V/A: The Hit Sounds of the Dub Pistols at Midnight
Reviewed By: Daniel Cressey
Label: Roots Music
Format: CD
Barry Ashworth has taken time off from running the Dub Pistols to throw together this collection of gloriously sweet roots records release. The cumbersome album title references the fact that all the tracks here are drawn from U Brown’s ‘Hit Sound’ records or Jah Thomas’s ‘Midnight Rock’ label.
It’s one long shift of laid back baselines overlaid with snatches of piano, horns and vocals. George Nooks adds in a great reggae lovers number on ‘I’ve Got To Go’ laced between instrumental dub tracks and more dancehall-style numbers. Sugar Minott does a similar up-tempo job on the lovely ‘Steal Away Girl’.
Ashworth has done a truly sterling job on this compilation, which presents these great tracks in their entirety with (thankfully) no attempt to force them together into a mix.
Some of the artists here will be familiar to the casual reggae fan, but a higher number will inspire some searching through the archives to find more. Which is really the best compliment you can pay any compilation. Anyone with even a passing affection for reggae will find their summer soundtrack right here.
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