Various Artists - Reggae Gold 2007 - Music & Performance - CD

Chris and Joel Chin are back again with 2007's Reggae Gold compilation. These guys have been at this for almost a decade and they know how to wrap up a nice package of hits for a good price. This set, Reggae Gold 2007: Treasure of the Caribbean is decked out in piratical garb and features a bonus DVD with some shorts and music videos, a Jamaican photo shoot and a virtual club tour. There's also a few interviews, most interestingly Shaggy and Elephant Man. The CD is a pretty cool sampler of club mixes, roots reggae and "what's hot" for the season.

The disc opens kind of predictably with a Sean Paul jam. "Watch Them Roll" is basically a dance hall mix. "Shake that booty low" isn't exactly a deep thought, but it has plenty of groove, and makes for a summer jam that's hot, if predictable. The freshest cuts are from bad boy rapper, Mavado. He deals two tracks, "Top Shotta Nah Miss" and "Last Night." The first is filed with power rhymes and aggressive snare rolls, and the second is very modern and gangsta. Munga mixes the traditional and the trendy with "Bad From Mi Born." He spins the lyrics like a maniac. The electronic vocal effect is a little precious, but the groove is unpredictable and driving.

On the traditional side we get tracks from Buju Banton and Elephant Man. That whole boom-diddy boom-diddy vocal is something that Buju rips through like no other. The mix is spare and lean, with lots of vocal energy and drive. Buju tears into "Bobby Reds" like he had a tiger on his tail, and grinds the vocal out like M16 fire. This collection is a sampler, but it highlights some under-recorded stars like I Wayne (for romance) and Jah Cure (for Trenchtown grit). "Sticky" has a beautiful R&B tone, and a classic reggae message. The backing vocals are very Bob Marley, with a nice modern mix. So, there's some old and some new, all bundled together with a cool flow and good pacing.

The best highlight is Morgan Heritage on "Brooklyn And Jamaica." The vocals are stylish, the horns are hot, and the groove is pumpin'. It's nice to have something really slick, that you might not have heard otherwise, show up on a compilation like this. "More Woman" by Shaggy wraps up the disc in pure Shaggy pop style. It's also predictable and priceless, like the Sean Paul cut. The tracks are classy bookends for a very tasty story of 2007 in the islands.

This shakes out as an excellent beach/party mix or a pretty fair summary of the year. The Chins have been putting this deal out for some time, and they just seem to get better and better at it.

By Dave Morgan