Lee Perry/Various - Divine Madness... DefinitelyPressure Sounds PSCD32This is the third in Pressure Sounds' series of compilations of Lee "Scratch" Perry productions, following "Voodooism" and "Produced and Directed". Like the others, it concentrates on tunes from the mid-70s prime of the legendary Black Ark studio; however, this compilation also comes with a bonus CD of radio interviews with S...
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Misty In Roots - Roots ControllerReal World CD"Roots Controller" is not exactly an original Misty in Roots album, and not exactly a retrospective compilation, but a sort of mixture of the two - containing 6 tracks newly recorded for its release in 2002, and 7 tracks from previously released albums (3 from 1983's "Earth", 2 from 1985's "Musi O Tunya", and 2 live tracks from the classic 1979 perf...
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Jah Stitch: Original Ragga Muffin (1975-77)Blood & Fire, BAFCD010"Original Ragga Muffin" is a collection of the tunes cut by foundation DJ Jah Stitch in the classic rockers/steppers period of the mid to late 70s, primarily for the near-ubiquitous kingpin producer Bunny Lee (many of whose riddims here were recut incredibly prolifically in the contemporary dancehalls), but also featuring 2 tunes ...
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The Twinkle Brothers - CountrymenVirgin Frontline CD CDFL29Despite having a name sounding like children's entertainers or a cheesy cabaret act, the Twinkle Brothers (led by brothers Norman and Ralston Grant) are in fact one of the heaviest and most principled roots bands of the 70s right up to the present day. Similarly, despite the tourist brochure looking artwork of their 1979 "Countrymen" al...
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The Crowning Of Prince JammyPressure Sounds CD PSCD25"The Crowning Of Prince Jammy" is a collection of some of the man born Lloyd James's greatest productions from the late 70s and early 80s, while he was emerging from his "Prince" status as King Tubby's protégé and establishing his own identity as a producer alongside contemporaries such as Jah Thomas and Junjo Lawes, but before the digital re.
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The Chantells & Friends - Children Of Jah 1977-79Blood & Fire CD BAF028"Children of Jah" brings together some of the finest roots productions of Roy Francis, released on his Phase One label in the late 70s. While there are only 10 tracks here, unlike most Blood & Fire compilations, they are all 12" discomixes, and thus all well over 5 minutes (the longest reaching 8 minutes), meaning that this ...
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Junior Byles & Friends - 129 Beat Street: Ja-Man Special 75-78Blood & Fire CD BAF023This Blood & Fire collection brings together some of the crucial, yet relatively obscure, deep roots music released by Dudley "Manzie" Swaby on the Ja-Man label, which, while perhaps lesser known than that from "big-name" producers of the same time period such as Lee Perry, Augustus Pablo or Yabby You, is easily...
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Lee Perry & The Upsetters - Ape-OlogyTrojan CD TJBDD361This 2CD set from Trojan - clearly named in response to Island's "Arkology" - collects together 3 classic Lee Perry albums from the height of the legendary Black Ark era (1976-1978). "Scratch The Super Ape" (also released as simply "Super Ape" on Island, but here presented in its original JA mixes and running order) is a mostly-dub album us...
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Lee Perry - Produced And Directed By The UpsetterPressure Sounds PSCD19Second in the Pressure Sounds label's series of compilations of Lee Perry productions from the Black Ark era, "Produced and Directed by the Upsetter" brings together 10 previously rare 7" singles and their B-side dubs."Produced and Directed" opens with Watty "King" Burnett's "Free Man", a joyous tune with deep, funky trombon...
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Junior DelgadoSons of Slaves: Rebel Anthems from a Roots LegendTrojan TJACD288Junior Delgado, famed for his gruff yet warm voice, was a roots singer with a long career of both singing and producing, in his native Jamaica in the 70s and in the UK in later decades. "Sons of Slaves" is one of several retrospective compilations of his works which appeared after his death in London in 2005.This comp...
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Lee Scratch Perry and Friends: Open The GateTrojan CDPRY2"Open The Gate", sadly now deleted (although still fairly easily available second hand, albeit often at inflated prices), is a collection of some of the dreadest, wildest and deepest roots 12"es produced by Lee Perry at the legendary Black Ark, at a time when it had matured into its full potential as a place of hitherto-unparalleled exper...
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Horace Andy: In The Light/In The Light DubBlood & Fire CD BAFCD006"In The Light/In The Light Dub", dating originally from 1977, is a US/Jamaican collaboration between the legendary, unearthly-voiced Horace "Sleepy" Andy (who prior to this album had been mostly a singles artist) and New York-based producer Everton DaSilva, using mostly JA musicians but aimed at least partly at a NY audience, pre...
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Various ArtistsTrojan Dancehall Roots Box Set (Trojan CD TJETD243) This Trojan box set is somewhat better packaged than some of the earlier ones (altho still in the same cheap cardboard box), with slightly more informative sleeve notes and somewhat more track information (unlike, for example, the Roots or Rastafari box sets, this one credits producers), and only one mis-titled track. It als...
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Various ArtistsThe Lion Roars (Roots Records, RJMCD101)The Lion Roars" is a collection of productions from the early dancehall era by U Brown and Jah Thomas, both of whom are/were better known as deejays, but also created a substantial and influential body of work as producers, taking their place in the evolution of sound system reggae from roots to dancehall alongside the likes of Junjo Lawes,...
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Sylford Walker & Welton IrieLamb's Bread International ( Blood & Fire BAFCD033)Re-released in 2000 by Blood & Fire Records, this is the original "Lamb's Bread" album by Sylford Walker plus corresponding DJ cuts by Welton Irie, all produced by Glen Brown and released as singles between 1978 and 1982, and it's classic late 70s style, just-pre-dancehall-era roots music with tough horns, heavy bass...
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Ranking JoeZion High (with Black Uhuru, Dennis Brown) Blood & Fire BAFCD043This release is a kind of a companion piece to Blood & Fire's earlier Dennis Brown CD "Promised Land", consisting mainly of Ranking Joe's versions to the same riddims, with a few other Dennis Brown produced tracks thrown in. As such it perfectly represents Joe's massively influential "bong-diddley" DJ style at the moment...
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Various ArtistsIf Deejay Was Your Trade: The Dreads At King Tubby's 1974-1977 ( Blood & Fire, BAFCD001) This was the first release on the seminal Blood & Fire label, and laid the groundwork for many of their other releases, including full-CD compilations of several of the artists featured on this set. It's a compilation of tracks by various old school DJs over mostly Bunny Lee riddims a...
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Augustus PabloClassic Rockers (Island RRCD 52)This collection brings together a somewhat mixed bag of Augustus Pablo productions (including his own instrumental and other people's vocal tunes) from the late 70s and early 80s (with, confusingly, some late 80s/90s copyright credits, but these are obviously false from the artists and style of the tunes). It gets off to a good start with Jacob Mill...
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Various ArtistsChampion Sound (Virgin France, 2001)This Virgin CD has to be one of the odder reggae compilations out there: all the tunes on it are authentic rather than cheesy reggae-pop, yet it seems to have no coherent focus at all in terms of era, lyrical content or production style, ranging from roots and lovers to dancehall and hip-hop/reggae hybrids and from 1969 to 2000... It opens ...
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Black UhuruBlack Sounds of Freedom (Greensleeves GREWCD23)Black Uhuru have a justified reputation as one of the darkest and most uncompromising of the internationally successful roots groups of the late 70s and early 80s. They went through several different vocal line-ups, but most of their most crucial works were produced with lead singer and prime lyricist Michael Rose, a man whose very perso...
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