Heartical Sound & Label’s brand new one-riddim album pays tribute to the great late Gregory Isaacs (15.7.1951 – 25.10.2010) and his very own label African Museum.
As usual, all instruments are played by B D F (Basque Dub Foundation). The riddim is a remake of the Cool Ruler’s “Universal Tribulation”, originally performed by an all-star musician lineup including the mighty duo Sly Dunbar & Robbie Shakespeare, Ansel Collins and Winston Wright but also Dennis Brown, Junior Delgado and Leroy Sibbles on backing vocals. Strangely enough, it was one of the few tracks from Gregory’s classic album “Soon Forward” (1979) which was never released as a single, while it was arguably one of the best songs of the set.
To ride this great version, we needed some great artists. Of course, we had to include our long-time friend and live show partner General Levy, delivering a conscious message in his unmistakable own style warning us about the many “Twist and turns” out there. Now for the very first time, we are honored to feature the voice of the legendary veteran British MC called Macka B. Heartical has shared several stage shows through the years with this gifted lyricist and it was time to push our collaboration further, the result is titled “Humble we humble”. Rod Taylor is another artist we know for years, who had never worked with our label yet. It was after a show together in Matera (Italy) in 2019 that this respected veteran Jamaican singer recorded his vibrant “I’ve been there before”, proving once more that his voice hasn’t aged at all. A household name by now on Heartical label with six singles released so far, the rub a dub expert Carlton Livingston delivers a great love song with “Baby Please”. The 70s veteran Badoo (a.k.a Horace Smart) is also here with his second single for Heartical, a positive take on the many turmoil in life, humorously stating that “Things could be better, but me nah complain”. Another Jamaican veteran is back on the label, mister David Jahson surely knows what he is talking about when he sings about “Too much trouble”. Another newcomer on the label is the singer Daweh Congo, he uses his trademark voice to great effect to describe what “Ghetto Living” is like, first-hand information coming straight from the heart of Kingston city.
Always hunting for fresh upcoming (or simply lesser known) talents, Heartical had to work again with the gifted Toronto based singjay Neto Yuth, wisely reminding us that “When the rain falls, it nah fall pon one man”. In the meantime, Rootsamala, an accomplished sister and brother duo from Malaga (Spain), returns to urge you to “Believe in yourself”. Such a tribute project dedicated to Gregory Isaacs deserved a cover version of the original “Universal Tribulation” track, it was not an easy task to carry out but we can say that the British singer Sun I Tafari managed to handle it smoothly. Two other UK talents, Troublesome and Cerose, have teamed up to literally demonstrate what is the real “U.N.I.T.Y” they are talking about. Last but not least of these twelve brand new vocals, our local bubbling French scene is well represented here by the experienced singer Guive, his ”Final Warning” is simply a brilliant call to wake up before it’s too late to save our planet.
The set terminates with the B D F (Basque Dub Foundation) teaming up with the talented UK based engineer James Zugasti providing a proper dub treatment to the riddim, including some fresh melodica riffs by B D F's main honcho Inyaki, who also played bass, piano, organ and guitar. On top of the full digital release, we have pressed four vinyl 7” singles, each one is limited to 300 copies. The cover artwork was created by Alex Mayo, while the vinyl edition labels were designed by William Boulay as a tribute to the original African Museum label.
“I feel it and I know it” as Gregory would have said.
(Words by Sergio Marigomez)
credits
released November 12, 2020
Riddim played by BDF band (Basque Dub Foundation)
Mixed by Jaime "James" Zugasti
Produced by: S. Marigomez for Heartical & I. Yarritu for BDF
Executive Producer: S. Marigomez for Heartical (excepted Daweh Congo "Ghetto Living" co-produced with Maxence Thiollier)
Heartical Sound
was established in 1999. In 2001, we launched our own label, it nowadays represents a catalogue of 87
seven inch singles, gathering over 153 exclusive songs and many dubs & instrumentals by Basque Dub Foundation. We also released two CD compilations "Heartical Story Vol.1 & 2" and 13 one-riddim albums. Thanks for the support !...more
supported by 8 fans who also own “Heartical & BDF : Universal Tribulation”
Blessings and Greetings king 👑 first of all thank you for all the fantastic Riddims I'm a dj on radio and clubs I own Krisp FM radio And Promotions also own freshly kut Musik. I'm writing today I also manage some awesome uk reggae artists who would love to voice on your future Riddims please hit me I have Ras sherbey Vincent nap jah fet and also links with bucky Jo sparky rugged and others mcs so fourth get me on krispfmteam@gmail.com or my phone 07368234427 Blessings and to the I 👊 Freshest
