A pair of charmers from legendary producer Lloyd Charmers – served up here with lots of bonus tracks too! First up is the classic Sweet Bitter Love from Marcia Griffiths – a set that helped cement her reputation as one of the most soulful female singers in Jamaican music at the time – and one that really helps bridge worlds by serving up some great reggae-styled takes on American soul music! Marcia serves up sublime takes on tunes by Curtis Mayfield, Al Green, Roberta Flack, and others – completely reworked by Charmers' instrumentation – which also includes some wonderful keyboards! Titles include "Play Me", "Gypsy Man", "Sweet Bitter Love", "Green Grasshopper", "Just Don't Want To Be Lonely", and "Everything I Own". Far & Distant features wicked guitar work from Willie Lindo – spun out here over an all-instrumental set that almost feels more like Jamaican records of the late 60s than you'd guess from the mid 70s date of the album! The grooves are definitely more 70s – certainly with a strong reggae current – but the spare, stripped-down manner of presentation takes us back more to some of the instrumental rocksteady records – especially in the way the production allows for lots of focus on the core musician – which means you really get to hear all the wicked, trippy currents of Lindo's instrument – used in a heady style that almost makes him come across like the Phil Upchurch of the Jamaican scene! Lloyd Charmers produced, and also plays piano and organ – and titles include "Drum Song", "Darker Shade Of Black", "Midnight train To Georgia", "Samba Pati", "Chopper", "Hear I Am Baby", "Charmers Mood", "Mystic Mood", "Breezing", and "Holly Holy". 2CD edition features 20 more bonus tracks – 17 of which are new to CD – a full alternate mix of the Marcia Griffiths album, the tune "Midnight & You" by Willie Lindo, and more Lloyd Charmer productions from rare 7" singles – work by Big Youth, Drifting Blenders, Bob Andy, BB Seaton, Errol Thomas, and others. CD

The debut album from the second lineup of Black Uhuru, with Duckie Simpson, Michael Rose and Errol Nelson. Produced by Prince Jammy, this is a tremendous slice of rootsy rockers, even if it doesn't quite top the later version of the group with Puma Jones and Sly & Robbie's production. This later Greensleeves edition was remixed by Jammy at Tubby's in 1981, and includes "Time To Unite", "Love Crisis", "Willow Tree", "African Love", "Eden Out Deh", "I Love King Selassie", "Hard Ground" and a great version of Marley's "Natural Mystic". LP, Vinyl record album

Trombonist Samuel Blaser pays tribute to the legacy of Jamaican music – but in a way that also resonates strongly with some of his more jazz-based releases too! The record's mostly instrumental – but does have vocals from Carroll Thompson on two tracks, and Lee Scratch Perry on two more – yet the main focus is on the horn work, with Blaser echoing earlier greatness of players like Vin Gordon or Don Drummond – but in a more jazz-based setting with work from Alex Wilson on keyboards and Hammond, Soweto Kinch on alto, Michael Blake on tenor, and Alan Weekes on guitar. The set also features guest work from Steve Turre on one track – and titles include "Rainy Days", "Silver Dollar", "End Of The Beginning", "Rainy Days Dub", "Chronicles", "Beautiful Bed Of Lies", and "Green Island Dub". (Jazz, Reggae) CD

Eek-A-Mouse's early 80s classic – and the benchmark meeting between the wildly unique deejay and vocalist with producer Henry Junjo Lawes! The Mouse is out front of stellar rootsy backing by The Roots Radics Band. Titles Include "Ganja Smuggling", "Long Time Ago", "Operation Eradication", "There's A Girl In My Life", "Slowly But Surely", "Wa-Do-Dem", "Lonesome Journey", "Noah's Ark", "I Woll Never Leave My Love" and "Too Young To Understand. LP, Vinyl record album

Fantastic work from Marcia Griffiths – the Jamaican singer who first rose to fame in the duo of Bob & Marcia – but who already sounds very much her own woman on this classic set from the 70s! The groove is as much funky soul as it is reggae – in fact maybe more the former than the latter – and Marcia's got this proud, righteous approach that's very different than her style of just a few years before – set to great grooves that have sharp core instrumentation with Lloyd Charmers on piano and organ, and Willie Lindo on guitar. Almost more of a female funky soul record on most cuts – with tracks that include "Here I Am Baby", "Children At Play", "I'd Rather Be Lonely", "Sweet Bitter Love", "There's No Me Without You", "Everything I Own", "Green Grasshopper", and "Gypsy Man". Also features a full album of rare bonus tracks – including "Play Me", "The First Cut Is The Deepest", "Melody Life", "Don't Let Me Down", "Band Of Gold", "I See You My Love", "It's Too Late", "Baby If You Don't Love Me", "Love Walked In", and "Working To The Top". LP, Vinyl record album

Scientist spins out on a dub-driven power boat – scanning the swamps to drive out the vampires and a host of other ghouls too – all while reinventing Jamaican music in the process! The record's filled with lots of cool electric elements – those weird production effects and electronic doodles that make the music of Scientist so revolutionary – especially when spun out over a still-familiar backdrop supplied by Roots Radics, with a core essence that's very much from the pre-digital world of Jamaican music. Rhythm tracks were done at Channel One, and Scientist mixed the set at King Tubbys – a host of dub mini-masterpieces that include "The Voodoo Curse", "Dance Of The Vampires", "Blood On His Lips", "Cry Of The Werewolf", "the Mummy's Shroud", "The Corpse Rises", "Night Of The Living Dead", "Your Teeth In My Neck", "Plague Of Zombies", and "Ghost Of Frankenstein". 2CD version features a full bonus record of vocal versions – by Wailing Souls, Wayne Jarrett, Johnny Osbourne, and Michael Prophet! CD

We have to admit, even if this record wasn't a fierce salvo loaded down with tough dancehall tracks, we'd still love it for the great photos of Levy in a red, green and gold Robin hood getup on the cover! Junjo Lawes and Roots Radics may well have robbed from the rich for the mighty blasts of rhythm under Levy's outstanding vocals on this set that keeps up the pressure from start to finish! 10 tracks in all, including "Robin Hood", "Rock And Come In", "Love Sister Carol", "Gonna Tell Your Girlfriend", "You Come To Ask What Is Love", "Why Did You Leave Me", "Na Broke No Fight Over No Woman", "When Friday Comes", "Like How You Kiss & Caress Me" and more. LP, Vinyl record album

An incredible lost slice of music from the young Bob Marley – an unissued set of recordings done at the Capitol Studios in LA, at a time when the Wailers were just beginning to rise in global power! The session came at an unusual moment for the group – they had come to the US to tour with Sly & The Family Stone, and were fired because the audiences were not yet ready for their groove – leaving the group a bit astray in California. But an opportunity arose to record at Capitol, a performance that was also filmed – and the result is this amazing set of tracks that captures Bob and the group at a level that's even different than their massive Island Records sets to come. There's a current of funk running through a number of these tracks, and a lean groove that's wonderfully soul-drenched throughout – not just in Marley's vocals, but in the overall performance of the rest – a tight sextet that includes Peter Tosh, Joe Higgs, Aston Barrett, Carlton Barrett, and Earl Lindo. Titles include "Rastaman Chant", "Midnight Ravers", "Put It On", "Stop That Train", "Get Up Stand Up", "You Can't Blame The Youth", "Slave Driver", "Duppy Conqueror", and "Burnin & Lootin". LP, Vinyl record album

Beautiful sounds from the mighty Jacob Miller – material recorded with Augustus Pablo in the years before Miller went onto greater fame in Inner Circle – and with a rootsy vibe that's still extremely powerful all these many years later! Pablo's at the height of his talents here – able to hit just the best righteous modes, but without ever going over the top – at a level that seems completely effortless, and which really empowers the message in Miller's vocals! The set's overflowing with gems – and titles include "Keep On Knocking", "Each One Teach One", "Who Say Jah No Dread", "False Rasta", "Baby I Love You So", and "Girl Named Pat" – plus the dubs "Knocking Version", "Hungry Town Skank", "King Tubby Meet Rockers Uptown", "Jah Dread", "Each One Teach One Version", and "Girl Named Pat Version". LP, Vinyl record album

The last train to skaville, and a record that should be the first in line when you're digging for rare instrumental ska – as the collection offers up a mix of the mighty Hammond skills of Jackie Mittoo and the searing rhythms of the Soul Brothers – who also serve up great solos on tenor, trumpet, and trombone! This isn't the sleepy ska of the revival years – and is instead the kind of hard-burning music that was strongly inspired by American instrumental soul in the late 60s, and really made waves on both the scenes in London and Kingston! All cuts are from the original run of gems from Studio One – and titles include "Voodoo Moon", "Ska Shuffle", "Dr Ring Ding", "Got My Boogaloo", "Home Made", "Hot & Cold", "One Stop", "James Bond", and "Mr Flint". LP, Vinyl record album

Dubby genius from the great Augustus Pablo – a set that continues the spirit of his best 70s work in this mode, but with a sound that has a few slight 80s touches! The overall sound is still very nice and spare – laidback, gently tripping in the rhythm department, and with both melodica solos from Pablo – and some other keyboard work that really echoes the moody, spacey, snakey sound of his work on the blown instrument! The title names are a bit basic, but that hardly matters, given the sound of the set – and tracks include "Riot Dub", "In The Red Dub", "Hanging Dub", "Night Patrol Dub", "Rastaman Dub", "Zion Way Dub", and "Dubbing King James". LP, Vinyl record album

Unreleased work from the great Prince Jammy – an assortment of never-heard dubs, all of which bristle with a sharpness that marks the start of the digital generation! There's a spareness here that's wonderful – Jammy's way of making a key element be just enough out front of some slow-stepping rhythms – all very earthy, even though there's a sonic sharpness to the music – a vibe that heralds that new generation that the Prince helped open up in Jamaican music! Titles include "President Dub", "Sunny Side Dub", "Vincent In Dub", "Nuff Corn Dub", "Anything A Dub", "One Million Dub", "Yah We Deh Dub", "Higgler Move Dub", and "Mr Joe Is Dubbing". LP, Vinyl record album

This is sort of a Prince Jammy riff on the format of the popular Junjo Lawes-produced Scientist dub series. Nonetheless, he steps up to bat, and indeed defeats the evil planet munchers, with the able help of the Roots Radics rhytnm section. Recorded at Channel One and mixed at Tubby's – and how can you argue with that!? Fat, heavy rhythms dubbed into deep, deep outer space by the heir to the throne! 8 tracks in all, including "Conspiracy On Neptune", "Saturn Bombardment", "Attack on Ganymede", "Martian Encounter", "The Great Red Spot", "Life On Uranus", "Final Destruction" and "War In The Asteroid Belt". LP, Vinyl record album

Prince Jammy's Computerized Dub – a quintessential set of beeping, bouncing Casio driven jams from the originator of the Jamaican digital tone! Steely and Cleavie were still under Jammy's tutelage and they are part of the driving force behind these nice mid 80s rhythms. 10 tracks in all, including "Synchro Start", "Interface", "32 Bit Chip", "Auto Rhythm", "Peek & Poke", "Megabyte", "Wafer Scale Integration", "Crosstalk", "Modem" and "256K Ram". LP, Vinyl record album

Seminal quality dub by the mighty Revolutionairies! Raw, fat dubs of Jah Lloyd productions cut at Channel One and mixed at Tubby's by Prince Jammy, featuring the Rhythm Twins on drum & bass, with the rest of the band filled out with an all star cast of top notch shots, so what more do you need to know? 10 tracks in all, including "Calico Jack", "Big Foot", "Bitter Blood", "Goldmine", "Red River Dub", "Heartburn", "Sore Mouth", "Jamintel", "Musketeer Dub" and "Pepper Dub". LP, Vinyl record album

A wicked little record, and one that lives up to its Space Invaders theme right from the start – thanks to a host of sweet electronic touches from Scientist, over a set of killer head-nodding dubs from Roots Radics! The group themselves are in totally top form – massive bass from Flabba Holt and drums from Style and Santa – topped with wicked guitar licks, and some sweet organ lines from Winston Wright – but it's clearly Scientist who's the star of the show, for the way he cooks the elements together and comes up with a sound that more than does justice to the extra-cool cover! Familiar elements are nicely abstracted, and juxtaposed with clever shifts in the studio – all to create massive dubs that include "Beam Down", "Red Shift", "Time Warp", "Cloning Process", "Pulsar", "Laser Attack", "Dematerialize", "Fission", "Super Nova Explosion", and "Quasar". 2LP version features bonus vocal tracks – by Wayne Wade, Wailing Souls, Sammy Dread, Linval Thompson, and Johnny Osbourne! LP, Vinyl record album