Around this time last year, Mysticisms released a dubplate of tracks cherry-picked and remixed from Dougie “Conscious Sounds” Waldrop and Chris “Love Grocer” Petter’s 90s Dub Specialists project. The imprint now have a follow-up containing 4, fresh reggae / house hybrids. Label co-founder Chuggy is back, editing Heavy Dub, which pits Ijahman Levi samples against a rave breakbeat and arms-in-the-air piano. Matt “Vanity Project” Bruce also returns, turning Reality Dub into a mix of Colourbox and digidub influences, in the process throwing out a salute to Smith & Mighty. Lexx delivers a racing, uptempo twist on Dynamic Duo. Weaving camp 60s TV Batman & Robin dialogue around pumping 4 / 4, melodica and funky organ. The standout, perhaps though, comes from rising man of the moment, Miles J. Paralysis, whose shake of Subconscious pits a post-punk funk B-line against a kinda Native American tribal rhythm. Percussion rattles in reverb. Industrial clanking gets caught in delay and sent spinning. The vocals are a bluesy wail, backed by emotive synth swells, and everything is soaked in a sort of splashing. Acid eventually snarling. A bit of an epic journey, by the end this had me thinking of Hardfloor’s Weatherall / Sabresonic favourite, AM Trip. It also had me searching the shelves for Rhythm Doctor’s classic radical rework of Gregory Isaacs’ Mr Know It All. 

Dub Specialists’ Beat To Beat can be ordered directly from Mysticisms.