Rock A Shacka Japan 黑胶唱片和CD

Review: The magical 'All in My Life' is an unreleased and heartbroken lovers rock steady track sung by a humble figure over a smooth rhythm. While missing the glamour of a horn section, it's driven by a lilting organ reminiscent of Buster Allstars. The B-side, 'Dancing Floor,' is the only song Gregory Isaacs recorded under Buster's production and so it is a rather rare gem. It features a melancholic melody and Isaacs' signature sweet voice that very much come from the golden age of early reggae. Both tracks showcase a raw side of the genre and as they are lesser known, they are sure to make a big impact whenever played.

Review: Jamaican singers Sonia Ferguson and Tyrone David recorded 'Use To Be My Dread' in the late 70s for producer Bunny Lee. A lovers' rock gem, Ferguson's vocals are rhythmically deft, and Bunny Lee's production is glitzy and dynamic, adding to its sense of serene and playful humour. The song concerns a former lover who has changed for the worse, though, despite this change, Ferguson regards this person as akin to a dreadlock, a permanent lock of hair and an enduring part of her being. Though it was originally released as a single on the Attack label, it has since become a sought-after collector's item, and so thoroughly deserves this reissue via Rock A Shaka.

Review: Rock A Shaka comes thorough with more of the sort of sun-kissed and horizontal reggae sounds that have us dreaming of summer. This one finds Phil Francis working with The New Horizon Band on the heart-melting 'Smile On My Face'. It has fat, lazy drum wobbles with steamy trumpet motifs ringing out into a cloudless blue sky. Neat guitar riffs compliment the groove with a blue-eyed soul vocal up top and plenty of lovely lo-fi production finishing it in style. On the flip-side is a version without the vocal that still makes its way into your affections, but the vocal really is the one to beat.

Review: This new 7" from the Far East is part of the Neville King Lovers Rock Revisited series. It's as smooth and heartfelt as roots reggae gets with One Blood and Simplicity really tapping into a loved-up vibe. 'Lady Lady' has meandering basslines and lazy horns unfurling next to the buttery sweet and tender vocals which muse on a dream girl. On the B-side is 'Loving Kind', a more traditional dub with tropical island vibes, subtle steel drums and this time a female vocal delivering a carefree lament.

Review: Japanese music outlet Rock A Shacka reissues a compelling 2020 compilation, Play On Music: Lee Perry Black Ark Days, which captures the Upsetter for the best part of his key tenancy at the Black Ark Studio in Jamaica, which he built himself and which lasted from 1973 to 1979. Having died a legendarily bizarre death - during a manic episode amid an alleged fiscal entanglement involving being blackmailed for studio profits, Perry was alleged to have covered every available surface in black marker pen before burning the entire complex to the ground - the Black Ark Studio was martyred as not just a hitmaker but also a known out-turner of many an uncommon dub gem. Featuring such greats as 'Play On Mr. Music', 'Milte Hi Ankhen' and 'Bird In Hand', this comp also features brilliant rarities like 'Rejoice Jah Jah Children' by the Silvertones, as well as an unreleased take of Carlton Jackson's biggest tune 'History'.

Review: Rock A Shaka continue their tributary exegeses of Jamaican rocksteady legend Prince Buster with a new 7", 'Got To Be Free'. Pulled straight from the corresponding Funky Jamaica compilation issued separately - which in turn compiles the best gems to coruscate his illustrious career - the 45s format does well to counterbalance the fallacy of comprehensiveness with a throwback in form. 'Got To Be Free' is a rather pleasant anthem to freedom: "we love the birds, we love the trees, we love the honey, we love the bees..."

Review: Caught in a Prince Buster fever, Rock-A-Shacka complement an eagerly awaited release - the third album from the legend so named, offering 12 tracks spanning Jamaican funk to rocksteady to early reggae - with a promotional 7", bolstering the full-length's legitimacy with an as-it-was 45. Here 'Funky Jamaica' and 'Clap Your Hands' coincide. The first is an early dancehall phenotype, its strong tresillo matching a heady array of audio-mancer's chants; instructive shouts from Buster himself. Then the B-side follows, a brilliant James-Browned toasting of an uptempo pre-ska progression, put together against a rhythmic cage of swift, proficient drums.

Review: Rock A Shaka continue to wring out their apparently exclusive tenancy of Prince Buster's so far unissued reggae and rocksteady works, this time dropping a fresh 7" one with the instrumentalist Determinations on dubbing duties, 'Ten Steps Ahead'. Buster's final recording before he died initially went by the name 'One Step Beyond', and it has here been renamed in requiem, perhaps to differentiate it from the repopularised Madness cover. Lodged behind the vault door for years, you can be sure that Rock A Shaka thanked their lucky stars when they re-found it: "why must I suffer so much on this land?" Buster's voice is unusually lonesome and spectral, revealing in the late artist a rarely obviated forlornness.

Review: Delroy Witter ran the Success Sound System out of Harlesden, North London, becoming one of the key figures in the UK's burgeoning reggae and lovers rock scenes. Pulled from his label D-Roy, this second volume of carefully curated classics get the fresh airing they deserve at a time when appreciation for the importance of lovers rock as a branch of reggae has never been stronger. There's ample sentimental, romantic jams contained within, but plenty of heavyweight riddims too, all remastered and presented with the Rock A Shaka attention to detail.