Monday, May 24, 2010

Studio One Returns



The reggae recordings from Studio One have been given a stellar reissue campaign from the Heartbeat label (some have since been spiffed up and re-reissued with bonus tracks -- here I refer to the first round.) "Downbeat the Ruler" features instrumental tracks that formed the basis of many later hits. Brian Eno once compared his mining of his various releases (a bass note here, drum track slowed down and rejigged there) as musical composting, and that's very similar to what happens with reggae, though the raw material hasn't had a chance to break down into its component elements but rather hijacked piece by piece -- more in common with stripping down a car, I'd venture. "Mojo Rock Steady" is an assortment of vocal and instrumental tracks. None of these could be considered 'hits', but they work as a solid collection -- and (unlike Trojan), these are remastered, and they sound great.

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