Supersize

The third CD by the Prince Fatty collective – the name is producer Mike Pelanconi’s nod to King Tubby – sticks to much the same groove as the earlier Survival of the Fattest, using UK-based artists to successfully recreate a vintage Jamaican feel on a mixture of vocal, deejay and dub tracks.

Ex-Studio One singer Winston Francis and the roots veteran Little Roy confirm that they can still deliver the vocal goods. Francis offers a compelling Channel One-style revival of Bruce Ruffin’s ballad ‘Dry up your Tears’ and an excellent extended ‘Come on Girl’. He also features on Ain’t Got Time,’ a Curtis Mayfield song done in a Jackie Mittoo meets Norman Whitfield & the Temptations in dub vein, so to speak. Little Roy revisits his classic ‘Christopher Columbus’ to fine effect and shows that he can sing in lovers-rock style on ‘Need It’. Deejay duties are handled by another veteran, Dennis Alcapone (another two dubbed-up tracks) and the gruff-voiced Horseman, who offers engaging reggaefied covers of a couple of hip-hop hits, Ol’ Dirty Bastard’s ‘Shimmy Shimmy Ya’ and Cypress Hill’s ‘Insane in the Brain. In the straight-ahead dub department, the standout track is ‘Roof over my Head Dub,’ a completely convincing reworking of the Mighty Diamonds’ Channel One classic ‘I Need a Roof.’

Overall, this set doesn’t quite meet the high standard set by Survival of the Fattest – the latter’s trombone work is regrettably absent, and the overall balance is somewhat over-tipped towards dubbed-up numbers. But it’s still infectiously enjoyable.