Juno Recommends Roots / Lovers Rock: May 2022

Review: VP have got some special and long-lost roots reggae classics here on 45rpm for the first timer in forever. The A-side here first dropped in 1979 and was recorded at Channel One, mixed at King Tubby's and produced by Prince Jammy not one before he went digital - something of a holy trinity of top-class reggae quality. The original is full of proper good and authentic dub flavour with fat bass and smoky atmospheres. Prince Jammy's own superb dub cut features on the flipside which is full of his usual mixing desk magic.

Review: Winston Ready has played a big part in the evolution of reggae booth as a solo artist and as the mic man for The Cimarons. He has had plenty of hits in his time and is now a regular on this label, Room In The Sky, with a couple of tunes dropping this month alone. 'Cool It Amigo' is first up and is an earthy one with shakers and fat horns over deep bass. The Inn House Crew then appear as usual with a head-twisting dub and on the flip are two more cuts that rework the original, firstly Fawda Don's 'Warrior' then Barry Issacs's 'So Mi Get It.'

Review: CosTafari is Everald Collins and he has been churning out crucial dub and reggae since the turn of the millennium. He's voiced four albums to date and plenty of EPs on labels like Roots Injection, Ark Music and I Negus Records, as well as working under tens of different aliases. 'Freedom' is a happy dub with jangling drums and perc and his cries for freedom up top. It's well-versed in the classic sound but has a fresh contemporary production twist. It comes as a dub, of course, with the rousing 'Get Up An' Fight' on the flip. This one is more laidback and spare but packs no less of a punch, not least with the charged vocals up top.

Review: Ken Boothe is a real living legend and is said to be one of the most talented musicians of his germination - which is saying something given the quality that came out of his native Jamaica, and still does. This Essential Artist Collection makes a strong argument to back up those claims with a mix of several of the ska, rock steady and reggae classics he cooked up over a period of some 60 years. He debuted in 1962 and saw real international success in 1974 with his 'Everything I Own' and the top 10 follow-up, 'Crying Over You', both of which feature here.