Ever since ‘Milk And Honey’ came out on Mr. Bongo (a label definitely on a roll themselves with large albums from Phat Kev and Ola Fresca), I’ve been impatient to get this album.

And it’s come out at the right time when we’ve had so much action from Fat Freddy’s Drop, The Black Seeds, The Nextmen, Dub Pistols and the Best Seven Selections 2.

While I couldn’t get Lord Norman Jay of Hotspur to play ‘Milk and Honey’ the other day (even when I pointed out friend of Fly, Ben Lamdin was in on the writing credits), let’s hope he’s feelin’ it when he gets on the bus at Good Times. OK it’s very Lilly Allenesque with vocals from the new singer with The Slits! (punks’ original girl power rockers who were to reggae what ESG were to funk), it’s still a summer sound to put you in a happy mood.

What top producers do when recording an album is get a load of super musicians together and Prince Fatty has done just that including Carlton ‘Ruff Cut’ Ogulvie on Hammond, the Nostalgia 77 horns (can’t wait for a battle with Fat Freddy’s Horns; can you imagine Joe Lindsay vs. Trevor Mires on ‘bones!) and the Roots Radics drummer, Style Scott.

With that line up and Prince Fatty at the controls, this album is worth getting for the instrumentals alone; ‘Milk and Honey in Dub’ (blow your horn Trevor), ‘Scorpio’ (sax by Mr. Bongos’ own Bukky Leo), ‘Switch Blade’, ‘Mr. Freeze’ are like the lost and found b-sides of the 70s. Loads of love to Jackie Mittoo, Don Drummond and Lee ‘Scratch’ Perry. Just about my favourite is the oh so cool, ‘Meltdown’ but it’s a close call.

Original vocalist from JA, Little Roy turns up on two tracks, ‘Curious’ and ‘Don’t Give Up’ and Winston Francis from Coxson’s Studio One. All three are as sweet as Denis Brown, especially ‘Curious’ and ‘Big Man Cry’.

It always irritated me that whenever UB40 are being interviewed (they’ll probably say it today as they’re on the Live thing at Wembley, raising awareness of Global Warming), “we play the music we listened to when we were growing up.” Well I always thought it was better to listen to the original Jamaican artists (or The Slits) at the time. Over the past 30 years, UB40 don’t seem to have moved on (except for their bank balances) but otherwise, musicians and recording techniques have changed incredibly so that this type of ‘recreation’ has become the real thing. Truly we live in a time and a land of milk and honey so, get your head out of those dusty creates and indulge yourself with the cleanest of clean sounds. Live shows promised as well!

Hectic Mix nominations: All brilliant, album of the month.

Reviewed: Prince Fatty — Survival Of The Fattest (Mr Bongo) Cat. No. MRBCD052 Release date: 16th July 2007
Tracklisting
1. Curious — featuring Little Roy (3:33)
2. The Fat Panther (3:10)
3. Meltdown (3:14)
4. Don’t Give Up — featuring Little Roy (2:32)
5. Cow Foot And Gravy (3:16)
6. Mr. Freeze (3:42)
7. Milk & Honey — featuring Hollie Cook (3:26)
8. Scorpio — featuring Bukky Leo (3:10)
9. Big Man Cry — featuring Winston Francis (3:09)
10. Switch Blade (3:10)
11. Milk & Honey In My Dub (3:30)
12. The Death Of Hercules (3:35)

Links:
www.myspace.com/princefatty
www.princefatty.com
www.mrbongo.com