Alborosie – Escape from Babylon
Reviewed by Sadie O., 4/1/10
Roots rock reggae. This gruff-voiced Italian toaster has become one of Jamaica’s biggest stars – because he produces some absolutely killer roots-style riddims, and doesn’t chat slackness. This could be the renaissance of Reggae, right here.
No FCCs, but some kinda dubious Jamaican slang.
Yeah, there’s a lot of stars. Wonder why…
1. 3:11 ****bouncy upbeat skank, reality lyrics, huge hit for good reason.
2. 4:05 ****electronics and processed vocal intro, then somewhat downtempo one-drop with lots of syndrum, bits of classic song, gruff toast.
3. 3:38 *****very upbeat, rather downtempo syncopated riddim, duet with David Hinds, the singer of Steel Pulse, who did the original song.
4. 3:45 ***long drum flourish intro, rather downbeat riddim, introspective song with actual singing and chorus. Roots feel.
5. 3:19 ****echo-laden intro, downtempo dubbed up skank, preaching rant.
6. 4:00 ***rootsy, mellow midtempo bubble.
7. 3:54 ***slow, rather churchical-sounding roots bubble, duet with Gramps Morgan, almost a Burning Spear vibe.
8. 4:08 ***groovy, swingy roots bubble.
9. 3:59 *****uptempo, slightly bluesy rock steady riddim, sound system feel, fun lyrics, great guest vocals by I.Eye.
10. 3:42 ****start and stop intro, uptempo dancehall riddim with a bit of soca feel, total nice up de dance groove. (If you speak Jamdung, this is a bit naughty…)
11. 4:08 ***big flourish intro, slightly downtempo stepping razor vibe with dubby bits. If he doesn’t use cocaine, wonder what he does like? Hm…
12. 3:59***very slow dubby bubble. A bit of bluesy chord change midway.
13. 3:50 ***rooster cry, bit of chats, slow dance rub-a-dub style (and he’s not going to let you forget it!), dubby. Are we stoned yet?
14. 4:15 **bouncy but relaxed midtempo bubble. Seems to basically be telling women to play hard to get…
15. 4:30 ***echo-y vocal intro, downtempo dubby skank, Dennis Brown guest vocals. Borrows a bit of tune from Eek-A-Mouse.
16. 3:51 ***slow yet jaunty, somehow. Rasta religiousity, upful.
17. 3:18 ****slow roots bubble with biddly-bem-bem dancehall vocalizations. Unapologetically Sicilian. Hooray!
18. 3:50 *****slow swingy groove – rather a Robert Nesta Marley feel, and a bit of bluesy note-bending. Love the lyrics.