Various
– ‘Rise Up’ The Riz Records Story (Reggae Archive Records)
LP/CD/DL
27
January 2013
Reggae
Archive Records release a compilation of the best of UK roots and dub from the
90s.
Riz
Records was a major force in keeping UK reggae alive and kicking back in the
day, and is still as popular (if not more so) today. Sister company to Sugar Shack and Bristol
Archive, Reggae Archive have lovingly compiled a collection of fifteen of Riz’s
finest tunes featuring some exclusive mixes and unreleased tracks.
Member
of the Rootikal crew, David Hill, superbly re-works six tracks into
‘discomixes’ which are bizarrely as close to disco as One Direction are to
grunge metal but, do add loads of dubbed out synth effects to make them nothing
short of enthralling. Opener, Rise Up by
Johnny Osbourne is one such example where its eight minutes pass by seemingly
very quickly.
Previously
unreleased tracks by the one and only Armagideon Man, Willie Williams, and
Dreadzone vocalist Earl Sixteen compliment inclusions from Orville Smith and
Admiral Tibet whose Permission is one of the album highlights.
The
sound quality is superb, with the tracks being lifted directly from the
original masters, and the track listing reads like a selection made in reggae
heaven. Fight Fight by Orville Smith has
a superb closing dub which sounds amazing in headphones. Deep deep bass and clear polished brass
section. Smiths version of Builders
Temple is sheer class.
Bob
Skeng’s Education is brilliant in its simplicity, and Absentee Dub by Manasseh
Meets The Equalizer is completely dreamy.
The later appear again on the final track to the album with Souljah and,
is more gliding soul than reggae making its inclusion slightly odd. That said, it’s a killer track in its own
right and this is logic alone to add to a fine fine collection.
With
some very detailed sleeve notes containing great photos, this is a collection
well worth giving a listen to.
8.5/10
Links
Published on Louder Than War 25 January 2014 - here
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