Melodies International presents Ariwa Sounds review – head-spinning classics from dub legend Mad Professor

(Melodies International)
With cuts from the producer’s Ariwa Sounds label between 1984 and the present day, this compilation hops from skulking proto-grime to dreamy lovers rock

In the late 1970s, Neil Fraser, AKA Mad Professor, and his wife moved into a house in Croydon. “The normal thing would be to put in some chairs, a table,” he said in a podcast last year. Instead, the legendary dub producer fitted his living room with a four-track mixing desk and his collection of homemade gear, thus marking the beginning of the studio and label Ariwa Sounds.

The early years of Ariwa were captured in a 1984 album, which was reissued by Melodies International in 2023. Now, the two labels reunite to document the sounds that followed. This double compilation isn’t an attempt at a greatest hits collection, nor a chronological history, but an insight into the label’s expansive output between 1984 and 2026, featuring big names like Sister Nancy, Horace Andy and Sandra Cross, plus a handful of deeper cuts.
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