Various

★★★★ Pirates Choice Vol. 2 ROCKA SHACKA. CD/LP

Handpicked collection of ultra-rare Studio One roots.

Heralded as the birthplace of ska, renowned Jamaican recording facility Studio One was also home to exceptional roots reggae, so much so that

Connect Records of Canada issued an unauthorised compilation in 1981, which Studio One subsequently reissued as Pirates Choice. This new compilation aims to emulate the excellence of that clandestine release and succeeds by delivering an exceptional tracklisting of extreme rarities. In fact, an original of opening song Born A Freeman by Freddie McGregor and Al Campbell reportedly sold for £2,000 recently. There is an alternate cut of Burning Spear’s Door Peeper featuring Cedric Brooks’s saxophone, Brooks’s cut of Judah Eskander Tafari’s Jah Light, an exclusive dubplate mix of McGregor’s Homeward Bound, a Lennie Hibbert vibraphone piece called Chinese Beauty, and an unknown horns instrumental with fearsome soloing, rendering the set an exquisite collection of riveting roots.