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| Dub Store Records | |
|---|---|
| Name | Dub Store Records |
| Founded | 1990s |
| Founder | Tomaki "Tom" Yoshida |
| Genre | Reggae, Ska, Rocksteady, Dub |
| Country | Japan |
| Location | Osaka |
Dub Store Records is a Japanese record label and archival imprint specializing in Jamaican reggae, ska, rocksteady, and dub music, noted for reissues and meticulous remastering of vintage 1960s–1970s recordings. The label operates within networks of collectors, sound system operators, and international distributors linked to scenes in Kingston, Jamaica, London, New York City, and Tokyo. Dub Store collaborates with studios, session musicians, and estates to license masters and produce high-quality releases for collectors and scholars of Caribbean music.
Dub Store Records was established in the 1990s amid renewed global interest in Jamaican musical heritage, coinciding with reissue activity by Trojan Records, Blood and Fire (record label), Heartbeat Records, and archival projects at Smithsonian Folkways. Its formation responds to earlier waves of preservation driven by collectors associated with Dub Club (reggae night), Sound System Culture, and expatriate musicians in Kingston, Jamaica. The label's catalog grew during collaborations with engineers and studios such as Studio One, Treasure Isle, Channel One Studios, and producers linked to Coxsone Dodd and Prince Buster. Throughout the 2000s and 2010s Dub Store navigated licensing landscapes involving rights holders in Jamaica and distributors in United Kingdom, United States, and Europe.
Dub Store was founded by Tomaki "Tom" Yoshida, who worked with collectors, musicians, and engineers from scenes including Tokyo Ska Paradise Orchestra collaborators, The Skatalites alumni, and Jamaican session players. Key personnel have included mastering engineers and archivists who liaised with figures like Errol Brown (engineer), Sylvia Wynter-adjacent scholars, and musicologists linked to University of the West Indies. The label's staff often coordinated with managers and estates of artists such as Larry Marshall, Alton Ellis, Ken Boothe, and producers in the networks of Lee "Scratch" Perry and King Tubby.
Dub Store's discography features reissues, compilations, and rare singles by artists and groups including The Skatalites, Toots and the Maytals, Desmond Dekker, John Holt, Horace Andy, Dillinger (musician), Gregory Isaacs, and session musicians from The Wailers (Bob Marley and the Wailers). The label has issued vinyl and CD editions spotlighting producers such as Coxsone Dodd, Duke Reid, Lee "Scratch" Perry, Prince Buster, and engineers associated with King Tubby and Mad Professor. Notable releases compile works by rhythm sections and horn players tied to Studio One house band lineage and feature alternate takes connected to sessions credited to Sly Dunbar and Robbie Shakespeare.
Dub Store's releases document stylistic continuities among ska, rocksteady, reggae, and dub, emphasizing versions, riddims, and producer-led remixing practices traced to figures like King Tubby and Lee "Scratch" Perry. The label highlights instrumentalists whose techniques influenced later acts such as UB40, The Specials, The Clash, and generations of sound system operators in Bristol and Birmingham. Scholarly and fan communities compare Dub Store reissues with archival work by Archie Bell, Richard Noblett-era studies, and compilations curated under Chris Blackwell-affiliated projects at Island Records for fidelity to original mixes and historical context.
Dub Store operates as an independent imprint using licensing agreements with Jamaican rights holders, estates, and pressing plants, aligning with distributors across Japan, United Kingdom, United States, and Germany. The label issues limited-run vinyl pressings, CD reissues, and specialty box sets marketed to collectors associated with fairs like Record Store Day and mail-order outlets influenced by retailers such as Soul Jazz Records stockists and specialist shops in Shibuya and Harajuku. Partnerships occasionally involve mastering at studios linked to Air Studios alumni and manufacture through pressing facilities in Leeds and Tokyo.
Critics and historians from publications and institutions—ranging from writers associated with The Wire and Mojo (magazine) to researchers at Institute of Jamaica and curators at National Library of Jamaica—have praised Dub Store for archival rigor, sound quality, and liner-note scholarship. Collectors and DJs in Kingston, Jamaica, London, and Tokyo cite Dub Store editions as authoritative sources for rare versions and dub plates used in sound system sets and club nights. The label's catalog contributes to preservation efforts alongside reissue programs at Trojan Records, Blood and Fire (record label), and academic archiving projects at University of the West Indies and continues to inform contemporary producers, remixers, and historians of Jamaican popular music.
Category:Japanese record labels Category:Reggae record labels