New releases last eight weeks: Roots/Lovers Rock

Review: A comprehensive reissue campaign of the key albums by Creation Rebel, the original On-U Sound house band. The series encompasses out of print and much in demand UK dub reggae albums from the late 1970s and early 1980s, all highlighting crucial early production work from the mixing desk of Adrian Sherwood. The band's post-reformation, 2023 album Hostile Environment, is thrown in for good measure. This mammoth 6xCD edition houses five dozen tracks of indelibly experimental dub and reggae tracks, many of which tend towards the spacier and more cosmically-intoned ends of the dub tradition, which was above alive and kicking at the height of the genre's fame from the late 1970s onwards, and spearheaded by none other than group members Clifton Morrison, Eric 'Fish' Clarke and more.

Review: Dadawah aka. Lloyd Charmers was one of Jamaica's boldest and most resourceful record producers, testament to which was his standout LP Peace & Love. Originally released as an EP of just four tracks, drawing on the rhythmic hallmarks of the Nyabinghi gatherings of Rastafari, Charmers is heard commanding an ensemble cast of virtuosi, including Willie Lindo on guitar. With its multi-layered, weighty and patriotic breathtakers such as 'Zion Land' and 'Know How You Stand', which blow away with their adept command of space and reverb, the tracks now come backed a whopping 21 dub versions also produced by the man himself - 19 of which have never been before released on CD - the best of his dub output since the mid-1970s.

Review: Japan's Dub Store label has put together this superb reproduction of the highly sought-after 1969 reggae album The Sensational Derrick Harriott Sings Jamaica Reggae. Arriving on CD with an obi-strip, the popular record comes with ten now proven to be timeless tracks that feature plenty of the most renowned Jamaican session musicians. These include the likes of Val Bennett, Winston Wright, and Gladstone Anderson, who all put in fine performances and traverse plenty of heavy rolling reggae sounds, horn-led ska cuts and plenty in between in organic and enthralling fashion.

Review: Having previously delivered a box set dedicated to the early-to-mid 70s singles produced by legendary Jamaican studio don Niney The Observer, Doctor Bird has now moved on to the next stage of his career. This two-disc set focuses on seven-inch singles he produced and released on his Observer label in 1976 and 1977, supplementing vocal cuts with flipside alternate versions and his own 'riddim'-focused takes. It's a fine collection of often hard-to-find Jamaican reggae gems from a golden period in the country's musical culture, with headline-grabbing contributions from such scene staples as Gregory Isaacs, Horace Andy, Clint Eastwood, I-Roy, Big Youth, Junior Delgado and Bobby Ellis.

Review: While not as celebrated as some of his Jamaican contemporaries, Winston Holness AKA Niney The Observer was a hugely successful record producer. This excellent two-disc set does an excellent job in rounding up the best of his output between 1973 and '75, a period where he enjoyed countless hits at home and over in the UK. There's naturally plenty of goodness to be found amongst the 49 tracks on show, with cuts featuring now well-known Jamaican scene stars - think Junior Delgado, Delroy Wilson, Big Youth, Max Romeo, Junior Byles, Horace Andy, U-Roy and ska survivor Tommy McCook - being joined by more dubbed-out 'versions' (credited to his studio band The Observers') and local hits by artists whose fame rarely spread beyond the Caribbean (Winston Wright, Hubert Lee, Earth & Stone). In an indispensable introduction to one of Jamaica's finest producers of the 1970s.