Ras
1989
Good Things
About This Album
Culture delivers a stellar album and reinvents the sound of reggae along the way under the guiding hand of member Joseph Hill's phenomenal arrangements and productions. The entire set has a massive density to the sound, hearkening back to the heyday of roots; the coursing rhythms pay homage to the rockers style, while the ebullient brass section conjures up the heady melodies of the rocksteady age. The musicianship is superb, drummer Michael Freckles McKenzie and percussionist Francisco Fuzzy Thompson slamming down the driving beats, as Ian Watson winds his sinuous, throbbing bass around them; the trio's scintillating rhythms underpin the entire set. Overhead, keyboardist Norman Milo Douglas adds more contemporary electronic effects, while simultaneously riffing along with the melody, taking his inspiration from Jackie Mittoo, his superb efforts echoed by expert axeman Frederick Thomas. Together the band rivals the stirring and melody-laced backings of Channel One at its height. But it's the brilliant use of brass that takes the sound to a whole new level. Felix "Deadly Headly" Bennett, Everald Gayle, and Dave Madden combine to blow the songs away, and Hill fills the arrangements with their horns -- emphatic accents here; rich, smoky passages there; brooding their way through the darker numbers, brashly brightening the more jubilant ones, their playing creates whole new depths for the already rich arrangements to luxuriate in.
Track List (try tracks 1,2,3,4,5,6,7,8 and 9)

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