Back catalogue: Reggae

Review: We're not quite sure whether this King Shark single is brand new or was recorded in the early 2000s, but either way 'Escape By Night' is well worth checking. It features the veteran dancehall and roots reggae singer delivering a typically slick and soulful vocal over a rolling digital-reggae rhythm provided by experienced UK producer Russell Bell-Brown (he of the Disciplines fame). Bell-Brown's backing track is ear-pleasing and musically breezy, with a killer bassline and piano stabs being joined by some seriously jazzy electro guitar solos. If anything, the echoing, spacious and weighty flipside 'Version' dub is even better, with Bell-Brown doing a passable impression of Scientist or Mad Professor.

Review: The second 7" in the Konduko series reissues this mega-rarity, Noel Williams aka King Sporty's own version of Bob Marley's Concrete Jungle. The connection between Marley and Williams was long-standing, both living in the tenements of West Kingston and gaining their musical foundations as part of the Studio One, that would reach fruition when they later co-wrote Buffalo Soldier together.

Clement Dodd's organisation was more than a label, running a sound system, studio, pressing plant and its own distribution. As Deejay on the system and later releasing his debut single on the label, William's learnt his craft, taking this knowledge to Miami and replicating much - expanding the Konduko label to encompass studio, plant and distribution.

First recorded with Lee Perry, Marley's 1971 original was famously rerecorded for The Wailers move to Island Records and their 1973 album, Catch A Fire. Here, a rare Williams' vocal is backed with horns atop a reggae-funk groove. The songs message of struggle is universal and everlasting, even with a touch of Miami swing.

This is backed by Young Girl, a single in its own right, from the same period. A rocksteady, breakbeat shuffle bely the songs roots in late 60s soul, with a powerful counterpoint vocal from wife and partner, Betty Wright. A collector's item itself, together they are essential.

Review: Workshop is one of those labels that has always operated at the fringes of genre. Deep house and techno are the loose starting points in many cases, but artists never fail to veer off into the shadowy nether worlds that surround those basic forms. Kolorit does that here with two intriguing cuts all with the same name. The first has lumpy scattered drums, scraping sounds, ticking hi-hats and freaky noise samples all peppering them. The second has haunting chords sequences over a ticking sound that is coated in hiss and crackle. It's late night and mysterious. The third has clattering percussion and shimmering synths that rise and fall and build in tension and intensity.

Review: After his silky-smooth vocal feature on Eva Lazarus' Light As Feather, it was inevitable that Mungo's Hi Fi would pursue a project with London-based pure sing-jay Kiko Bun. Ms. Burnett is an ode to a lady friend of distinction, atop a dreamy major key rhythm whose bass-heavy clarity could have come out of Jamaica's Channel One studio in its glory days.

Review: Multi-talented artist Koffee (real name Mikayla Simpson) has been bubbling under for a while now, with plenty of pundits tipping her to become Jamaica's next global musical superstar. She certainly has the skillset to succeed, being a skilled singer, 'deejay' style rapper, songwriter and producer. Gifted, her debut album, is genuinely excellent, with Simpson singing and rapping over backing tracks that blur the boundaries between dancehall, soca, R&B, soul and synth-pop, with weighty bass and patois-heavy lyrics rooting the sound in her island home. Highlights include previous single 'West Indies', the laidback, lovers rock-influenced shuffle of 'Shine', the dreamy dancehall-pop wonder of 'Pull Up' and the self-explanatory 'Lockdown'.