Bim Sherman

Sherman was a long-time member of Adrian Sherwood’s On-U Sound posse. His high, wavering tenor was the soul of many of London’s outer space reggae concepts of the ’80s, with another worthwhile flourish during the ’90s. This compilation shows that his independent streak — all tunes are self-written and self-produced, a fairly unusual occurrence in Jamaica — was very much a part of the first chapter of his career. No tossed-off lyrics here, each track contains deeply articulated roots sentiments and subtle wordplay. In many instances, the music is propelled by Sly and Robbie showing their typically careful attention to detail that characterised their ’70s rhythms. Spooky keyboards throughout foreshadow the later On-U sound material. One interesting aspect to this disc is the variable speeds of the vocal and dub selections. The master tapes seem to have no "true” tempo, which is further clouded by Sherman’s variable pitch. Thus depending on the seven-inch from which these tunes are remastered, identical rhythms can have very different tonalities and harmonies. This happens on many reggae reissues but on this one it’s quite overt — in a good way!