Roots and Culture Volume 1 (Mafia & Fluxy, 1998)

A second-generation Sly & Robbie, British producers/rhythm section/brothers Mafia & Fluxy made their names in the '90s, but go back to the '70s for the sound and for much of the material on this collection.  The duo remixes the rhythm tracks of tunes recorded at King Tubby's studio in the '70s by the likes of Johnny Clarke, Linval Thompson, Cornell Campbell, Horace Andy, and Joe Higgs, retaining their original flavor but adding a more modern edge.  The other tracks are modern productions that maintain the roots theme -- again with a modern, slightly digital/dancehall edge -- voiced mostly by relatively unknown singers like Santana, Robbie Valentine, and Robert Lee.  The old-timers provide most of the quality tunes on Roots and Culture, however, with Max Romeo's funky, militant "No Peace" (similar to, but not the Meditations' classic) and Horace Andy's rocking "Every Tongue Shall Tell" being the best, but the young whippersnappers show their stuff OK on Robbie Valentine's "In Love With Jah," which features African drums and rootsy horns over a heavy dancehall bass line, and Santana's "Time Will Tell," which utilizes the classic bass from the Abyssinians' "Declaration of Rights" (which Clarke covers here).  Still, the new tracks aren't stellar, and the best of the old stuff is readily available elsewhere; songs like "Declaration of Rights" and "Every Tongue Shall Tell" don't really need any more exposure, as they start to sound a bit stale.