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IMPORTANT (Please read to avoid confusion):
Some items below may be tagged with a bold, red, all-caps "out of print/unavailable" notice. This does NOT mean that all other items not so tagged are, in fact, in stock -- or for that matter, in print and available, though there's a good chance they are. Some folks get confused on this point, and we can see why, so please read this for further clarification and other important before-you-order information. Unlike some mailorder websites, we don't have an electronic inventory system linked to our site, so you can't be sure of what we actually have or don't have in stock at any given moment without asking us -- please email our mailorder department for availability status -- or better yet, just go ahead and place your order using our shopping cart function and we'll get back to you with the status of each item. If you have general non-mailorder questions, email the store.


CAPLETON Mi Food (RMC) 7" 2.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Hip hop remix. Rhythm = "Get Ur Freak On" (Missy Elliott).

CAPLETON Over Time Bomb (Killa) 7" 2.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Hip hop remix. Rhythm = "Wait A Minute" (Ray J).

CAPLETON Twist & Turn (Special Remix) 7" 2.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Hip hop remix. Rhythm = "Let's Get Dirty" (Redman).

CAPLETON Why (Special Remix) 7" 2.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Hip hop remix. Rhythm = "I'm A Thug" (Trick Daddy).

CAPLETON / BEENIE MAN / ELEPHANT MAN Real Mix (RMC) 7" 2.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Hip hop remix.

CAPLETON / BEENIE MAN / ELEPHANT MAN Real Mix (RMC) 7" 2.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Hip hop remix.

CECILE Talkin (Special Remix) 7" 2.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Hip hop remix.

album cover CHANCHA VIA CIRCUITO Rodante (ZZK) cd 16.98
Chancha Via Circuito is not only the train that Pedro Canale rides back and forth from his hometown to nearby Buenos Aires, it's also the name he's chosen for his dubbed out, free flowing, and more nuanced and minimal approach to "Cumbia digital." We've been entranced with this record since the very first time we heard it, as it's equal parts soothing and moving, slow burning and dance inducing. We're reminded a lot of the great Mad Professor vs. Massive Attack outing No Protection, as it has that same blend of cut and paste dub, along with more recent blasts from that Cumbia scene. In fact it wouldn't surprise us if Gang Gang Dance had gotten a copy of this before they recorded their latest record as it has that same kind of tripped out and late night dance vibe they latched on to. This is exactly what you would want blasting from the speakers in a club as you waited for M.I.A. to take the stage, or in your ears as you roam late night streets, moving at ease as these seductive beats intertwine perfectly with the flashing lights of the cars zooming by.
MPEG Stream: "Damas Gratis Dub"
MPEG Stream: "Aldo Benitez- Dia Libre (Chancha Via Circuito Remix)"
MPEG Stream: "Zorzal (Ft. Sol De Oliveira)"

CHANNEL ONE Maxfield Avenue Breakdown: Dubs & Instrumentals (Pressure Sounds) cd 16.98
Compilation of version sides recorded by Ernest & Jo Jo Hookim at their Channel One studio during its heyday (between 1974-79). Though not always known necessarily for the innovation in their own productions (an incredible exception here being the Natty A General version which features an insane solo of car horns), they were sought out by producers all over Jamaica due to their excellent (though modest) recording gear and their golden ears, and their sound was unmistakable. Though technically a compilation, Pressure Sounds has intentionally presented the album as though Channel One were the artist (which makes sense when you consider that once the vocals have been lifted and the song reworked completely, save for the rhythm track), that being the Hookim Brothers and whatever their studio band might have consisted of at the time. Some quite familiar names can be found laying the tracks here, including Sly Dunbar, Robbie Shakespeare, Ossie Hibbert, Tommy McCook and more.

CHANTELLS & FRIENDS Children of Jah: 1977-79 (Blood & Fire) cd 16.98

album cover CHORD Gmaj7 (MIE) lp 23.00
These high concept instrumentalists are most definitely not the first group to explore the subtleties of single chords; twentieth century classical music is rife with extended chord performances, and more recently San Diego rock minimalists Physics based their entire career on performing a C chord - it's just that Chord the group are the first to present their single chord process so overtly. They're called Chord to begin with, and each track is titled the specific chord that is being played/explored. And sure, there's some seriously academic stuff going on, the liner notes of their records reveal a deep understanding of music theory, but it's all in the application of the theory, after all we didn't pick this record up to LEARN anything!! Regardless, for whatever academic underpinnings are present, the music of Chord is in fact quite lovely, dark billowing swirls of deep drones and lush chordal whir, this particular chord was already explored on the group's Flora record, but here the group revisit it, and offer two sidelong explorations/reinterpretations/improvisations. The first, subtitled "Stasis", is not in fact as static as the title might lead one to believe. It's a slowly unfurling sprawl of layered low end drones, of subtly shifting overtones, lush textures, rumbling buzz, deep swirling shimmer, super hypnotic for sure, with the sound slowly building to a heavy buzzing SUNNO))) like dirge, but with headphones this wall of crumbling super distorted sound is revealed to be rife with ever shifting sonic colorations, the titular chord being pulled apart, making the inner workings audible, a blackened buzz transformed into a dense swirl of prismatic tonal thrum writ epic and majestic and surprisingly heavy.
The flipside, subtitled "Kinesis", doesn't seem to offer up as much movement as the subtitle suggests, although we're now beginning to understand the subtleties of Chord's process, the kinesis here due mostly to the introduction of drums (courtesy of US Maple's Pat Sampson!), the guitars offering up a looped Reich like backdrop to some heavy drum pound, blustery and bombastic, with moments that shift toward more abstract and jazzy, the drums and guitars seemingly at odds, occasionally coming together in stretches of Necks like minimal groove, but more often than not, sparring wildly, before finally blossoming into a heavy blown out blissy psychedelic raga like outro, all soaring sunburnt guitar buzz and loping tripped out rhythmic pummel. Nice.
LIMITED TO 300 COPIES!! Comes packaged in a silkscreened fold over sleeve, and includes TWO download coupons, one for the record proper, and another for a 2010 live set at the Empty Bottle in Chicago.
MPEG Stream: "Gmaj7 (Stasis)"
MPEG Stream: "Gmaj7 (Kinesis)"

album cover CISNEROS, AL Dismas / Version (Sinai) 7" 7.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The very first solo record from Al Cisneros, he of stoner sludge gods Sleep, and minimal doom heavies OM, and the first release on his Sinai label, which might have you expecting a sweet slab of downtuned heaviness, or slo-mo bass heavy minimalism, and actually you wouldn't be far off. But this is not metal, or doom, or even rock, this in fact a straight up DUB record. We're not surprised, as Cisneros has been ordering dub records from us for a while, but fans of OM at least shouldn't be that surprised either, as that group's sound was definitely heavily influenced by classic dub. And while Cisneros' first stab at pure dub is pretty excellent, it's also not hard to imagine it being reimagined as a proper OM track, but here, it's all dub, low slung woozy bassline, spare simple rhythm, what sounds like tablas, the vibe a little bit Muslimgauze, a little bit King Tubby, the sound lush and thick, rife with sampled vocals, chiming melodies, dark, droney, druggy and seriously dubby, crank the bass and blast this through your system.
And of course it's a dub single, so the flipside is the 'version', most of the vocals stripped away, or doused in echo and delay and spent swirling into the ether, super minimal and mesmerizing, the focus on the groove of the bass, and the rhythm, totally heady and hypnotic, WAY too short on a 7", it's the sort of jam you want to stretch out forever. Here's hoping there's a dub full length in the future, but for now, grab one of these before they're gone, as they're extremely limited. Housed in a plain white sleeve.
MPEG Stream: "Dismas"
MPEG Stream: "Version"

album cover CISNEROS, AL Teresa Of Avila / Levitation Dub (Sinai) 7" 7.98
Solo single #2 from Al Cisneros, mastermind of tranced out psych-doom outfit OM, and former bassist for late great stoner sludgelords Sleep, who has never been shy about his love of dub, that dub-love influencing the sound of OM more and more with every record. But these self released 7"s seem to be a showcase for Cisneros to experiment with making proper, classic sounding old school dub, and it sounds as good as you might think.
The A side here is a loping, looped sprawl of hypno-dub mesmer, that sounds more like Muslimgauze or African Head Charge (much like the OM dub remix 12"s reviewed elsewhere on this week's list). The melodies are woozy, Eastern tinged, the beat is a motorik, almost industrial sounding shuffle, the bassline languid and liquid, the A side here almost sounds like a single measure looped for the whole of the side, totally tranced out and circular, in fact it almost sounds like old classic Circle slowed away down, that same sort of head nodding murky groove. The flipside begins with a bit of ambient drift, but soon locks into a similar groove, the sound reminding us also of minimal techno / heroin house, but way more murky and hazy, clouds of swirling ambience shift slowly above that main loop that could go on forever, and for the length of these two sides nearly does.
Like the first single, absolutely recommended, and also like that single, VERY limited...
MPEG Stream: "Teresa Of Avila"
MPEG Stream: "Levitation Dub"

CLARKE, JOHNNY A Ruffer Version: at King Tubbys 1974-1978 (Trojan) cd 17.98

album cover CLARKE, JOHNNY Jah Jah We Pray (Kingston Sounds) cd 17.98

MPEG Stream: "Nobodies Business"
MPEG Stream: "This Old Heart Of Mine"

CLARKE, JOHNNY Jah Jah We Pray (Kingston Sounds) lp 17.98

album cover CONGOS Heart of the Congos ( VP) cd 14.98
Consisting of falsetto vocalists Cedric Myton and Roydel Johnson together with the Upsetters, the Congos released this amazing record in 1977, recorded at Lee Perry's Black Art studio. One of the best ever. Vinyl version is the deluxe edition with 2nd lp, "The Best Of The Rest", 11 Congos tracks from '79-'99, included.
MPEG Stream: "Fisherman"
MPEG Stream: "Congoman"
MPEG Stream: "Open Up The Gate"

CONGOS Heart of the Congos (Blood & Fire) 2cd 25.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Consisting of falsetto vocalists Cedric Myton and Roydel Johnson together with the Upsetters, the Congos released this amazing record in 1977. This reissue comes with a second cd that includes 4 remixes, some unavailable since '77, plus a gorgeous book-type package with full color photos and commentary. Highly recommended. Thanks to beloved AQ-listmember Jonny Poynton for making us pay attention.
(From the liner notes): Heart of the Congos is together with Bob Marley and the Wailers' Natty Dread, Burning Spear's Marcus Garvey, and the Mighty Diamonds' The Right Time, a defining statement of Jamaican vocal group artistry in the 70's. By virtue of its thematic coherence, superb musicianship, beautiful vocals, it is exemplary roots music of the highest order. It is also the most perfectly-realised album to come from Lee Perry's Black Ark during the 6 years that the studio was in operation. Absolutely recommended!

album cover CONGOS Heart of the Congos (Deluxe Edition) ( VP) 2lp 22.00
Consisting of falsetto vocalists Cedric Myton and Roydel Johnson together with the Upsetters, the Congos released this amazing record in 1977, recorded at Lee Perry's Black Art studio. One of the best ever. Vinyl version is the deluxe edition with 2nd lp, "The Best Of The Rest", 11 Congos tracks from '79-'99, included.
MPEG Stream: "Fisherman"
MPEG Stream: "Congoman"
MPEG Stream: "Open Up The Gate"

CONGOS Revival (VP) lp 13.98

album cover CONGOS, THE The Carl Craig Edits (Honest Jon's) 12" 12.98
Pure 12" perfection! Originally released back in 2003 we're super happy this has been finally repressed! Carl Craig had just the right touch on these edits of tracks from the amazing Congos album Heart Of The Congos. This is exactly what you want in a 12", jams to be played over and over and over, Craig piecing together the already potent elements from those amazing originals into a more minimal yet totally sizzling new sound. If you don't have that Congos record yet, this could be the perfect gateway to an amazing album and if you already love that record like we do, this manages to be respectful to the originals, while taking them in totally new directions. Carl Craig proves once again that when it comes to edits and remixes, no one does it better!

album cover CONGOS, THE & FRIENDS Fisherman Style (Blood And Fire) 2cd 17.98

MPEG Stream: BIG YOUTH "Feed A Nation"
MPEG Stream: HORACE ANDY "Love Love Love"
MPEG Stream: MAX ROMEO "Give Praises"

album cover COTTON, JOSEPH Dancehall Days 1976-1984 (Moll-Selekta) cd 16.98

MPEG Stream: "King Sellasi I Live"
MPEG Stream: "Ali Baba"

COUNT OSSIE & MYSTIC REVELATION OF RASTAFARI Tales of Mozambique (Creole Records) cd 16.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
"'Tales of Mozambique' by the Mystic Revelation of Rastafari deserves the kind of attention and reverence which some people have before a monument in a holy room. Above all, this album depends on specific approaches which take account of and analyse all the historic parameters of the displacement of African blacks to the West Indies coasts. It is a journey which takes in the Maroons, Pan-Africanism and all the international struggles for independance, to the spiritual meeting of Nanny (Burru Queen), Howell and Lumumbaba (African Revolutionary) in a musical structure encompassing Burru, Mento, Reggae and Jazz rhythms... 'Tales of Mozambique' came out in 1975 and was an hommage to the independence of this African state, a fusion of Jazz, Nyabhinghi and Calypso, punctuated with interventions by the speaker, Sam Clayton. This masterpiece was not inspired by commercial considerations, but was intended to be the expression of the specific cultural features of Rastafarianism." (From the liner notes.)

COUNT OSSIE & MYSTIC REVELATION OF RASTAFARI Tales of Mozambique (Crocodisc) lp 11.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
"'Tales of Mozambique' by the Mystic Revelation of Rastafari deserves the kind of attention and reverence which some people have before a monument in a holy room. Above all, this album depends on specific approaches which take account of and analyse all the historic parameters of the displacement of African blacks to the West Indies coasts. It is a journey which takes in the Maroons, Pan-Africanism and all the international struggles for independance, to the spiritual meeting of Nanny (Burru Queen), Howell and Lumumbaba (African Revolutionary) in a musical structure encompassing Burru, Mento, Reggae and Jazz rhythms... 'Tales of Mozambique' came out in 1975 and was an hommage to the independence of this African state, a fusion of Jazz, Nyabhinghi and Calypso, punctuated with interventions by the speaker, Sam Clayton. This masterpiece was not inspired by commercial considerations, but was intended to be the expression of the specific cultural features of Rastafarianism." (From the liner notes.)

COUNT OSSIE & THE MYSTIC REVELATION OF RASTAFARI Grounation: the Roots of Reggae (Proper / Retro) 2cd 18.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.

COUNT OSSIE & THE MYSTIC REVELATION OF RASTAFARI Grounation: the Roots of Reggae (Grounation) 3lp 21.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Great stuff, but we'll warn you: all the copies we've ever seen of these have slightly bent corners and crazy shinkwrapping, pretty common for Jamaican releases. Just so you know WE didn't bend 'em.

album cover CREATION REBEL Starship Africa (On-U Sound) cd 21.00
Not sure how it worked for other folks, but discovering On-U sound back in the eighties was definitely a gateway into classic dub, the On-U stable of bands like African Headcharge, Dub Syndicate, New Age Steppers, those Pay It All Back comps, the On-U sound was an electronic dub rooted in punk rock, that while true to the roots of reggae and dub, also pushed the sound in stranger, more cosmic and psychedelic directions. For us the ultimate dub music came courtesy of another non-traditonal electro-dub outfit, the Bush Chemists, who pushed dub to its very breaking point, slathering sounds in ridiculous amounts of delay, sending beats careening into the ether, rhythms constantly collapsing and crumbling, before reconstituting only to do it all over again, while all around, the vocals and other instrumentation got the same treatment, for a non pot smoker, it was about as close to stone-y musical bliss as one could get.
But a close second in terms of tripped out psychedelic dub, was no doubt this one, Creation Rebel's Starship Africa, from way back in 1980, described by the label as some of the "greatest sci-fi dub soundtracks never put to film", which is really not that far off. We never really think about dub being space-y or psychedelic, but Starship Africa most definitely is, its core sound is pure dub, upstroke guitars, wheezing melodica, woozy groovy basslines, swirling synths, and of course hypnotic rhythmic grooves, but in the hands of Creation Rebel, these sounds seem to blur into something else entirely, melodies shift, sounds blossom and expand outward like some exploding star, the drums occasionally splinter into fractured rhythmic shards, weird processed alien vocals hover in fields of reverb, the basslines thick and low slung, also seems to ooze and warble, anchoring all the other sounds, but in their own way stretching out to the heavens as well, and the tape speed constantly warbles, even slipping into an old school DJ style rewind, only to slip right back into another spaced out psychedelic groove.
Just check out the sound samples. Total druggy, dreamy, drift off headphone bliss.
MPEG Stream: "Rebel Vibration"
MPEG Stream: "Jungle Affair"
MPEG Stream: "Hunger And Strife"

album cover DADAWAH Peace And Love (Dug Out) cd 16.98
Reissued courtesy of the Dug Out label run by Mark Ernestus of Basic Channel and Mark Ainley of Honest Jon's comes this beautiful 1974 work of reggae roots spiritual music unlike any we've ever heard. Deep and heady, slowly unfolding over four long tracks (most of them exceeding the 10 minute mark, and all melding into one another), it carries an earthy psychedelic vibe that unfurls like incense smoke over an expansive desert. With rolling bass, nyabinghi (ceremonial hand percussion), piano and spaced out guitar washes that weave around the central rhythm and vocalist Ras Michaels spiritual incantation like singing. We can see folks who are into bands like Om, Bright Black Morning Light, Sun Araw, or the hippie head trips of early Dr. John or Bruce Palmer getting way into this. Probably one of the most mystically stoned Jamaican head burners we've heard in a long time. Amazing!
MPEG Stream: "Run Come Rally"
MPEG Stream: "Seventy-Two Nations"

album cover DADAWAH Peace And Love (Dug Out) lp 24.00
Reissued courtesy of the Dug Out label run by Mark Ernestus of Basic Channel and Mark Ainsley of Honest Jon's comes this beautiful 1974 work of reggae roots spiritual music unlike any we've ever heard. Deep and heady, slowly unfolding over four long tracks (most of them exceeding the 10 minute mark, and all melding into one another), it carries an earthy psychedelic vibe that unfurls like incense smoke over an expansive desert. With rolling bass, nyabinghi (ceremonial hand percussion), piano and spaced out guitar washes that weave around the central rhythm and vocalist Ras Michaels spiritual incantation like singing. We can see folks who are into bands like Om, Bright Black Morning Light, Sun Araw, or the hippie head trips of early Dr. John or Bruce Palmer getting way into this. Probably one of the most mystically stoned Jamaican head burners we've heard in a long time. Amazing!
MPEG Stream: "Run Come Rally"
MPEG Stream: "Seventy-Two Nations"

album cover DE FACTO How Do You Dub (ReSTART) cd 10.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The second cd from De Facto (featuring Omar and Cedric formerly of At The Drive-In... not to be confused with Mars Volta which is their other current project) comes by way of ReStart Records in El Paso, TX. We should note that of the eight tracks included, two ("Coaxial" and "Thick Vinyl Plate") can also be found on their first album "Megaton Shotblast" released on Gold Standard Laboratories. Leaning a bit heavier on the electronics this time around. Continuing on in their twisted, dark and dubby sonic explorations.
RealAudio clip: "Nux Vomica / Coaxialreturn"

DE FACTO How Do You Dub (ReSTART) lp 9.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The second cd from De Facto (featuring Omar and Cedric formerly of At The Drive-In... not to be confused with Mars Volta which is their other current project) comes by way of ReStart Records in El Paso, TX. We should note that of the eight tracks included, two ("Coaxial" and "Thick Vinyl Plate") can also be found on their first album "Megaton Shotblast" released on Gold Standard Laboratories. Leaning a bit heavier on the electronics this time around. Continuing on in their twisted, dark and dubby sonic explorations.

DEB PLAYERS Umoja - Love and Unity (Badda) cd 22.00
Repress of the 1978 Dennis Brown produced, Prince Jammy engineered masterpiece of dub, now rendered obsolete by Blood & Fire's much cheaper Umoja / 20th Century Dubwise twofer sold under Prince Jammy's name.

DEKKER, DESMOND Original Reggae Hitsound (Trojan) lp 12.98

DEKKER, DESMOND The Best of Desmond Dekker (Trojan) cd 16.98

DELAHAYE, JUNIOR Showcase (Wackies) cd 17.98

album cover DEMDIKE STARE Symbiosis (Modern Love) cd 15.98
If you can imagine a black metal DUB record, released on Chain Reaction, then this debut from Demdike Stare might be just what you're looking for. A collaboration between one half of the group Pendle Coven, and one of the guys who helps run the amazing Finders Keepers label, the duo craft suffocatingly dark drones, and stark skeletal minimal house music, fusing the two into some sort of mysterious rhythmic black beast. The sound dense and dark, grim and frosty, but infused with all sorts of world music elements, Middle Eastern folk, Indian soundtracks, Turkish psych, the result is really hard to pin down, super stark and dubby a la Pole one minute, then lush and Middle Eastern sounding a la Muslimgauze the next, but just as often, something much more spare and harrowing, buzzy and drone-y, and very very very dark.
The record opens with "Suspicious Drone", which is just that, a dense, deep, throbbing chunk of low end rumble, but shot through with undulating synth pulses, and laced with muted effects, before, a super skittery rhythm is introduced, all wreathed in a haze of Goblin-y synth. The second track, "Haxan Dub", is as you might have surmised super dubbed out, spacious and spare, the beats clipped and minimal, until about halfway through when a second beat joins in, creating a strange stuttery offbeat, very darkly groovy. And then there's "Regressor", a super abstract sprawl of rhythmic clicks, echo reverbed ambience, and very little else, bar the occasional synth squiggle or disembodied sample, the result is truly haunting and weirdly gorgeous. And so it goes, the second half of the record is a bit heavier on the world music, with much of the music being made up of chopped and looped samples, or recontextualized motifs, like on "Trapped Dervish, where a fragment of fiddle and a reverb drenched snippet of female vocals, are blurred into a gorgeous expanse of murky rhythmic ambience, but "Haxan" gets all Chain Reaction heroin house-y, while "Conjoined" is all tangled rhythms, and layered drums, until "Ghostly Hardware" finishes things off in appropriately ominous fashion, a long buzzing low end dronescape, all whirring synths, crackling textures, and pulsing bass, never truly locking into a rhythm, instead drifting and floating ghostlike. So good. One of our favorite new electronic records for sure.
MPEG Stream: "Suspicious Drone"
MPEG Stream: "Haxan Dub"
MPEG Stream: "Regressor"

album cover DEMDIKE STARE Voices Of Dust (Modern Love) 12" 22.00
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Finally part three in Demdike Stare's strange and wonderful hauntological black dub triptych, a logical continuation of both Forest Of Evil and Liberation Through Hearing, a sprawling twisted landscape of sound, from lurching stuttering minimal sort-of-dubstep to looped and processed African folk music (??) to swirling glitched out electronics, to throbbing pulsing deeeeeep dronemusic, to reverb drenched post-rock-via-Chain-Reaction skitter to... well wherever these cracked sonic alchemists decide to dream up.
The record opens with "Black Sun", a short stretch of some super minimal electronic dronemusic, all layered overtones and strange sonic shadings, which gives way to the chopped and looped and stuttery vocal driven "Hashshashin Chant" which takes tribal drums and traditional folk music vocals, and twists them all up, and tangling those elements with strange percussion, industrial buzz, the whole thing a dizzying chunk of hypno-electronic collaged psychedelic mashup weirdness, before slipping into the much murkier and minimal "Repository Of Light", which unfurls like some sort of Hawkwind-meets-Pole spaced out digi-dub drift.
And so it goes, the sound flitting between impossibly realized miniature sound worlds, cinematic electronic ambience, ominously pulsing low end rumble, hazy glitchy dubbed out Jeckian smears, super blown out electronic big beat bombast, almost industrial sounding avant big band abstraction, roiling corrosive soft noise, bellowing foghorn-like melodies, warped and woozy scratchy old lp warblescapes and beyond.
So gorgeously evocative, creepy and cinematic, abstract and otherworldly, druggy and dreamy, fantastically haunting and spine tinglingly stunning.
Rumor is all three lps are getting reissued as a cd box sometime next year, but the vinyl tends to disappear pretty quick, so act fast...
MPEG Stream: "Hashashin Chant"
MPEG Stream: "Repository Of Light"
MPEG Stream: "Rain And Shame"

album cover DILLON, PHYLLIS Love Is All I Had: A Tribute To The Queen Of Jamaican Soul (Trojan) cd 17.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Wonderful! One of our favorite rocksteady vocalists who just might become one of yours. This posthumously released tribute album compiles a whopping twenty nine songs from Phyllis Dillon's early years spanning 1966 through 1971. The productions blend the traditional reggae and rocksteady sounds with the decade's smooth bright girl group pop. A perfect summertime album to be cherished. Absolutely recommended.
MPEG Stream: "Nice Time"
MPEG Stream: "Midnight Confessions"

DILLON, PHYLLIS One Life to Live (Treasure Isle) cd 15.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
We're finally carrying my very favorite rocksteady (i.e. post ska, pre reggae) singer who had several hits in the late 1960's. Excruciatingly lovely, light, clear voice is part American soul stirrer, part Jamaican heartbreaker. Very highly recommended!

DISTANCE, DJ VS. SKREAM Political Warfare / Radical (Chestplate) 12" 12.98

DROID Scotty (Dub Steppers) 12" 12.98

DRUMMOND, DON Best Of... (Studio One) cd 14.98

album cover DUB PROJECT, THE s/t (M) cd 16.98
If it looks like a duck, and it quacks like a duck, then it must be the Twilight Circus Sound System. That's pretty much what The Dub Project is as near as we at AQ labs can authenticate. Facts: it's on M records; It was recorded at Studio Twilight in the Netherlands; it's got Ryan Moore's name all over it; it sounds like a new Twilight Circus album. Why he chose a new project title is anyone's guess, but listening to it back to back with say "Other Worlds of Dub" you can definitely hear how Moore's style has evolved to the point where maybe a new alias is necessary. The Dub Project, while clearly founded in reggae and dub, doesn't attempt to sound so Jamaican. If anything Moore is more increasingly sounding like the dance club is his inspiration. The steady thump, thump, thump of the bass drum in his rhythms sounds less Rockers and more 808 these days. One thing that hasn't changed is Moore's love of everything stoney, and you can't hardly listen to this album without getting cotton mouth. Great sweeping washes of rhythms run backwards, gobs of endless delay, dense reverb, and effects will soak your head. In at least one song -- "Joy", featuring vocals by Shyama -- Moore harkens back to the days of Horsie. Hazy Middle Eastern vocals showcase a track that's almost a little too Deep Forest for us. Fortunately this track is not representative of the entire album, which is actually quite good. Change, for the most part, has been a good thing for Mr. Moore.
MPEG Stream: "Days of History"
MPEG Stream: "Nu Doom"

album cover DUB PROJECT, THE s/t (M) lp 14.98
If it looks like a duck, and it quacks like a duck, then it must be the Twilight Circus Sound System. That's pretty much what The Dub Project is as near as we at AQ labs can authenticate. Facts: it's on M records; It was recorded at Studio Twilight in the Netherlands; it's got Ryan Moore's name all over it; it sounds like a new Twilight Circus album. Why he chose a new project title is anyone's guess, but listening to it back to back with say "Other Worlds of Dub" you can definitely hear how Moore's style has evolved to the point where maybe a new alias is necessary. The Dub Project, while clearly founded in reggae and dub, doesn't attempt to sound so Jamaican. If anything Moore is more increasingly sounding like the dance club is his inspiration. The steady thump, thump, thump of the bass drum in his rhythms sounds less Rockers and more 808 these days. One thing that hasn't changed is Moore's love of everything stoney, and you can't hardly listen to this album without getting cotton mouth. Great sweeping washes of rhythms run backwards, gobs of endless delay, dense reverb, and effects will soak your head. In at least one song -- "Joy", featuring vocals by Shyama -- Moore harkens back to the days of Horsie. Hazy Middle Eastern vocals showcase a track that's almost a little too Deep Forest for us. Fortunately this track is not representative of the entire album, which is actually quite good. Change, for the most part, has been a good thing for Mr. Moore.
MPEG Stream: "Days of History"
MPEG Stream: "Nu Doom"

DUB SYNDICATE The Royal Variety Show (On-U Sound) 2cd 26.00

DUB TRIO New Heavy (Roir Reachout International) cd 15.98

DUBADELIC Bass Invaders (Wordsound) cd 14.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
The band name and album title are very apropos and as far as we are concerned this label has not yet put out a bad record. Supergroup features Bill Laswell, Spectre, Him (drummer from Rex), and Dr. Israel.

album cover EARL 16 Cyber Roots (e park) cd 15.98
Roots reggae hits the dancefloor and ouch my tummy hurts. I'm sure this will soon be playing non stop at a cafe near you. I can't see sitting through it again here though.
RealAudio clip: "Feel the Fire"

EARL 16 Cyber Roots (e park) lp 13.98
THIS IS CURRENTLY OUT OF PRINT OR OTHERWISE UNAVAILABLE TO US AT THE MOMENT, SO PLEASE DO NOT ORDER IT. SORRY.
Roots reggae hits the dancefloor and ouch my tummy hurts. I'm sure this will soon be playing non stop at a cafe near you. I can't see sitting through it again here though.

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