British producer
Mike Pelanconi has been releasing albums under the name
Prince Fatty since 2005, when he had an unexpected hit with a one-off reggae tune he composed to help an urban clothing line celebrate its 25th anniversary. His third effort in this vein features contributions from some members of reggae's royalty whom he has befriended over the years:
Little Roy,
Dennis Alcapone,
Winston Francis, and
Hollie Cook (daughter of
Sex Pistols drummer Paul Cook and also a former member of
the Slits). It also showcases the talents of some of England's finest reggae sessioneers, including Carlton "Bubblers" Ogilvie (on keyboards and bass) and multi-instrumentalist Black Steel. The resulting sound is faithful to reggae tradition without sounding like slavish imitation. There are originals alongside cover versions of classic reggae tracks:
Tinga Stewart's "Dry Your Tears" is given an uptempo, near-ska treatment; there is a dubwise rendition of
the Mighty Diamonds' "Roof Over My Head"; and
Winston Francis delivers a very fine vocal on an equally dubbed-up arrangement of
Curtis Mayfield's "Ain't Got Time." But most striking are
Prince Fatty's appropriations of unexpected hip-hop material, such as
Ol' Dirty Bastard's "Shimmy Shimmy Ya" and an almost unrecognizable reconstitution of
Cypress Hill's "Insane in the Brain." All of it is great fun: funky, rootsy, respectful reggae that never makes the mistake of being too reverent. If only the album were more than 37 minutes long. [An LP version was released in 2014.] ~ Rick Anderson