Matumbi: Empire Road - The Best Of Matumbi

Matumbi were a British reggae band who were much better than their comparative lack of success showed. 

UK reggae was a sort of unique thing, populated by rootsy but also accessible and melodious groups like crossover kings UB40, Aswad, Steel Pulse, Weapon Of Peace and Black Slate. 

They were more album-based than at the mercy of producers and studios, as the Jamaican bands were. A quick look at some of the songs, then. Bluebeat & Ska bemoans the decline of those early reggae sub-genres in a suitably skanking style. Empire Road was used as the theme tune for a 1980s TV show about a multi-racial urban community and the lyrics reflect this. I remember it well from the time. 

Music In The Air brings to mind Aswad and Third World. Hook Deh is very Steel Pulse-ish as is Malfunction, with hints of Black Uhuru too. Breakdown is again in an Aswad groove. Points Of View is almost straight-ahead pop with reggae beat and a dubby bit at the end. 

Guide Us Jah, Blackman and Black Civilisation let us know that they haven't totally ignored Rasta/cultural concerns either. Rock is a fine, mid-pace skank enhanced by some nice saxophone. Come With Me is very Bob Marley-esque, while War features some Rastafarian drum sound. 

You have probably got the overall picture by now. If you like any of those afore-mentioned bands/artists then you'll certainly like this excellent compilation from the Virgin Front Line series.

The material on this album largely comes from four albums - Seven Seals from 1978, Point Of View from 1979, Matumbi from 1981 and Testify from 1982. None of them seem to be available these days, certainly not on streaming services or on CD. The only way of getting any Matumbi music is via the above compilation, hence my not being able to review any of them as I would like to have done.

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