Roots Archives Forum

Hi

Just got back from a trip to Japan and was pleasantly surprised to find that some of the less seen Island albums are readily available over there on CD in places like Tower Records and for good prices as well.Most of them come as two albums on one disc. I picked up Justin Hines- Jezebel+Just in Time, Rico-Man from Wareika with bonus tracks and Heptones-Night Food+Party Time. Also saw Max Romeos- War ina Babylon+Reconstruction (Left this as I've heard Reconstruction isn't great?). A friend is going in a couple of weeks and I was thinking of compiling a shopping list. Anybody know of any others to look out for? Wareika Man Dub/Ghetto Rockers is already on the list.

Cheers

Maybe that should do it :

http://www.hmv.co.jp/en/search/list?cat ... &style=406

N.

its kind of interesting that ghetto rockers dub is available but i wouldnt count on it until its in your hands.

prices are kinda dear for the usa: approx 20$ per cd.

i probably would spring it for the two rico releases and maybe if that justin hinds and heptones were in front of me but basically this all dont look all that exciting to me.

in a related manner, ernie b has a 3 or 4 cd set just out on island collecting up a bunch of tracks from their releases. nothing to write home about though, just the usual stuff

is there still a tower records in japan? must be totally separate from the now defunct tower records in the USA? (by the way the founder of tower records, russ solomon, has a store now in sacramento, where tower was founded, in the close to original location of tower records. lots of vinyl; not many customers on days ive been in there. called "R5 Records"...

one love
jah bill

Thanks Nicholas. Had a quick look, but nothing else looks too interesting. Jah Bill: I did have Ghetto Rockers in my hand, but foolishly put it back on the shelf. Only once I was back in the hotel and had a look online did I realise the error of my ways! Unfortunately, there are so many Tower Records in Tokyo that I couldn't remember which one it was. Anybody have any opinions on Max Romeo's "Reconstruction"? and maybe that In Crowd "Man from New Guinea" Otherwise, my moneys all going on more of the excellent but more expensive Rock-A-Shacka comps.

i had "man from new guinea" with me on tape during my four years in new guinea! that said, kinda jazzy not too much to my liking. havent played reconstruction in years but dont recall digging it much either, kinda crossover jazz/r&b more than reggae if i remember right but could be im way off base.

one love
jah bill

@ alastair

I have just purchased Rock A Shacka`s Vol. 16 - " Orange Street Special - Fabulous Songs Of Miss Sonia Pottinger Vol. 2 " . I would recommend this one for the Rocksteady people out there ! A bit short in length @ 45 minutes but more than adequate in content . ( Can be bought from Juno Records UK , but don`t baulk at the price !! It`s cheaper than getting it on import from Japan , where the p@p cost as much as the CD ! )

Cheers AnorakTrev

That was one of the two that I bought, the other being the Alton Ellis. Both excellent, esp. the Sonia P. I've been playing it constantly since I got back. They cost about £13 over there, which isn't bad. I'm sending my friend for volume 1.

jah bill
Just found out that you can listen to the albums on that HMV site. Thanks for the feedback. Think I'll leave the Max Romeo, but might go for the In Crowd if it's around.

jb welda wrote:havent played reconstruction in years but dont recall digging it much either, kinda crossover jazz/r&b more than reggae if i remember right but could be im way off base.

one love
jah bill

JB: Yes, you're right, most of the tracks on Reconstruction are a kind of jazz/r&b crossover...

But still there's two very tuff tunes on this album, one being "Melt Away" and the other is "Martin Luther King", wich is one of Max Romeo's greatest song IMHO.

I know 2 songs out of 10 doesn't make an album crucial, but still the rest of it is not that weak... very far away from being a legit crossover attempt such as the Mighty Diamonds "Ice On Fire", for example.

Blessings,