Island Vinyl & CDs

Review: 'Mr. Brown' is among the most coveted songs by Bob Marley and the Wailers, as it cemented the bond between Marley and Upsetter Lee 'Scratch' Perry, with the latter producing the track in his famed home studio Black Ark. Based on a popular ghost story about a spectral clown allegedly seen riding around Jamaican countryside in a three-wheeled coffin (three vultures were said to have been perched on top of the coffin, one looking for a 'Mr. Brown'), the song takes thorough advantage of popular folk consciousness in its spooky production and stick-in-your-mind charm. This 12" version also comes with the melodic plodders 'Natural Mystic' and 'The Heathen'.

Review: Africa Unite (named after one of his 1979 tracks) is an album that finds Bob Marley's greatest tunes all reworked in a contemporary Afrobeat style by fine modern African musicians. It's a great project that Marley himself would surely have approved of and would have no doubt been involved with had he still been around. Often times the vocals are left quite similar to the originals, but reworked into languid electronic rhythms with nice noodling synths and plenty of brass and horns. Standouts for us include 'Redemption Song' (feat Ami Faku) and 'Three Little Birds' (feat Teni & Oxlade).