KEITH HUDSON Vinyl & CDs

Review: To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Keith Hudson's legendary album Pick A Dub, this deluxe reissue includes a second album, Pick A Vocal, featuring 8 bonus tracks. Released in 1974, Pick A Dub highlights Hudson's mastery and reggae's period of evolution. The original album's raw, unadorned sound and superb rhythms stand out and are free from excessive effects or studio gimmicks. Its austere sonic quality continues to captivate listeners, and that is what in part makes Pick A Dub as mesmerising today as it was an incredible 50 years ago.

Review: The dark prince of reggae Keith Hudson was a legendary studio talent who brought his own signature style to dub. His Pick A Dub long player is one of the finest showcases of his work and a perennial favourite amongst dub heads that never goes too long without a new reissue. This latest one on VP is another great reminder of his talents. The 12 tracks show his great range, from happy and harmonic led jams in a hurry to go nowhere via heavier, more raw cuts like 'Part 1-2 Dubwise' and the musical delights and sunny charm of 'Michael Talbot Affair.'

Review: First released in the UK by Tottenham-based Atra Records in 1974, The Black Breast Has Produced Her Best Flesh of My Skin Blood By Blood has long been considered one of the edgiest roots albums of the period and a must-have for serious reggae collectors. The album resulted in its creator, the sadly departed Keith Hudson, being dubbed "the dark prince of reggae". Listening back to this welcome reissue, it's easy to see why. For starters, the lyrical content is highly politically charged and righteous, while Hudson's weighty musical arrangements are far more trippy, hazy and dimly lit than those found on most roots reggae records of the period. This edition also includes three additional tracks not found on the original release, plus exhaustive sleeve notes from Hudson biographer Vincent Ellis.

Review: 70s and early 80s Jamaican producer Keith Hudson's approach to dub was never about smooth edges or easy rhythms. His productions are dense, disorienting, heavy with delay, bass and drums that sound like they're ricocheting down a well. The Soul Syndicate, his long-time studio band, provide the backbone hereideeply locked-in grooves that Hudson warps into something ghostly. 'No Commitment' staggers forward with stabbing guitar chops that seem to dissolve mid-strike, while 'Ire Ire' loops through warped vocal fragments and echo chambers that stretch into infinity. 'Bad Things' and its dub counterpart pull apart the rhythm until it feels skeletal, each hit landing in the empty space between delay trails. Hudson's use of reverb and tape manipulation isn't just about atmosphere, but about control as well. He shifts and reshapes the mix to turn steady rhythms into something unsteady, always shifting just out of reach. 'Desiree' drifts through flickering hi-hats and cavernous low-end, while 'Keeping Us Together' seems to slow down and speed up in the same breath. There's something darker, more claustrophobic in the way he structures space and silence. Even the brighter moments, like 'Mercy' with its open, rolling groove, carry an unease, as if the music itself is bracing for collapse. Hudson was an architect of mood, twisting familiar elements into something deeply immersive and strangely hypnotic.