Roots/Lovers Rock charts

Review: On its release last spring, reviewers hailed Horace Andy's Midnight Rockers as the honey-voiced reggae legend's best album in decades. It was certainly special, with the mighty Adrian Sherwood's production helping elevate the set to future classic levels. It was followed by the alternative, dub style 'Midnight Scorchers' album, which naturally featured Sherwood pushing the envelope far further than he did on the original set. This double-disc set brings together both sets, adds a couple of previously unreleased cuts, and allows us to once again wallow in the magnificence of such highlights as 'Safe From Harm' (a genuinely brilliant, surprisingly dark Massive Attack cover), the Ital Horns-heavy 'Material', Daddy Freddy hook-up 'Midnight Scorchers' and the Melodica-heavy dub workout 'Sleepy's Night Cap'.

Review: First released way back in 2005, Soul Jazz Records' tribute to the female artists and vocalists who recorded at the legendary Studio One studio in Kingston, Jamaica, returns on CD for a limited time. It's a compilation that's well worth picking up, for two equally valid reasons. Firstly, it features some of Jamaica's greatest female solo singers and vocal groups - the likes of Marcia Griffiths, the Soulettes, Angela Prince and Jennifer Lara. Secondly, the mix of styles on offer - not just rocksteady and roots reggae, but also dub, ska and disco-reggae - delivers an enjoyable lesson in the vibrancy of Jamaican music during the 60s and '70s. Throw in a chunky booklet packed with insightful liner notes, and you have a genuinely must-have compilation.

Review: Count Ossie is one of the true forefathers of Jamaican music as we know it, setting a template for the spiritual, drum-focused sound of Nyabinghi as a musical extension of Rastafarian religious practice. From an outsider community in Wareika Hill, Ossie and his fellow players were slowly integrated into Jamaican music culture and went on to record singles for the likes of Coxsone Dodd, but it was with the formation of The Mystic Revelations Of Rastafari and the recording of Grounation in 1973 that Ossie cemented his legacy. Now Soul Jazz are reissuing this landmark album as a triple-12" pressing with a bonus 7" and accompanying magazine - all the better to understand the context and meaning of this incredible work.

Review: The world may feel dark and depressing right now, but mercifully there are still artists whose escapist instincts can help lighten the gloom. Hollie Cook, daughter of Sex Pistols' Paul Cook and long a purveyor of soul-fired dub and reggae, is one such artist. Happy Hour, her first album in four years, is a glorious, life-affirming distraction in this summer of discontent - a colourful, groovy, bass-heavy and sugary-sweet riff on lovers rock capable of putting a spring in your step. Our picks of an especially strong bunch include the weary-but-uplifting title track, the jaunty 'Kush Kween' (featuring the distinctive vocals of guest Jah9) and the immersive, sonically kaleidoscopic 'Full Moon Baby'.

Review: Just over 40 years have passed since Paketo Wilson headed into the studio to record 'Praise Him' at Harry J Studio in his home city of Kingston, Jamaica. The album, which effortlessly blends roots and lovers rock with the help of producer Trevor Dais and a cast of musicians that includes legendary trumpeter Bobby Ellis, has long been an overlooked, hard-to-find gem - hence this timely reissue from Milanese imprint Arabusta Records. Wilson's honeyed voice remains the focal point throughout, with standouts including 'Jardan Dance', the subtly dubbed-out 'My Daily Bread', and the wonderfully life-affirming 'Jumpy For Joy'. Recommended!

Review: Although he first entered a recording studio in the late 1960s, it wasn't until 1973, and the release of the Alvin 'G.G' Ranglin-produced single 'Love Is Overdue' that Gregory Isaacs career started to take off. The success of that record persuaded Ranglin to record an entire album with Isaacs, In Person, which became the now legendary reggae singer's debut full-length. This expanded edition of the album presents the album on disc one, alongside alternative dub versions and other singles Isaacs recorded with Ranglin during the period. Disc two, meanwhile, offers a celebration of Ranglin's other works of 1973 and '74 - Jamaican hit singles (and their corresponding dubs) which are largely lesser-known outside the Caribbean.

Review: For their latest deep dive into the history of Jamaican music, Dr Bird has decided to deliver two key albums from the formative years of dancehall, both of which were produced by King Jammy and - remarkably - have never made it to CD before. Disc one boasts Sugar Minott's 1979 set Bitter Sweet, a super-sweet and hugely enjoyable collection that added traditional roots reggae style vocals and instrumentation to rhythms and grooves that provided the bedrock of the dancehall sound (for proof, check 'Give The People' and 'Not For Sale'). Over on CD2, it's all about Johnny Osbourne's 'Reggae On Broadway', a more weighty and low-slung affair that nevertheless proved influential to a whole generation of dancehall enthusiasts. 'Lend Me Your Chopper', 'Reggae On Broadway' and 'Folly Ranking' are particularly potent.

Review: Two and a half years on from his death, Lee 'Scratch' Perry's "final album" - for the avoidance of doubt, it's the last one he recorded - arrives. Given his history of sonic innovation, it's striking that King Perry sees he late dub titan applying his dub aesthetic (with a little help from producer Daniel Boyle and a string of guest vocalists) to a wide variety of contemporary styles. Elements of synthwave, drum & bass, big beat and electronica are thrown into the mix, with his ten-ton basslines, dub effects, reggae riffs and freewheeling vocals rooting it in his extensive musical history. Highlights include breakbeat-driven Greentea Peng collaboration '100 Llbs of Summer', the Meat Beat Manifesto-ish 'Green Banana' (where Shaun Ryder does a typically distinctive turn on lead vocals) and closer 'Goodbye', which features Perry's last recorded vocal performance.

Review: While not as celebrated as some of his Jamaican contemporaries, Winston Holness AKA Niney The Observer was a hugely successful record producer. This excellent two-disc set does an excellent job in rounding up the best of his output between 1973 and '75, a period where he enjoyed countless hits at home and over in the UK. There's naturally plenty of goodness to be found amongst the 49 tracks on show, with cuts featuring now well-known Jamaican scene stars - think Junior Delgado, Delroy Wilson, Big Youth, Max Romeo, Junior Byles, Horace Andy, U-Roy and ska survivor Tommy McCook - being joined by more dubbed-out 'versions' (credited to his studio band The Observers') and local hits by artists whose fame rarely spread beyond the Caribbean (Winston Wright, Hubert Lee, Earth & Stone). In an indispensable introduction to one of Jamaica's finest producers of the 1970s.