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The Hit Sound of The Dub Pistols at Midnight Rock

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The Hit Sound of The Dub Pistols at Midnight Rock

The Hit Sound of The Dub Pistols at Midnight Rock

By Erik Magni on Friday, September 23, 2011 - Comment

Fine selection of hit sounds.

Sampler

In the past ten years or so there have been a number of musical celebrities choosing their favorite tunes for compilations. Some of these are mixes while others are straight various compilations. Two personal favorites are DJ Kentaro’s 'Tuff Cuts' on Pressure Sounds and Barry Myers diverse 'Barry Myers Presents Scratchy Sounds' on Trojan.

Now a new compilation of the same sort has hit the streets. The compiler for 'The Hit Sound of the Dub Pistols At Midnight Rock' is Barry Asworth from The Dub Pistols. His love of roots and dancehall reggae traces back to the 70’s. His record bins are probably jam-packed with goodies.

Some of these are presented on this compilation that consists of material from the labels Hit Sound and Midnight Rock, operated by U-Brown and Jah Thomas respectively.

The material Barry Ashworth has chosen is a blend of singers, deejays and dub versions mainly from the early 80’s and includes many magnificent tunes, whereof most are already easily available on other compilations.

Nearly all tunes are actually on the compilations U-Brown’s 'Hit Sound', 'The Lion Roars' and 'DJ Sounds From Uptown' on Roots Records, the same label behind 'The Hit Sound of The Dub Pistols at Midnight Rock'.

Both U-Brown and Jah Thomas had a good feeling for deep, uncompromising bass lines, as is apparent here. Just listen to U-Brown’s own Blow Mr. Hornsman Blow on the Take Five riddim or Early B’s amusing History of Jamaica on the Answer riddim.

If you aren’t familiar with the Hit Sound and Midnight Rock labels this compilation is a good introduction. But make sure to check out the compilations mentioned above as well. Because both labels dropped some rough and tough material in the heydays of early dancehall.