various artists - X-Ray Music: A Blood And Fire Dub Directory

The summer is coming to an end, which, for me, means really stepping up the amount of reggae I listen to. Starlit nights call for a righteous dub to tear down Babylon. And this, a 1999 sampler from the late, lamented Blood & Fire label, is almost purpose-built for such a need. Headlined by a quintet of King Tubby dubs, along with productions from Scientist, Lee Perry, and Prince Jammy, this is a pretty irie CD.

Did I use "irie" correctly?

Discogs

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Scientist vs. Prince Jammy - Big Showdown

Scientist at Channel One – 1983 (Photo: Beth Lesser)

I don't have a lot to say here that I didn't already mention in my earlier Scientist post. This is Scientist and Prince Jammy, doing dub plates of Barrington Levy tracks, backed by Roots Radics. Pretty standard early 80s reggae excellence, as far as I'm concerned.

What's fun about this release is that the original Jamaican release on Jah Guidance apparently has completely difference music from the overseas releases on Greensleeves and Мирумир. This version comes from the 2015 Мирумир CD reissue, which omits Prince Jammy's credit on the cover. I found it new for $8 at a Half Price Books. How they ended up new copies, I'll never know.

Also worth pointing out: apparently Scientist and Greensleeves had a falling out in the recent past, so all the reissues coming out of the UK have no reference to the all-time great producer. It seems weird to me that the only legit reissue, with proper billing, comes from Russia. But it's a weird, weird world, ladies and germs. I'm just trying to hear some decent dub.

Discogs

Click here to download.