Four Bottle Riddim (2008) – Heart Of Love Records

Four Bottle Riddim sits in Heart Of Love Records’ 2008 catalogue as a lean nine-artist juggling with 12 cuts, led by Junior Kelly’s “Thinking Of You” and backed by strong turns from Mad Cobra, Natural Black, Taru, and Krisi. The project leans on a clean, no-frills reggae arrangement rather than anything overly decorative, with the vocalists carrying most of the weight over a steady version pull. Taru and Mad Cobra each appear in both edit and raw form, which gives the set a slightly archival feel and lets you hear how the songs sit in different mixes. The riddim itself moves at a relaxed mid-tempo pace, with a firm bass line and clipped drum pattern that keep the whole thing grounded.