rsd, 7 inch vinyl in picture sleeve

stag-o-lee presents buzzsaw joint cut #9.

soul/funk

soulful rnb tracks from tiombe lockhart finally available on vinyl.

the house band of bunny ‘striker’ lee was formed in the mid-1970s by some of jamaica’s most prominent and musically expressive session players. the shifting core line-up spun off from the soul syndicate and thus typically featured earl ‘chinna’ smith and tony chin on guitar and bernard ‘touter’ harvey on organ. carlton ‘santa’ was the main drummer, but carlton barrett of the wailers band and ‘benbow’ creary were sometimes featured. most crucially, on bass, aston ‘family man’ barrett shifted to fully fullwood (and occasionally, earl ‘bagga’ walker), until robbie shakespeare took over, becoming the bandleader. the band was responsible for the popular ‘flying cymbal’ style that took jamaica by storm, and you can hear it in abundance on this killer dub set from 1975, its excellent cuts of cornell campbell and johnnie clarke material mixed at king tubby’s studio - a must for all serious fans of dub.

roots vocalist barry brown has an inimitable style that has long made him a favourite of reggae enthusiasts. drawing from the popular phrasing of horace andy, but morphing it into his own delivery through the kind of wordless slurring that occasionally resembles the sound of a quacking duck, brown found his way into the jamaican music scene through the many amateur west kingston talent contests of the early 1970s, along with fellow aspiring talents such as johnnie clarke, sugar minott and the african brothers, and the mighty diamonds. he also honed his vocal skills on local west kingston sound systems such as tape tone, together with other young dancehall-oriented youth such as barrington levy, sammy dread, roy taylor and tristan palmer. there are still conflicting claims as to who was the first to record brown, with production veteran bunny ‘striker’ lee and sugar minott among the contenders, but in any case, during the late 1970s and early 1980s, he produced a range of captivating work for various producers, much of which is rightly coveted today. ‘ital rock’ appeared on barry’s 1983 lp i’m still waiting, issued by rocktone international, a spin-off of sugar minott’s black roots outfit, based in queens, new york (with a further branch in toronto), the b-side has dean fraser’s previously unreleased electrifying saxophone cut, rescued from dub plate obscurity by jah fingers.

500 copies limited edition! flash forward is happy to repress one of kerri chandler s most beautiful records.first come first served ! -black vinyl label boss alan russell first met kerri when alan was writing for echoes magazine and kerri was signed (by a&r man johnnie walker) to champion records in the uk. alan was interviewing dee dee brave at a hotel in west london as part of the promotion for her album on champion which was released in 1991. alan was already familiar with kerri s work such as superlover and set if off and with his productions on movin records, so asked about kerri and when told that he was also in london as part of the dee dee s tour, the two met and began talking. kerri was slightly surprised that alan knew all of his early releases and the two bonded. they met again in new york when alan was attending the nms (precursor to the wmc in miami) and stayed in touch. years later when alan had started black vinyl the two met again and alan asked if kerri would do something for his label. kerri soon delivered a dat containing these three tracks. the track my old friend was originally titled for my old friend alan , which alan shortened so it would look better on the label! the rest, as they say, is history.-

during the mid-1970s, the aggrovators could do no wrong. this ace team of session musicians that was forged as an off-shoot of the soul syndicate were responsible for some of the biggest hits of the decade, recorded with bunny lees rising stars, such as johnnie clarke and his rival, cornell campbell. following on from the great shalom dub set of 1975, rasta dub 76 is another truly magnificent dub set culled from aggrovators hits (by johnny clarke, cornell campbell and others), this time, the entire album was given a scintillating mix-down at king tubbys studio by the great prince jammy, and the sonic excellence has stood the test of time. another must-have for all connoisseurs of dub.

absolute killer official reissue from the legendary and sought after-album “in need of...”. breathtaking vocal, emotionally rich and a melody to seduce any dancefloor. i adore this record with all of my heart.

distinctive tenor singer linval thompson honed his singing craft in his formative years, growing in the west kingston ghetto of three mile, where he was associated with dennis brown, johnnie clarke and al campbell. a subsequent move to new york brought him into expatriate act hugh hendricks and the buccaneers, with his debut recording, ‘no other woman,’ being made circa early 1974 at patrick alley’s art craft studio. a series of other singles followed from his new york sojourn, but the return to jamaica in 1974 led to more noteworthy singles for stamma hobson, phil pratt and lee ‘scratch’ perry, with ‘jah jah redder than red’ and ‘girl you’ve got to run,’ both cut at the black ark for pratt, being the most successful. yet, it was all but a prelude to the breakthrough success he would finally achieve upon teaming up with bunny lee for ‘don’t cut off your dreadlocks,’ one of the most popular releases of 1975, a debut album of the same name, issued by third world in 1976, contained some of his most outstanding material, including the devotional ‘jah jah the conqueror’ and ‘long long dreadlocks,’ the romance thriller ‘black princess lady’ and the anti-rude boy opus, ‘cool down your temper.’

classic disco cuts

audio familys first releases were picked up with huge enthusiasm and sold many copies! now its time for a suitable follow up! the label is a platform for the best funky techno outings around and features a broad range of well-known producers. volume 4 combines an impressive set of artist from across the globe. in short: here is a prime time roller with the best of the best!

it was 1975 and a mere 24 years since ike turner lit the blue touch paper on rock n roll with the incendiary rocket 88 , when a small independent record company emerged from a couple of second-hand record stores in london. it was just before the fuse was lit on another stage in the rock n roll story with the emergence of punk rock and chiswick records helped strike the match - commencing with the release of the count bishops speedball ep. with the same people at its head, the label evolved into ace records and they are proud to be celebrating their 30th anniversary in 2005. ace has become the leading in-depth catalogue company in the world and has issued a vast amount of the best and most important music released in the us from the time of that first ike turner recording to the launch of their own company. that crucial period forms the core of the extensive ace catalogue. they have often wandered off this central path, with excursions into world music, some home-made recordings of local acts and have investigated beat music from belfast to tokyo. but it is at the heart and soul of rock n roll that you will find ace putting out that wild and frantic, deep and romantic, funky and punky music that will sure nuff turn you on!