Review: The Ethiopians were a big part of the 70s roots and reggae scene. Their catalogue has been pillaged here by the always-on-point Belgian label Roots Vibration, and they have come up with their 'Obeah Book' tune for reissue on this 45rpm. It was produced by Niney The Observer and is a deep steady and rolling rhythm that has some nice and playful piano up top, but the icing on the cake is the heartfelt vocals. On the back, Observer goes it alone with 'Back Weh', a nice head-twisting dub.
Review: The always-worth-checking Roots Vibration have been digging in the vaults again and serve up this superb reissue of Glen Judah's much sort after early 80s gem. 'Mr. Collie Man' is a weed anthem to end all weed anthems with its ode to the smoke unfurling over slow, steady drums, gentle horn stabs and buttery vocal goodness heightening any trip. On the flipside, you will find a version that slows things down even more and ups the liquidity of the synths which form lush puddles around the echoing hits and kicks.
Review: In 1979, dub legend Lee 'Scratch' Perry "adopted" a pair of musicians from Zaire who had been left stranded on Jamaica, put them together with his regular session players in the Black Ark studio he later burned down in a fit of psychosis, and recorded an album, "Roots From The Congo". As this fine reissue proves, the resultant music - a vibrant mix of Perry's particular brand of dub reggae and soukous music - was magical and unlike almost anything that had come before. For some reason it was only ever released on small labels in France and Belgium at the time, meaning that original copies are extremely hard to find. This reissue, then, is long overdue. Do yourself a favour and snap them up before they all disappear.
We use cookies to personalise content and ads, to provide social media features and to analyse our traffic. We also share information about your use of our site with our social media, advertising and analytics partners who may combine it with other information that you've provided to them or that they've collected from your use of their services.