Jackie Mittoo
Showcase

"It’s a bedrock of deep and heavy rhythms recorded around Jamaica =just before the demise of Perry’s famed Black Ark Studio. Black Ark Vol. 2 is the follow up album to the acclaimed Black Ark In Dub that unsurprisingly for an Upsetter release, took a different path.More vocal oriented, the album features extended dubwise cuts of (former wife and co-producer) Carol Cole’s ‘Ethiopia’, The Originals ‘Got To Be Irie’, Junior Byles ‘Mumbling & Grumbling and The Inamans remake of the Bee Gees hit ‘How Deep Is your Love’, along with an alternate take of the Silvertones roots classic ‘Give Thanks’ with flute overdub and a couple of solid covers from Third World lead vocalist Bunny Rugs. Originally released in 1981 the hard to find Black Ark Vol. 2 remains a frozen sonic timepiece, captured at the beginning of the end of one era and poised at the start of another."

A welcome reissue of an essential dub set from Centry, originally appearing on the Conscious Sounds label in 1993. Featuring ten varied-in-style rootical dubs from Centry consisting of Nigel Lake, Chris Petter, and Dougie Wardrop, with the set mixed by the latter. Features some blazing horns and vocal snippets (from Danny Red, King General, Barry Issac) dubbed and phased to the max. Edition of 500.

The Train To Skaville single was very much “the little train that could”. The disc managed to post a top 40 placing in the UK under some of the most unpromising of circumstances. Cut in 1967 with backing from Lynn Taitt And The Jets, it was originally issued in Britain on the tiny Rio label owned by one William Rickard, really just an off-shoot of his record shop which catered for Jamaican recordings. With little radio support, the key to its success was the popularity it gained on the dance club scene. This momentum pushed it onwards and into the charts.The taste that the Mods had got for Jamaican music through the Ska boom had remained as that fashion receded and this enduring interest led to the talented duo of Leonard Dillon and Stephen Taylor’s sole hit. Though another British chart placing eluded them, Train To Skaville set them up for a long run of success back in Jamaica with many well respected recordings. A knock on effect of the single’s triumph was they were one of the few artists afforded the opportunity of cutting a long playing record so early on in their careers, the Engine 54 LP that we have here.

"Heart of the Congos is a roots reggae album by The Congos, produced by Lee 'Scratch' Perry at his Black Ark studio with a studio band including Boris Gardiner on bass and Ernest Ranglin on guitar. The album was released in 1977. It is noted as being one of Perry's masterpiece productions of the Black Ark era."

Previously unreleased dub plate mixes of some classic Lee Perry material!