A warm dub album from Mad Professor and Prince Fatty

Two pivotal producers and mixing engineers on the UK reggae scene have teamed up for a brand new dub album titled The Clone Theory.

Mad Professor and Prince Fatty met on the UK sound system circuit and discovered that they shared a mutual love of analogue sound and tape machines. But they also have a common friend – deejay and drummer Horseman. Today a Prince Fatty regular and formerly a drummer for Mad Professor while still at school.

On Mad Professor Meets Prince Fatty in the Clone Theory two musical heavyweights mix five tracks each and the result is a soulful and warm dub album complete with blazing horns, rolling drums and pulsating bass lines.

Mad Professor has selected five explosive cuts from his generous vaults and they are backed by a stellar team of musical legends, including Sly & Robbie, Leroy Mafia, Sky Juice, Dean Fraser, Earl 16 and Michael Prophet.

Prince Fatty draws tracks from up and coming albums along personal recordings. The dubs of Winston Francis’ dread I Kill the Devil Last Night, militant Johnny Osbourne’s Back Off and Prince Buster’s dark Idi Amin are among the many highlights on this warm and organic dub album.

Advertisement

Fine-tuned frequencies on The Skints’ new album

London-based reggae four piece outfit The Skints have recently revealed their third and latest album FM, a 15 track set inspired by a time when the band used to drive around in guitarist Josh Waters Rudge’s car, tuning in to the radio and trying to find new music.

FM follows their eclectic Short Change EP from last year and on the album they have pulled influences ranging from grime, garage and punk to summertime sound system reggae, dancehall, rocksteady and soul. It’s a tour of urban culture in its latest guise.

The album kicks off with the distinctively British This Town, featuring deejays Tippa Irie and Horseman, a celebratory ode to London with its sparse arrangement and tongue twisting vocal delivery. It’s followed by catchy hooks, infectious melodies and unexpected arrangements, as the up-tempo Friends & Business, whichmetamorphoses and suddenly borrows from The Specials’ legendary Ghost Town.

The Skints’ debut album Live, Breathe, Build, Believe was highly influenced by Californian ska punk and since that set they have definitely matured and ventured into a more reggae-oriented direction led by the mighty Prince Fatty, who has helmed production on their two latest albums.

FM is The Skints’ tribute to traditional radio culture, a culture when the DJ was king and you weren’t able make your own playlists listening to Spotify or Deezer.

No ordinary dub album from Prince Fatty and Nostalgia 77

Nearly a decade ago acclaimed UK producers Prince Fatty and Nostalgia 77 met for the first time. Prince Fatty firmly rooted in vintage reggae and Nostalgia 77 being a bit more eclectic, but primarily based within jazz, blues and pop. They have released several collaborations since and a full-length set was released last year with virtually no or very little promotion.

On In the Kingdom of Dub – it has nothing do to with the Scientist album with the same title – Prince Fatty has taken on ten tracks from Nostalgia 77’s back catalogue. It’s a flavourful meeting where Prince Fatty has given the cuts new life with solid grooves; dubby, funky, soulful and jazzy.

Most of the tracks are low-key and breezy with vocal snippets popping in and out here and there. You have the almost haunting Rainclouds Dub and Quiet Dawn Dub as well as the highly organic and ethereal Little Steps Dub. But then you also have tracks with a more dancefloor-oriented sound, like the Latin-flavoured Freedom Dub and the rowdy Skeletons Dub with its echoing sound effects and screaming trumpets.

In the Kingdom of Dub is superbly and tastefully mixed and Prince Fatty works extensively with tempos and breaks building up crescendos and suddenly tearing them apart. Listen to this set and you’re definitely in for a few surprises.

A warning from King Porter Stomp

UK’s eight piece reggae band King Porter Stomp have teamed up with reggae legend Prince Fatty to create the brand new single Warning. This rolling reggae rocker comes with trademark horns, heavy bass, layered guitar work and lyrics that throw blows of realism and revolution.

King Porter Stomp have for this single also brought Prince Fatty and Nick Manasseh together on the same record for the very first time. Prince Fatty has mixed the two tracks and Nick Manasseh is responsible for the dub version on the flip.

King Porter Stomp embraces a musical diversity and have released a string of singles of which Warning is the third. Each track in the series differs in musical style and Warning is now available vinyl and digital download.

Scary good from Horseman

This year has so far been graced by remarkably strong dancehall albums, and Popcaan and Jah Vinci’s debut albums are two prime examples. Horseman’s recently released debut is another. These three albums are something completely different compared to all the generic and poorly mastered dancehall sets that are regularly put out.

Horseman is a veteran on the UK reggae scene and has spent about three decades working largely behind the scenes, often as a very capable and well-respected drummer. He has over the past few years made solid guest appearances on several productions coming from Prince Fatty.

And Prince Fatty is also responsible for production and mixing on Horseman’s debut album Dawn of the Dread. This album sees Prince Fatty taking a new direction. It’s still vintage sounding though, but not vintage as in 60s and 70s. No, Dawn of the Dread is primarily rooted in the mid to late 80s dancehall scene. Bouncing bass lines, playful drums and lively synths make this twelve track set a joyous and fun excursion, an excursion on which Horseman and Prince Fatty have invited Tippa Irie, Winston Reedy and Earl Sixteen.

I’ve actually been longing for a full album from Horseman ever since I heard Prince Fatty’s excellent album Supersize four years ago. And this album was well worth the wait.

Finally time for Horseman’s debut album

Renowned drummer and deejay Horseman is finally about to release his debut album – Dawn of the Dread, set for release on November 3. He has been working on the music scene for about three decades and also has music in his blood – his father had a sound system and his mother – Miss Girlie – recorded with legendary singer Laurel Aitken in the 50s and 60s.

He has previously worked with musicians and producers like Tippa Irie, Max Romeo, Gregory Isaacs, Sugar Minott, Jah Shaka, Mad Professor, Barrington Levy and The Royal Philharmonic Orchestra with John Holt.

But his most recent work is with Hollie Cook and producer and mixing engineer Prince Fatty, who he met while he was working with The Ruff Cut Band.

“I was hired for a live drum session for a group called The Amharics about 2003 and there’s this skinny white guy on the desk. I’m asking around ‘who’s that?’ and everyone’s just ‘that’s Mike’. It was the tightest session I’d worked on, the drums were set up so well they sounded great before they were even mic’ed,” says Horseman in a press release, and continues:

“I didn’t see him again until a few years later at a session at the Fish Market Studio for Little Roy in Willesden Green in 2006-2007 when the door creaked open and it was Mike. He said to me he was setting up a sound system called Prince Fatty and I’ve been on board ever since. He just gets it right every time. He doesn’t have a sound, it’s THE sound.”

Now he steps into the spotlight with Dawn of the Dread, an album recorded at Studio Dub in Thailand before being mixed at Prince Fatty’s Ironworks studio in Brighton.

“Mike just asked, ‘you ever been to Thailand?’ and we went. There were great vibes, we walked in and it all fell into place. We were looking to get that 80s digital sound and all that original equipment was just there waiting for us. It was fate.”

The album title is inspired by a long night of watching zombie films in the studio, but the set is described as being saturated with Horseman’s positive vibes.

“If my music brings joy into someone’s life then that’s my aim, it’s there to make people happy. I’m not in competition with anyone, music shouldn’t be competitive. I’m just me doing my thing.”

Strings and disco on Hollie Cook’s Twice

Hollie Cook and Prince Fatty, Prince Fatty and Hollie Cook. The daughter of a punk rocker and an analogue manic, a vintage fanatic and the voice of an angel.

These two have a new album together – Twice. It was supposed to be released in June, but for some reason Mr. Bongo decided to drop it earlier than expected. And what a great surprise. What an exquisite gift to me or any music aficionado for that matter.

On Twice Prince Fatty and Hollie Cook take a partly different path where they explore a hybrid of vintage reggae and gritty disco with grand strings arrangements, pulsating percussion and Giorgio Moroder-styled pop.

It’s damn infectious and at times almost angelic in its moods. Hollie Cook’s singing is as usual ethereal and works very well with the lush strings.

Nine tracks and over 40 minutes of lasting discofied reggae in its greatest form. Free your mind, take of your shoes and hang on, this is a rollercoaster into dreamy territory.

Hollie Cook returns with Twice in May

Acclaimed UK singer Hollie Cook drops her second album Twice on June 10, it’s the follow-up to her widely celebrated debut album released in 2011. Her debut album was in 2012 followed by its dub counterpart where ingenious producer and mixing engineer Prince Fatty twisted and turned the knobs.

On Twice Prince Fatty and Hollie Cook team up once again. And together they create reggae with  grand strings arrangements, Brazilian percussion, dark disco and pop a ’la German/Italian super producer Giorgio Moroder. The pair has also invited Dennis Bovell, Omar, George Dekker and Winston Francis.

The album will be available in various formats including LP, a collection of 7” singles, cassette, USB stick and a number of special additions.

It’s a draw!

Clash albums have for a long time been an important part of reggae culture. The list of excellent sets where a deejay challenges another deejay, or a singer takes on another singer, or a mixing engineer encounters another mixing engineer goes on and on and includes sets such as Two Giants Clash (Yellowman vs. Josey Wales) and At the Grass Roots of Dub (King Tubby vs. The Upsetter).

Clash albums were especially popular in the 70s and 80s, and this entertaining format is something that Prince Fatty and Mungo’s Hi Fi has utilized on the striking and appropriately titled Prince Fatty vs. Mungo’s Hi-Fi.

It’s a battle between the vintage and organic sound of Prince Fatty and the futuristic and electronic sound of Mungo’s Hi Fi. But it’s also a clash between north and south UK, between roots and evolution.

On the ten track set – produced and put together by Prince Fatty – each crew has remixed five well-known tracks from their counterpart’s catalogue, injecting the originals with their own unique reggae vibes.

Prince Fatty has Horseman deejaying on several of his tracks, giving them a brand new edge, while the Scottish lads add mayhem bass lines, hard drums and some wobbling sonic wizardry to tracks such as Say What You’re Saying and For Me You Are.

This set showcases clever mixing and musicianship, but also, and more important, how varied and exciting the contemporary reggae scene is.

Prince Fatty teams up with Mungo’s Hi-Fi on new soundclash album

On a new soundclash album there’s a battle between the vintage sounding Prince Fatty and the futuristic style of Mungo’s Hi-Fi.

On Prince Fatty vs Mungo’s Hi-Fi there’s a war between north and south, between roots and evolution. Each crew has remixed five tracks from their counterpart’s catalogue, injecting the originals with their own reggae vibes.

The set is put together by producer and engineer Mike Pelanconi aka Prince Fatty and hits the streets on CD, vinyl and digital download on March 24.

Check the first single Scrub a Dub Style featuring the late roots loverman Sugar Minott over at Soundcloud.