Paraphrasing the Soul Sonic Force and sorting through today`s releases for tunes that could have graced Alfie & Leo’s Amnesia dance-floor…

Androo / Le Commerce / Poly Dance Theatre

Swiss producer Androo releases a 10” through his label Poly Dance Theatre, that is, in part, an artistic statement on consumer culture. The vinyl reproduces the same track four times, perhaps as a comment on redundancy, and our desire to acquire things we don’t need. The music fractures piano and guitar, floating them in and out of a flickering, trodding rhythm.

Jah Warrior / Unpromising Land / Partial Records

Steve Mosco has been making and releasing righteous UK roots as Jah Warrior since 1995. Prior to that he hooked up with The Orb-related label, WAU! Mr Modo, for an LP and a 12 under the moniker Zulu Warriors. Mosco has just issued the album Dub From Heart Part 3, twenty-six years after its predecessor Part 2. The immediate stand out for me, from the 10-track LP, is the tune, Unpromising Land. Sampling Martin Luther King Jr.’s I Have A Dream speech, this a flashback to those late `80s WAU! Mr Modo days, when Mosco’s then label mates, artists such  as Sound Iration and Indica All-Stars, produced dub that was heavily influenced by Ecstasy, rave, and acid house. It’s stripped-back, slick, blasted by horns and rushed by rapid ripples of filtered percussion. Plus “I’ve seen the promised land, I may not get there with you…” will always pack a powerful emotional punch.

Kings Of High Speed / High Speed Dubbin / Leisure Group Recordings

Before starting the Brooklyn-based label, Razor-N-Tape, JKriv was a member of the live 5-piece Tortured Soul. Active throughout the 2000s the band excelled in performing boogie, disco, and house. The group’s keyboardist, Ethan White, sadly passed away in 2015, and J’s latest release is a tribute to his former bandmate. The music recorded by the pair over a decade ago, and recently reworked for a fine AA-sided 45, is an excursion into dubwise. False Start Dub sends a whistling almost reed-like riff out over a steady stepping beat and some great digidub bass. Three quarters in, its trippy, “ambient house” sequences suddenly transform into jazzy keys for a brief soulful lovers rock section. High Speed Dubbin, ironically, is a much slower skank. Moodier, more roots. White’s cool organ singing a sufferer’s melody. Jackie Mittoo’s mediative masterpiece, Wall Street, may have been an influence.

Om Unit / Can You Dub It? / Om Unit

Jim Coles pays tribute to Larry Heard / Mr. Fingers by giving his classic Chicago house anthem, Can You Feel It? a post-Basic Channel / post-dub step reimagining. Looping the legendary Juno bass-line into a clipped skank. As Chuck Roberts says, it’s still “The groove of all grooves”, and the production is massive. With a spacious sound that’s bound to fill any club, it’s the perfect score for a post-peak, post-rush, deep blissed-out intake of breath.

Glen Ricks / Keep On Dancing / Emotional Rescue

Emotional Rescue have revived, resuscitated another chunk of chugging disco reggae. This time it’s Glen Ricks’ early 80s debut, Keep On Dancing, which was original released on a 12 on Glen’s own label Mountain Sound. A mixture of machines and live instruments, bass bubbles, hand claps, and synth blasts, it’s upbeat party music. With Glen on lead, backed by a scatting female chorus. The Idjut Boys’ Dan Tyler turns in a dynamite dubbed-out NAD Discomix, where every drum hit, every rhythm guitar lick, every fanfare, every timbale is echoed, and filters create whirlpools of sound. Removing the slightly dodgy bridge, Dan instead concentrates on the groove, which is what got me hooked. Its wobbly beat and B-line a little reminiscent of Will Powers’ Balearic classic, Adventures In Success.

Skruff / Dis Dub / Challenger Deep

Mutabaruka’s most famous, most sampled / versioned poem gets revisited again. There are probably tons of takes out there but the ones that I’m aware of, in chronological order, come from Bobby Konders, Joe Claussell, Roots Unit, Irfan Hussain & Simbad. Matt Stratton aka Skruff’s new shake, Dis Dub, pits the poet’s words against a wall of echo, slo-mo shards of treated keys, whispers of percussion. Practically ambient, but boasting serious sub-bass vacuum, its ethereal backing vocals recall Future Sound Of London’s delicate dissection of Dead Can Dance.

Tokyo Riddim Band / Lazy Love / Time Capsule

The 7-strong Tokyo Riddim Band revive group member Izumi “Mimi” Kobayashi’s cult cut Lazy Love. Originally recorded in L.A. for Mimi’s 1981 album Coconuts High, the London-based crew have given the song a modern reinterpretation, assisted by a few guests. Horseman adds percussion, Ras Tavaris now duets with Mimi, and Prince Fatty is at the controls. Mimi’s vocals and keys take centre stage on the track, which is a laidback sexy skank. Her steamy delivery pitched somewhere between Eartha Kitt’s purr and the Exotica of Yma Sumac, and countered by Tavaris’ sweet croon. Both are serenaded by a Jah Shaka-esque siren, care of  Kay Suzuki, and Megumi Mesaku’s marvellous saxophone.  On the flip Fatty fashions a fantastic dub, where manhandled sound splashes around, before dropping to half-speed and cavernous echo for a finale.

Joe Yorke & Alpha Steppa / Rocking Ship Freestyle #streetdub / Steppas

An absolutely jaw-dropping, heart-stopping version of the brilliant Rocking Ship. Recorded live, at a food stall in Mexico City, and featuring guest spots from Nai Jah and local MCs Spray Cortess and Pakito OG. I’ve already raved about the original mixes of this song. There’s not much more I can say, but if you remain unconvinced of its greatness, watch this video.