Buscar:the roots

Coming in HOT with the next forthcoming release from Ashanti Selah Music and here we have a top-draw sound system style release.

This release features the voice of the great Iqulah Rastafari from JA with a track entitled 'Need No Approval' accompanied on a 12" vinyl alongside 3 dub cuts courtesy of Ashanti Selah; in which comes as an sharply crafted modern roots-reggae classic that has a very fitting and inspiring message to be ever-relevant to the times we are living in.

Massive roots produced from the fruitful partnership of Jah Life and Junjo Lawes. The rhythm will be familiar to students of the Channel 1/Radics/Scientist axis. Only ever released on a rare UK press 12" via Junjo, this different mix of the tune was slated to be a Jah Life 7" 30+ years ago, and never happened for nobody-remembers-why. Finally out now, killer tune.

The Alloy Six's third album Delicate Days is a rock album with roots in 60s and 70s rock and pop music but with an eye on the future. Ten new strong songs with jangly and fuzzed guitars, organs, and fine vocal harmonies.

To celebrate its 20th anniversary, Freedom Cry Sound presents its first realease with Freddie McGregor. The legendary artist sings “Behind the Wall”, a song produced by Genius T and Freedom Cry that is now available as an exclusive 7” vinyl limited edition, published and distributed by Rebelmadiaq Records. “Behind The Wall” is a projectile of roots reggae, a dazzling song where the roots are very much alive, living in harmony with the spirit of modernity.” David Vilches, musical chronicler.

The Catalan musician and producer Genís Trani is responsible for the musical production as well as the mixing of the riddim. The musicians who have participated are: David Goldfine on bass, Pau Dangla on keys, Lamont ‘Monty’ Savory on guitar, Josep Blanes on trombone, Oriol Escolano on trumpet, Pol Prats on sax, Roberto Sánchez on backing vocals and the same Genís Trani programming the drums. The Jamaican singer, songwriter and producer Freddie McGregor is a legend and a great reference in the genre, with a professional career full of musical successes that have become immortal treasures.

Slam poetry, rap battles, singing, song writing and drumming. The hit album “Say Yes” by Iyeoka is now being released as a high quality vinyl version (180 g) in gatefold. The YouTube hit “Simply Falling” received over 216 Million clicks.

Iyeoka (read: ee-yo-kah) is well versed in many expressive arts, but in essence she is a storyteller and poet. "My goal is very simple", says the US Nigerian American, "I want to move the world, one poem at a time". She does this enchantingly well with her album "Say Yes (R)evolved". In poems set to music Iyeoka Ivie Okoawo (her full name) reveals herself to be a strong, self-confident woman of the modern world. She tells tales of love and relationships in the 21st century and philosophizes about the daily struggle of life and being a woman in a post-feminist world digging deeply and personally into her African roots.

Musically Iyeoka handles expertly a wide variety of styles from electronic soul "Break Down Mode" to technofied R'n'B "Broken Hearts Anthem (Walk Away)", from energetic dance inducing grooves "The Yellow Brick Road Song", to a more jazzy "Happily Ever After", from melodic soft rock "Say Yes", to pop "Soundtrack to Life" and reggae "Testify". She certainly has presence and shines out with a silky smooth elegance reminiscent of Sade "This Time around", "Simply Falling". This woman has real all-round talent, and she knows how to use it!

2026 Repress

Gems is a brand-new label dedicated to unearthing the seminal and original tech-house cuts from the 90’s and early noughties from the producers that birthed the genre term. Label boss Paul Still was a music industry don and has proud connections with the trailblazers of the scene from his Croydon roots, the OG home of the sound, where he sourced and sold these vinyl bombs from the back of his van around London and beyond during that time. The rare and choice cuts he has uncovered are now remastered and reissued, offering this legendary sound life to a new fanbase all over again.

The first in the series see the one and only Terry Francis take the remix reigns on the Radical Chic classic; a bomb that changes hands for upwards of £50. An essential tech-houser of the day and THIS was the mix that is in demand. Flipped with the equally brilliant Space Bunny jam, The Key, of which OG copies would cost between £50-£100.
2 of the original tech-house jams on one essential slice of wax.

Larkin Poe"s new album "Bloom" sees the dynamic sister duo venturing further along on their evolving musical journey with a collection of songs that resonate with introspection, authenticity, and a profound connection to their roots in American music. Produced and largely co-written by Megan, Rebecca, and Tyler Bryant, the album marks a significant evolution for Larkin Poe, reflecting a synergy that extends beyond mere musical partnership. Already hailed for the sincerity of their songcraft, the Lovell sisters now place an even greater spotlight on their gift for storytelling, delving deep into personal narratives with universal themes of self-acceptance and individuality against a backdrop of contemporary blues and rock influences. With their distinctive blend of masterful instrumentation and soulful harmonies, each track unfolds like a chapter, with lyrics that wind deeper and deeper towards the heart of Larkin Poe.

Larkin Poe"s new album "Bloom" sees the dynamic sister duo venturing further along on their evolving musical journey with a collection of songs that resonate with introspection, authenticity, and a profound connection to their roots in American music. Produced and largely co-written by Megan, Rebecca, and Tyler Bryant, the album marks a significant evolution for Larkin Poe, reflecting a synergy that extends beyond mere musical partnership. Already hailed for the sincerity of their songcraft, the Lovell sisters now place an even greater spotlight on their gift for storytelling, delving deep into personal narratives with universal themes of self-acceptance and individuality against a backdrop of contemporary blues and rock influences. With their distinctive blend of masterful instrumentation and soulful harmonies, each track unfolds like a chapter, with lyrics that wind deeper and deeper towards the heart of Larkin Poe.

*press Release From David Katz*

The Hardest Working Reggae Band In Southern England, Dubheart Is On A Mission To Spread Messages Of Peace, Love, Unity And Resistance Through A Heady Stew Of Contemporary Roots Reggae, Delivered On Live Instruments With A Hefty Dose Of Dub In The Mix. Cool Under Pressure, Their Latest Offering, Is The Band's Most Compelling Set To Date, A 'showcase'-style Album Where Every Vocal Track Is Followed By Its Dub Counterpart, And The Vital Contribution Of The Brassica Horns—from Rising London Ska Band Chainska Brassica—is Another Intriguing Element That Makes This Album Tougher Than The Rest.

Drawing On The Foundations Laid By Jamaican Stalwarts Such As Burning Spear, Dennis Brown And Culture, Dub Pioneers Like Scientist And Jah Shaka, Plus Newer Vanguards Such As Tarrus Riley, Grounation And Conscious Sounds, Dubheart Has Crafted A Distinctly Appealing Style That Is Very Much Their Own, Based On The Organic Presentation Of Their Musical Vision. Indeed, This Fully Self-contained Five-piece Is Firmly Engrained In The Neo-roots Movement Of The Present, With A Sound That Faces Ever Forwards.

The South Coast-based Band Was First Formed Back In 1999, And Slowly Built A Following Through Their Intense Live Performances, Which Always Harnessed A Live Dub Element. Their First Ep, the Solid Foundation Rhythm,' Issued On Their Own Karnatone Label In 2011 And Featuring Dub Mixes By Russ D Of The Disciples, Became A Regular Part Of Jah Shaka's Live Playlists. It Was Followed By The 7' 45, we Chant,' Featuring The Band's Charismatic Bristol-based Lead Singer, Tenja (who Originally Hails From France), The Track Becoming An Underground Anthem In Japan (via Rob Smith, Aka Rsd). Dubheart's First Album, Mental Slavery, Was Released In 2013, A Momentous Year That Also Saw The Band Win The European Reggae Contest Staged By Rototom Sunsplash, Leading To A European Tour With Festival Appearances At Summerjam (germany), Reggae Sun Ska (france), Overjam (slovenia), Sudoweste (portugal), United Islands (czech Republic) And The Sardinia Reggae Festival, As Well As Rototom In Spain. Then, In 2015, Karnatone Issued The Dub Companion To Mental Slavery, Mixed Down In A Heavy Dubwise Fashion By Drummer Gavin Sant, Otherwise Known As Fullness, The Band Was Then Invited To Participate In The Bbc Television Show, The Uk's Best Part-time Band, Leading To Their Ep Of Cover Tunes, 2016's full Time Pressure,' Again With Dub Versions From Fullness. part Of The Band's Appeal Lies In Its Tightness As A Recording And Performing Unit, When You See Them Live, You Understand That This Band Of Brothers Is On A Higher Mission, United In Their Wish To Use Music As A Means Of Upliftment. And That Sentiment Is Entirely Evident On Cool Under Pressure. The Melodic Bass Grooves Of Mark Shepherd Act As The Perfect Buffer To The Furious Rolls And Expressive Drum Patterns Of Fullness, David 'daddy U' Mountjoy Adds Scintillating Melodies On Keyboards, Including Some Delightful Wurlitzer Lines, And Richard Ramsey's Guitar Licks Tend Towards The Understated, Aside From The Occasional Solo Pyrotechnics, As Heard Here On rocky Road.' And On Songs Like can't Wait,' watcha Gonna Do' And The Title Track, The Brassica Horns Add Further Melodic Depth Through Fanfares Of Treble Brass Texture. with The Rhythms Laid Entirely Through Live Recording Sessions Cut At Fullness' Home Studio In Bournemouth (with Horn And Wurlitzer Overdubs Done Elsewhere), Cool Under Pressure Reveals Dubheart As A Band On The Rise, Heading For Unstoppable Heights.

The Dub Deconstructions On The Disc Allow The Listener To Hear The Exceptional Quality Of Their Playing, Emphasizing Each Member's Individual Talent, While The Lyrics Tackle Subjects We Can All Relate To, With watcha Gonna Do' Addressing Social Inequalities, can't Wait' Alluding To The Refugee Crisis, rocky Road' Imploring Everyone To Hold Strong In Trying Times, And rise Up' Calling For Direct Action Against The Unjust System That Rules Our Lands. Overall, The Outstanding Title Track cool Under Pressure' Really Sums Up The Band's Ethos: The System May Burden Us With The Stresses Of Censure And Control, But Our Obligation Is To Stay True To Ourselves And Resist. And The Music Can Help Us To Achieve This.

Cobra & The Brotherhood of the Grape is a celebration of friends making music together for many years. An album conceived in the Clot neighbourhood and recorded in Barcelona, Mallorca and Buenos Aires. An "All Stars" occasion where many of the musicians who have played in STA over 20 years have come together to contribute.

The album features digital dub, dark roots and other sunny and bright tracks. Experimental and electronic, but also analog and dense in textures, and delicate in showing it.

After 20 years of the first CD, STA follows their personal path to make Dub. A special mention deserves the album's art by Tomás Spicolli, an old friend and collaborator of STA. Cobra & The Brotherhood of the Grape is the sixth LP in vinyl format within a production that also has several CDs, 7'' and cassettes.

A completely self-produced album. All original riddims. Dub for adults.

Ten Fé return with their third album, Still In Love, marking a joyful new chapter in their ten year career. The band have evolved from the electro- pop of 2017’s breakout success Hit The Light, and the Americana of 2019’s Future Perfect Present Tense, to embrace a softer, more mature, rootsy sound on Still In Love. The chemistry of a decade playing together is evident throughout the 11 songs on Still In Love. Ten Fé capture the magic of seeing the band play live: relaxed, confident, showcasing the classic songwriting and musicianship Ten Fé are known for, with a new emphasis on honesty and pared- back arrangements.

Introducing Utopia ‘Now Playing” on Opaque Blue vinyl - Experience Wiz Khalifa through a blend of his greatest hits and fan favourites. Including "Black And Yellow," which became an anthem representing his Pittsburgh roots, "See You Again" an emotional tribute featured in the Furious 7 soundtrack and "Young, Wild & Free," a collaboration with Snoop Dogg, celebrating carefree living. This tracklist highlights Wiz's versatility and impact on both hip-hop and mainstream music.

Back in stock due to popular demand, the 18th release in our signature Brazil 45’s series saw Elys Camargo’s ‘Taieiras’ and ‘Não Aguento Você’ by Trio Esperança issued for the first time on 7”.

First up, ‘Taieiras’ from Elys Camargo’s 1972 album Cantos Da Minha Gente on RCA. An infectious, folk-leaning, call and response number that transports you instantly to Brazil. Although Elys recorded 12 albums between 1960 and 1983, little is known about her. DJ Yoda sampled ‘Taieiras’ in his 2012 track ‘U No Likey Like That’ featuring Roots Manuva and Kid Creole & The Coconuts.

On the B side, ‘Não Aguento Você’ by Trio Esperança. A Rio vocal trio formed by siblings Mário, Regina and Evinha Correia José Maria (the latter of which recorded the stunning classic, ‘Esperar Pra Ver’), whose three older brothers we’re The Golden Boys.

‘Não Aguento Você’ is a sun-kissed, psychedelic stunner, taken from their self-titled 1971 album. The original line up recorded seven albums for Odeon Brazil between 1963 and 1975.

The Sound System has become part of today’s musical/cultural heritage, playing the people’s favourite hits or just as important, breaking some new tunes.
But perhaps less known are the roots of the Sound System, which began way back when…in Kingston….

Around the late 1940’s the Sound System began to overtake the big bands that usually played at the dances in Kingston.

The American Rhythm and Blues records that were so popular at the time would find their way to Jamaica via the merchant sailors and migrant workers returning from their stints in America. For economical reasons alone it would pay to have a DJ on hand to play these hits rather than a 10 piece band that could eat and drink the promotor out of the house and on curried goat!!

The early Sound Systems were basic affairs built around a single record deck, a valve amp and a speaker.

But by the 1950’s they had grown to purpose built speakers the size of wardrobes that could be heard blocks away.

Record producer Bunny ‘Striker’ Lee would remember the time ‘Sound Systems was like our radio station…not many people on the island would own a wireless, so it was the way for the people to hear their music.

So this selection of Lovers, Ballads, Root’s classic’s made the Sound Sytems of Jamaica the place to be.

So sit back and enjoy the ride….SOUND SYSTEM ROCKERS …one and all

Unfettered by studio time limitations with their own home base of Echo Canyon, SYR 2 shows Sonic Youth chasing the shadows of predecessor SYR 1 and the series' distinct aesthetic: total exploration of freedom and further discovery. While the cover art evokes European contempo classical releases of yore, Sonic Youth distinctively reinvent their own personal output potential the way those kinds of records revolutionized a previously defined genre. Their ethos of utilizing the roots of the Ramones, Television, VU, Stooges, and No Wave to shape their first decade now find the band in later years bullet-pointing fascination in AMM, MEV, improvised music, free jazz and other outer-limit/organic refractions of traditional rock. While Sonic Youth's spontaneous-creation moments had long been showcased in their recordings, Peel Sessions, and live, SYR 2 sums up the band's state in 1997: rolling lots of tape, fine-tuning ideas and presenting great moments of exciting new directions, allowing deep-listener type fans to gain better insight into their sound process. Add to that the alchemy of Jim O'Rourke's gradual entry into the core band which would soon be fully on display for SYR 3, and this series is an X-ray of evolution, dissection and reconstruction.

Vin Gordon, also known as Don Drummond Jr, is a celebrated trombonist from Jamaica who now drops a second 12" on Finnish Dub & Sound International with the Dubsetters. It carries on the good work of their first outing with rootsy and organic reggae rhythms topped with the signature smooth sounds of Gordon's melodies up top. After the original version of 'Get On The Groove', the B-side keeps things sweet with a Groove Dub that is as deep as they come and stacked with echo and reverb for that lovely authentic sound and then closing it out is 'Groove 78 Style' which is more percussive, splashy and cavernous with some deft studio effects added in.

The fourth instalment in Pev's Pulse series finds him further widening the scope of his sound as he touches on the distinct energies which inform his unique strain of soundsystem techno.

'Pulse XIII' deals in stark, tweaked-out acid lines cutting through a taut drum machine backbone, balanced out with a sci-fi pad which lets you know its Pev at the controls. 'Pulse XIV' finds him dialling up his jungle roots once more for a dreamy excursion into diced up breaks, cascading synths and dislocated piano chord chops. There's a deeper dub techno spirit to 'Pulse XV' and 'Pulse XVI' deals in the raw, bleep-informed jack tracks that have started to creep into Pev's sound as the Pulse series has evolved.

Livity Sound is a label set up by Peverelist in 2011 as a vehicle for a raw and exploratory strain of UK techno, rooted in the heritage of UK dance music and sound system culture. It has since become one of the UK's foremost protagonists for cutting edge underground electronic music.

After a number of collaborative appearances and remixes on Dirtybird Records, rising producer, VNSSA, finally makes her well-deserved solo debut on the imprint with her fresh new single, “One Pill.”

Already garnering support from the likes of LP Giobbi, Diplo, and DJ Tennis, VNSAA’s single is a sure-fire crowd-pleaser. The track playfully samples Jefferson Airplane’s classic tune, “White Rabbit,” VNSSA paying tribute to her roots in rock music, and spicing it up with a four-on-the-floor groove.

To celebrate it's success and commemorate the one year anniversary, a special "One Pill" 7" Picture Disc has been made available to fans for purchase. Limited to 500 units.

MAMMOTH is a grabber right out of the gate, every step they take is unleashed with deadly economical precision. They may flash on Lynyrd Skynyrd and other vintage southern rock traditions but the brilliant way the vocals are recorded and the to-the-point interlocking guitar moves will fire up anybody into any sort of hard rock. They can rip it up with hot leads, probably jammed out on these songs at live shows but lucky us, they laid them down for all times here with the sort of thought out unified force and construction that screams hit radio. Loads of personality, accessible, produced and mixed with the clarity of classic rock that never loses it's perfectly deployed impact. The uncluttered arrangements leave plenty of space, crafted with the kind of balanced mojo in the mix where every detail adds to the whole. Down and dirty but also achieving a universal pop-friendly appeal! The Mammoth LP was recorded in 1981 at Relayer Studios in DeLand, Florida with the two guitars, bass and drums quartet line-up sounding like it could have been a decade earlier. Buzz Fetters on lead guitar, Bill Abell on rhythm guitar, Joey Costa on bass and Ron Herman on drums… with everybody contributing to the vocals. Rather than having a strong up front emotive singer the lead vocals here are multi-tracked and integrated into the songs with plenty of attitude but also a genre-transcending presence… you can imagine the vocal ambience working in punk, glam, even psychedelic contexts. Mammoth have a sound informed by roots music but it is really in the rear-view mirror the way they roll. The songwriting here is terrific, they have a way of saying things that comes off as sincere but not too serious. You get plenty of in-your-face hard rock action but also several melodic tracks that have a more reflective charm to round out the trip. AND… when you hear their brilliant ode to southern rock titled "Southern Sounds" I challenge you to find any song about the subject more delightful. These guys keep it real, whether they're being bad ass or vulnerable they express themselves with 100% genuine feeling as contagious and life affirming as it gets!