PRINCE BUSTER & HIS ALL STARS Vinilo y CD

Review: Caught in a Prince Buster fever, Rock-A-Shacka complement an eagerly awaited release - the third album from the legend so named, offering 12 tracks spanning Jamaican funk to rocksteady to early reggae - with a promotional 7", bolstering the full-length's legitimacy with an as-it-was 45. Here 'Funky Jamaica' and 'Clap Your Hands' coincide. The first is an early dancehall phenotype, its strong tresillo matching a heady array of audio-mancer's chants; instructive shouts from Buster himself. Then the B-side follows, a brilliant James-Browned toasting of an uptempo pre-ska progression, put together against a rhythmic cage of swift, proficient drums.

Review: Rock A Shaka continue their tributary exegeses of Jamaican rocksteady legend Prince Buster with a new 7", 'Got To Be Free'. Pulled straight from the corresponding Funky Jamaica compilation issued separately - which in turn compiles the best gems to coruscate his illustrious career - the 45s format does well to counterbalance the fallacy of comprehensiveness with a throwback in form. 'Got To Be Free' is a rather pleasant anthem to freedom: "we love the birds, we love the trees, we love the honey, we love the bees..."