Bunny Lion - Red (2015)

February saw the release of a chunky 3xCD tribute to roots mystic Yabby You, but this month’s reggae curio of choice is Bunny Lion’s 1979 LP Red. Released on London’s Starlight Records and largely neglected at the the time, Red features instrumentals from man-about-town Linval Thompson, whose production and vocal work appeared on releases with Scientist, Barrington Levy and Eek-A-Mouse. ‘Bunny Lion’, meanwhile, is actually Puddy Roots, itinerant deejay and key member of Killamanjaro, one of the most formidable soundsystems of the early 1980s.

When Red’s good, it’s very good – beefy Thompson productions supplemented with full-throated toasting. ‘Rat Trap’ is a ten-ton bruiser, and ‘Girl Rockers’ is carried by guitar twangs that spiral into infinity. Fantasy Memory do right by Lion with a fine remaster, pressed onto red vinyl and supplemented with interesting biographical bumf. If you already have the original, you’re probably David Katz; if you don’t, it’s well worth a look.