DJ POOLHOUSE is JAH “KK” FRÖSZT and this is…
ICE REGGAE TWO
“There’s a common perception that reggae, dub, or dancehall are ‘boring.’ I get why—Jamaican and island sound systems are built for a completely different mode of listening than what most audiences are used to today. My goal was to bring the spirit of the pop DJ to reggae and island music — to repackage the product as a love letter, a celebration of its vitality, and a reminder of how deeply it has shaped every form of popular music we hear today.” —DJ POOLHOUSE
ICE REGGAE - WTF IS IT ANYWAY
“Ice reggae is a ‘retcon’ genre and subculture of sorts, I suppose — but ultimately it is a thoughtform. It’s an exploration of new modes of ‘rastafication’ in the age of digital filters and viral mime. Is ‘ice reggae’ a form of cultural appropriation? Absolutely. But it is done in the spirit of One Love and in the Word of Jah the Most Chill. It is created with the hope that it will lead curious listeners back to the True Source of the culture. With ice reggae, both as a thoughtform and as a product, I only hope to partially unlock the Mysteries of the Dubplate for the casual Icestafarian.” —DJ POOLHOUSE
There are four working definitions for this retconned genre, which was created in the spirit of one love, one world harmony.
Global Reggae ProductionReggae made outside Jamaica — from Iceland to China. Cold-climate riddims, tropical soul.
Reggae Pop Crossovers & Pop Flirtation with Jamaican Sonic Elements:When pop puts on the Rasta wig so to speak — dancehall beats, island flavor, or reggae/dub-style remixes. Ace of Base. Dabblings by Nelly Furtado, Nicki Minaj, Drake etc. SNOW (hello!). Carly Simon’s Paradise Garage banger - “Why.”
Or, when “Island music” goes international - Shaggy hits, Rihanna “Pon di Replay” (and I feel her Rated R LP is even more so a definitively ice reggae piece); and other iconic entries from the reggae / dancehall / dub etc.
Dub DNADub science is at the root of modern studio pop production. Everything from hip hop to EDM to top 40 productions contain Jamaican dub wizardry into their sonic archietcure. Thus, “ice reggae” can conceivably be any any music demonstrating an influence of Jamaican studio technique — echo, delay, bass, and sound system roots (this would, by definition, include all of reggae in “ice reggae”!).
Locating the “dub DNA” in recordings allows us to use “ice reggae” to make new connnections in sound (and also represents a praxis of Poolhousean Product Theory – more to come)
Ice Reggae EditsFan-made reggae/dub remixes of pop songs, created in the playful, global spirit of ice reggae, represents the emergent fourth pillar of our ice reggae pop art contagion.
“I am a true studio DJ. I can mix records live — and did so frequently for this mix — and keep the party rocking… but my powers as a Master of the Mix really come alive in the studio, where I can fully explore the limits of the idea of the ‘Deejay as Artist,’ or what I call a ‘pop art producer,’ a concept that I think we, as a species, have only just begun to appreciate.” —DJ POOLHOUSE
Ice Reggae is not just a genre—it’s a way of life. Revealed to DJ POOLHOUSE (known here by his Icestafarian name, Jah “KK” Frözst, aka Jacquesques Fröszt) one cold northern night at the bottom of a frozen gravity bong, through divine intervention by Jah the Most Chill, ICE REGGAE ONE is a continuous deejay mixtape that blends dub, dancehall, Eurodance, white rasta punk, 2-Tone, drum & bass, and ‘90s club cultures into a sound both icy and warm, White & Black, Arctic & tropical.
It’s frozen disco dub meets sunlit trip hop and bass-heavy indie dance. Frosted steel drums. Sweaty melodica riffs. Pop house soaked in echo. Ice Reggae is the sun on a snow-covered beach. Ice reggae is a Revelation of the soulsonic force and the next chapter in the Plan of the Mega Jam.
Rooted in the versioning tradition of dub, Ice Reggae toasts, remixes, and reinvents itself with every thunderclap and chilly echo of the frozen steel drum. ICE REGGAE TWO is the icy-hot second installment of nonstop ice reggae pop soundclash experience from DJ POOLHOUSE/SPLISH KLASH, comin’ atcha inna dub stylee.
This arcto-tropical transmission is Blessed by the icy breath of Jah the Most Chill…One Love, One Jah. Freeze dem sound!
[Backklash Communications, 2025.]
BY DI COMMANDMENT AH JAH: PLAY WAAN TIME B4 YA READ MI TRAXX!!!
BY DI COMMANDMENT AH JAH: PLAY WAAN TIME B4 YA READ MI TRAXX!!!
BY DI COMMANDMENT AH JAH: PLAY WAAN TIME B4 YA READ MI TRAXX!!!
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JAH SE DIS A 4 DI TRUE IZREALITES ONLY!!
NAH WI ALL DUE…. DI ICE REGGAE TRACKLIST (WITH MAD RESPECT AND LOVE TO ALL OF THE ARTISTS AND PRODUCERS OF THIS BEAUTIFUL MUSIC) …………
DJ POOLHOUSE is JAH “KK” FRÖSZT and this is ICE REGGAE TWO
MIXMASTER: JAH KK FROSZT || MC: DJ POOLHOUSE
EXECUTIVE PRODUCER: JAH THE MOST CHILL
ONE LOVE. FREEZE DEM SOUND.
FEATURED SELECTIONS:
SUITE I: ICE REGGAE TWO
TRAVELIN’ TROUBADOURS - ISRAELITES (DESMOND DEKKER COVER)
Y. U. MAD (SMOOTH JAZZ COVER VERSION) IN THE STYLE OF -
BIRDMAN,. LIL WAYNE & NICKI MINAJ - Y. U. MAD (SOULDYER DUBSTEP REMIX)
THE SPECIALS - GHOST TOWN (DJG BOOTLEG REMIX)
AALIYAH - ARE YOU THAT SOMEBODY (WIDDLER DUB)
NO DOUBT X GORILLAZ - UNDER INC IT ALL (DJ POOLHOUSE ICE REGGAE BOOTLEG EDIT)
MADONNA & SICKICK - FROZEN (MASTER PRODUÇÕES REGGAE REMIX)
DJ POOLHOUSE - TOXIC DUB INTERLUDE X
BRITNEY SPEARS - TOXIC (REGGAE BY DEREK BROWN REMIX)
RIHANNA X SOFT CELL - S.O.S. (DJ BOB MASHUP REMIX)
SOFT CELL - TAINTED DUB (ORIGINAL 12” VERSION)
THE SPECIALS - NITE KLUB (7” MIX VERSION)
AUGUSTUS PABLO - KING ALPHA AND QUEEN OMEGA
DJ POOLHOUSE - TRACK ID (ICE REGGAE LIVE DUB EDIT)
HALL & OATES X BLACK MARKET DUB - MANEATER (BMD REMIX)
TAIWAN MC - MR BABYLON (DUB REACTOR BOOTLEG REMIX)
BOB MARLEY & THE WAILERS - GET UP, STAND UP (AJAX DNB BOOTLEG REMIX)
SUBLIME X SHABBA RANKS FEAT. KRYSTAL - TWICE MY DUB (DJ POOLHOUSE ICE REGGAE EDIT)
ACE OF BASE - DON’T TURN AROUND (7” ASWAD REMIX)
PAPA SAN - HEADS OF GOVERNMENT (MUSILM RIDDIM)
LITTLE ROY - POLLY (NIRVANA COVER)
DJ POOLHOUSE - TRACK ID (ICE REGGAE LIVE DUB EDIT)
KING KONG - DON’T TELL ME YOUR LOVING / VERSION
PRINCE JAMMY - 32 BIT CHIP
DJ POOLHOUSE - TRACK ID (ICE REGGAE LIVE DUB EDIT)
SUITE II: THE TROPICAL ICE STORM
MARTHA + THE MUFFINS - ECHO BEACH (DUBMATIX 80S REMIX)
RIHANNA X MISSY ELLIOT - UMBRELLA (YUMp3 BOOTLEG REMIX)
MISSY ELLIOT - THE RAIN (SUPA DUPA FLY) (OG 90s BOOTLEG DNB REMIX)
GWEN GUTHRIE - OUTSIDE IN THE RAIN (ORIGINAL 12” DUB EDIT) x
FLASH & THE PAN - WALKING IN THE RAIN (LIVE DUB EDIT)
GRACE JONES - WALKING IN THE RAIN (12” VERSION)
THE KLF - MAKE IT RAIN (RETRO REMIX)
MILLI VANILLI - BLAME IT ON THE RAIN (12” SUPER CLUB MIX)
TAYLOR SWIFT FEAT. LANA DEL REY - SNOW ON THE BEACH (DJ POOLHOUSE ICE REGGAE EDIT)
DJ POOLHOUSE
DJ POOLHOUSE ON THE ARTISTIC INSPIRATIONS AND REVELATIONS OF ICE REGGAE (Redux)
Hi! Thanks for listening to my inaugural second ICE REGGAE set! This was truly inspired by a vision one night last winter, after my gravity bong froze over inside my in-laws’ garage. I was touched by the Borean Breath of Jah the Most Chill, and given an Icestafari name: JAH “KK” FRÖSZT, Prince of Ice Reggae.
ICE REGGAE ONE is ultimately my way of expressing joyous gratitude to our Creator and sharing the blessed revelation of Ice Reggae with anyone willing to receive it—through these delightful dub plates, expertly selected and mixed with the love and care of a painter or a nuclear scientist.
Musically, dub culture and Jamaican music are the foundation of my vision. I enjoy tracing the recursive influence of dub techniques through popular music and celebrating this aspect of the Afro-Euro musical language, which has enriched countless lives and cultures around the world. Ice Reggae is not merely a celebration of “white meets Black,” but a restoration of the Hyperborean spirit that is sparked when men come together and reshape the culture through creative partnership.
As an artist, I view Ice Reggae as a highly refined creative thoughtform for the culture to consume. It is a retroactively constructed musical genre, a fashion style, an attitude, a gnostic faith. Ice Reggae is conceptually built on music, history, mysticism, syncretic creativity, and a future-forward embrace of tradition: the Jamaican music tradition, the pop and club traditions, the tradition of the obscure priests of Dub science and the apocryphal texts of the electrical wizards and gadgeteers of the radio age, and the companion tradition of the brotherhood of Anglo and American fanboys who revered and preserved the glory of dub’s beauty.
This brings me to another inspiration for this mix: ‘90s compilation CD culture, which brought the millennial generation under the spellbinding influence of dub. Specifically, the treasured Soul Jazz Records (where my fellow 300% Dynamite! uncs at??) that collected rare Jamaican classics.
2 Many DJ’s seminal “As Heard on Radio Soulwax Vol. 2” is the ultimate touchstone for all of my mixes; I could only dream of ever capturing a sliver of their mixtape magic. Finally, the third source of inspiration in this late 90s/Y2K electronica triumvirate is this sick series of downtempo comps called The Chill Out Album (specifically volumes 1 & 2) from Telstar TV, who I feel are sort of like the pop-archivists at Rhino Records but for the UK. The 90s were the golden age of the (very very expensive) imported genre compilation disk and the learned geeks & archivist, who were its champions.
The treasure trove of esoteric and leftfield downtempo gems found on Chill Out Album Vol. 1 first sparked my love for dub and electronica in the ‘90s. I picked up a copy of the slim blue double-disc CD (with the deep blue lava lamp cover art) at the Virgin Megastore in Union Square on a visit to downtown San Francisco. This was when I was probably a freshman in high school. It blew my mind. I didn’t do drugs as a teen, so hard techno and pure underground dance music revered by my raver peers didn’t interest me back then. Too raw, underground.
Chill Out Album revealed a colorful, mysterious world of dub, trip hop, glossy electronica and obscure ancient funk and exotica. That Saint Etienne record changed my life. Suddenly it was like, wtf I love electronic music and Neil Young now! It was at least a decade old when I discovered it, but its magnificent allure and spacey dubwise house still entices new listeners to this day.
Just hearing those breezy synth riffs as it plays back on my monitor, I can practically smell the hot wet dance floor at one of my old haunts, Popscene, where this record would delight the crowd at 330 Ritch in SOMA, where pop geeks with skinny ties and pencil skirts and other assorted dub-inflected mod larpers gathered to simulate 1989 Manchester once a week.
But now I’m starting to geezer out, so I’ll wrap this press release up before I start bitching about how that Virgin Megastore is now just another empty big-box husk downtown!
–DJ POOLHOUSE, JUNE 2025; revised NOVEMBER 2025
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BACKKLASH ORIGINAL DUB EXXCLUSIVES
The night I was about to receive Ice Reggae:
ICE REGGAE ONE
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