Hellcat Records
2007
Reggae Hit L.A.
About This Album
Look come, run see, reggae has arrived! "Reggae Hit the Town" in 1968 as the Ethiopians excitedly exclaimed. But that was in Kingston town, and it's only now, courtesy of the Aggrolites, that finally Reggae Hit L.A., an exuberant homage to the early reggae scene and everything that made it great. Even in its earliest years, reggae quickly embraced a diversity of sounds, both indigenous and American, but each driven by the genre's jerky rhythms and rough and tumble basslines. The Aggrolites magnificently showcase almost all of the sub-styles across 15 vocal and instrumental cuts here. We'll start with the biggest and baddest of the bunch, the organ blazing, DJ-fired international hitmakers Dave & Ansel Collins. "You Got 5," pays superb tribute to this chart-topping duo. Lee "Scratch" Perry, too, was gaining attention abroad with a series of sizzling, awe-inspiring productions, the fabulous "Baldhead Rooster" captures the flavor of his and the Aston and Carlton "Carlie" Barrett-led Upsetters work. Of course, the British weren't entirely dependent on Jamaican artists, homegrown talent like Symarip also provided the soundtrack for innumerable skinhead parties, with the Aggrolites tipping a porkpie hat to them with their anthemic skanker "We Came to Score.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8,9,10,11 and 12)

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