Burning Sounds Vinyl & CDs

Review: Clash, first released in 1977, was one of a series of definitive reggae albums to highlight the eminence of the soundclash, in which two reggae or dancehall crews rig up opposing soundsystems in a face-to-face musical standoff. Fashioning this album after the competitive form, Dillinger's sparring partner in this case is 'Trinity' aka Wade Brammer, who was active during the 1970s and 80s. Trinity as Dillinger is best known for deejaying over reggae and dancehall numbers; Clash albums became very popular at the tail-end of the 1970s and into the next decade, with singers and deejays alike competing for status, track by track.

Review: Erroneously credited solely to Fred Locks on its 1978 release, this superb set is in fact a showcase of the work of the 12 Tribes Of Israel band in collaboration with the aforementioned artist; the collab also includes Earl 'Little Roy' Lowe, Albert Malawi, the Creation Steppers and Cherry Rock. With the 12 Tribes first forming in 1968 as a Rastafarian organisation based in Kingston, this troupe brought exceptional works of OG lovers' rock to the table, amidst a wider cultic organisation that saw each member grouped into a formation modelled on the Biblical 12 tribes of Israel. You wouldn't know it from the sense of pure relief and love that wafts from the music here: Love & Harmony is a brilliant one, carrying a universalist message of racial and spiritual unity amid an acknowledgement of tough beginnings and the necessity of lock care.

Review: Meets Kelly Ranks At Channel One is one of those classic dub albums that is very much deserving of this reissue on nice heavyweight wax. Michael Palmer is the man who did the meeting per the title and he is a leading Jamaican reggae and dancehall artist who has helped shaped the culture no end. This record fuses togther elements of both of those foundations sounds with nice lead horns and swaggering rhythms topped with carefree vocals full of soul but also carrying great messages.

Review: Burning Sounds pay tribute to some of reggae's most crucial DJs with this new album The Magnificent 7. It is packed with artists inspired by the fundamental elements of Rastafarianism and they all speak loudly of the virtues of "living upright in those dread times." Jah Walton - later known as Joseph Cotton - kicks off with the positive vibrations of 'The Seed You Sow' before Big Youth gets deeper and darker. A brace of I-Roy jams roll on fat bass lines and King Sighta also appears twice with his natty vocals and percussive rhythms amongst a bunch of other superb sounds from the likes of Natty Love and Sister Sheron.