King Tubby V's Channel One - Dub Soundclash

Jimmy Cliff was one of the pioneers of Jamaican stars in Britain, alongside Desmond Dekker. But the success of tracks like ''Wonderful World, Beautiful People'' would not last as Jimmy Cliff would later find out life was hard as a travelling musician, being black in the UK was also dangerous at the time. Many tracks reflected this period of failure like ''Struggling Man''. It would be later in the seventies that Jimmy Cliff would achieve success with the film The Harder They Come, which opened up reggae from Jamaica to the mainstream film and music audiences, and prove pivotal on the influence on punk coming out of London and beyond.

Island Records Presents: Roots - 37 Essential Roots Anthems

Roots music has a focus around the lyrics being derived from Rastafari culture, which as Jimmy Cliff in an interview is actually closer to Christianity than Islam. The scripture which is worshipped is the Holy Piby, and it is very Afrocentric and has an emphasis on the homeland of Ethiopia. Ethiopia is a place of the earliest foundations of Christianity also, but contrary to most opinions of Rastafarianism, there is an emphasis around being a sound person mentally, so things like alcohol in excess are strongly condemned, but marijuana is different as it leads to the idea that it expands the mind. Many reggae stars would develop lung cancer, including the ''Cool Ruler'', Gregory Isaacs.

Dub Collossus - Dr Strangedub (Or How I Learned To Stop Worrying & Dub The Bomb)

Dub and reggae may seem monotonous, with repetitive rhythms and trance-like grooves pulsating the music endlessly, but it is not about the music but in fact the lyrical content. The lyrics are about British colonialism and freedom from that suffering into independence and a sort of Afrocentric statement, and Rastafarianism also pits itself against Catholicism and mainstream religions. The strange repetitive rhythms lay bare the lyrics. Many of the musicians were self-taught, including singers, and there is this massive pool of talent in Jamaica where literally hundreds of artists call home, and in the case of Gregory Isaacs particularly, back catalogues of literally hundreds of songs on many studio albums.

Various Artists - Step Forward Youth: Roots Masters From The ''Punky Reggae Party''

Reggae is one of the biggest industries in Jamaica with a significant part of the country's GDP from reggae. Jamaica is a third world country, so for many, it is a profession to keep people out of crime and has a great sustainable value associated with it. It is a globally recognised movement, there is even a Grammy award recognising best reggae album of the year. Many of the heavyweights are firmly established figures in Jamaican culture, household names and speaking to someone from the West Indies, he knew all the big names when I quizzed him about it, and he even recommended me to get into the ''reggae revival'' acts like Chronixx, as he saw the legends as being the old school of reggae. Chronixx has established himself in the ''reggae revival'' movement, which is a veering away from raggamuffin and dancehall, and embracing the older styles coupled with the Rastafarian lyrical content. 

Various Artists - Put On Your Best Dress

Ska was the precursor to reggae. It was mento first, and then soldiers stationed in America used radios, tuning into Jazz and the Jamaicans picked up horns and added that to the mento and calypso style folk music to make ska. Then rock steady came along which was a lot more danceable. Toots & The Maytals first used the term reggae in their track ''Do The Reggay'' and the rest is history. I prefer to denote genres to their various sub-genres and refer to reggae as the overarching genre and diaspora of Jamaica, with the little sub-genres like mento and ska directly referred to because reggae is more than a genre of music, and when you collect reggae there is a lot to amass. I have over one hundred reggae CDs in my collection. There are many different artists with completely unique styles of singing and music.

Phillis Dillon - One Life To Live

In a male-dominated genre, female singers are a breath of fresh air. Phillis Dillon, alongside Marcia Griffiths, are queens of their craft, but the real highlight of female reggae singers has got to be Susan Cadogan's ''Hurt So Good'' recorded with Lee ''Scratch'' Perry would be in my opinion would be Perry's greatest ever track. Lee Perry had the magic to layer piano sounds, rather than guitar, onto a track and cover it with his Space Echo, which has been discussed before as a combination of delay and reverb. Perry's track incorporate ''riddims'' and his signature sound as found on the Congos' release Heart Of The Congos has got this primarily piano ''riddim'' and they use various sound effects and space echo to build this wall of sound. Perry is the Spector of reggae you could say.

Derrick Morgan - In London

Not only did the Skatalites play on every record in the ska era, they most certainly would have barely been paid much at all. As highlighted in the film The Harder They Come, Jamaican musicians were often much neglected and the record label would most often be corrupt. For a young up-and-coming musician, life was tough. They were barely paid, and the music was a big part of Jamaican life and culture. In fact, the statistic of people emigrating to England from Jamaica, a fair selection of them wrote down as their profession being a musician. It is probably something like one in four people, a huge number. But then Jamaica is a third world country. Reggae in England is often synonymous with the punk scene, as punks in England had not recorded any music up until nineteen seventy-six or thereabouts, so the music they listened and played along to was, in fact, reggae music, thus The Clash having this massive reggae edge. 

Derrick Morgan - Moon Hop

Rumour has it that there is one band that played on every ska track, and that band is the Skatalites. They played under many aliases over hundreds of recordings. Roland Alphonso is the saxophonist and Don Drummond the trombonist. Drummond is considered as one of the greatest trombonists to ever live and his life marred with tragedy. He developed a fierce hatred of white men and often spat on them in the street. He drifted into mental illness and murdered his girlfriend and spent the rest of his life in a mental asylum after the police cracked down on the music scene it is believed. Many people in the scene believe Drummond was fine. It is a peculiarity of the Jamaican music scene and enigma involving one of the finest trombonists to ever grace the planet.

Black Uhuru - Red

Anyone who is interested in the life of Bob Marley should watch the documentary Marley by Kevin Macdonald. It tells the remarkable story of Marley from his humble beginnings in rural Jamaica, where his father was a white English cotton farmer and being half white, Bob was subject to bullying. He survived assassination attempts and was a massive football fan and believed football was true freedom, so much so that playing in his spare time he cut his foot when he was not wearing any sufficient footwear, and this cut got infected and had to travel to Europe for treatment. His friends and colleagues thought everything would be fine and Jah would look after Marley but it was not to be. Marley also economically looked after poor families from Kingston and was a devout socialist.

The Ethiopians - Engine 54

Reggae is not one style of music, sure there are similarities like the emphasis on the off-beat, but it is an amalgamation of styles, including mento, which is more traditional and there is ska which is faster incorporating horns. Later there was more synthesizer but some of the early dancehall sounds used an organ, not keyboards, which is later the sound of raggamuffin. Some more noticeable aspects of reggae have been afro-centric lyrics, which is heavily inspired by Rastafarianism. There is an acknowledgement of figures like Marcus Garvey who did some miraculous feats like buy an entire cruise ship to return his people back to Africa. This is absolutely true and Garvey was charged with attempting to sell stocks of a ship he did not own. This was all attempt to thwart the efforts of a black liberation movement.

Fat Freddy's Drop - Based On A True Story

These bringers of splendid grooves really lit up the Odeon theatre Hobart when they played here earlier in the year. They have no conventional rhythm section and just rely on someone with a turntable. I was standing there thinking, this is too good to be true. I was hoping they would have an encore. No band has ever impressed me so much that I did not want them to finish and go on longer. They did play for about 2-3 hours and their performance was immense. The trombonist could charge a small village with his efforts emitted. They are just a very soulful and jazz-inspired dub jam collective from Aotearoa. Their music is drawn out over several minutes and they keep the groove motoring on.

Various Artists - Stirring Up Some Ska: The Original Sound Of UK Club Land

Prince Buster features on this compilation and on the front cover, a massive influence on the ska revival of two-tone later on in the UK. Prince Buster was openly Muslim and spent a lot of his free time helping out at his local Mosque. If I had to pick a favourite reggae musician, it would be Prince Buster. I spent a long time listening to him on my travels around Italy. His music hasn't aged a day. It is still fresh, funny and simple. He is known to have plenty of horns in his music and incredible vocals. The day Prince Buster died was when ska died, as he passed in 2016.

Bombino - Azel

This is an exotic listening experience from a very interesting musician from Niger. It is actually produced by the lead singer from the American band Dirty Projectors. It is a sort of eclectic take on reggae crossed with Tuareg music which is a sort of traditional Berber music straight from the Sahara. Omara Moctar, also known as ''Bombino'' is a guitarist possessing immense skill and poise probably from years of practice. He creates beautiful music and is a very original and creative take on the off-beat style of music of reggae. One could argue that reggae has its diaspora which is definitely reggae, it is has it's roots in Jamaica, but musically reggae does not have to be Rastafarian in a lyrical sense and could be identified for its repetitive rhythms and emphasis on the off-beat.  

Fat Freddy's Drop - Bays

Fat Freddy's Drop hail from Wellington, Aotearoa and are one of the finest contemporary musical exports New Zealand has to offer. I picked up this CD from the merchandise stall at the gig they played at in Hobart at the Odeon theatre on Liverpool Street. They actually do not have a conventional rhythm section and instead rely on a DJ who creates the bass lines and drum tracks. Their sound is hugely reminiscent of dub, and the formation of their songs is a ''riddim'' which is a reggae term. Repetitive rhythms that create massive amounts of groove on the off-beat, this is the formula of many reggae songs and some can include only possibly two chords. Their horn section is also considerably impressive. 

Various Artists - King Size Reggae

This is a compilation from the early reggae period released in 1970. It is produced by the influential reggae producer who was Jamaican-Chinese, by the name of Leslie Kong. Kong is responsible for many great hit songs from Jamaica during this vintage period. He launched the career of Jimmy Cliff. He was also the producer behind the scenes for not one but two Desmond Dekker singles in ''007 (Shanty Town)'' and ''Israelites". Long was the pivotal figure behind arguably reggae's longest lasting superstar, Jimmy Cliff and also started producing Marley's first single ''One Cup Of Coffee''. Reggae as it is known now in 2019 would not be anything like it is today if it was not for the magical hands of Leslie Kong behind the tracks many people admire.

Desmond Dekker And The Aces - Intensified

This is a great collection from the great vocal trio that showcases the massive output of music from Jamaica during the late 60s. Both Intensified and Action! were released in the same year of 1968, and it really showcases how much talent was in the reggae scene in this period. A lot of the most well-known tracks are on here including ''Ah It Mek'', ''Rude Boy Train'' and ''Israelites''. It also includes the title track ''Intensified'' which is a personal favourite. These two releases were part of a larger tending style of rocksteady, which along with ska had an immense impact on the later reggae music to come out of Jamaica throughout the 70s. Desmond Dekker remains one of the pivotal figures in reggae and the well-known voice behind many of its widely appreciated hit songs.

Desmond Dekker And The Aces - Action!

This is a terrific statement from the self-styled king of ska. All the classics are here including ''Mother Pepper'', ''Unity'' and ''007''. I particularly like ''It Pays'' which I find absolutely beautiful. Desmond Dekker had such an angelic and perfect voice. His voice is like a choir voice, innocent and childlike. ''Mother Young Gal'' also appears. Desmond Dekker is an artist not given the merit that some others receive for even measly contributions. Dekker had a personalised style and sound. His music holds up over time. I actually personally think his music sounds better to me now after listening to it for the first time when I was visiting Scotland and I fell in love with his music for its unmistakable charm.

Various Artists - Treasure Isle Presents: Rock Steady: 40 Ground-Breaking Hits

This is a candid collection of some of the minor artists from the rocksteady era. The main highlights would be the Alton Ellis stuff and also the John Holt and The Paragons tracks. John Holt made history by being the first reggae artist to include strings in his music. His style was very laid back with beautiful string sections and blazoned with horns. It was a very romantic and dreamlike approach to the genre and if I personally had to recommend any reggae to someone who had not heard a lot, I would recommend John Holt's album 1000 Volts Of Holt. It is basically a reggae album covering old 70s and 60s tracks, in the reggae style of course with luscious horn and string sections; it really is like nothing else.

Various Artists - Trojan Presents: Rock Steady: 40 Ground-Breaking Hits

This includes many songs I am aware and know of so personally it did not take a long time to appreciate this compilation of Trojan hits from a massively productive era which was the rocksteady era in Jamaica between 1966 and 1968. The compilation really picks up pace later on with the tracks by The Gaylettes with ''Silent River (Runs Deep)'' and the cracker ''Don't Look Back'' by Keith & Tex, which itself was covered by Peter Tosh and Mick Jagger later on, but the original is phenomenal. I also like the closer ''Bim Today (Bam Tomorrow)'' which is graced with the most impressive vocal performances from Toots & The Maytals. All in all this compilation has successful captured a pivotal era where there was no nonsense just the music, and they were really churning out hits at a furious pace.

Various Artists - Hot Reggae

I picked this up for $5 in Brunswick. The opening track ''Reggae Fever'' by Curly David is superb, also the Otis Redding cover ''Dock Of The Bay'' by Club Safari. This compilation has later 80s hits mingled in with classic early Bob Marley, which comes across as a very eclectic compilation. There is no information about this release on the internet, and I am assuming it is Australian. It really makes one wonder if Bob Marley kept releasing music throughout the 80s if he had in fact survived. Would Marley have changed his sound like how Desmond Dekker and Jimmy Cliff changed to suit the times that they were in, which were the rapidly expanding 80s era?

King Tubby And The Aggrovators - Shalom Dub

This album was purchased at PLAY Music & CDs in Melbourne on the weekend, after seeing it for a couple of years, with no one purchasing it. I had been eyeing it up from earlier visits to Melbourne. A bit of background on King Tubby, he studied electronics and built amplifiers in his spare time. He built his first Sound System in 1957. He was not actually a producer, but a sound engineer, and the story goes when he and producer Bunny Lee one night invented dub music, it was by mistake. They had forgotten to add vocals to a track, and they instead got an instrumental. Basically dub is instrumentals laden with effects. An effect machine used by Lee ''Scratch'' Perry was in fact the Roland RE-201 Space Echo, which consisted of echo (or delay as it is known these days) and reverb. The combination of reverb and delay on a track is what gives dub its experimental and unique sound.

The Uniques - Absolutely

I picked this up from PLAY Music & DVDs in Melbourne over the weekend. It is a pristine collection showcasing the vocal talent of this group. If I had to pinpoint a specific classic rocksteady sound, it was perfected on this release and the only album by another Jamaican vocal group The Kingstonians with their studio release Sufferer. The rocksteady sound could be described as having the basic drums, bass and guitar played on the offbeat with staccato guitar stabs and it is topped with piano or luscious organ that is bright and bouncy. Rocksteady musicians usually apply rhythm to the organ parts, and of course it is slower than ska. Ska and rocksteady artists usually dress very smart and of course it is before Rastafarianism so there is not a single dreadlock to be found.  

The Paragons - The Paragons And The Paragons Dubwise

This is a release from 1981, incorporating newer renditions of classic songs from the Paragons, identifiable because there is no famous violin line in their famous track ''The Tide Is High'', which was covered by Blondie. John Holt is a truly tremendous singer and songwriter whom I truly idolise greatly. I think some of the highlights on this album of well-known Paragons tracks and dub versions include ''Wear You To The Ball'' and its dub version ''Wear Out The Dub''. On this release there is a great blurring of the lines between rocksteady and dub, these two sub genres of reggae have often been overlooked because, the spaced out dub versions and effect laden sounds of dub really suit rocksteady's slow pace, thus it should be called ''dubsteady''.

Fat Freddy's Drop - Blackbird

These guys out of Aotearoa will be playing at the Odeon on the 20th of March in Hobart. They deliver the finest array of dub and reggae fusion in the Pacific. Highlights on this album include the mesmerising closer which seals the contents nicely, the track ''Bohannon'', which includes a massive amount of delay on the guitars. I am quite excited for these guys; finally I will be able to say I have witnessed a reggae act from Aotearoa. Where Katchafire have a lot of emphasis on the lyrics and singing, Fat Freddy's Drop can be quite experimental, emitting similar ragga sounds as another Kiwi act, The Black Seeds. On Blackbird, Fat Freddy's Drop delivers a clinical dose of dub.