Various - Aquarius Rock (The Hip Reggae World Of Herman Chin Loy) 2xLP

Label: Pressure Sounds

Herman Chin Loy's sound was highly distinctive, specializing in the quirky and offbeat. His Scorpio and Aquarius labels were responsible for some of the most innovative instrumentals in Jamaican music. He was actually making instrumental records under the name of Augustus Pablo before a skinny youth called Horace Swaby turned up in his shop holding a melodica! Herman took him to the studio and gifted the name Augustus Pablo to the young Swaby.

Based in his Kingston record shop at Half Way Tree and deejaying at some of Kingston's coolest clubs Herman was perfectly placed to pick up on the 'street' vibes of his young hip customers in the early seventies. What we have here are some of the liveliest funky reggae music that was ever made with a handful of vocal tracks including two different cuts of Alton Ellis' 'Alton's Official Daughter', Dennis Brown's classic 'Song My Mother Used To Sing' and the little known but very talented Archie McKay with 'Pick Up The Pieces'. DJ Dennis Al Capone and super scat intros from Herman himself also feature and this album is a delight from start to finish.