Junior Delgado
Sunshine

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.

'Based On A True Story' aka BOATS is the debut studio album from Fat Freddy's Drop unleashed ten years ago in May 2005. The album debuted at #1 and went Gold on its first release day in New Zealand, and won the band a stash of NZ Music Awards and a legion of fans worldwide. BOATS album features 10 fresh slices of future funk, with surprises, fakes & freaky sidesteps throughout. There are new versions of previously released singles like 'This Room', 'Hope' & 'Ernie' [also known as 'Willow Tree'], alongside the recent 12 inch 'Flashback' & six completely new tracks, all mystic supernovas of soul.

Released in 1979, self-financed by loans from friends and allies, Mandinka Dong - The Mandinke Dance - is the genesis of Touré Kunda, the cornerstone of the band’s unique sound, at the crossroads of Disco, Funk, Pop, Reggae, Portuguese, Guinean, Cuban, Zairean, Mandinke and Soninke music.

Paul Miller, better known by his stage name DJ Spooky is a music producer, arranger, DJ, author and performance artist. His unique brand of experimental hip-hop, dubbed ’illbient’ has resulted in collaborations with a diverse range of artists including Ryuichi Sakamoto, Kronos Quartet, Lee “Scratch” Perry and Killa Priest. With remix projects for Trojan Records, Manifold Records and Six Degrees among others to his credit, Miller created Phantom Dancehall for his exploration of the Greensleeves/ VP Records reggae catalogue.The musical tapestry is built on samples from familiar (and not so familiar) reggae tracks over electronic beats and melodies produced by Miller and protégé Stephen Levitin (stage name Apple Juice Kid). Selected tracks include the keyboard work of Alex Thompson aka Fourth Shift.Guest vocals from Walshy Fire (Major Lazer) and dancehall new comer Sanjay added to vocal samples of Busy Signal, Lady Saw and Garnett Silk give the project an eclectic, modern dancehall flavor.

LIMITED EDITION BOX SET!“The definitive anthology of the company that helped bring reggae and dancehall to the US and beyond.”Down In Jamaica: 40 Years of VP Records is a 94-track, deluxe, multi-format box set with 24 page booklet and art cards detailing the hits, the rarities, and the history of the world's largest reggae label.