Japan's premier reggae and dub outfit Dry & Heavy make bottom end shaking rhythms for Beat Records, Musidisc, and Green Tea. Portland, Oregon's BSI Records have licensed their easy-skanking beats for North America.
Experienced drummer Shigemoto Nanao (Dry) and prolific bassist Takeshi Akimoto (Heavy) formed Dry & Heavy in '91. The Burning Spear enthusiasts (hence the name), were joined in '95 by recording and mixing engineer Naoyuki Uchida, guitarists Kei Horiguchi and Keiichi Rikitake, keyboarist Mitsuhiro Toike, and vocalists Likkle Mai and Ao Inoue. Two years later, Dry & Heavy released their self-titled debut on Olive Disc to wide critical acclaim, both in Japan and Jamaica. In '98 the troupe released One Punch on Beat Records in Japan, which was subsequently licensed to Musidisc in France and Green Tea in the U.K. Then in '00, they released their third (and by far most successful) album, Full Contact, which was picked up stateside by Portland, Oregon's North America's finest dub and reggae label, BSI Records. "Dawn Is Breaking" and "Heavy Special" are taken from that album.
