Buddha Council - True Love (Roots Musician Records)

We can't help noticing how different both American reggae scenes are. Where West Coast surf-reggae, mostly reigning supreme in California, often lacks depth, that's definitely not the case for most reggae bands from the other side of the States. Buddha Council, a hotchpotch of musicians from bands like Bimini Rd. and Session Rockers, are another excellent example and we've truly enjoyed this album alternating between ska (the tongue in cheek sexual innuendo of 'Log On The Fire'), rocksteady ('Heartbreaker', recommended listening), roots (opener 'Against The Wall', 'President', reality tune 'What A Fire') and lovers rock (the excellent 'Baby Please'). Two tracks that really drew our attention were the aforementioned 'President', with the striking lyric: "If I was president, I'd be elected on Friday, all on Saturday and buried on Sunday!", and the great steady love tune 'Hold Me Tight'. That being said, the delicious instrumental closing track 'Uptown' is definitely also worth mentioning. The somewhat anachronistic trip-hop-like outro's of the songs we found somewhat of a strange choice, but apart from that detail, this is a top album by an excellent band!