The intimate cover photo immediately makes this edition of 'Reggae Gold' stand out from its predecessors. However, if you're expecting an accompanying intimate soundtrack, you'll be in for a surprise, as the vast majority of the songs in the tracklist are more dancehall flavored.
The fairly traditional dancehall of opener 'Lodge' by Bounty Killer - a version over the classic Sleng Teng riddim (but already several years old) - could still charm us, Beenie Man's 'Blackboard', a song over a dancehall version of the American gospel classic 'When The Saints Go Marching In' (here the Benz And Beamer riddim, which also dates back to 1996) is a nice gimmick, and of course Koffee's 'Toast' had to make this year's edition as welll, but for many of the other songs, the names of the artists involved (Noah Powa, Squash, Daddy1, Potential Kidd, Stalk Ashley) and their music didn't reallyring a bell. Even Queen Ifrica goes conscious dancehall with 'Mi Love Yuh'.
We skip to track 15 bumping into Jah Cure and Mya, who with 'Only You' usher in a series of 5 closing tracks with more of a lovers and roots vibe. Romain Virgo gives his best in 'Best Of Me', followed by 'Note To Self (Okay)', the combination tune of Jah9 and Chronixx, and Richie Spice, who concludes with his successful cover of the Max Romeo classic 'Valley Of Jehoshaphat (Red Hot)', but our favorite tune from the tracklist has to be Ikaya's 'All Woman', an ode to women and black icons like Angela Davis, Michelle Obama, Grace Jones, Empress Menen, Nina Simone and Asanta Shakur, in which the singer even ends with a salute to Breonna Taylor, the African-American woman who, on March 13 of this year, was shot dead by the Louisville, Kentucky police, and became one of the faces of the Black Lives Matter movement.
'Reggae Gold 2020' wasn't quite our cup of tea, but fortunately 'Strictly The Best 61', just like last year a two disc compilation, was a lot more up our street. The formula should be familiar by now: the first disc containing the more roots- and lovers-oriented tunes, and the second focussing on dancehall.
Whichever way you spin it, 2020 will go down in history as the year of the COVID-19 pandemic, and Alborosie appropriately opens on the first CD with his 'Unprecedented Time', perfectly capturing the whole situation:
Rutututu, yeah, yeah, yeahRutututu yeah, yeah, yeahHow are you coping with the COVID?Isolated like a convictApocalyptic looking siegesThis is a movie, we are zombiesYou'll see reflections of myself (or myself)From my window paneThen one day I will hold your hand like I used to doIn a dis Jah?Unprecedented time woah, woah, yeahYou gotta be strong in your mind woah, woah, yeahUnprecedented time woah, woah, yeahYou gotta be strong in your mind woah, woah, yeahIt's biological conflictSpeculations of conspiracyMaybe the earth ah tell we somethingMaybe lame child is the toxicityYou'll see the shape of my handsFrom the window paneThen one day I will touch your faceLike I used to doUnprecedented time woah, woah, yeahYou gotta be strong in your mind woah, woah, yeahUnprecedented time woah, woah, yeahYou gotta be strong in your mindIn your mind, in your mind, in your mindRutututu yeah, yeah, yeahRutututu yeah, yeah, yeahEverything cannot be the same againWe don't own a time machineClear your thoughts and lock your doorSanitize your dreamsAnd what should be the real situationNation help nationFor the victims, for the heroesThey all angels from ground zeroWoah, woah, yeahYou gotta be strong in your mind woah, woah, yeahUnprecedented time woah, woah, yeahYou gotta be strong in your mindIn your mind, in your mind, in your mind, yeahThat being said, the remainder of the tracks on the first disc could also convince, but if we had to mention a few highlights we'd go for 'Murderer' by Richie Spice and Dre Island, the solid 'Earth Rightfull' by Pressure Busspipe, the excellent new roots tune 'Raging Fire' by - you guessed it - Raging Fyah, 'Ready To Play', a strong combination by Jah9 and Tarrus Riley, and finally 'Gimmie A Light' by the otherwise unknown Bella Blair, a song that is somewhat of an odd one out, as it's a ganja-tune over a riddim in which a sample of Beethoven's 'Für Elise' was used. The curtain call is for Christopher Martin, and he opted for a cover of 'Little Green Apples', originally recorded by American singer-songwriter Roger Miller back in 1968, but also immortalized in a reggae version by, among others, Everton Blender and Dennis Brown.
As you should already know by now, dancehall isn't really our field of expertise, so as far as the second CD is concerned, for lack of better: "Pour les amateurs de dancehall la même chose!"
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