Crystal Woman Riddim – Rootdown Records

Rootdown’s Crystal Woman Riddim feels a little more melodic and song-driven than the harder-edged juggling you might expect from some of the label’s other early-2000s work, with a warm one-drop swing that leaves room for the voices to breathe. Richie Spice’s “Gideon Soldier” and Lutan Fyah’s “When Me Rise It” sit near the centre of the set, while Chuck Fenda’s “Perfect Love” and Anthony B’s “Player No More” keep the conscious edge sharp without pushing the riddim too far into austerity. The production has that clean, guitar-led roots feel Rootdown was mining around 2004, and the extra touch here is the German-language cut from Jah Nosliw and the Jah Maxim tune “Täusch Ich Mich, ” which gives the compilation a wider reach. It closes, as these things should, with the “Crystal Woman - Version” instrumental.