RWDFWD choice selections - Oddball Dancehall
RDL Shellah + G Sudden - Showcase EP + Bunout Boss EP
Bokeh Versions - LP
Produced by the mysterious Seekersinternational / SKRSINTL formation and previously released as cassettes, these two gems from Jamaica's RDL Shellah and G Sudden are now available on vinyl for the very first time, with each EP getting a side of wax to spin out on. RDL Shellah's side sees SKRS drawing for a more classic RnB / early 2000's dancehall palette, and this one is packed with seriously big hits, smooth like silk, full of heart, and swagger. G Sudden's Bunout Boss EP goes a little more abstract and a bit madder, with the instrumentals touching on styles such as grime and the sonic tapestries of the Duppy Gun crew, but still sounding utterly singular - ain't no one copying this sound, and this sound ain't been copied either. Essential, timeless dancehall mutations.
O$VMV$M - Weekend Saviour
NoCorner - 12" - w/ zine
Young Echo's O$VMV$M return to NoCorner for the first time since 2015's debut 'Memoryz Ov U' on the label. There were murky traces of dancehall in their sound from the start, but on this record, especially on B side cut 'Bird Ride' the pair really go into dancehall mode (with bird sounds, no less!), and this one would work a treat in the mix with their dancehall leaning gear with Rider Shafique on LAVALAVA and Dollar Discs.
Kofi - Coming Down To See Me / Mad Professor & Yard Squad - Coming Down To See Me / Creative Soul
Ariwa - 12"
On the A side of this versatile 12" via Mad Professor's Ariwa label, we have a really infectious lovers rock song from Kofi. That one's killer already, but just in case you felt like you needed a weird B side to justify this disc... Well, check the B side on this one. Mad Professor and The Yard Squad deliver a stepping, late 80's / early 90's style oddball dancehall cut to Aswad's classic (& rare) 'Warrior Charge' - as made famous in the great 80s film 'Babylon'.
Reducer -
RUSS - 12"
Alright this record ain't dancehall really, but there's still a hell of a lot of dancehall in there. Cult dub punk band Reducer were doing the (underground) rounds in the 80s, but in recent time band member Hooly has been working together with our mate Miles at Bokeh Versions and re-issuing / excavating a bunch of gear from back then. All sleng teng addicts out there, listen out for the track 'Sleng Teng Master' on this record, for a version that stands out (loud&proud) from the 500+ versions of this rhythm out there that have been made since 1985, since (reggae fan) Okuda Hiroko made that infamous casiotone mt40 preset, and King Jammy stumbled across it in Kingston a bit later on, to eternalise it in the reggae world (and beyond).