Garnett Silk - Reggae Anthology: Music Is the Rod - VINYL LP

First, we had Unity. Now, South Sudan's undisputed 'King of Music', the Juba-via-Melbourne eccentric outsider Gordon Koang, returns with his second full-length of original material since emigrating to Australia, the masterly titled follow-up, Community. Eight tracks recorded in Melbourne with a cast of the city's finest musical minds, including Zak Olsen, Jesse Williams, David InchDaffInch Gravolin and Jack Kong, the record draws upon Gordon's pitch-perfect pop sensibility and compulsion for composing irresistibly catchy melodies. Add to this brew the extensive creditienals of his collaborators, who are known for their work with Trafik Island, ORB, Leah Senior and more, and you have yourself a perfect blend of East African pop and vintage psychedelia that is surely one of the most interesting records of the year, outstripping it's Australian counterparts both in songwriting, production value and downright good energy. The record is warm, fuzzy, catchy, lighthearted, and it packs a punch. It rocks hard with the best of them, Olsen's beautiful production value drawing out the best in Koang's eccentric and spiraling melodies, the band grinding themselves into an endless groove before bursting into some new impossible melody. Somewhere between William Onyeabor and King Gizzard, this is surely the soundtrack to round out what has been an incredible year of music post-pandemic.

Various Artists - Reggae Anthology Channel One [VINYL LP] date 04/27/2004

TABOU1 is proud to reissue the very first album ever released by Sly & Robbie's iconic TAXI tag back in 1979. Having saved enough money during a tour with Peter Tosh to buy 4 multitrack recording tapes, Sly & Robbie asked Gregory to voice a few songs for them. Because they had played on so many of his hits, Gregory generously agreed to do it for free to help bootstrap the new TAXI tag. In 1979, Gregory Isaacs was by far Jamaica's most popular artist, earning his InchCool RulerInch nickname many times over releasing hit after hit, most of which were produced with Sly & Robbie, who at 25 years of age were already the hottest backing band. Out of these sessions came hits like InchSoon ForwardInch, a fabulous cover of Bob Marley's InchSlave DriverInch and 4 other potent tracks. There were no flimsy soul or pop covers Gregory Isaacs, whose voice and range were at their peak, sang with clarity, depth, verve and confidence, with no unnecessary mannerisms. A must have for any serious music fan, this crucial album features extended so-called InchDiscomixInch versions of all the songs, providing listeners with a generous serving of the Riddim Twins drum and bass extravaganza. In addition to the original album, we have added 3 dub versions that were only released in Jamaica, as B Sides of singles, in 1979. These have never been reissued until now and provide a fascinating glimpse into Sly & Robbie's drum and bass sound, which revolutionized Reggae music at the time.