things and time will tell.

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

Jah Thomas ‎– Gwan A School Midnight Rock Vinyl, 7", 45 RPM, Single, Jamaica, (1981/1982?) Info Chicago teachers and students are heavily on my mind as they've just started returning to in-person school (under stressful and unfair conditions, natch)... I figured a return to our occasional series of school house reggae tunes was in order. "Gwan A School" is Jah Thomas self-production released on his own Midnight Rock label, likely in 1981 or '82. Nkrumah Thomas landed hits both recording deejay cuts as Jah Thomas and as a producer for other classic dancehall vocalists. Here, Thomas rides a recut of the "Mean Girl" rhythm, named for Larry Marshall's track from the late 1960s(?). Jah Thomas comes with lyrics that are straight PSA meets early 80s dancehall: If you really can't spell / Then say a school gon' help / If you really can't write / Then say you really not right... A verb is a doing word /  Adjective is a describing word / A noun i...