Burning Sounds レコード& CD

Review: Susan Cadogan is an esteemed reggae vocalist who has been since the 1970s. Now she continues her musical journey with this cover single which is taken from her excellent 2020 album Hurt So Good - Storybook Revisited, distributed by Burning Sounds. Side-A features a rendition of the reggae classic by Dawn Penn, while Side-B offers a sweet soul interpretation of Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes' track. Enhanced with Japanese-inspired artwork on the jacket, this release showcases Cadogan's timeless talent and versatility as it bridges the gap between reggae and soul music across generations.

Review: Clash, first released in 1977, was one of a series of definitive reggae albums to highlight the eminence of the soundclash, in which two reggae or dancehall crews rig up opposing soundsystems in a face-to-face musical standoff. Fashioning this album after the competitive form, Dillinger's sparring partner in this case is 'Trinity' aka Wade Brammer, who was active during the 1970s and 80s. Trinity as Dillinger is best known for deejaying over reggae and dancehall numbers; Clash albums became very popular at the tail-end of the 1970s and into the next decade, with singers and deejays alike competing for status, track by track.

Review: Meets Kelly Ranks At Channel One is one of those classic dub albums that is very much deserving of this reissue on nice heavyweight wax. Michael Palmer is the man who did the meeting per the title and he is a leading Jamaican reggae and dancehall artist who has helped shaped the culture no end. This record fuses togther elements of both of those foundations sounds with nice lead horns and swaggering rhythms topped with carefree vocals full of soul but also carrying great messages.

Review: Dub innovator, celebrated smoker of the herb and much-loved nutter Lee Scratch Perry has been gone a while now but his musical legacy will never fade. Partly, of course, because he made so damn much of it during a prolific career, most of it at his own iconic Black Arc studios. Not so much of it was solo work but Heaven is, and is also the final album he wrote before passing in late 2021. His contribution to Jamaican music knows no bounds and took the form of him being producer, arranger, writer and artist. His unique take on the island's signature sound is present and correct here.

Review: The last album the mighty Lee Scratch Perry recorded before he died was Heaven, freshly released on Burning Sounds and leaving us with a lasting memory of his indelible influence on modern music. To accompany the full-length, the label have picked the versions of two album tracks and given them an airing on a standalone 12", cut nice and loud for the dance. 'Shining Dub' takes up the A side, and 'Shut Up Dub' takes the flip, and both dive deep into the echo chamber style Perry himself helped pioneer so many decades prior.

Review: Prince Lincoln Thompson was a Jamaican singer and songwriter, and was for a time the leader of the reggae group The Royal Rasses. Several albums in the 1970s and 1980s came among his greats, blending roots reggae, soul and even jazz influences. Thompson's 1980 LP Natural Wild was a hit enough, but it's its shadow self in the form of God Sent Dub that really captures our interest. At first, this dub version of the former LP was only issued that same year, as a limited edition run of 300 copies on a blank label with no credits. Inevitably, this lent it "rare collectors item" credo and resale shark-worthy venerability, but that of course wouldn't have been possible if it didn't also house a quality, unique take on dub. Made up of remixes only of songs from Natural Wild, Thompson is unafraid of swung tempos beyond the usual straight plod, 'My Generation Dub' being a case in point. Otherwise, the producer flaunts his delay mastery on select instruments only, and cuts like 'Spaceship Dub' obvously recall the cosmic visions of international artists contemporary to Thompson, such as Tradition.

Review: After Prince Lincoln Thompson and the Royal Rasses Band recorded the Experience album in 1979, they did the honourable thing and followed up with its dub counterpart, Harder Na Rass. Originally released on Warrior Records in the UK, it's everything you want from a roots-adjacent dub album, mixed by none other than Prince Jammy in the mighty King Tubby's studio. The sound is outstanding, with the percussion especially cutting through the mix and the musicality remaining intact despite the focus on dubwise versioning. Dub devotees take heed, this album has got everything you want, freshly remastered and cut nice and loud.

Review: Burning Sounds pay tribute to some of reggae's most crucial DJs with this new album The Magnificent 7. It is packed with artists inspired by the fundamental elements of Rastafarianism and they all speak loudly of the virtues of "living upright in those dread times." Jah Walton - later known as Joseph Cotton - kicks off with the positive vibrations of 'The Seed You Sow' before Big Youth gets deeper and darker. A brace of I-Roy jams roll on fat bass lines and King Sighta also appears twice with his natty vocals and percussive rhythms amongst a bunch of other superb sounds from the likes of Natty Love and Sister Sheron.