Barrington Levy - Here I Come (1985)



As one of the big names of the dancehall movement Barrington Levy, unlike a lot of his contemporaries, didn't start work in music in the sound systems of Jamaica, but instead as a bona fide solo artist who'd released some four albums before this one and established himself firmly within the Jamaican music industry. His big comeback after a few years' hiatus from recording through the early 80s, and the scorer of his first international hit, remains the pinnacle of his career and an absolute essential of dancehall. Like the best of the scene, the punchy bass rhythms are absolutely wonderful, pushed right up in the mix along with the dub-esque reverb on the drums, which brings out the key difference between roots and dancehall for the listener - that of the focus coming away from the lyrics and towards the rhythms. Basically, this is one of the essential dancehall albums. For anyone who needs such a point of reference, personally I can hear a lot of Matisyahu's sound in the livelier cuts here (seeing as it does slow down in places with a few lover's rock songs). Stellar stuff!



Eek a Mouse - Wa-Do-Dem (1981)



Eek a Mouse, born Ripton Joseph Hylton (oddly enough), was one of the superstar DJs of the Jamaican dancehall scene, had released a few roots singles and worked on several sound systems before recording any albums, which stand up as a prime example of dancehall reggae by the numbers. Wa-Do-Dem though, which announced his arrival among the hitmakers with singles like its title track, remains his finest achievement. The song in the video below is the perfect example of how dancehall differs from roots - the backbone which holds up countless roots songs is definitely still there, but swamped with danceable bass rhythms and, in that song's case at least, uses dub-style reverb to spice things up a bit. This is definitely one of the first dancehall albums you should look for.