Prince Far I

Review: On their latest essential retrospective, Doctor Bird has gathered together the quartet of albums released by legendary Jamaican toaster Prince Far I on Trojan Records between 1979 and '83 (the year of his premature death) - three of which have never previously appeared on CD. On disc one you'll find "Free From Sin", a formidably dubbed-out affair partially recorded at Treasure Isle Studios, and the slightly more roots-reggae focused 1980 follow-up, "Jamaican Heroes". Disc two begins with the ten tracks first featured on 1981's "Voice of Thunder" - a loose, languid and laidback set recorded at Channel 1 studios - before moving on to his final Trojan album, "Musical Heroes". If you've yet to explore Prince Far I's vast catalogue, this is a great place to start.