In A Dis Ya Time

The Itals – In a Dis Ya Time
Reviewed by Sadie O., 1/13/09
Roots rock reggae from a great vocal trio. Many of the same tracks as “Early Recordings”, but they’re well worth another play (a few are new to our collection.) As far as I can tell, they’re all from the glory days of roots reggae, in the 70’s, beautifully done, and a pleasure to hear. The Itals were a top-ranking but often overlooked “power of the trinity” group, who traded vocal duties for a range of sounds, but always very roots, with a real feeling of being straight from the hills.
No FCCs detected – all great, but I like 6, 7, 10, 16 best.
1. 6:26 ***slow, roots (almost lovers’ rock) skank, impassioned vocals, Rasta lyrics. fades out for a few seconds midway through and goes into the version featuring trumpet solo.
2. 2:57 ***slow with trumpet and rich vocals up front.
3. 2:29 ***downtempo, lilting, lovely high vocals, Rasta visionary lyrics.
4. 4:03 ***midtempo w/ doubletime hi-hat, bouncy. Hard times lyrics.
5. 3:12 ***slow one-drop, a bit dark in feeling, rather stream of consciousness vocals with no harmonies.
6. 6:03 ****downtempo skank with falsetto vocals, unrequited love song. Goes directly into the version/dub (largely bass and hand percussion.)
7. 6:14 ****midtempo, quite jaunty bubble, lovely soulful vocals. Goes straight into a deep dub fairly early in the song. Nice!
8. 3:20 ***slow bubble, hard times (literally) lyrics, classic roots rock.
9. 3:28 ***downtempo rockin’ skank, some falsetto vocals, love song.
10. 3:37 ****slow roots with a touch of nyahbinghi, Rasta lyrics. Sounds like the more cosmic Burning Spear or Culture tracks.
11. 3:03 **midtempo skank, Rasta lyrics.
12. 3:43 **midtempo bubble, almost carousel keyboards, love gone wrong lyrics, no harmonies (almost sounds like Gregory Isaacs.)
13. 3:26 ***super jaunty skank, very pretty and sincere love song.
14. 3:25 ***quirky little midtempo skank, attractive unschooled baritone vocals, Rasta lyrics.
15. 3:41 **midtempo lover’s rock skank, falsetto vocals, soulful love song. Think Barry White. It’s actually so cheesy I kinda like it.
16. 6:06 *****slow skank, classic riddim, sweet and simple love song. Cuts out for a bit of naughty banter, then the the dub and toast with not one but two killer DJs, strictly come fi nice up di dance.