(2024 repress) Isle Of Jura go back to 1976 to resurrect ‘Anambra’, the jewel in the crown of Dub, Soul & Funk outfit Ozo. ‘Anambra’ is something of a classic, a unique song that’s slow, ritualistic and spiritual, mixing African & Nyabinghi drumming with a Buddhist Sanskrit mantra ‘Om Mani Padme Hum’. An alternate version ‘Anambra River’ appears for the first time on the same 12”. More

**2024 Repress on 140g Vinyl with updated Sleeve**

The first in a series of mini compilations exploring instrumental Dub versions of sought after and long out of print titles from the world of Reggae, Disco, Boogie and House. Many of these versions still contain vocals, snippets here and there drenched in delay or reverb, a style you’ll recognise from many of the Jura Soundsystem edits on the label. The late Glen Adams & Finesse open proceedings with their Island Disco cover of Marvin Gaye’s classic, followed on the A2 by a super rare UK Boogie/Brit Funk mix of Tippa Irie’s ‘Panic Panic’ (shouts to Tippa for personally helping to push through the license) and the A side closes with the 80’s leaning ‘Yes I Do’ from Belgium’s Special Occasion. The first half of the B side comes from Carol Williams with the Special Club Dub mix of ‘Can’t Get Away’, originally a one sided promo only 10” from 1983 complete with spoken word intro from Carol thanking New York’s Metro DJs for their support of the song. The LP closes with a Jura Soundsystem Dubby Edit of La Palace De Beaute’s ‘Sin’ pulling back on the vocal and going heavy on the delay. More

Originally released in 1986 ‘Power’ was the work of Philly producer Derrick Graves and vocalist Terrance T. The machine lead production on ‘Power’ was part of an emerging wave of post disco producers embracing a dub aesthetic that proved to be the precursor to the emergence of house music. The vocal harmonies from Terrance were influenced by Cameo and Prince and combined with the powerful production results in a dancefloor bomb in the Larry Levan style, stripped back and dubby with a strong song at its core. This level of musicality and production was no fluke, Derrick was a seasoned session musician who worked extensively with the likes of Sister Sledge, Dexter Wansel & Donny Hathaway. Derrick had a clear understanding of emerging studio trends “Music production was evolving into a new phase where home studios were developing and it was becoming more possible for real recordings to be made! From there, I eventually enhanced my production skills by learning how to compose using sequencers, computer software (DAWs), and midi instrument implementation in the 80's and 90's. I went from a 4-track to eventually a 24-Track 2" tape machine setup!”.

The fully remastered 12” includes the essential Instrumental mix. More

180g Pressing

The debut solo album from Ronnie Lion, one half of Ambient Warrior, is a homage to Spanish Town the capital of St Catherine in Jamaica. As the title suggests the Spanish guitar features heavily from both Ronnie and lead guitarist Sean Wilkinson. The album has a reggae palette at its core with the rhythm section of Ronnie on Bass and Horseman on drums providing a rock solid foundation for the intricate and memorable hooks provided by Sean’s Spanish Guitar. The album’s fusion of Reggae with Bossa Nova & Flamenco Guitar creates another special album that will appeal to fans of Ambient Warrior and beyond. More

Pressed on 180g Heavyweight Vinyl.

Welcome to ‘Instrumental Dubs #2’, a deep dive into the world of the Dub version and beyond. The A side has a distinct boogie feel, starting slow with a George Kerr produced cut from 1984 followed by a Brit Funk-esq instrumental from Harold Melvin & the Bluenotes originally released on the Philly World label (home to ‘Voice of Q’). The B side closes with the ‘Sweeter’ instrumental mix of Boogie bomb ‘Loving Sweet Devotion’ by Idiater Edwards.

The B side opens with ‘H2S04’ from Mad Professor that defies categorisation, sitting somewhere between Electro, Disco and Dub. Last but by no means least there’s an uptempo Dub mix of Original Rockers ‘Push Push’ making its first appearance on Vinyl having only been on the CD single release first time around. More

Isle Of Jura’s second longplayer reissue is an album from Ingleton Falls that touches upon Ambient, Dub, House and Balearic styles and was originally released in 1991 as a limited run of 100 self distributed cassette tapes Ingleton Falls are Andy Hannam Seymour and Andy Eardley from Tyne and Wear in Newcastle. Having come from a more traditional band background originally, Ingleton Falls was their electronic project and the result of a love of acts like Dub Syndicate, African Headcharge, Gary Clail, The Orb and The KLF. Andy Hannam Seymour remembers “It was a very creative time musically, there was a lot going on around us that used new technology. I was excited by the possibilities. Up until then I'd been playing guitar with a more traditional drums/bass/guitar/vocal band with all the 'musical differences' that entailed (the two bands ran side by side for a while). I also liked the idea that you could write and record a piece of music that was ready to release yourself, rather than it being a demo or having to pay a lot of cash for studio time. That DIY aspect was a lot of fun.” The album is split into 2 parts, ‘Aware’ and ‘Unaware’. Andy explains “We decided that 'side1' and side2' were pretty dull and came up with the aware and unaware division based on a kind of enlightened and unenlightened mind kind of idea. The unaware side had the tunes with themes like necrophilia and samples of christians and the aware side was more expansive mindful themes.” Equipment used the make the album included a Cheetah SX16 sampler, Alesis HR16 Drum Machine, Yamaha FG440 Acoustic Guitar, Tokai Stratocaster Guitar and an Atari ST computer running a Steinberg Pro 24 sequencing program (from floppy disk!). Due to a lack of sampling memory sounds were added live from cassette into the final mixes.
25 years later these songs finally reach a wider audience, initially via a limited cassette release followed 6 weeks later by the 180 Gram Heavyweight L More

UK Lovers Rock holy grail 12” from Sonia Whittingham, produced by Glen Sloley and originally released in 1988. ‘When I look into your eyes I feel a sweet sensation. I know our love is true ‘cos you make me happy'

A 140gram pressing in full colour sleeve designed by Bradley Pinkerton. More

The long awaited official reissue of ‘She Wants’, one of the first UK Street Soul singles originally released in 1985 by The NM Band.

The NM Band was an alias for UK Lovers Rock band Natural Mystic, responsible for a number of hits in the late 70’s and early 80’s most notably ‘Runaway Love’ and ‘Groove Rocking’. They released a string of acclaimed reggae LPs and toured extensively throughout the UK, but by 1985 wanted to try something away from their trademark roots reggae sound. Influenced by the availability of affordable hardware the band set about fusing Reggae and Soul using an Akai Drum machine, Yamaha DX7 and Roland sound module. ‘She Wants’ is one of the forebearers of UK Street Soul, raw machine drums paired with an incredibly soulful vocal from Ashley Sommers. The band created their own imprint ‘Mixdown’ to release the single, but it slipped under the radar, despite strong radio play from Choice FM and the then pirate station Kiss. The 12” is backed with Dub Version ‘She Wants’ (More).

A 140gram pressing in 3mm spine black disco sleeve with metallic sticker designed by Bradley Pinkerton. More

Repress!
The first in a series of compilations by Jura Soundsystem is a blend of Dub, Ambient, Downtempo, Boogie and Proto House with a focus on music never before released on Vinyl, sought after out of print titles and some special versions edited specifically for the album.

The intention with this project was to delve deeper into the reissue pond and unearth some lesser known tracks and artists. Highlights include Smackos (AKA Legowelt) Ambient epic ‘We Can Watch Alf In The Hotel Room’, never before released on Vinyl, the Dub / Psych hybrid of Minus Group’s ‘Black Shadow’, Kash’s sought after ‘Percussion Sundance’ and special edits of Ken Dang and Tabou Combo. The end of the album includes some soothing Ambient tools. More

140gram pressing in 3mm spine Disco Sleeve

Two lost Disco classics appearing for the first time on a single 12” featuring soul legend Leon Ware and Jo Ann Harris, a little known backing singer for Bob Dylan throughout the 80s.

Both songs originally appeared on the ‘20 Minute Workout’ Video and LP released in 1983 by Canadian label Ronco, ‘What Does It Take’ providing an uptempo crescendo to the third part of the workout and ‘Never Gonna Give You Up’ the final warm down track. Licensed from producer Ira Newborn, Hollywood soundtrack royalty who composed the scores for an incredible run of films including The Blues Brothers, Ferris Bueller’s Day Off, The Naked Gun trilogy, Weird Science, Ace Ventura and Uncle Buck. Ira’s lawyer persuaded him to get involved in the project for Ronco and it was Ira who hand picked Leon Ware and Jo Ann Harris to add vocals to two tracks to aid the commercial potential of the album.

There are two original versions backed with extended instrumentals sourced from a rare Lazer Disc Version of the album. It feels right to shine a light on one of Leon Ware’s lesser known performances, whilst the Jo Ann Harris cut has a distinct Balearic air featuring sultry keys and sax at a tempo of 98 BPM. More

140g Vinyl and Limited to 300 copies
Limited one sided 12” featuring an extended edit by IOJ label boss Jura Soundsystem that teases out the vocal and pulls back on the Sax with judicious amounts of delay and reverb to create a 11’25 mins dubby disco excursion. More

180 Gram Vinyl Following the success of the 2021 reissue of Ambient Warrior’s cult classic Dub Journey's (1995), Isle of Jura is pleased to present their unreleased second album, II. Born from the same oceanside fusion of instrumental dub, reggae, bossa nova and tango music that made Dub Journey's so distinctive and memorable, II is an equally sublime collection of eleven unheard tracks from the brilliant minds of Ronnie Lion and Andrea Terrano.

Evoking the delights of white sands, palm trees and sunsets, all set against clear waters and endless blue skies, Dub Journey’s and II document the golden moment when Ambient Warrior came together during the mid-90s to create some of the most Balearic Dub ever made. “Music is the greatest traveler, isn’t it?” says Ronnie. “It gets to places the actual artists can’t even get to really.”

The son of an orphaned Jamaican jazz trumpet player and professional boxer who enlisted in the military after stowing away on a boat to London, Ronnie grew up between Germany, Singapore and the UK before becoming a working musician in his mid-teens. A bass player by trade, he honed his skills playing in a series of soul, jazz-funk, blues, rock and reggae bands that performed throughout the UK.

By the time Ambient Warrior released Dub Journey’s, Ronnie and his business partner Ras Joseph were running the Lion Inc. recording studio and record label in Brixton, London. Having set up distribution arrangements with Roots Records (UK) and Semaphore (DEU/NL), they recorded and released a series of singles, compilations and solo albums from a who’s who of roots reggae artists, including Twinkle Brothers, Delroy Washington, Michael Prophet, Alton Ellis, Little Roy, and Ronnie’s own band The Amharic. “Lion was a regular port of call for visiting Jamaican artists,” reflects Ronnie. “When you were in London, it was on the route.”

An accomplished guitarist, producer and recording engineer from Trieste, Italy, Andrea grew up listening to Russian folk, Klezmer and the Italian harmony tradition in a Sicilian-Ukrainian family. After completing compulsory Italian military service, he moved to London to continue studying music. One night, he turned up at Lion Inc. and approached them about running audio engineering classes from the studio.

In Andrea, Ronnie found a collaborator who shared his desire to create borderless music that reflected the diversity of their backgrounds. “I wanted to do something that had no boundaries,” Ronnie explains. “If you’re working on a roots album, it has to sound a certain way, but with Ambient, especially in the nineties, it was just a license to let off. You could do whatever you wanted to do.” “It was a melting pot of influences like London itself,” adds Andrea.

Although they wrote most of II at the same time as they were recording Dub Journey’s, it took them several years to finish off the album. “Things never got done quickly,” Ronnie remembers. By the time it was complete, Roots Records had gone out of business, leaving Lion Inc. without UK distribution. Not long after, their Brixton studio flooded, bringing the label to a close.

These days, Andrea continues to work as a session guitarist, recording engineer and producer in London. Over the last two decades, he has collaborated regularly with Basement Jaxx and released several solo albums. Ronnie, on the other hand, lives on a boat equipped with an onboard studio, where he has recorded a series of oceanic dub albums off the British coast. Twenty-eight years after the release of Dub Journey’s, he recently started working on demos for a third Ambient Warrior album he hopes to record with Andrea in the not-so-distant future.

Artwork By Bradley Pinkerton. More

Repress!

Bella Vista was a one off project from Michel Esteban, founder of seminal New York Disco/Electro/New Wave imprint ZE Records. Originally released in 1982 ‘Mister Wong’ is a Pop oddity that sits between French Synth Pop and Leftfield Disco. The 12” includes the sought after Disco Dub version that lets the bassline work its magic alongside some heavy dub delays, on the flip Jura Soundsystem provide an extended version with added live percussion. More

REPRESS!

The next official reissue oozes the feelgood factor, a reggae disco cover of ‘Ain’t Nobody’ by Jamaican artist Yvonne Archer. For the first time since the original release in 1980 the full length original 12” mix gets the reissue treatment along with the Lovers Rock leaning ‘Checking Out The Way I Feel’.
On the flip Jura Soundsystem provide 2 edits, a main edit that pulls back on the electric guitar from the original and a Dub adding subtle delays and sparse use of the Vocal to let the groove work its magic. This is the first of two 12”s licensed from producer John Rubie that will appear on Isle Of Jura in 2020. More

Double 140 Gram LP in a 5mm Spine Shrinkwrapped sleeve designed by Bradley Pinkerton.

The third and concluding edition of the Transmissions compilation series curated by IOJ Jura Soundsystem. The compilation focuses once again on rarities no longer available on Vinyl and touches upon Reggae & Dub, Ambient House, Downtempo and Leftfield Disco.

Mixmaster Morris in his Irresistible Force guise opens the album with the Ambient Electronica of ‘Lotus Position’, a long time favourite that’s been unavailable on Vinyl for nearly 30 years. Full Moon Scientist pick up the Ambient Dub baton with ‘Lunar Base Dub’ segueing into Australia’s Rude Band, featuring Oz radio royalty Doug Mulray on the aptly titled ‘Doug’s Dub’ originally released on Oz Sounds in Australia in 1982, a true Balearic gem recorded long before the genre had been widely discovered. Other highlights include Mary House’s ‘Ambient’, a chuggy slo-mo piano houser originally the last track on a 7 track EP released in 1991 on Italian label Technology, and ‘Do It’, an obscure South African track by Inspiration which covers the music from Sylvester’s ‘I Need Somebody To Love Tonight’ paired with new vocals using the refrain ‘Do It’. Jean-Michel Bertrand gave his blessing to a special Jura Soundsystem version of ‘Dream Reggae’ which features long time collaborator Mike Burn adding lead and rhythm guitar to an extended edit of the song. The album closes with some Ambient Tools which should serve to raise a smile at the end of the series. More

A stunning cover version of Errol Dunkley’s ‘Movie Star’ originally released on Brooklyn label Witty in 1987. Produced by Paul Beecher, the 707 drums are phat & crisp and the keys shine brightly in the mix to complement the incredibly soulful vocal from Melody Beecher. Backed with Dub Version and an extended 12” mix, housed in a sky blue and red IOJ Island Disco sleeve with sticker designed by Bradley Pinkerton. More

An extended 12” ‘Club Mix’ of the 1980’s classic covered in true lovers rock style by the late Melody Beecher. Produced by husband Paul and remastered from the original two track session tape. Jura Soundsystem delivers a ‘Lovers Version’ combining snippets of vocal from the original with the Dub mix, going heavy on the reverb to create a more dubbed out excursion.

The 12” is housed in a black and yellow IOJ Island Disco sleeve with sticker designed by Bradley Pinkerton. More

2022 Repress!

The classic 1982 electrofied disco gem back again. Bootlegged badly in recent years, Isle Of Jura does it right with fully remastered versions from Matt Colton and the added inclusion of a previously unreleased Q song ‘Keep It Strong’ More