The Groove Thief

Dub Caravan and Hornsman Coyote unite forces for an inspiring dub journey. “Tribute to the Fathers,” with its skanking guitar and brooding trombone, makes Breath of Peace instantly captivating. The well-produced tunes continue from there: “Natty On Board” is mellow yet uplifting, while “Innocent Blood” and the matching instrumental is also solid. “Burning In The City” has a nicely layered and funky groove; “Make I Win,” the second vocal track, is catchy, with the right blend of roots tradition and innovation, while the Version lets the horns shine. Other standouts include “Air Raid,” which has the air of a spy film, “Spanish Town,” which mixes Latin horns and strong percussion, and “Egypt,” which is heavy in all the right heady ways. “Trail of Tears” and “Machine World,” the final two tracks, add Native American influences and crunched guitars, respectively, to lead this adventure to its close. This album is loaded up with impressive tunes - and while the groove is clearly and rightfully a priority, the quality of musicianship and attention to detail rewards multiple listens of these lush dubscapes.

Jstar is releasing a cleverly-titled compilation of his bass-laden remixes and dubs later this month on vinyl. Already streamable, these are some heavy tunes covering a wide spectrum of low-end theories. Remixes: from the dubbed-out hip-hop of Dj Vadim’s “Watch That Sound” (feat. Emo) to the horn-laden reggae-hop of “Ya Ya” from The Empty Heads feat. MC Sirreal to the mellow smoker vibes of “Ten Feet Tall” by Mr Dero / Farina Miss. Jstar takes Madness into late-night dubby-electro, Dub Terminator feat. Ras Stone into bad man territory on “Bad Mind,” and - the definite standout - Capitol 1212 feat. “Oh me, oh my this is Tenor Fly” into the land of mystical grooves, complete with an epic vocal-led break. The instrumentals aren’t exactly slouching, The Unlimiters’ “Loophole” ventures into psychedelia yet mantains a dub aesthetic, ”Fish Finger Tentacle Dub” builds up to some glitchy grooves while “Regulate Rock (Jstar Dub)” ends the album on a super funky note that feels restrained at four-and-a-half minutes. Jstar is at a crucial crossroads of dub, reggae, and bass, where a myriad of influences can be blended together to still produce a cohesive track, and here, a surprisingly cohesive album:

NagualX pushes dub forward into the realm of jazz, while keeping a strong focus on heavy riddims and basslines. With several strong tracks, including the recently released and fittingly-titled “Be Strong,” alongside a live party dub and two “Illegal Dubplates” mixes, there is a lot of fresh interesting music available from this artist. Hailing from France, NagualX captures the vibrancy of the country’s strong dub/reggae movement but wisely avoids predictable trappings of the genre and instead has forged a very unique sound, perhaps most comparable to some of the jazzier cuts from Attack Released. Well worth the listen:

DJ Enso may be famed for running the revered club XXX and for throwing down banging late-night bass-music sets, but he can also assemble one mean mixtape as he proves with Future Dancehall フューチャーダンスホール Vol. 1. Drifting between jungle, hip-hop, and dancehall, the success of the ongoing “Future Dancehall” nights is elevated to a higher level through studio production and the inclusion of some of Hong Kong’s choicest MCs. XXX-regular Rahyym joins Ngabo on Major Popular’s “The Ruler,” 10z and Kafe Hu appear on a Dub Phizix & Skeptical track, while local Cantonese legend Masta Mic, EKORB, as well as my regular partner in crime MC Loki Dolo combine forces on an exclusive Enso refix of DJ Zinc x Dope Skillz. Big tracks from Rebel MC, Million Stylez, Collie Buddz (DJ Yoda remix) and The Bug keep the beats heavy while the styles switch. Hopefully this will become an ongoing series since Hong Kong is certainly in need of more mixtapes and proper releases…

The mix is available on Soundcloud, or you can DIRECT DOWNLOAD and get the jungle-thug (?) artwork as well. Enso recently appeared at the Clockenflap music festival, so check out his bass-fueled live mix as well:

This Friday night 07/12 Germany’s iLLBiLLY HiTEC roll into Hong Kong with MC Longfingah to drop their digital reggaetronics upon XXX. Also on the bill are Blood Dunza, Christian Di Phat Selekta, and yours truly The Groove Thief. I’ll be starting the night off from 10:30 to midnight with funky dub building up to digital reggae. A True Skool x Heavy Hongkong collaboration, this is going to be a fun night of BYOB house-party reggae vibes. Come early, stay late, and drinks are closer now that 7-11s been supplanted as the nearest convenience store…

Check out my review of iLLBiLLY HiTEC from earlier this year, and here’s a new video to get you warmed up:

The Groove Thief - 0:20 Massive Mix

Here’s 20 minutes of bangin’ reggae straight from Hong Kong! Huge tracks from Krak In Dub and Mungo’s Hi Fi bookend an uptempo modern digital mix with featured instrumentals and riddims from Black Chiney, Dub Breakah, FreeRoots & Youngheart, and Riddim Tuffa. A literal anthem appears from High Tone and Pupajim alongside a classically-inspired track from Collie Buddz, a tough vocal from The Beast, and Numa Crew’s alter-ego Gangsta No Play. Made for a mixxtape battle, this is loaded with choice tracks.

Available on both Mixcloud & Soundcloud as well as DIRECT DOWNLOAD.

This Saturday night (November 10th) I will be DJing with True Skool HK at their monthly rooftop party. If you’re in Hong Kong and like reggae, this is definitely worth going to - the scenery is great since Pier 7 (above the Star Ferry in Central) has a view of the whole city, and the music and vibes will of course be perfect as well. I’ll be playing a set of mostly modern tunes, with a focus on digital reggae, steppers dub, and other reggae-influenced beats. Since it’s public space it’s even BYOB until midnight, so come early and dance until late with 100% Reggae Dancehall! Only $120 at the door, which includes a free drink, and I’ll be joined behind the decks by DJs Ray Shizzle, Blood Dunza and Christian Da Phat Selekta. Here’s a recent mix of mine to get your ears ready for Saturday: