Stand Tall

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Various – Xterminator Records (The Legacy - Chapter 1)
Global Beats – GB002, XTerminator, XTM.Nation
Vinyl, LP, Compilation, UK, 2021

Again with the long breaks... I've been meaning to put this one up for a while. Here is a recent compilation of tracks from Xterminator Records, that will hopefully help brighten your day (even during a dark northern January). [Oops. February by the time I got around to finishing this- sigh.] 

Philip "Fatis" Burrell's Xterminator label released some of the most important Jamaican music of the 1990s and early 2000s. Fatis and the young artists around him (including Luciano, Sizzla, and Capleton) were at the heart of a resurgence of cultural music and Rasta themes in the 90s, a major shift from the previous decade of dancehall hits. 

This era is probably best remembered for the surge of militant, Bobo dread singers, but Xterminator wasn't just ushering in a new era of cultural lyrics- these were great songs and the scene was more complex. A lot of credit for the high quality music has to go to longtime Jamaican saxophonist, Dean Fraser, who Fatis wisely hired to be the label's musical director. Xterminator continued the reggae tradition of updating classic Studio One rhythms from the 1960s and '70s with some memorable results. At least eight tracks on this compilation ride versions of classic reggae rhythms that I recognize (marked below for the obsessive/curious among you), but Fatis and crew avoided sounding like retro acts, impersonating 70s roots reggae. This was recognizably dancehall, thoroughly modern, but embracing (and experimenting with) traditions at the same time.

Fatis wasn't just producing for the youths: On Make Me Prosper, he reworks the mighty Real Rock rhythm for a track by the legendary Gregory Isaacs. On the other hand, Sizzla passes on reggae riddims altogether, with the still young deejay's Taking Over riding the instrumental to a Wyclef and Mary J Blige single from around the same time as recut by the Xterminator crew. Fraser and company play with new ideas even in the more commercial cuts- I think the synth in Morgan Heritage's upbeat Bubble In The Struggle actually get's pretty surreal. Cocoa Tea's Good Life is about as radio friendly as it comes, but listen for the downright weird record scratching effects (check around the 3:20 mark for example).

Fatis passed away in 2011, far too soon. I'm happy to see this music getting the recognition and presentation it deserves. Strangely, I haven't seen this set online- it went to vinyl, but not the streaming services as far as I've seen. A nice quiet pressing, wonderful cover art and a great choice of songs. Capleton, Luciano, Ini Kamoze and others I haven't mentioned yet are captured at their best. (Those of you that don't follow reggae might still recognize Ini Kamoze's track, which was later became a crossover hit with a new hip hop backing track a few years later.) Maybe we'll see a Volume 2 someday?

Lots of ups and downs these days. I think this makes a good soundtrack for exercising hopefulness. Enjoy.

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Tracklist
A1 Luciano    –    Ulterior Motive    (Stealing Rhythm)
A2 Sugar Minott    –    Run Things    (Stars Rhythm)
A3 Morgan Heritage    –    Bubble In The Struggle    (Get In The Groove Rhythm)
A4 Ini Kamoze    –    Hot Steppa    (Party Time Rhythm)
A5 Gregory Isaacs    –    Make Me Prosper    (Real Rock Rhythm)
A6 Sizzla    –    Taking Over    (911 - Wyclef Jean & Mary J. Blige)
B1 Frankie Paul    –    Gimme That Portion
B2 Sanchez    –    Praise Him    (Rope In Rhythm)
B3 Cocoa Tea    –    Good Life    (Party Time Rhythm)
B4 Capleton    –    Stand Tall    (Mean Girl Rhythm)
B5 Jah Cure    –    Trod In The Valley
B6 Beres Hammond    –    Hold On

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She wants a good life in FLAC (24/96 kHz, download zip):

https://mega.nz/file/gLATEIoS#Hdq4MqDGDcVPgOejMri3u2vpnH1SmHlKnXrEH21NHWQ

No one to cause her pain and strife in MP3 (320 kbps, download or stream):

https://mega.nz/folder/YTxyAALb#APlI9MEkKe7OhI6OWMEPEg

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