Why You So Craven : Israel Vibration

This is the first strictly Israel Vibration album I've done at HB Reggae Blog. They were one of the first reggae groups I started listening to, along with Bob Marley and Peter Tosh, of course. I've seen this disc sometimes overlooked by bloggers and Vibes fans. This is actually the second Vibes disc I heard, right behind Unconquered People. The material is early eighties, but my CD copy is a 1991 release. This is the original Israel Vibration, but at a time of discontent among the group members. With nine tracks on this disc you get a nice tight set of roots from a classic vocal trio. Produced by Junjo and mixed/engineered by Scientist this is a very solid production with only the top professionals in the business involved. The Hi-Times Band offers a solid backdrop for Junjo to execute his crisp and clean roots rhythms. My favorite tracks on this one are: #3 (On Jah Solid Rock), #4 (Jah is the Way), and #6 (Highway Robbery). Finding a copy of this disc for under ten dollars would be a fair deal for the number of tracks you get. If you don't have any Israel Vibration in your collection yet, this would be a good one to start with.

Dub Fi Junjo : Roots Radics

This dub/instrumental album was released in 2000 on Tabou (France) and is a type of tribute album to the late Henry Junjo Lawes who was killed in England in 1999. He worked a ton with the Roots Radics in the seventies, helping transition the sound of the time from roots to the rub-a-dub of the eighties. When you listen to this CD you'll find yourself recognizing the instrumental tracks from your favorite artists such as Israel Vibration. The Dub on this CD is very clean, very good sound quality, and totally professional. My favorites on this disc are #2 (Leggo de Dub), #4 (Rocking Miss D), and #8 (Mash Dub). Daweh Congo has used versions very close to Leggo de Dub and Mash Dub for his tracks Herb Tree and Human Rights & Justice. Human Rights & Justice is one of my all time favorite discs and I've already done a post on it - check it out !!

Cry Freedom Dub : Prince Far-I

Solid, hard, bouncing dub at it's finest is what you'll get with this set from the Tamoki-Wambesi-Dove label. Usually when I see Prince Far-I on an album cover I look forward to his rough and grough voice and I love it. This disc however has vocals only on the first track and all the rest is non-stop dub. The album is backed by the Roots Radics and all material was recorded from 1980-1983. My favorites on this one are #1 (Free Jah Jah Children), #2 (Blood on the Corner of Orange Street), and #8 (Famine in Africa). Famine in Africa has some creative instrumental (what I think is keyboard) work and I've now added this track to my permanent playlist. Recorded mostly at Channel One and engineered by Scientist and Maxie. Adding instruments and taking them away, stripping away everything but the drum and bass, and then building it back up takes a great ear for dub music and this disc stands tall.