Deejay Menace Babylon

This collection of legendary and influential reggae DJ I-Roy's works is a gem. I-Roy toasts wicked and funny raps over rock-solid dub rhythms, sounding like a cross between a carnival barker and a drunken poet. Each track is of the highest quality, roots reggae to the core. A large chunk of the tracks come from 1976's Crisis Time. Deejay a-Menace Babylon pulls ten songs from that landmark album, including the tough-as-nails "Equality and Justice" and the spacy "Moving on Strong." Six tracks come from I-Roy's late-'70s collaboration with Lee "Scratch" Perry (and were released by Burning Bush in 2002 on the Sensimilla Showdown disc). The other five come from parts unknown. Actually, the only way to find out where any of the tracks originated is to do research, since Burning Bush gives absolutely no information regarding sessions or albums or much of anything except for vague liner notes. Luckily, most people will just be able to enjoy the genius of I-Roy at the near-peak of his considerable powers. Anyone who requires documentation or wonders why they didn't add the other two tracks from Crisis Time and call the disc "Crisis Time Plus Bonus Tracks" should either skip buying Deejay a-Menace Babylon or chill out. ~ Tim Sendra