Iba Mahr - Diamond Sox (VPal/Born Rollin Music)

In the track list of course hits like 'Will I Wait In Vain', 'Sound A Alarm' (both also to be found on last year's 'Great Is H.I.M.' EP) and title track 'Diamond Sox', and with Tarrus Riley, Jah9, Capleton, Jahmali and Dean Fraser, Iba compiled an excellent guest list. That being said, the rest of the track list can also convince: 'Clean And Pure', a duet with Capleton, is a successful version over the Train To Zion riddim (in fact just a revamp of the classic Death In The Arena riddim), more riddim-goodies we get with 'Travelling' over German Oneness Records' Retro Locks riddim, with 'Mama Rosie' Iba delivers a heartfelt tribute to his mother Roselin Embden-Harris and finally there's 'Having Fun', an upbeat ska-tune in which Dean Fraser's sax is given center stage. Excellent debut effort!