Underwater Dancehall cover

Underwater Dancehall

Released

This surely ranks as one of THE great underappreciated albums. When it came out in 2007, dubstep was just on the ascendent, and a vocal album that connected it to the deeper history of Bristol soundsystem music felt like it should be perfect crossover material — but unbelievably this fell by the wayside. Nonetheless it still sounds like a million dollars — Pinch’s delicate percussion and huge bass perfectly supporting dancehall, Punjabi devotional and soul vocals alike (the latter from Yolanda, now known as Grammy-winning country-soul sensation Yola). It might be a bit of a stretch to call it a 21st century Blue Lines -- but it’s not THAT much of a stretch: it’s definitely a close cousin to Massive Attack’s classic. It comes with all the instrumentals too, and they too stand up wonderfully to passing time.

Joe Muggs

Recommended by

Suggestions
The Kalling cover

The Kalling

Kabaka Pyramid
Commando Fada cover

Commando Fada

Massilia Sound System
Party Hard cover

Party Hard

DJ Sky, Donae'o, Jonah
Pure Badness cover

Pure Badness

Gappy Ranks
Upward Spiral (Deluxe) cover

Upward Spiral (Deluxe)

Jahdan Blakkamoore
Transport cover

Transport

Borderland, Juan Atkins, Moritz von Oswald
Jah Love cover

Jah Love

Michael Prophet
Phorward cover

Phorward

The Shamen
Alterity cover

Alterity

Various Artists