Pressure Sounds Vinyl & CDs

Review: Superb package here for dub heads: Dub Cuts: Mixed By Paolo Baldini Dubfiles on Pressure Drop is an LP made up of different Al Brown obscurities. They're given plenty of trippy studio effects and heady reworks by Paolo Baldini Dubfiles at his studio in San Foca in Italy. The tense and moody sounds are finished in places with some top vocal work from Al Brown. This is the sort of collection that works in many different environments from sunny sound systems to darker stoner sessions on a Sunday afternoon.

Review: During last year's lockdown in Italy, contemporary dub producer Paolo Baldini was invited by Pressure Sounds to work on Bunny Lee's archive of recordings he made with singer Barry Brown during the mid-to-late 1970s. The results can now be heard on Praises, a set which adds a little more dub-wise spice to classic roots reggae cuts while retaining much of Lee's production and instrumentation. Brown's vocals - effortlessly soulful, hugely evocative and partially improvised - are simply superb, while Baldini's handling of Lee's riddims and musical arrangements is masterful. As a result, the assembled dubs, versions and vocal reworks sound faithful to the period in which they were recorded while adding subtle new touches and 21st century-ready low-end weight.

Review: Dub producer Herman Chin Loy who was one of the pioneers of the style in the early 70s, and this reissue of two formerly unnammed and mislabeled, all but lost LPs - now combined to make up a compilation known as Musicism Dub - perfectly captures the earliest incarnation of the sound. 'Musicism' is a good term to describe the spectacular character of Loy's dub. Dub as a genre itself has been at times described as one of the first popular music styles to use the sound of the beat as a point of intrigue in itself, rather than relying solely on melodies or lyrics. The Chin Loy sound flaunted here is as indicative of this approach, though it is also staunchly rooted in the vintage style of analog production, with the likes of 'Armagideon War' and 'Don't Fight The Man' nailing that undeniably early chillout sound: nicely-glued lows and spitty tops.

Review: Pressure Sounds serve up a superb collection of Yabby dubs that have mostly been taken from past singles, but not in all cases. The vast collection comes with sleeve notes from Diggory Kenrick that give great context and take us back to the 1970s dub heyday in Jamaica. That is when Vivian 'Yabby You' Jackson was a fiercely independent singer and producer making waves off the back of his first early tunes. He famously carried all his records to the pressing plant on the back of his much loved motorbike. An accident caused him to give it up but the music survived and is this collection proves, it is crucial stuff.