Verdeans were celebrating their independence and with that the dancing became even more important," said Val Xalino, an unsung pioneer in the development of his country's electronic sound, based in Gothenburg, Sweden. "People wanted to hear something different. They wanted the synthesizer!"

Emigre musicians began traveling to and from Europe and their home islands, their luggage containing stock of synthesizers and MIDI instruments. Travel to the countryside to learn the rhythms of rural farmers became common. The melodies of the charmingly off-tune, often damaged accordions were transplanted onto synthesizers.

A cultural supply chain was established. Largely detached from global capitalism, music perhaps was, and in many ways still is, Cape Verde's most effective gateway to synthesize with the world, immigration the engine and lifeblood.

The hearts and minds of a musically-inclined people were captured. One mercurial youngster, Paulino Vieira, arguably Cape Verde's most important musician, the real mastermind behind the islands' melodic majesty, was especially drawn to keyboard instruments, having honed his skills at a Catholic seminary. He arranged or contributed to half the songs in this release.

Vieira was an integral member of Cesaria Evora's backing band, and while her cavaquinho-driven traditional songs registered Cape Verde as a cultural force worldwide, an electronic movement burgeoned just beneath the surface.

It soon found its headquarters in Lisbon, where Vieira had emigrated at age 18 to lead a reworked Voz de Cabo Verde, the commanding, enigmatic ensemble that enticed Cape Verdean musicians from around the diaspora to collaborate.

"Paulino was the most visionary," said Elisio Gomes, a Paris-based singer who collaborated with Vieira often. "He always had this gift to be 10 years ahead of his time. That's why our music sounds like it was produced today."

Largely overlooked outside the Lusophone realm, Cape Verde's Astro-Atlantic gumbo of instrumentation and rhythm offers a timely lesson of migration's power to produce cultural innovations ahead of its time.

This unknown, ultra-progressive sound could not have been perfected without the induction of Cape Verde's artistic human capital into the West.

As we watch with heavy hearts the tragic crisis unfolding across the Mediterranean, as people fleeing similar circumstances strive to settle in Europe, a measured hint of patience will ultimately justify their vast inclusion. There are poets, writers, artists, thinkers, and, of course, musicians, raised in an age of technology, that are making the treacherous journey by boat, or by land on foot, from Syria, Eritrea, Libya, Iraq, and elsewhere. Paulino Vieira's heir, and lush cultural innovation bound to bear the same fruit, lie among them.

Annual Bass & Riddim split 7" by Kambo Super Sound & Don Papa. Almost anthemic and definitely a proper sub-rider with space-dub synths on the A. Don Papa sets free yet another cracking riddim from a mind set as close to the caribic as you get coming from Moss Norway.

Limited Represses! Tubby & Lee Perry on the mix

***LP includes download code

Since 1996, John Brown's Body has been at the forefront of the American reggae scene, blazing paths with its patented Future Roots sound. This year the band celebrates 20 years by releasing its eleventh full-length release Fireflies, out on Easy Star Records September 9th, and embarking on a national tour. Since releasing Kings & Queens (2013) and its follow up Kings & Queens In Dub (2015), JBB has criss-crossed the nation debuting new material alongside classic hits in live settings such as Red Rocks, Cali Roots Festival, and Summer Camp Festival. They are now proud to premiere the first track of the Fireflies album - New Fashion' - via Billboard.
With its current lineup arguably its strongest to date, JBB's founding members Elliot Martin (lead vocals) and Tommy Benedetti (drums) are now joined by Jay Spaker (guitar / vocals), Jon Petronzio (keys), Dan Africano (bass), Sam Dechenne (trumpet), TJ Shaper (trombone), and Mike Vitale (tenor saxophone). The current group continues to push boundaries in the studio, this time with long time JBB collaborator Craig Dubfader' Welsch (10 Ft. Ganja Plant) at his Rear Window Studio (Boston, MA).
Fireflies is the perfect release to celebrate a fruitful 20-year career, encapsulating the evolution of the band while demonstrating that they are nowhere close to stopping.

Wiederveröffentlichung des Dub Inc. Albums "Dans le Decor" aus dem Jahr 2005! Ursprünglich aus Saint-Etienne im industriellen Kernland Frankreichs stammend, verschmelzen Dub Inc. klassischen Roots Reggae mit Dub, Dancehall, Ska, Hip Hop und afrikanischen Einflüssen. Sie kreieren einen berauschenden musikalischen Hybrid mit hochbeladenen und gesellschaftlich bewussten Liedern, die der Band in ihrem Heimatland Kultstatus verschaffte.

JUMP UP issues new SPECIALIZED charity singles from their latest BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS tribute "ONE HEART". This 2-TONE / 80's one features THE CROMBIES (USA), SKAPONES (UK), ANNABELLA LWIN of BOW WOW WOW, and STIFF RECORDS legends THE EQUATORS. Colored vinyl, limited edition.

Limited Represses! Backed with Peter Tosh A Little Melodica

A reggae cover version of "Ring My Bell" b/w "Promise Land Dub", a break beat filled, bassline heavy, head nodder which was sampled heavily on the new Tribe Called Quest LP, warrenting a repress.

Bassy Dub, With a bit of a Hip Hop culture behind... Excellent sound as usual with Kanka ! Must have !

Bassy Dub, instrumentalist !

Massive and roots dance vibe !

ATR is a one of a kind reggae collective based in Parkside Brooklyn. Founded by Scrillamatic and KG, at their core they are just group of friends who hang out in the park and sing, all day. The routine is simple, they meet up at their favorite hangout spot on the side of a lake, play beats off of a beat up but loud stereo, and belt out lyrics out into the air. Sometimes a crowd gathers but it's usually just a few like minded artists sharing their love for music. Natives of the west indies, but coming of age in Brooklyn, they have a very unique perspective on life and the world we live in. With subject matters varying from traditional roots medleys, smoked out ganja anthems to gangsta badman chants to heartfelt soulful ballads telling tales of the ghetto and more, they have a lot to say.

2 Lova cool dub style and their instrumentals.

2 Lova cool dub style and their instrumentals.

This new Oriki Music compilation includes serious 1970's Afro dancefloor hits, surely a promising favorite among deejays, Afrofunk and Tropical music revival aficionados.

Vinyl diggers can finally play some of Ivory Coast's hardest to find deep funk, Afrobeat, Manding and Tropical rhythms tunes recorded by such legends as Moussa Doumbia, De Frank Jr, or Francis Kingsley.

The consistent liner notes focus on the original label history, Société Ivoirienne du disque, based on interviews with the producer. Original unreleased pictures of the artists and 1970's Abidjan city, a great artwork and a limited press gatefold double LP and digipack CD make it a beautiful collectible object.

Compiled by pioneer African music digger and respected deejay Greg de Villanova, a legend among Afro/Tropical music collectors and deejays, it signs the great return of the dormant French record label, which released such wonders as Orchestra Baobab's A Night At Club Baobab or Moussa Doumbia's Keleya.