A legendary greatest hits collection from the Rolling Stones – one that was so popular back in the day, it was maybe the one Rolling Stones album that everyone had in their collection! The package was a great way for folks to go back and catch up after digging in deep on Exile On Main Street and Let It Bleed – and the set has work from the earliest years of The Stones all the way up to those classics – a killer set list that includes "Get Off Of My Cloud", "Gimme Shelter", "Brown Sugar", "Wild Horses", "Honky Tonk Women", "Sympathy For The Devil", "Satisfaction", "Ruby Tuesday", "Play With Fire", "Paint It Black", "Jumpin Jack Flash", "Street Fighting Man", "Midnight Rambler (live)", "You Can't Always Get What You Want", "Time Is On My Side", "Heart Of Stone", "19th Nervous Breakdown", "Let's Spend The Night Together", and "Mother's Little Helper". LP, Vinyl record album

A legendary greatest hits collection from the Rolling Stones – one that was so popular back in the day, it was maybe the one Rolling Stones album that everyone had in their collection! The package was a great way for folks to go back and catch up after digging in deep on Exile On Main Street and Let It Bleed – and the set has work from the earliest years of The Stones all the way up to those classics – a killer set list that includes "Get Off Of My Cloud", "Gimme Shelter", "Brown Sugar", "Wild Horses", "Honky Tonk Women", "Sympathy For The Devil", "Satisfaction", "Ruby Tuesday", "Play With Fire", "Paint It Black", "Jumpin Jack Flash", "Street Fighting Man", "Midnight Rambler (live)", "You Can't Always Get What You Want", "Time Is On My Side", "Heart Of Stone", "19th Nervous Breakdown", "Let's Spend The Night Together", and "Mother's Little Helper". CD

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A hot host of killer rockabilly, R&B, and other smoking styles from the late 50s and early 60s – all pulled together in tribute to the long-running Rocks series from Bear Family records! The package has 30 tracks in all, the the blend of artists is really great, and shows just how much blues, R&B, and other pre-soul styles were important on the scene next to the rising wave of rockabilly and other early rock styles. And in fact, the package probably has more from those worlds of music than you'd expect from an collection that foregrounds the word "rock" – key proof that the name was initially lifted from black music, then used to peddle white pop as the years went on. Features work from The Treniers, Roy Milton, Little Junior Parker, Ella Mae Morse, Arthur Crudup, The Drifters, 5 Royales, Shirley & Lee, Amos Milburn, Lloyd Price, Slim Harp, Clyde McPhatter, Louis Prima, and many others! CD

A deeper dig into the career of Carl Dawkins than the previous volume with the same title – and a set that really gets at the more righteous energy that Carl brought to the years of early reggae! The image on the front really gets at the power of the music here – this up-close, very soulful style that moves the music past some of the simpler themes of the ska and rocksteady years, and maybe even comes as a strong precursor to the roots years – at least in the way that Carl delivers the material. Titles include "Not Another Woman", "My Whole World", "Persevere", "Hot & Sticky", "This Land", "Don't Get Weary", "Why Oh Why", "Dreadful Situation", and "No Happiness Here". LP, Vinyl record album

A deeper dig into the career of Carl Dawkins than the previous volume with the same title – and a set that really gets at the more righteous energy that Carl brought to the years of early reggae! The image on the front really gets at the power of the music here – this up-close, very soulful style that moves the music past some of the simpler themes of the ska and rocksteady years, and maybe even comes as a strong precursor to the roots years – at least in the way that Carl delivers the material. Titles include "Not Another Woman", "My Whole World", "Persevere", "Hot & Sticky", "This Land", "Don't Get Weary", "Why Oh Why", "Dreadful Situation", and "No Happiness Here". LP, Vinyl record album

There's been plenty of great reggae collections issued over the years, but this excellent series seems to do a better job than most – in part because it bypasses the hits, and ends up pulling together some wonderful work from the wider world of the Jamaican 7" single! The tracks on here were originally issued on a variety of labels that now live under the Trojan umbrella – imprints that include Randy's, Amalgamated, Grape, Treasure Isle, and Duke – and with that variety of sources, there's also a great variety of sounds too – nicely gritty work that booms out of the speakers nice and loud – as you'll hear on cuts that include "Soup (version)" by JJ All Stars, "La La" by The Inspirations, "Arabian Dub" by Tommy McCook & The Supersonics, "Red Ash" by Carl Bryan, "Lottery Spin" by Zap Pow, "Warricka Hill" by The Love Generation, "Reggae Dance" by Owen Gray, "Feel All Right" by The Cables, and "A Testimony" by Upsetter Pilgrims. LP, Vinyl record album

A heady helping of rare singles from the farther reaches of the indie scene in early reggae – labels that include Duke, Grape, Splash, High Note, Explosion, and JJ – all tiny companies that are now part of the larger Trojan Records empire! The work here is nicely varied – as many styles as promised in the title, but with maybe the soulful edge of rocksteady at the core – a strong focus on the kind of late 60s singles that had more than enough depth to cross the Atlantic and get plenty of play on the London scene too! Titles include "Old Time (dub)" by GG All-stars, "Black Power" by Dave Barker, "Wondering" by The Hippy Boys, "Let My People Go" by The Rulers & The Carib Beats, "It's Too Late" by Chosen Few, "Going In Circles" by Charmers All Stars, "Love Brother" by Herman, "Rim Bim Bam" by The Ethiopians, "Fire Fire (take 3)" by Tony & His Group, "Night Of Love" by Ansel Collins, "Pony Ride" by Winston Groovy & Pat Rhoden, "Dee's Special" by Lynn Taitt & The Jets, and "Going In Circles" by Charmers All Stars. LP, Vinyl record album

A great collection of soulful rocksteady gems – and one that really hints at its approach with the use of "cover" in the title! Many of the tunes here are reworkings of American soul tracks – most not major hits, which makes them even cooler cover versions – and shows just how deep a love of soul music influenced the Jamaican scene in the 60s! Tracks are from a variety of classic labels – Trojan, Doctor Bird, Treasure Isle, and others – and titles include "Just A Mirage" by The Uniques, "If I Didn't Love You" by Eric Monty Morris, "Whatcha Gonna Do" by The Techniques, "Something You've Got" by Lee Perry, "Trying To Reach My Goal" by Alton Ellis, "Charade" by Roland Alphonso, and even a surprising take on "Je T'Aime Moi Non Plus" by Harry J All Stars! LP, Vinyl record album

An amazing document of one of Peter Brotzmann's greatest albums from the time – a set that includes the album on CD, plus a book of photos taken during its creation! The record features spare duets between him and percussionist Han Bennink – recorded in the Black Forest, in a very nature-oriented setting that often has Bennink playing on rocks, sticks, and whatever else he could find – even some water, which sounds especially amazing! Han turns in some of his most inventive percussion ever – and proof that he's easily one of the most creative musicians on the European scene! There's a real focus on sound and feeling on the album – an organic sensibility that's quite different from other Brotzmann sessions, and which often comes across with a surprisingly gentle feel – and the album's a perfect example of the FMP formula at its best, when applied with the right sense of freedom. The whole thing comes in a softcover book with a fantastic presentation – loads of photos that were taken on the way to the forest where the set was recorded, then during the recording of the material too – really beautiful images that live up to the aesthetic of the cover art. The book also features an introductory essay – and the whole thing is 120 pages, with the CD inside the cover – black and white images throughout. CD

A loving portrait of key figures in Jamaican music – a book done during the 21st Century, but filled with classic artists from back in the day – dozens of giants pictured in full color images, alongside some words on their art and music, plus standout tracks and details of their best qualities! The book is on an academic press, but it's a great read for anyone – and features a brief introduction by the author, before diving into the dozens of entries – of subjects who include Derrick Harriott, Ras Michael, Mr Fix It, Bobby Aitkin, Deadly Headley, Bob Andy, Cedric Im Brooks, Max Romeo, Ken Parker, Lee Scratch Perry, Boris Gardinier, Gladdy Anderson, Steely & Clive, Sly Dunbar, and many others. The softcover edition is 230 pages, with full color photos throughout, and features helpful indexes on key recordings and the locations and timing of the interviews within. Book

There's plenty of rocksteady people here – served up in a killer selection of work from the small JDI label in Kingston – an imprint named after the Johnson's Drive-In club where most of the acts worked! The cuts here have a lean, gritty vibe – that really special quality that comes from the early 45s of this generation, when the Jamaican scene was really experimenting with new sounds of its own – all set to production styles that really let the best elements in the tunes pop strongly, especially the jazzy horns and organ lines! The Diamonds Band or Los Caballeros Orchestra back up all the singers – and titles include "Beware Rudie" and "Control Your Temper" by Roy Panton, "Rock Steady People" by Lloyd Williams, "Rude Boy's Prayer", "Danger Man", and "Press On" by Desmond Tucker – plus instrumental cuts "Expo 67" and "Look Away" by The Diamonds – and "Rigmarole" "Hot Nosh", and "Make Yourself Comfortable" by Los Caballeros. CD

Killer funky organ – and 100% Dynamite! Jackie Mittoo is one of the all-time great organists – as essential to Jamaica as Booker T was to Memphis, or Jimmy McGriff was to New York. He's legendary these days as the player who completely transformed the Hammond sound with his unique Jamaican instrumental style during his early years with the Skatalites, and on his later solo recordings for Studio One. This set's probably the first time Mittoo's work has been properly packaged and remastered – and the folks at Soul Jazz have done an amazing job of selecting just the right tracks for such a project. The whole thing wails along with a stone rocksteady groove – with plenty of nice drum parts and funky rhythm bits underneath Jackie's soulful organ. If you dug the label's 100% Dynamite series, you'll really dig this one – and the whole thing's very much in the same vein. Tracks include "Drum Song", "Reggae Rock", "Hot Tamale", "Killer Diller", "Black Organ", "Stereo Freeze", "Wall Street", "Darker Shade Of Black", "Juice Box", and "Killer Diller". LP, Vinyl record album

A killer collection of early work from producer Joe Gibbs – the kind of all-burning material that made Joe such a fresh new voice on the rocksteady scene in Kingston, and a studio whiz who helped set the tone for countless others to come! There's a quality to this work that's wonderful – groups that are tight, but never uptight – and singers that are very much part of the groove, almost urged on by the instrumentation by the well-chosen studio players that Gibbs chose for these early gems on his Amalgamated record label. Titles include "Long Shot" by The Pioneers, "I'm Moving On" by Keith Blake, "Miss Tourist" by Errol Dunkley, "Hold Them" by Roy Shirley, "Train To Soulville" by Cool Sticky, "Push It In" by The Versatiles, and "Come Brothers" by Hugh Malcolm. LP, Vinyl record album

Excellent rocksteady organ and piano tracks from the legendary Jackie Mittoo! Jackie's one of the true keyboard geniuses of the 20th Century, and his sound and style is instantly recognizeable on any recording. This set brings together some of his best for Clement Dodd from the 60s – including the hit "Evening Time", plus "One Step Beyond", "Drum Song", "Rock Steady Wedding", "Hip Hug", "Hot Milk", "Full Charge", and "Napoleon Solo". LP, Vinyl record album

Excellent! An astounding 4CD set covering 15 years worth of fine Jamaican music, stopping at all the relevant points for novices, but digging deeply enough to unearth some nice hard to get bits for the initiated. The first disc in the set, Train To Skaville, represents an 8 year block during the formative years of the 60s, starting out with some Mento cuts, then a couple of nice Jamaican R& B numbers on through a nice batch of Ska. Disc 2, Do The Reggay, focus on the transition to Rocksteady and early reggae from 1968 to 1970, as the tempos started to get a little more laidback, and the dawn of the 70s gets highlighted with disc 3, Black & White: Reggae Rising. Disc 4, The Time Has Come, brings it all together collecting a tremendous batch of roots rock. 90 tracks in all, the set includes Derrick Morgan "Fat Man", Stranger Cole "Rough & Tough", Don Drummond & Tommy McCook "Music Is My Occupation", Roland Alphonso & The Soul Brothers "Phoenix City", Desmond Dekker & The Aces "Rudy Got Soul", Keith & Tex "Stop That Train", Toots & The Maytals "Do The Reggay", Lee Perry People Funny Boy", the Untouchables "Tighten Up", the Pioneers "Longshot Kick The Bucket", Gregory Isaacs "Don't Let Me Suffer", Harry J Allstars "The Liquidator", Niney "Blood & Fire", Ken Parker "Groovin Out On Life", Bob Marley & The Wailers "Small Axe", Horace Andy "I Fell Good All Over", Junior Byles "A Place Called Africa", Zap Pow "This Is Reggae Music", Slim Smith "The Time Has Come", Big Youth "S90 Skank", Burning Spear "Marcus Garvey", and way too many more to list here! CD

50 Trojan master cuts on 3 CDs – all original, unfettered with deep reggae masters! Many of these 60s & 70s cuts went on to be pop hits in later covers by Blondie, UB40, Selector, Shaggy, and many others, but these reggae, rocksteady, and ska originals are as the title informs, the real deal by the cream of the Trojan roster! 50 cuts on three CDs, including "Cherry Oh, Baby" by Eric Donaldson, "Many Rivers To Cross" by Jimmy Cliff, "I Will Never Let You"by Cornell Campbell, "Wear You To The Ball" by U-Roy, "Mr. Fix It" by Max Romeo, "Sweet Sensation" by the Melodians, "Johnny Too Bad" by the Slickers, "Groovin' Out On Life" by Ken Parker, "Soul Rebel" by Bob Marley & The Wailers, "My Best Girl" & "The Tide Is High" by the Paragons, "Blood & Fire" by Niney the Observer, "Let Your Yeah Be Yeah", "Time Hard" & "Long Shot Kick De Bucket" by The Pioneers, "Red Red Wine" by Tony Tribe, "Crying Over You" & "Everything I Own " by Ken Boothe, "Love Of The Common People" by Nicky Thomas, "Rudy A Message To You" by Dandy Livingstone, "Monkey Man" by the Maytals and tons more! CD

A record that's not only a landmark in Jamaican music – but also a set that was to reggae what Curtis Mayfield's Superfly was to 70s soul! In other words, the set not only raised the bar for all the competition, it also ended up in a lot more record collections than most of them too – maybe in part because it was a soundtrack, as was Superfly – but also because it has this global power that makes it a defining album of the genre! Jimmy Cliff is obviously the mainman here, but there's help from other key players in the growing reggae scene – and titles include Jimmy's classic "You Can Get It If You Really Want", in two versions – plus two takes on "The Harder They Come", "Many Rivers To Cross", and "Sitting In Limbo" – plus "Sweet & Dandy" and "Pressure Drop" by The Maytals, "007" by Desmond Dekker, "Johnny Too Bad" by The Slicers, "Draw Your Brakes" by Scotty, and "Rivers Of Babylon" by The Melodians. In addition, you get another disc of bonus material, much of it recorded in the crucial years before the film's release, giving you a wonderful portrait of the Jamaican music scene at the time, a dozen and a half of the finest rocksteady and reggae jams of the day, including Desmond Dekker's "Israelites", The Ethiopians "Reggae Hit The Town", Dave & Ansel Collins "Double Barrel", Jimmy Cliff's "Let Your Yeah Be Yeah" and "Wonderful World, Beautiful People", The Maytals' "Do The Reggay" and "54-46 (That's My Number)", The Melodians "It's My Delight" and Eric Donaldson's "Cherry Oh Baby". 30 tracks in all on this awesome 2 disc set, packaged up nicely with notes by Dave Katz, photos from the film and full lyrics and track notations! CD

Foundation is right, in more than one sense of the word! The Brentford Avenue stalwarts are showcased here on a nice double album compilation of classic and groundbreaking early ska and rocksteady tracks that would become the template for so much Jamaican music to follow. The team of Coxsone Dodd with Don Drummond, Lloyd Brevett, Tommy McCook, Jackie Mittoo, Roland Alphonso, Jerry Hinds, Dizzy Moore and Johnny Moore was unstoppable, it's hard to imagine where the reggae sound would be without this seminal music! 32 tracks in all, including "Dick Tracy", "Alley Pang", "Christine Keeler", "Fidel Castro", "Beardsman Ska", "Third Man Ska", "Simmer Down", "Exodus", "King Solomon", 'Eastern Standard Time", "I Should Have Known Better", "Hot Cargo", "Black Sunday", 'Ska La Parisienne", "Don D Lion", "Third Man Ska", "Nimrod", "Cleopatra", "Addis Ababa", "Silver Dollar", "Killer Diller", "Naked City" and "Ringo's Theme". CD

An excellent compilation that's very much in the spirit of the 100% Dynamite sets on Soul Jazz! This time, Soul Jazz dig through the vaults of the legendary Studio One catalog – some of the most important reggae and rocksteady ever recorded, virtually all of it produced under the tutelage of Clement "Coxone" Dodd. Much of this material has been floating around over the years, but we'd be hard pressed to think of a better collection of it – especially when considering the excellent fidelity of the set, which is way better than an of Dodd's own reissues of the material. Plus, the folks at Soul Jazz have gone out of their way to put together the tracks as an extremely well-thought out introduction to the music, not just a scattered batch of tunes that happened to be available. The set also includes a recent interview with Clement Dodd, plus loads of great rocksteady and early reggae tracks. Titles include "Surfin" by Ernest Ranglin, "Real Rock" by Sound Dimension, "Feel Like Jumping" by Marcia Griffiths, "Greedy G" by Brentford All Stars, "Village Soul" by Lennie Hibbert, "Ethiopia" by Cedric Brooks, "Crabwalking" by Prince Jazzbo, "Hot Milk" by Jackie Mittoo, "Badder Dan Dem" by Lone Ranger, and "Bobby Bobylon" by Freddy McGregor. CD

To say this one's been a long time coming would be an understatement! This awesome set features a 4 hour (!) DVD, loaded with rare footage of the Skatalites, Jackie Mittoo and Ernest Ranglin, plus in-depth interviews with Dodd and a whole host of artists that had worked their way through the Studio One stable throughout the years. Then there's the 16 track CD – a fitting complement to the film and next worthy installment in the fine series of compilations of Studio One material that Soul Jazz has undertaken, this time spanning all the genres that Studio One would cover, including ska, rocksteady, roots and dancehall, including Theo Beckford "Easy Snapping", The Skatalites "Guns Of Navarone", Delroy Wilson "Dancing Mood", The Heptones "Baby", Alton Ellis "I'm Still In Love With You", Tommy McCook "Tunnel One", Sugar Minott "Jah Jah Children", The Dub Specialist "Banana Walk", Dennis Alcapone "Run Run", The Lone Ranger "Love Bump" and Jackie Mittoo "Freak Out". And if that weren't enough, there's the 100 page booklet, loaded with photos and a complete history of the label, making this choice set one of the nicest packages we've come across in a long, long time! CD

Landmark work from Desmond Dekker – one of the first Jamaican artists to break bigger on the global scene at the end of the 60s – thanks to soulful sets like this! The music is still very much in a rocksteady mode, but has some currents of ska that's kept it on turntables for years – not the upbeat variant of the genre, but the laidback mode that was perfect for a hot night in Jamaica – when nobody ever wanted the grooves to move too fast! Both the instrumentation and production are impeccable – the latter handled by Leslie Kong – and Desmond is completely charming throughout, on titles that include "Music Like Dirt", "Rudy Got Soul", "007", "Sabotage", "Wise Man", "Shing A Ling", "Unity", "Mother Pepper", and "Mother's Young Girl". LP, Vinyl record album

Nice, nice, nice New York hip hop from Keith Murray – his one and only full length on Def Jam! The album features production by Clark Kent, Rockwilder, Pete Rock and others and it's just the kind of no nonsense street hop we love around here. Keith rocks it like Nas in a way – he's all about soulful introspection with rhymes that go way beyond call-and-response hoopty rockers and party blasters. His style on the best cuts are definitely of the hard street mentality, but Keith has a genuine thoughtfulness that makes him a lot more complicated than the typical street rhymer – and bely his reputation as a violent hothead. The beats are tight and carefully crafted, and catchy enough to get play with the commercial jams. It's the kind of album that will still sound nice years from now – hardly a trendy concession to be found. Cuts include the great single "Candi Bar", "Carnage", "Oh My Goodness", "Christina", "Say Whaatt" featuring Redman, "Child Of The Streets" (Man Child)", "On Smash" with Busta Rhymes and more, plus some sharp skits with Jamie Foxx. LP, Vinyl record album

If there's anyone who could make the idea of Italian westerns and Jamaican grooves come together, it's the young Lee Scratch Perry – the mad musician who always had a great talent for mixing it up! Eastwood Rides Again follows the theme of The Upsetters previous classic, Return Of Django – and like that one, the groove isn't just the rocksteady rhythms you'd expect – but also maybe this more spacious version of the style, with a bit more space between the notes than some of their Kingston contemporaries – almost a mode that could be inspired by the spacious soundtrack scoring of the Italian scene, then delivered with a much grittier vibe. Most tunes are instrumentals, and titles include "Eastwood Rides Again", "Salt & Pepper", "Red Hot", "Tight Spot", "Catch This", "Popcorn", and "You Are Adorable". LP, Vinyl record album