Up Tempo Collection Vol. 1 : The Posse

This CD features 22 tracks from various outstanding reggae artists such as: Don Carlos, Michael Palmer, Sugar Minott, and several others. Sugar Minott is also listed as an executive producer along with Steve King on this 2006 release. The Uptempo label is new to me, but Steve King started it in the early eighties. At that time he was a producer with Black Roots, working with talents such as Jah Shaka and Bim Sherman. The sound quality and track selection on this compilation are excellent - many thanks to JFC music label w/ Method Recordings. New beats and some fresh rhythms make this disc a rare musical and lyrical treat. My favorite tracks are #1 (I and I Time - Trevor Junior) and #2 (Too Much Sufferation - Anthony Johnson). These are two seriously crucial tracks and I hope to find more quality roots from other Uptempo compilations and upcoming re-issues. Thanks to Ernie B's on-line reggae store for pointing me in the right direction on this one.

Larry Marshall in Dub / World in Dub

I've been shopping for some new reggae recently and went straight to my favorite on-line store, Ernie B's. They have the best selection of reggae I've ever seen. The layout and navigation of the website is super easy to use. They have sound samples on selected albums and offer many details including: brief reviews, contributing artists, recording locations, and more. My last purchase included Larry Marshall/King Tubby's I Admire You in Dub and Ranking Joe - World in Dub. I found them both in the "Blowout" list of sale items for about a dollar fifty each. That's right, they're that cheap !!! These are good albums too. I Admire You in Dub is 14 tracks of totally solid roots dub Tubby style. My favorites are #12(You Lie Version) and #13(Heavy Heavy Load) which is an extended version. This CD is a release off of the Motion label. I like most of Ranking Joe's material so I figured I would try World of Dub and I was pleasantly surprised by the 12 fresh dub tracks composed with the Twilight Circus Sound System. This disc has a more modern sound, at times similar to Some of Jah Shaka and Mad Professor's work at Ariwa. My favorites on this one are #1 (World in Dub) and #6 (Seek Ya Dub). These two discs are just a peek of what's at Ernie B's so check it out some time.