7", 10" & 12" Single Reviews

Lutan Fyah – World Chaos (Scorpio)

Sacrilegious as it might seem, time was when Lutan Fyah’s best singles were being cut for UK producers like Bush Chemists and Jah Warrior rather than labels in JA. But since the release of When Mi Rise It (on the Crystal Woman rhythm on Root Down) and his superb Phantom War Album (itself a collection of singles for different producers) the balance has tipped back in favour of his homeland. The ‘one-away’ tunes of old are slowly being replaced with appearances on bigger labels and more established rhythms, and this heavy roots monster (on an extra heavy slab of vinyl from Scorpio) has to be one of his finest yet.

Riding a bruising revamp the Black Cinderella rhythm, Lutan delivers a vocal that fits the beat so snugly you’d think it had been written with him in mind all those years ago; the lyric is a fiercely defiant contrast between the mess of contemporary international politics and the unity of his own beliefs, comparing the 19th century Gold Rush to ‘the Oil Rush’ of today, and brazenly calling ‘Babylon System a freak; while the flipside is a suitably conscious chat by Leopard that’s just begging to be played off back to back with the A.

There have been a couple of other cuts on this rhythm doing the rounds of late, but if you’re shopping on a budget, this is the one to own. If someone doesn’t play this at a sound system this summer, I’ll cry.

Reviewed by Angus Taylor. Copyright 2006.