Picker Riddim – Big Belly Records

Out of Germany’s mid-2000s reggae circuit, Big Belly Records’ Picker Riddim feels like one of those compilation plates aimed at the selectors who liked their roots and dancehall kept lean but vocal-heavy. The cut with Anansi, “Love Me Or Leave Me Alone, ” got extra life as his first official release, which fits the riddim’s open, singer-friendly layout; Uncle Sam’s “Welcome To Jamaica” and Danny Ranks’ “Baby Gal” give it a more direct yard-style edge. Big Belly had already been working that European roots-dancehall lane, and this 2008 set sits neatly alongside their other one-riddim projects, with enough room for conscious tension on Conscious Fiyah’s “Starvation Is Murder” and the softer turn of Singin Gold’s “Forbidden Love. ”