Rating: NNNNN
There’s just no messing with this double CD set, which is essentially a tight chapter of reggae history – 30 vintage sound system tunes from 69 to 83 excavated from Island, Universal and A&M Records. Amazing music like this will never be made again, and I can’t really get too deep into exactly how enjoyable and enriching these records by good people like Jimmy Cliff and Black Uhuru and Lee Perry’s mind-blowing Roast Fish And Cornbread are because I won’t be able to stop. Nor do I really want to dwell on how awesome Toots & the Maytals’ Country Road cover is, or how sexy Jimmy Riley’s Sexual Healing cover is, or how satisfying the slightly distorted fidelity of the old 45 dub sound is, for the same reason. This is crucial.
