Electric Roulette; Pama Intl review
On
Saturday 2nd August, 2008
ELECTRIC ROULETTE - July 08
Review of Pama Intl - Love Filled Dub Band
More reggae? Yup. And it’s good too. For fans of the sound of soulful reggae, start cranin’ yer neck because have I got an LP fer you! Despite the rubbish name of ‘Pama Intl Love Filled Dub Band’, Pama International’s newest cut is one of the best reggae LPs I’ve heard in years!
Now, I know what you’re thinkin’. Ain’t no way a new long player is gonna capture the spirit and production of 60s/70s cuts from JA. Well, that may well be so, but in all honesty, this plate gets as close as I’ve ever heard. Seriously. Not only that, but the packaging completely endeared me as well… nice card… cut-out inners like a 45 sleeve… CD that looks like a 45… man, these boys are determined to provide experience.
As many have shown over the years, it’s incredibly easy to get reggae/dub wrong. Seriously wrong. Production is cast to one side in favour of crap covers and whitey-up-front croons away like he’s channelling Hailie Selassie. Man, even summa the black singers have been white. Reggae, when it jumps from the trenches over the frontline, tends to sound like an advert for The Tourist Board of Jamaica. Not these cats. No way. This is the sound of rebel radio and gigantic soundsystems and above, thick clouds of youknowwhut.
Where most stick to faux-roots, Pama International are gunning for the Soul Reggae of Toots and The Maytals. Course, that’s not an easy thing to gun for, but man, they’ve only gone pulled it off! The LP switches between stonkin’ skankers and concious dubs, complete with those echo effects, dub chambers, delays and electronic swirls that made so many records in your collection great.Reggae fans should be obsessive about production values. This LP ticks all the boxes.
Weirdly, the weakest track on the LP kicks off proceedings. ‘Wherever You Lead’ gives a nod to Jimmy Cliff and Toots, and ticks the pop box as well as the rockers box. However, when I say that it’s the weakest track on the LP, it’s the weakest track on an outstanding album. Track one, poppy and summery, still knocks most reggae y’hear into a cocked sappy.
Elsewhere, ‘Lovely Wife’ (with the now ubiquitous appearance from legendary Rico Rodriguez), it’s dub ‘Lovely Dub’, ‘Wonder Wonder’ and ‘The Race For Space’ all impress hugely. Plaudits however, are best saved for ‘Orgon Will Follow’ which is a kickin’ Jackie Mittoo styled organ killer, and the blindin’ ‘Highrise’, which does what only reggae can do… which is to channel tales of violence and suffering without making it sound preachy… the dynamite bassline doesn’t half help either. It’s an outstanding track. It needs a release on a 45 now!
Basically, this LP could easily sit next to classic LPs and not be out performed. For my money, reggae is a scene based on 45s and the cream of LPs, as opposed to being a scene based around whole albums. This bucks the trend. It’s great. It could provide a great soundtrack to your summer… and autumn, winter and spring, and kicking on into the next ray of sun. Fabulous.
[mof]
