Reggae Hits 35

[coll]: Reggae Hits 35 (Jet Star)
Reviewed by Sadie O., 11/1/06
A collection of huge reggae/dancehall hits from last year, wide variety of styles and quality. Some of them are great, some of nuts, and some of them make you wonder if the entire island of Jamaica was on crack.
I’m pretty sure there’s an FCC on track 8. Follow the stars…
1. *slightly downtempo skank very much in the Lovers’ Rock style. Very pretty, nice singing, sweet love song. Some pretty unctuous spoken word in the middle.
2. *midtempo, rather weak beat and commercial production, tenor vocals. Nice song, though.
3. ***uptempo bubble, solid song, nice interplay between Anthony Cruz’s tenor singing and Buju Banton’s low growling rap. Cut off abruptly.
4. ****midtempo, rather menacing riddim, great rap. Turbulence rocks!
5. Eeeeyew… sappy! Bleargh! It’s got pedal steel, oddly. But it sucks hard.
6. ****absolutely nuts, apparently the result of a release of huge amounts of weird drugs into the water system of Kingston – but you’ll be singing it later on, I promise. It was a HUGE, MONSTER hit on reggae charts all over the world.
7. **uptempo, slightly naughty, almost soca. Sort of a throwaway number, but Capleton comes up with a few moments of inspired nuttiness.
8. **downtempo, maybe be an FCC (shit) at 0:51 unfortunately, because it’s got a fun riddim and nice interplay of voices.
9. Smooth jazz crap. Make it go away..
10. ***rather uptempo, sounds like a ukulele in the mix, interesting riddim and a great rap by Richie Spice.
11. *some of the stonedest musicians I’ve ever heard. Slow nyahbinghi groove with out of key guitars, but a lovely song by Gyptian.
12. *slow and mellow, complaint of a single man - a major hit. Overprocessed vocals. May be chiding the Jamaican men who frequently abandon their families, in which case props to Danko.
13. *****midtempo, almosts a calypso groove, hilarious vocal duet. Along the same theme as the previous song, but Jamaican women are obviously made of stronger stuff.
14. ***midtempo dancehall with good interplay between Kevin Lyttle’s sweet tenor and Beenie Man’s distinctive rapping.
15. **nice roots rock bubble, forgettable singing, pickup song.
16. ***roots rock bubble, slick production, but a strong song, good lyrics and singing.
17. *midtempo roots rock bubble, slick love song, but Voicemail does have a fine voice.
18. ****gonzo dancehall toast-off vaguely based on the theme of Sesame Street.
19. ****downtempo roots bubble, great song, fine singing. Nice!
20. ***slow nyahbinghi kid singers, often off-key, but intense lyrics.