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Music

Disc Guide : Reggae

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GHETTO ARC PRESENTS SERIOUS TIMES (Ghetto Arc/XL Recordings) Rating: NNNN

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This is a serious compilation of some of dancehall reggae’s more left-field hits, many of which surfaced on North American shores only in the form of rare 45s in Brooklyn mom-and-pop stores. Serious Times conveys the humid energy of Jamaica’s culture with a thick, heavy group of tracks. You’ll catch contact from this collection, featuring Jamrock legends like Sizzla and Richie Spice in and among lesser-known performers. The audio’s coarse analog texture only adds character to a non-violent stack of singles that celebrate a refreshing variety of aspects of Jamaican culture (the mountain, the market, the marijuana). Gravel-voiced, soul-saturated tracks like Turbulence’s Notorious and Jah Mason & Simpleman’s Rolling are almost criminally uplifting.

Jason Richards

MICHAEL ROSE Warrior (M) Rating: NNNN

Since Michael Rose mysteriously left Black Uhuru at the peak of their international popularity in 1985 to set up a coffee farm in Jamaica’s Blue Mountains, it’s been a struggle for the charismatic singer to re-establish his music career. Hooking up with Netherlands-based reggae outpost M Records has been a blessing for Rose, who’s been getting back on the righteous roots path with the help of producer Ryan Moore of Twilight Circus fame. The new Warrior album – recorded in Jamaica, London and the Netherlands – revisits the stripped-down sound of Black Uhuru’s 1981 classic Red album thanks largely to Moore’s guidance and the participation of old-school studio hands Sly Dunbar, Dean Fraser, Norman Grant, Skully Simms and Chinna Smith. It should clear up any doubts about whether last year’s great African Roots set was a one-off fluke. Rose is definitely back in action.

Tim Perlich

YABBY YOU Deliver Me From My Enemies (Blood & Fire) Rating: NNNN

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A companion to Blood & Fire’s great Jesus Dread two-disc set – which brought together Yabby You’s mid-70s conscious reggae classics Conquering Lion and Walls Of Jerusalem – Deliver Me From My Enemies collects material from around the same time. So while it still has a deep roots vibe, there are growing signs of some dancehall aspirations amongst all the righteous dreadlocks spirituality and Babylon-burning. Once again, reissue producer Steve Barrow does an exemplary job of tracking down the right dubs and rare 12-inch mixes – benefiting here from the voices of Trinity and Tony Tuff – with informative running commentary from Vivian Jackson himself for a mighty fine set of golden era roots reggae.

Tim Perlich

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