Category Archives: ARTISTS

Coming from the lively music scene in Arhus / Danmark the four Bo Marley boys created an highly unique style of Dub and Reggae by themselves. Using analog synths, obscure drum machines, Sax, African drums and a Roland Space Echo the outcome is a very special sound not heard in this line of music before. 100% Voltage Controlled Reggae roots!

After releasing “Bo Marley vs. disrupt” on Jahtari in 2006 / 2008 and playing lots of memorable live gigs with their Bo Marley mobil, most notably during the four Fusion festivals, the Bo boys are back with a monster ghettoblaster and the proper tape to go along with it: “Masters Of The Universe“.

When the posse is not busy with baking space cookies or re-wiring old synths they’re part of the highly successful bands Analogik and Bliglad.

Clouds is a Finnish electronic music production team that consists of Tommi Liikka and Samuli Tanner. Tommi is a Helsinki native and Samuli comes from a small village deep in rural Finland. The pair met through mutual friends in 1999, and ever since planned on working on some music together, hindered by both working on various projects and shows of their own. The plan was finally realised after a string of coincidences and happy accidents led them to sharing a house in the northern suburbs of Helsinki.

Both members share an interest in the DIY aesthetic often connecting all kinds of music made with passion, not brains. And passion is a trait that overlaps any genre or style boundaries, leading to music that is willing to break the mold.

By 2006, Tommi was already deep into dubstep, and when the pair finally got together for a few fun and productive sessions trying to nail down the style, Clouds was born. The Clouds sound is like a soundtrack to the invasion of earth by little and green, but dubwise, aliens. It’s a fresh take on the standards of dubstep, combining elements from video games, experimental music and hip-hop with deep melodic meditations and dancefloor-shredding basslines. Always keeping it fresh, Clouds tracks rarely tread a path they’ve previously stepped on. This has been noted by many of the scene’s top DJ’s, leading to Clouds being championed by people like Joe Nice, Geiom, Skream, N-Type, L-Wiz, Dj/Rupture, Mary Anne Hobbs and Tes La Rok. Not ones to leave the footwork for others, Clouds has also been travelling to spread their sound to various places such as China, France, UK (DMZ and Subdub among others), Russia, Ireland and Sweden.

Rootah started off producing music with NoiseTracker on his COMMODORE AMIGA 500 back in the early 90ies. Having been a DJ since his youth this side really gained momentum when Techno lifted off and he came across Basic Channel, the Detroit and Chicago sound, Elektro and tons of other related stuff in ca. 1995. He spent the next seven years with active DJing across Germany, occasionally organizing club
events, running an online record store, partying and more music production experiments. Meanwhile with samplers, synths and FX units.

In 1998 Rootah and disrupt met in Leipzig / Germany while working a day-job on a construction site. This sparked a row of more extensive studies into music and herbalogy as well as ultimately the idea for the Digital Laptop Reggae concept.

After an intensive time perfecting this he discovered that the feel, handling and sound of old analogue hardware gear seemed to miss. Since then Rootah is exploring the ying-yang fusion between computah and the rough charme of overheated tubes and tape-delays.

Once I quit my deep adolescent contempt for electronic music with the hexadecimal help of the Commodore AMIGA‘s FastTracker-program – later combined with the social and bodily experience of a raving multitude, constituted and driven onward by the orders of transnatural sound – I began to play around with the unlikely possibilitys this field kept on  unfolding. As we still like to fool around with many of the ways in which meaning and style are being produced.

“Illyah and Ltd. Candy” now is Limited Candy´s and my attempt to not just produce some audible frequencies and distinct styles but to position ourselves in an ideological field, which we are devoted to from the bottom of some corners of our hearts – a.k.a. Reggae/Dub. This simply means some sort of transversal fun and kind offence, since, beyond the orders of coolness, there is seemingly nothing left to believe in – just the insisting need to quit believing in favor for the sincere, in-alienated desire. So we comb the Ten Commandments out of our hair and try to have some serious fun, with a little help of our machines and our ghosts. Drink Coca Cola! Have Sex! Take care of yourself!

Originally hailing from South London, Tapes made his debut release on esteemed 8-bit digital reggae label Jahtari in 2009 with his “Hissing Theatricals” EP. Soon after, a spate of releases and appearances continued on labels such as Honest Jons, Sextags, Astro:dynamics and Meeuw Musak until finally releasing an Album (“No broken hearts on this factory floor”) in 2015 on the Osaka based label EM Records.

More recently the multidisciplinary ferric fanatic has been working behind the scenes as a producer, lending his talents to the likes of reissue label Music from Memory (Caliban – Digital Reggae) and the Estonian label Porridge Bullet with whom he worked with on the Super Star and Star releases. 

In 2018 Tapes continued to branch away into new realms of sonic exploration, soundtracking the short film “The Clothes Themselves” inspired by the concepts of roboticist turned philosopher Riccardo Manzotti and releasing “Silence Please”, a 4 part composition for Tanpura box, Tabla machine and flute synthesizer on Good Morning Tapes.

His most recent release is a collaborative excursion with Osaka based Musician 7FO. “Live – 電氣爆発 (Electronic Aura Explosion)” is a showcase for the pairs coming live shows and includes performed Tapes riddims soothingly guided by 7FO’s lushful guitar playing.

Mixing up Dub methods, Library music, Traditional electronic Indian instruments and all sounds Hissing on Psychedelics, Tapes has performed a variety live shows and DJ sets shows across the world. 2020 will see Tapes return to the stage alongside both new friends and old, continuing to explore his fasination with with arcane recording aesthetics and vintage digital alike!

Jamaican recording artist Lord Sassafrass (Michael Johnson) is best known as a dancehall Reggae DJ with the Black Scorpio Sound System. On Black Scorpio Sound, Lord Sassafrass introduced the world to General Trees, and the entire Horseman Crew. Sassafrass record the album “Horseman Connection” 1982 on Striker Lee’s Starlight label and the top selling album “Pocomania Jump” 1985 on Black Scorpio Records, controlling the number one slot on the charts with “Poco Jump.” He recorded other great songs like “Jamaica Way,” “Murder She Wrote” (with General Trees), and the enormous hit “Step Up In Life” (with Barrington Levy).

Much of Sassafrass’ musical history is seen in the live dance. Similar to the career of Brigadier Jerry, Sassafrass was entertaining in an era of live djs, where recorded music was secondary to the live dance. In 1985 he went to New York where he performed on heavy weight sound systems like Thirld World or GT Hi Power, just to name a few.

As Sassafrass enters his fourth decade in reggae, he has earned the respect of his peers and even his enemies. For example, a long- standing competitor with Black Scorpio Sound is the great Killamanjaro Sound. In a 2011 interview, when asked about Black Scorpio Sound, Papa Jaro was first to mention Lord Sassafrass: “Sassafrass was actually the teacher for General Trees. He was very exciting and he could make some lyrics that could make you laugh and have fun!”

His work today carries out the tradition he started almost forty years ago – a sound that is completely unique and his own.

Among the digital Reggae collcetor’s community Hopeton Lindo is probably best known for his 1987 classic “Territory”, a song that became a genuine classic and continues to be a vital weapon in any dance clash. And a song that is always being played at the National Stadium in Jamaica whenever the Reggae Boyz football team plays.

Hopeton grew up in the Kencot community of Kingston Jamaica. He recorded his 1st song entitled “Black History” for producer Mikey “Dread at the control” Campbell and have since recorded for Music Works, King Tubbys, King Jammys, Two Friends, Cell Block, Heavy Beat, Joe Frazer, Sly and Robbie’s Taxi label, Irie Pen and others. Hopeton got his dancehall experience from being a part of the Black Star Int’l sound system crew with Brigadeer Jerry, Tiger and others.

During his stint at Music Works Studio in the 1980s he established himself as one of the great songwriters in reggae and was given the name “The Pen” for his lyrical prowess to write hit songs. He has written / co-written songs like “Mr Loverman” by Shabba Ranks, “Red Roses for Gregory” by Gregory Isaacs, “Confidential” by Aswad, “First Impression” by Dennis Brown, “Can You” by Brian and Tony Gold, “Temptress” by Maxi Priest, “Wanna be Loved” by Buju Banton plus many more.

In late 2007 the international popularity of the original dancehall classic “Territory” lead to a “Territory Remix” which became another massive hit. Hopeton then released his 3rd solo album “Turf”, taking Jamaica and the Reggae crowd back by storm.

Always busy behind the scenes, Hopton continues to write, record and produce. 

Paul St. Hilaire is a reggae vocalist from the island of Dominica in the Caribbean. In 1995 he began collaborating with Rhythm & Sound (Moritz von Oswald, Mark Ernestus) who produced a series of releases featuring his vocals on their own Burial Mix label that have inspired listeners and other producers ever since. He had numerous guest appearances on electronic releases by Stereotype, The Bug,
Deadbeat, Beat Pharmacy, Modeselektor, and others. Since 2003 he has produced two solo albums for his own label False Tuned. Paul St. Hilaire performs regularly in different formations at numerous venues and festivals worldwide.