The Archives is Eric Hilton of Thievery Corporation’s protégé band. Their self-titled debut LP is a rich mosaic of Jamaican musical styles. As the all-star band moves artfully from roots, dancehall and rockstaedy, Hilton’s signature production touch re-defines what is possible for modern reggae.
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The Black Seeds – New Zealand’s reggae-soul heavyweights – return with their new studio album. The multi-platinum selling band follows up on 2009′s Sold Ground by going even further into funk, soul, afrobeat and reggae sonic experimentation.
Easy Star is also reissuing the Black Seeds’ back catalog including two titles that have never been available on CD in the US before.
‘…remarkable ability to create modern masterpieces reflecting psychedelic edge’ – Inside World Music
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10 Ft. Ganja Plant comes back with a vengeance. Two years after releasing their critically acclaimed album Bush Rock and a year removed from dropping 10 Deadly Shots, the ‘Plant is back stronger and with their deep in the pocket roots sound in full effect. The ‘Plant were thrilled to collaborate with reggae legends Prince Jazzbo & Sylford Walker, each dropping two vocal gems, while Meditations great Winston Watson kindly provided additional harmonies throughout. Pulling out all the stops, ‘Shake Up The Place’ was flown first class to the UK and mastered by Blood & Fire veteran mastering engineer Kevin Metcalfe. The sound is 70′s exquisite.
http://www.10ftganjaplant.com/
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For more than 30 years the highly charismatic singer Youssou N’Dour has been at the forefront of Senegalese music, and is Africa’s most celebrated combination of musician and statesman. His own brand of catchy dance music mbalax is now his country’s dominant musical form, and has become super successful around the globe, turning Youssou into a worldwide superstar.
This latest disc, Dakar-Kingston, is something of a new departure – a reggae album. Though there is an obvious salute to Bob Marley including a new song called ‘Hommage à Marley,’ rather than a flat tribute Youssou Ndour has chosen to instead re-work some songs from his repertoire – ‘Song is song. My experience is, if you have a good song, you can move in one direction or a different direction.’ The album is a fantastic chance to hear these hits in a fresh way, through the reggae mirror. Tyrone Downie, the keyboard player with the Wailers with whom Youssou collaborated, says ‘You’ve never before had Afro-Islamic melodies in roots reggae. That’s something new. And it’s great that an artist this big, with this longevity and talent, is making a traditional reggae album in the 21st century. Reggae, for young people, is historical music, it’s like jazz. Youssou validates it, makes it timeless.’
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