‘An absolute must,’ as Steve Barker writes in The Wire. ‘The main Attraction is the dubplate mixes of the Jah Shaka power play Jah No Parshall, here retitled Gates Of Zion. One astonishing dub mix features vocals from Prince Mohammed aka George Nooks in his early deejay guise. Chopped from the lyric and dropped into the chasmic dub mix, the phrase ‘heavy as lead’ would have made an apt title.’

A baker’s dozen of rare or unreleased dub instrumentals by Augustus Pablo at the height of his powers, mixed at King Tubbys.
First the set of Prince Philip dubplates from Digikiller, stateside; now this from Only Roots in France.
Biff!... Baff!
Knockout stuff.

A stupendous haul of sound-system specials and inspired experiments conjured from some of the greatest reggae rhythms of all time, from the inner sanctum of King Tubby’s studio in the mid-seventies (where Philip Smart was second engineer).
Seething with lethal touches of Tubby; dotted with head-spinning walk-ons for Hugh Mundell, Johnny Clarke, Jacob Miller and co; steeped in the genius of young Augustus Pablo, Smart’s childhood friend.
A staggering turn-up. Utterly crucial.

Ravishing vocal harmonies over magnificent Augustus Pablo rhythms, with the Black Ark in the mix.
Only Jah Jah know but schoolfriends Carlton Hines, Paul Mangaroo and Dave Harvey professionally named themselves after their local soundsystem in Mountain View, which in turn copped the moniker from the Tetrarchic rule of the Roman Emperor Diocletian, in the third century.

Dense dubs of the Pablo scorcher No Entry.
Heavy heavy heavy.

Excellent dub set originally released in 1988, based around Tetrack’s classic Let’s Get Started LP, from nearly a decade before. Roomy and reverberating, with synths preferred to melodica.

Cutting his teeth at Impact! with Clive Chin.
The Heptones, Dennis, Swing Easy; an unforgettable lesson in dub, over the killer Ordinary Man rhythm.
‘Leave the studio, sah!’ ‘Leggo dat an hold dis.’ Listen everything.’
Crucial crucial crucial crucial.

Ace vocal excursion on Augustus Pablo’s monumental 555 Crown Street rhythm, from 1979.
Notwithstanding his unforgettable Fuckerys A Gwaan, that’s gotta be Jah Bull’s finest moment, on the flip.

Classy digi dub from 1987 — the living, but chilled and de-populated Pablo sound-world — with killer dillers like Raggamuffin Year and Seven Seals on the desk.