Reggae has always renewed itself by continual reinvention, turning the old into the new, and this has never been more abundantly clear than on this album. The rhythms are those of some classic tracks from the peak of the vintage reggae era, given new vocals in the 2006 release, and now deprived of those vocals again in constructing a dub version of something that was already a re-creation, something simultaneously new and old. Bewildering. But good.

The instrumental tracks are those of legendary musicians including Aston Barrett, Tommy McCook, Augustus Pablo, Sly and Robbie and Vin Gordon. The album opens with A Fat Dub (version of the Congos’ vocal track Fat Cook) which in turn draws its rhythm from Cornell Campbell’s Bandulu, the distinctive bass line instantly recognisable. A Party (version of Going to a Party) comes up next, using the familiar sound of the ‘real rock’ rhythm track, while God’s Kingdom Dub (version of God’s Kingdom) uses Johnny Clarke’s Prophesy a Fulfil as its source. These three opening tracks set the pattern for the rest of the album, comprising fifteen dubs in all. Amongst these, it’s sweet to hear Rasta Congo Dub (version of Rasta Congo Man), based on the joyful strains of Lee Perry’s Curly Locks rhythm. Heaven Dub (version of Heaven Rejoice) uses the great Satta rhythm, no less welcome for being so frequently deployed in reggae reconstructions over the years.

So we have an excellent collection of dubs, drawn from re-imagined vocal versions, over the top of original rhythms from the classic reggae era. Not sure in what sense this amounts to a Congos’ album, given that the sole Congos presence of Cedric Myton is, by definition, almost mixed out of the picture for a dub reworking.  Not to worry, the end result is powerful bass-driven dub reminiscent of its golden age – and how nice of those persons at Jamaican Recordings to bother.

The Congos: Dub Feast. Jamaican Recordings; release April 2012 (CD); May 2012 (vinyl)

Listened to afresh, Rasta Communication, recorded at Randy’s Studio and Channel One in Jamaica, at Chalk Farm studios in London, and mixed at King Tubby’s, still sets a musical benchmark. The musicians involved include Earl ‘Chinna’ Smith, Robbie Shakespeare and Sly Dunbar, with Prince Jammy and Clive Chin to be found amongst the engineering credits and not surprisingly the production values are high throughout.

Overall the songs combine melodic reggae tracks such as I’m Not Satisfied with roots songs like Felt We Felt the Strain, while the two versions included of Jonah rock along in classic reggae style. For this brand new Greensleeves release, the ten tracks of the original vinyl album are supplemented by five further 12” mixes and versions, only one of which (the 12” version of Nah Skin Up) was included on the earlier Greensleeves CD release of the album.

Still more, this ‘deluxe edition’ now includes a second disc consisting of dub versions of the entire album with some standout dubs – including My Eyes are Red  Dub and I Broke the Comb Dub, plus another Jonah version – that stand alongside any of the dub classics of the time.

This release finally does credit to the potential of this album. Listen to it if you can alongside his other great reggae release – 1974’s Pick a Dub – and you’ll know all you need to know about Keith Hudson.

Keith Hudson. Rasta Communication deluxe edition, double-CD, Greensleeves Records, release April 2012

There are some mightily impressive musical names involved here, including Boris Gardiner and Ernest Ranglin, but the end product is mixed in both its quality and lasting power. Without doubt the strongest songs are those written by McKenzie herself – ‘Jah Knows’, ‘Sky at Night’, and ‘Keep Him Strong’ – which are characterised by a slow and slightly melancholy feel, consistent with some of the emergent lovers’ rock of the time. These are also the tracks on which Perry’s trademark production is most active and effective in the background, keeping the songs moving along in a fine late-70s reggae style, and worth hearing now.

Elsewhere on this collection can be found a creditable take on the well-known ‘Breakfast in Bed’, although McKenzie sounds less than engaged in her vocal delivery. Perry’s own compositions are as idiosyncratic as might be expected. The opening ‘Disco Fits’, with its whimsical words and structure, could have been penned and produced by no one other than Perry. The rhythm of the closing track ‘When the Big Day’, jointly written with McKenzie, combines what are presumably her thoughtful words with Perry’s eccentric arrangement. It has to be added that if Perry’s nonsense track ‘Ice Cream’ had remained unreleased the reggae world would not have suffered greatly.  But it is pleasing that this inconsistent and, in places, unrefined production has eventually seen the light of day, as there is enough evidence of what might have been as reggae started to evolve further at the end of the 70s. It seems that the only previous release from these sessions was a very limited release, of which McKenzie was unaware, of a 12” vinyl of ‘Breakfast in Bed’ and ‘Disco Fits’.

After going on to enjoy success working with illustrious names like Leonard Cohen and Diana Ross, Candy McKenzie died in 2003.

Lee Scratch Perry Presents Candy McKenzie, Trojan records/Sanctuary, release March 2012

On one side can be found Roland Alphonso’s rendition of the standard ‘Easter Bonnet’ (with ‘Duke Reid’s Band’), delivered in a fine brass-dominated lilting ska style. The musical support from the Duke Reid All Stars is in fact provided by those who would soon become the seminal outfit known as the Skatalites. The other side, from 1962, is ‘Feeling of Love’, from Wilburn ‘Stranger’ Cole and Ken Boothe, both still going strong.

Easter Bonnet/Feeling of Love, release May 2012: issued in 500 numbered vinyl copies.

So far as live performance is concerned, Hollie Cook’s band established their reputation by playing Big Chill, V, Festibelly, One Love, Jazz Cafe in 2011. This year, there are plans for a release of a further album of new material and a 20-date tour, with notable performances confirmed at Bestival, Camp Bestival, The Vintage Festival. Summer 2012 sees Hollie Cook play to her biggest crowd in Manchester, supporting The Stone Roses in their historic comeback. Great expectations indeed.

Prince Fatty Presents Hollie Cook in Dub: release 21st May 2012

Only Joe: Revolution: release 23rd April 2012

Dub Mafia: Danger/Breakneck release 16th April 2012

Pupa Jim’s ‘Boat People’ provides thoughtful consciousness lyrics to counteract the expectations of some that a potent mix of sound must rule out meaningful words. Omar Perry’s ‘Dem No Like It’ sits atop a deep and slow riddim, while the excellent ‘Bad Bad Boy’ from Soom T contrasts markedly, with a riddim that almost hints at rocksteady. Soom T also contributes the very different ‘Soundboy Police’. Ranking Levy’s ‘New York Boogie’ draws from earlier reggae riddims in its style, as does the loping sound of Zeb and Scotty’s ‘Warm Up’ which is almost reminiscent of the 80s style of, say, Clint Eastwood and General Saint. The well-regarded Gentleman’s Dub Club add the slightly strange but intriguing closing sound of ‘High Grade’.

Sound systems may have been under the musical radar for a while, but they have never gone away. Although some current systems mainly revisit the classic era of Jamaican reggae with a little fresh dee-jaying (and nothing wrong with that), Mungo’s Hi-Fi are doing something different. This album will surprise people, and pleasantly. There hasn’t been a reggae release like this in 2011.

Mungo’s Hi-Fi ‘Forward Ever’, on Scotch Bonnet Records. Release: 21st November 2011

The opening track – ‘Prophecy’ – is roots reggae in the old style to begin, before speeding-up and throwing in some guitar twiddlings that provide a direct bridge to the rock tradition from which the album also draws its numerous inspirations. ‘Ride Your Life Like a Bicycle’ (the initial single release) starts with some classic reggae chords, then proceeds toward some quirky Englishness, as though Syd Barrett had met the Specials one enchanted evening, fading out with a down-your-way harmony section, with its talk-over reminiscent of the light programme from the golden age of steam radio; what was it anyway with bicycles in the late 60s, the Prisoner and My White Bicycle aside?

‘Papa is a Rudie’ provides a definitive drum-n-bass way-in to a mix-up with a classic ska brass riff, a great workout. ‘Bang Up’ sits on a fine bass line rhythm – hip-hop style to begin, its bass providing a link to an underlying reggae foundation, before its Ghost Town sort of chords lead unexpectedly into a guitar solo that could have appeared on any rock release from the past forty years, before reverting to its hip-hop mood. ‘Slowly’ is, consistent with expectations, somewhat slower, almost pastoral in its sweet melody and feel, its vocals opening-out into an extended instrumental run-out, a warm and thoughtful song. ‘Come Forward’ is similarly melodic roots in the finest reggae tradition.

‘Power up’ gives us some more hip hop raps, straight outta Oxford, and in the same place ‘A Ton on U Boombox’ offers a one-chord hip-hop influenced outing. ‘A Racist (stays the same)’ provides a take on how words change, names change, but the racist stays the same. Conceivably on the same theme, ‘Snake’ is a great track musically, a bright arrangement that keeps-on-moving, evolving finally into a ragga sort of outing with a string-sounding synth backing.

‘U Cannot Rule Remix’ is an extended dub-based workout, with a strong and intriguing mix, some assertive deejaying laying down the law as the rhythm continues its powerful course. The album closes appropriately enough on ‘Bye Bye’, a track that seems at first to be a surprisingly light sort of reggae tune to finish things off, but then develops into an intriguing and slightly unnerving sort of fade out that for some reason is reminiscent both of Sgt Pepper and the Wizard of Oz. There should be a helpline with this. But in a nice way.

Overall the album sounds as though it was frustrated in a studio environment, struggling to set itself free in the live setting where it needs to be heard. This is vital and new, from a band who don’t mind using the whole received tradition of English rock, US hip hop, Jamaican roots and anything else to generate their unique take on reggae.

Dubwiser ‘A Crack in Paradise’: Crash Records, CD/download, September 2011

Some of these sets, it has to be said, are more necessary than others. The ‘classic reggae’ collection, for instance, does include some indispensible tracks – notably Marley’s ‘Trench Town Rock’ – but elsewhere, as in Bruce Ruffin’s ‘Rain’ or Greyhound’s ‘Black and White’, there resides a slightly depressing reminder of how reggae was pasteurised to offer up largely British hits in the late 60s and early 70s, just as we were about to embark upon a grim decade of social disruption, economic crisis and political paralysis. Nothing like today of course. The commodified version of Bob Andy and Marcia Griffith’s ‘Young Gifted and Black’, with its orchestra and strings for a Top of the Pops era, is a reminder of how the music was sometimes diluted in comparison to the original unadorned treatment (available for instance on an earlier Trojan compilation, TJPCD 001) of a song that reflects the power of Nina Simone’s proud, brave, composition.

Other releases in the series are much more interesting. The Mento and R and B themed collection is an excellent way-in to some vital and little heard music. Predating both ska and reggae, mento was the authentic music of the time, combining elements of folk, popular music and the influence of American R and B, put together in rudimentary instrumental arrangements that are immediate and genuine, and from which traces of the later reggae styles can occasionally be gleaned. Of course, this authenticity doesn’t mean that the message was important. It usually wasn’t important at all, mento being the style favoured by audiences of tourists and those who just wanted to hear something that vaguely swung or was otherwise danceable. Appreciating it for what it was is essential here. Count Lasher’s ‘Talking Parrot’ tells a sad tale of a voluble bird almost exposing the singer’s extramarital activities, a sort of mento Carry On narrative, while, in some contrast, Lebby’s ‘Ethiopia’ is a very early commentary around those who ‘want to leave Jamaica and go back to Africa’. None other than Owen Gray offers a straight 12-bar R and B account of ‘Far Love’ and, in similar style (on CD2) there is Derrick Morgan’s straightforward ‘Fat Man’. Martin and Derrick’s highly obscure ‘Times Are A-Going’ (complete with “Cavalier’s Combo”) is a superb rocksteady track incorporating what would now be thought of as a Cajun-style accordion break, 2.5 minutes of unexpected happiness. Although there are some intriguing references to the events of the time, including Lord Laro’s ‘Referendum Calypso’ and Lord Creator’s ‘Independent Jamaica Calypso’, this isn’t rebel music in any sense. Its importance is musical. It’s impossible to understand where reggae came from without hearing this.

The Dub collection is strong indeed, including the King Tubby dub of the Keith Hudson standard ‘I’m Alright’, Niney the Observer’s ‘One Trainload of Dub’ and Rupie Edward’s ‘Buck Shot Dub’, one of the numerous available versions of ‘Ire Feelings’, itself originally a dub of Johnny Clarke’s ‘Everyday Wondering’. Also to be found here is Augustus Pablo’s benchmark dub track ‘King Tubby Meets the Rockers Uptown’, while CD2 brings us a couple of pleasing Lee Perry dubs in the shape of the Upsetters’ ‘Sipple Dub’ (from Max Romeo’s ‘War in a Babylon’) and the great Upsetters’ dub of Marley’s ‘Keep on Moving’, powering along as though there was no tomorrow. The dub collection closes on arguably the strongest cut of all, the Taxi Gang’s (Sly and Robbie) treatment of ‘Pit of Snakes’, aka ‘Social Living’, one of Burning Spear’s finest songs and with chord changes unique in the back catalogue of reggae. The track listing on digital playback isn’t right by the way, choosing to display the tracks for the Roots collection instead, presumably as a test of our resolve.

As for the Roots set itself, we find the exquisite ‘Curly Locks’ from Junior Byles (widely dubbed of course elsewhere at the hand of Lee Perry), ‘Guess who’s Coming to Dinner’ from Michael Rose, Lee Perry’s ‘Dreadlocks in Moonlight’, Culture’s ‘Two Seven’s Clash’, and the Congo’s ‘Fisherman’, for some reason called here ‘Row Fisherman Row’. The second CD brings us Max Romeo’s ‘Chase the Devil’ and closes with the classic ‘Bredda Gravillicious’ from the Wailing Souls. It’s impossible to fault anything included here or the selection itself.

The set devoted to Lovers’ Rock adopts a fairly wide definition of a term that usually, and rightly, refers to a London-based take on the received reggae tradition and here seems to denote anything vaguely about love which is, er, quite a lot of songs really. Thus it wanders into MOR territory frequently, to numbing effect once or twice, but it does manage to include some standout tracks such as Marcia Aitken’s ‘I’m Still in Love’, along with Janet Kay’s ‘Lovin’ You’ which is, indisputably, excellent lovers’ rock.

These are some thoughtful collections of key tracks from the reggae tradition. Not all of them are great, but within these compilations are one or two unexpectedly pleasant surprises that makes the overall exercise worthwhile.

Trojan Presents series, double-CD compilation format, released Summer 2011