Exco Levi - Country Man (Penthouse Records)

'Country Man', the long player debut of Exco Levi - born Wayne Ford Levy in Manchester, Jamaica Manchester, but these days a Canadian national - sounds as it if it were a 'Best Of' compilation. The album contains lots of well-known riddims (General, Hurting Me, 9.58, Every Tongue Shall Tell) and Exco also gave a number of classics a reworking: 'El Shaddai' and 'General Penitentiary' are duets with Michael Rose and Jahmali, but Twinkle Brothers-classic 'Since I Throw The Comb Away' Exco put's his own spin on. Those who still have to get to know Exco Levi, do good to listen to the intro of the album in which the singjay introduces himself. Among other things he talks about the three consecutive JUNO awards (the Canadian equivalent of the Grammys) he won in 2012, 2013 and 2014. At the time of writing we can even add a fourth, as on March 13th of this year, Levi won the JUNO for 'Welcome The King', a track which unfortunately wasn't included on 'Country Man'. More reasons to buy this excellent album are hopefully not required?