Bambu Station & Sensimilla Dub - Unity (Crasso Records) + Jimmy Luv - Estilo Original EP (Dubatak Records)

Bit of a strange release this aptly titled 'Unity', as it is a so-called split-album, on which two separate bands - Bambu Station from the US Virgin Islands and Brazilian Sensimilla Dub - both contributed 5 songs. Sensimilla Dub opted for 5 brand new tracks, but Bambu Station played it safe with a kind of 'Best Of'-compilation of songs from their 'One Day' (Mt. Nebo Records, 2003), 'Break The Soil' (Mt. Nebo Records, 2006) and 'Children Of Exodus' (Griotlife Records) albums. For yours truly, the album was therefore mainly an introduction to Sensimilla Dub, an eight-piece band from São Paulo who's been going at it since the early 2000s. Stylistically the songs on 'Unity' reminded us somewhat of Jamaica Groove, although Sensimilla Dub's rock guitars possibly weep louder ('A Cor Do Sol', 'O Que A Ver Com Isso').
 
Even more Brazilian reggae vibes there are on 'Estilo Original', a new 6 track EP by Guilherme Serpe aka Jimmy Luv. Also hailing from São Paulo, his name might not be all that well-known in Europe yet, but in his home country, Jimmy has already been active since the 1990s; first as a member of bands like The Funk Fuckers, Enganjaduz and Familia 7 Velas, and later as a solo artist. Jimmy describes 'Estilo Original' as follows: "The EP is a mixture of several styles within the same genre. It is modern reggae, with one foot in the past and one foot in the future!", and that apparently means anything between rub-a-dub, ragga, dub, UK steppers and dancehall. Luv also knows his classics because the riddim of opener and title track 'Estilo Original' seems to be a mix of Full Up and Rope In, in the intro of ganja tune 'Um Do Verde' the Drum Song riddim can be heard in the background, and for 'Rainha Do Baile' Luv used a revamp of the well-known No No No riddim.