Audiopile Review: British reggae was always kind of a thing. Arguably, the UK produced golden-age reggae groups every bit as awesome as the finest Jamaica had to offer. Birmingham’s Steel Pulse is an obvious example. And London had Matumbi, featuring guitarist and producer Dennis ‘Blackbeard’ Bovell. Blackbeard was a quintessential figure of the UK’s genre-bending 1970s underground, similar to the godlike Peter Hammill or Adrian Sherwood, that other titan of British reggae production. Matumbi, rather unbelievably, started out as a prog band called Stonehenge. And, like Sherwood, Bovell is famous for producing legendary post-punk acts, most notably The Slits and The Pop Group. Whereas Sherwood specialized in importing talent from Jamaica and the US, Bovell focused on UK-based talent, working closely with Linton Kwesi Johnson, and producing Janet Kay’s lover’s rock classic ‘Silly Games’. While that song led him to be closely associated with the sweet sound of lover’s, Bovell was also an ace at turning out heavy, heavy dub versions. This aspect of his work is beautifully represented on the new compilation ‘Sufferer Sounds’, which features (among other delights) multiple appearances from Matumbi and a fantastic dub of ‘Silly Games’. Crucially, ‘Sufferer Sounds’ is of far more than mere historical interest. It works in isolation as a truly excellent roots-and-dub album. As we said, UK’s golden-age reggae was, in many ways, as compelling as the Jamaican original. And this is as good as it gets.

Dennis Bovell’s prolific and eclectic career encompasses a huge range of music: from dub poetry to lovers rock to post-punk to disco to pop and beyond. His production work encompasses such diverse figures as The Slits, I Roy, Maximum Joy, Fela Kuti, The Pop Group, Janet Kay, Saada Bonaire, Orange Juice, Golden Teacher, Steel Pulse and more.

This compilation focuses on the period during and immediately after Bovell’s involvement with the Jah Sufferer Sound System, digging deep to find deep cuts and lesser known versions, mainly from 1976 – 1980, plus a killer and lesser heard dub of the iconic “Silly Games”. Painstakingly restored and remastered at Dubplates & Mastering in Berlin so that these decades old tracks sound pristine and dynamic, and sequenced to take the listener on a journey through Bovell’s production and arrangement genius.

The accompanying sleevenotes are a result of a long conversation with Dennis about this period of his life, with track-by-track recollections and fascinating biographical asides. The vinyl and CD versions feature variant artwork, each format utilising a unique photo by Syd Shelton.