Studio One Scorcher in Bloomington, MN

Studio One Scorchers
highlights the strength of
Studio One
's instrumentals. Surprisingly, instrumentals were chosen fifth in
Soul Jazz
's
series. The foundation and hard selling point of all of
's hits have been the pure strength of their instrumentals. DJ's and singers were able to rock their melodies over top of the gifted instrumentals and make themselves stars.
shifts the spotlight onto those who provided the basis for all of the success. Of these 19 tracks, none passes by without note. Many tracks provided hits for
reggae
stars 20 years after they were originally released, and have come to be associated with twelve-inch singles far removed from their roots at
. The pure quality of the tracks makes it easy for musicians to revisit and shape versions of them. In the liner notes to this collection, these tracks are claimed to have been selected from a possible 915 instrumentals that were, for the most part, equal to the ones that made it onto the album. The sheer volume of output from
is astonishing, combined with the fact that the quality of the recordings never seem to diminish. These instrumentals touch on
ska
,
rocksteady
dub
, and begin to hint at the
sound of the late '70s. Each instrumental is perfect and has the feel that it could hardly be improved upon.
has once again put together a wonderfully rounded collection of music from
. These purely instrumental tracks have a sound that is entirely complete and lack nothing that a singer or DJ could offer. ~ Matt Whalley