Giant Step Riddim – Various Artists

Giant Step Riddim comes off as one of those 2012 juggling sets that leans more on sentiment than hard-edged attack, with Richie Bless’s “I Miss U Love” and I A Flaymz’s “Broken Promises” giving the rhythm its most memorable heartbreak weight. The six-cut lineup stretches across eight voices, so the project has a nice bit of movement in it, especially when Hard Dryve and Firewayne trade the title track duties on “Giant Step” and Da Chef lifts the mood again with “Have I Ever. ” For a release credited to various artists, it still feels cohesive, riding the same warm reggae pulse throughout without getting too busy. It sits neatly in that early-2010s crop of straight-ahead reggae riddims that favored hooky lovers selections over big conceptual flourishes, and the result is a tidy little entry in the 2012 archive.