Running Times Riddim – Don Ben Productions

By 2014, Don Ben Productions had this one sitting neatly in the year’s reggae-riddim crop, and Running Times feels like a compact roots set with a little extra movement in the middle. Iba Mahr’s “Bless My Soul Jah” and Soul-J’s “Jah Love Him Children” give the cut its strongest devotional pull, while Exile Di Brave and Indecka keep the tone grounded with their own upright, conscious turns. The one tune that really defines the package is the “Running Times (Mad Madley Mix), ” where Iba Mahr, Soul-J, Misshigh, Indecka, Hefla Nyah, Princess Tundah and Exile Di Brave all circle the same groove. It closes with the Uprising Roots Band version and Don Ben’s dub, so the sequencing is clearly meant to move from vocal statements into the instrumental skeleton underneath.