Gregory Isaacs passes at 59.

Gregory Isaacs died yesterday from his battle with lung cancer. The king of lover's rock, he was one of my all time favorite reggae singers. A remix of "Night Nurse" was one of the first reggae songs I remember falling in love with; the full length album of the same title was one of the first reggae albums I purchased. It remains a favorite that I listen to regularly. Certainly one of the best performers (among a list of many) to work with the Roots Radics. Rest in peace.

Mackie Ranks - Lick Out (1993)

Artist: Mackie Ranks
Album: Lick Out
Genre: Reggae: Dancehall/Ragga
Release Date: 1993
Mood: Aggressive, Dance, Feel Good
RIYL: Ninjaman, Supercat

Rating: ****


This is the first of two reviews I'll be doing dedicated to the oeuvre (which is limited to four cds, two of which are LPs and the other two are compilations) of the mysterious Outernational/Hightone record label. I'll be making a short post about the label itself later. But for now I would like this to function as both a review of this commonly overstocked CD (you can pick it up for 39 cents plus shipping on Ebreggae, which I highly, highly recommend doing at that price (if for the album cover alone) but also the only source for information on Mackie Ranks on the internet.

It appears this is the only album that the dee jay ever released. I will transcribe the brief biography provided on the back of the insert for internet archival sources:

"Born Andrew Grant in the Parish of St. Andrew, Jamaica, Mackie Ranks has developed into one of Jamaica's top D.J. talents. He began his musical career outside of sonic sounds distribution-kingston. There, he was better known as Country Man. His responsibility was: gatekeeper. Somewhere in that job, Country Man got a taste for rapping. In 1991, Outernational delivered Country Man from the parking lot to the studio where he voiced "Prestige Punany" on the Joe Frazer Rhythm. This risque hit got Country a bonafide stage show on the island of Grenada. From that point, Country stepped up to adopt his place in the ranks family. Mackie Ranks has since had numerous hits in Jamaica and England on the Outernational, Tipsy, Sinbad, & Taxi Label. So Just lick it out..."

Beyond this, little information about Mackie nor "Country Man" can be found on the internet. Allmusic's review of the album is pitiful. One source I found that was a biographies of his dancehall contemporaries in list format stated that Mackie showed talent with "Prestige Punany" but just needed to get a hit. Otherwise he appears to have disappeared off the map. A few of his singles, including "Power Surge" from this album but also another "A You Him Love" (which I have not heard) appear on Sonic Sounds compilations.

The album itself is hard hitting, very noisy ragga at it's best. Mackie wears an influence stuttering his way through songs. The lyrics generally go in one of two directions. The first taking on a conscious vibe, especially with "Positive", a tune chanting down negative bad bwoy talk in music. The second direction is far more lewd, with songs about Mackie's sexual prowess as on "Prestige Punany" and "100% body". "Power Surge" comes through with a very hard riddim that I can't seem to identify, although it seems like it is possibly an alteration of the Cherry Oh Riddim. On "Brand New Year", Mackie demonstrates his versatility, lowering his voice into a grumble that sounds eerily like Buju Banton's (which you're only shocked out of believing by the fact that the Ranks challenges Buju within the song). Highly, highly recommended for the ragga enthusiast, especially at the very low price.

1. Lick Out *****
2. Should A Me ***
3. Positive ***
4. Power Surge *****
5. Come Here ***
6. Prestige Punany ****
7. 100% Body *****
8. Nah Negotiate ***
9. Brand New Year ****
10. Acre of Land ***
    

Toussaint - Black Gold (2010)

Artist: Toussaint
Album: Black Gold
Genre: Reggae/Neo Roots

Label: I Grade Records

Release Date: August 1, 2010
Mood: Contemplative, Spiritual, Passionate
RIYL: Tarrus Riley, Everton Blender, Jah Cure

Rating: **

This is an album of soulful neo roots reggae that moves between a number of different styles, to varying degrees of success. “Unforgettable” is a fairly horrible lover’s track with a latin tinged riddim that would be difficult for anyone other than Beres Hammond to pull off. “Conquering Cocaine” is a militant styled song which brings to mind the Roots Radics, that starts strong, but when it breaks into a “dub style” the drum and bass patterns leave something to be desired.

Toussaint is perhaps strongest on the atmospheric piano, guitar, and melodica (perhaps harmonica) driven melodies of “Patient” and “Nobody Knows”, the latter of which is a very powerful opener to the album, perhaps the best song here. In fact, most of the good songs are on the first half of the LP, and the album putters off quite badly after about halfway through; dragging itself through a lengthy 15 songs. This album, like many other contemporary reggae ones, suffers from the over packing that occurs in the age of the digital format allowing such lengths. In my opinion, it is better to create a twenty minute album of great material than an hour long one of mediocrity. The closer, “Rain Again”, is a cheesy harp driven number that one may be able to swallow if they weren’t suffering from listener fatigue.

Despite these complaints, overall , Toussaint’s voice is solid, his backing band is tight enough, and his songwriting is fairly good. Cut the album down to ten of the best numbers and it would be highly recommended. Otherwise, a few singles, particularly “Nobody Knows” (which truly is a knockout song), are definitely worth listening to.

1. Nobody Knows *****
2. This Song ***
3. Roots in a Modern time ****
4. Be You **
5. Sunshine in Morning **
6. Hello My Beautiful **
7. Black Gold ***
8. Look Up *
9. Conquering Cocaine *
10. Rise and Fall ***
11. Marching **
12. Patient ****
13. Unforgettable *
14. Changing ****
15. Rain Again **