Yes, 'Gunman' is an all time zapper! Most of those (early) 12" Greensleeves Discomix records sound exceptionally good to me and they are also on very clean/very well pressed vinyl. I'm now listening to this delightful, understated 7 track Dub album that deserves to be heard by anyone interested in checking out the best of the Jamaican Dub LPs. KTW DUB - Junior Dan Arranged & Produced by Junior Dan and issued on his his own Hi Tri label. I also have a few 10" records by this artist and have just noticed they were issued on Hi Try.
Bump. Thanks for this thread. Been meaning to expand my reggae beyond the basics. Yesterday had my first listens of Blackheart Man by Bunny Wailer and The Congos' Heart of the Congos. The Bunny is real pretty- love the gentle vocals with hardcore rasta lyrics, but the title track is sort really sweet in a way. A couple of the tracks do drag on but overall it's lovely. The Congos is like pure ear candy, with a surprising amount of aural diversity across tracks. Will continue with Burning Spear and Scientist today.
African Rub-A-Dub ~ Studio One Dub Specialist I love this downbeat, sparse roots style Dub LP from Studio One. All killer foundation rhythms too! Unfortunately the free from surface noise US pressing (yellow and red label) is probably difficult to locate, as is finding a copy in a sleeve! All Jamaican LP pressings (if still in print) can be iffy / crackly, although I'm sure some copies play fine. Pressing issues aside, the actual music on this is dubbed out collection is the business!
Gregory Isaacs - Night Nurse. My favorite reggae album from back in the day... puts me in a mellow mood.
Am I mistaken? Music on Vinyl uses digital files for their Vinyl. Someone correct me if I'm wrong. Has anyone had experience with this label?
I suspect that 99.9% of all Reggae reissues have come from some sort of digital transfer/recording, even if the original tapes were in good condition, not by any means a given with Reggae, they will almost certainly be digitally transferred and those files will be what is mastered and sent for cutting. A lot of Reggae reissue labels use vinyl as their source anyway, though to be fair I can't think of any reggae labels claiming audiophile credentials, most of us are happy to get a decent pressing, the master tape being involved along the way is a bonus.
Most of the touchstones have been mentioned, but I'll add: I don't really care for much reggae released after the early 80s, but I do love this one from '94:
For all lovers of hammond organ playing, this is the album that turned me on, and bowled me over. An outstanding Studio One LP with Jackie Mittoo, "The Keyboard King" serving the upfull vibes (although you might not get that impression from the sleeve) over the top of another selection of top notch Studio One original foundation Reggae rhythms. Macka Fat - Jackie Mittoo