Roots/Lovers Rock charts

Review: Having previously delivered a box set dedicated to the early-to-mid 70s singles produced by legendary Jamaican studio don Niney The Observer, Doctor Bird has now moved on to the next stage of his career. This two-disc set focuses on seven-inch singles he produced and released on his Observer label in 1976 and 1977, supplementing vocal cuts with flipside alternate versions and his own 'riddim'-focused takes. It's a fine collection of often hard-to-find Jamaican reggae gems from a golden period in the country's musical culture, with headline-grabbing contributions from such scene staples as Gregory Isaacs, Horace Andy, Clint Eastwood, I-Roy, Big Youth, Junior Delgado and Bobby Ellis.

Review: Dadawah aka. Lloyd Charmers was one of Jamaica's boldest and most resourceful record producers, testament to which was his standout LP Peace & Love. Originally released as an EP of just four tracks, drawing on the rhythmic hallmarks of the Nyabinghi gatherings of Rastafari, Charmers is heard commanding an ensemble cast of virtuosi, including Willie Lindo on guitar. With its multi-layered, weighty and patriotic breathtakers such as 'Zion Land' and 'Know How You Stand', which blow away with their adept command of space and reverb, the tracks now come backed a whopping 21 dub versions also produced by the man himself - 19 of which have never been before released on CD - the best of his dub output since the mid-1970s.

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: 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: As the digi sound crept into Jamaican music in the 80s, King Jammy's productions became an essential ingredient in the progression of dancehall, and this compilation highlights a solid 31 classics that prove the point. The hitlist is heavy, with the likes of Dennis Brown, Johnny Osbourne and Sugar Minott all heard singing over Jammy's sprightly riddims. What binds these tunes together is the message - the universal cry out against social injustice, which has always given roots reggae, dancehall, digi and more its power and urgency. There are too many essential tunes to count, so don't sweat it and simply stick it on.

Review: In 1985, Lee 'Scratch' Perry returned to Trojan Records for a new album, Battle Of Armageidon, in which he laid freshly-trodden musical ground at the label's feet. Taking after then increasingly-popular dub and reggae artists at the time, such as Scientist, Perry's music was becoming increasingly grandiose and psychedelic, having teamed up with rhythm guitarist and synth player Mark Downie in forming his new band. Long regarded as among Perry's most wild and unpredictable projects, this reissue brings the album to CD for the first time, and isn't for the faint of heart or uncurious of soul.

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: Hollie Cook's 2022 album Happy Hour was widely hailed as a standout entry in the UK singer's accomplished career to date, and now she's doubled down on her dub instincts by going back in with producer Ben McKone for a proper echo chamber revision which lets different ingredients in the album shine in a whole new, delay-soaked light. As well as stripping down some of the tracks and reworking the fundamentals, there's also space for some new ingredients from Rosie Turton on 'Golden Dub', Josh Skints and Jah9 on 'Kush Dub' and Kiko Bun on 'Dubbing On'.

Review: The latest collection from the mighty Soul Jazz draws together a myriad of different styles favoured by black British sound systems, not only reflecting the roots of different communities reaching these shores but also the UK twist that that music has received as result. Reggae forms the backbone of the collection, from the blissful consciousness of Pebbles' 'Positive Vibrations' to the more protest-orientated Brown Sugar's 'Black Pride' and Tabby Cat Kelly's 'Don't Call Us Immigrants'. But the presence of Shut Up & Dance, Ragga Twins, Ray Keith aka The Terrorist and Digital Mystikz helps show the uniquely British areas into which sound system culture evolved - rave, breakbeat, jungle and dubstep.

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: 1975 was the year that dub music originator King Tubby teamed up with the Observer All Stars, a production outfit helmed up by Winston 'Niney' Holness. Together, Tubby and Holness handled a barrage of killer remixes of formerly wildly popular units in the mode of reggae, including famous songs by Dennis Brown, Ken Booteh, Delroy Wilson and Sang Hugh. This was one of the earliest albums to attract international interest in dub music beyond the Caribbean, with many other key players in the scene never before having enjoyed a proper release at the time. Now this showcasing of dub's peak in terms of melting-pot inventiveness gets a first-time CD issue.

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: 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.

Review: Studio One are already undoubtedly the most eminent label and studio to have ever put the reggae of Kingston, Jamaica on the map. As if it wasn't obvious enough, this new 2xLP compiles the most legendary productions to ever ooze from the Studio's walls, thanks to the guidance of producer Clement 'Coxsone' Dodd. Rare music from Horace Andy, Jackie Mittoo and Sound Dimension all abound on this ground-shaking CD, which lies somewhere on the intersection between funk and dub.

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: 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: A comprehensive reissue campaign of the key albums by Creation Rebel, the original On-U Sound house band. The series encompasses out of print and much in demand UK dub reggae albums from the late 1970s and early 1980s, all highlighting crucial early production work from the mixing desk of Adrian Sherwood. The band's post-reformation, 2023 album Hostile Environment, is thrown in for good measure. This mammoth 6xCD edition houses five dozen tracks of indelibly experimental dub and reggae tracks, many of which tend towards the spacier and more cosmically-intoned ends of the dub tradition, which was above alive and kicking at the height of the genre's fame from the late 1970s onwards, and spearheaded by none other than group members Clifton Morrison, Eric 'Fish' Clarke and more.

Review: Japan's Dub Store label has put together this superb reproduction of the highly sought-after 1969 reggae album The Sensational Derrick Harriott Sings Jamaica Reggae. Arriving on CD with an obi-strip, the popular record comes with ten now proven to be timeless tracks that feature plenty of the most renowned Jamaican session musicians. These include the likes of Val Bennett, Winston Wright, and Gladstone Anderson, who all put in fine performances and traverse plenty of heavy rolling reggae sounds, horn-led ska cuts and plenty in between in organic and enthralling fashion.

Review: Mad Professor (Neil Fraser) is renowned worldwide for his dub recordings, captivating live sets showcasing the creativity of dub sound engineers, and his collaborations with both reggae and non-reggae artists alike such as Lee Scratch Perry, Jah Shaka, Sade, The Orb, Massive Attack and Grace Jones. Above all, he is celebrated for his prolific output in the genres of dub, lovers rock, reggae; now this reissued version of this original 1984 release for Ariwa Sounds is sure to turn just as many heads as his originals do. Known to be the yield of the label's first ever collaborative effort - after Fraser set up his South London studio with no prior experience - 'The Early Session' is one of the purest incarnation of the Mad Professor sound we know today and set the tone for the label thereafter.

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.