Inner Circle - Reggae Thing

this album stands out of many of the 70s era reggae recordings. its music is unique, beautiful, very melodic and emotional. jacob miller in the vocals, chinna smith in the guitar, horsemouth wallace at the drums and augustus pablo at the keys. this is a gem.

jah music!

Peter Broggs - Rastafari Liveth

this album is slowly becoming a personal favorite. the music is truly roots and culture, the recording is pristine with the rhythm section sounding FAT, the lyrics are socially conscious and the vibes are right. a gem of rasta recordings.

I am a international farmer, cultivating my good sensimillia.

Burning Spear - Social Living

a classic roots album filled with awesome harmonic explorations and praises to marcus garvey. this was one of the first reggae albums that i bought when i was in highschool and still it sounds like a timeless achievement in jah music. light one up and give thanks.

marcus say jah no dead

V/A - The Harder They Come

This one's for Pachist.

The classic soundtrack to the film "The Harder They Come", this is one of the most legendary reggae albums ever. It helped popularize reggae and Jamaican music in the United States and abroad.

It features a number of songs from Toots & Maytals, Desmond Dekker, Scotty, among others along with 4 tracks by Jimmy Cliff. Pretty much every song on here is a classic and they've been covered by artists as diverse as John Lennon, Keith Richards, Joe Strummer, Johnny Thunders, Willie Nelson, ext...

Sitting in Limbo

Keith Hudson - Flesh Of My Skin, Blood Of My Blood

This one's for Pachist.

I already posted Hudson's excellent Pick a Dub. Here's another classic widely considered to be one of the darkest reggae albums ever made.

"Anchored here by Santa Davis and George Fullwood from the Soul Syndicate - alongside musicians like Augustus Pablo, Count Ossie and Leroy Sibbles - Hudson's mood is tormented and dazed, as on titles like Darkest Night, My Nocturne and Testing My Faith he struggles for Black senses of commitment - political, existential, religious - at its breaking point. Magnificently and deadly serious, hauntingly unique, unmissable and unforgettable."

Get

Shabba Ranks - Caan Dun:The Best of Shabba

A towering figure in Jamaican Music history. This is pretty much a definitive anthology of the gruff-voiced slacking toaster's work, including such immortal classics such as "Mr. Loverman", "Pirates' Anthem", "Peeny Peeny", "Wicked Inna Bed", "Love Punany Bad" and the genesis of Reggaeton (and many other genres): "Dem Bow". Respect.

Serious Time

Various - King Jammy at the Controls

Well, Abe's been bugging me to post some crazy jamaican dancehall vocalese shit lately, so I comply, starting with this awesome collection of Jammy's best and most notorious 80's productions, when he transformed from Prince to King. Includes amazing cuts from Shabba Ranks, Junior Reid, Nicodemus, Admiral Bailey, Nitty Gritty, the immortal "Serious Time" featuring Admiral Tibet, Ninjaman and Shabba, and the riddim that forever transformed the Jamaican musical landscape, "Under Mi Sleng Teng" with Wayne Smith. Essential stuff. More JA shit to follow.

Sleng Teng

Keith Hudson - Pick a Dub

Seminal album by "The Dark Prince of Reggae". It's one of the first dub albums ever released and it features the incredible rhythm section of Aston "Family Man" Barrett and Carlton Barrett from The Wailers. Augustus Pablo also plays on a few tracks and it has cut up vocals by the likes of Horace Andy of Massive Attack fame.

"The late Keith Hudson's 1976 Pick A Dub was one of the first dub albums. Stuttering melodica, squelching keyboard and guitar chops and a mix which dropped instruments in and out of the sound picture every few bars made this one a must-have." -The Wire-

Michael Talbot Affair

V/A - Jonny Greenwood is the Controller

As tastemaker status there are few as popular as Radiohead, especially Thom Yorke or guitarist Jonny Greewood. Any endorsement from them is likely to increase your popularity so I think it's respectable Greenwood lend himself to create this compilation for Trojan Records (the Motown of Jamaican music). It will undoubtedly shed new light and bring interest in musicians that definitely deserve it.

As for the mix, it's great. You would imagine that Greenwood would pick mostly dub or more experimental tracks but that's not the case at all. Lee Perry and Scientist are present, but besides that it mostly consists of soulful rocksteady and reggae tracks ranging from artists such as Lival Thompson, The Heptones, Desmond Dekker, and Marcia Aitken.

Get it