Various Artists: Roots Of Reggae Volume One: Ska

Begun by The Specials and other Two-Tone Brits in the early '80s, and continued today by everyone from The Mighty Mighty Bosstones to No Doubt, the so-called "ska revival" has been in progress for so damn long that by now, the 1960s Jamaican music it's supposedly based on has been all but forgotten. Which is why it's so nice to have compilations like these to remind us how incredible the original material was. Volume one of Rhino's Roots of Reggae series collects the cream of Jamaican ska: seventeen gritty, urgent cuts from 1959 to 1965 that put today's imitators to shame. Among the non-stop highlights: Bunny & Skitter's rhythmically stunning "Chubby," Derrick Morgan's Fats Domino-meets-The Clash "Lover Boy," and Prince Buster All Stars' rude-boy anthem "Al Capone"—a raw number that, like much on this collection, sounds a lot more like the roots of Wu Tang Clan than of Bob Marley. Volume two picks the story up in 1966, when the ska beat slowed down and became rock steady. Though not as thrilling as the first disc, there's nothing wrong with this set: just 17 more classics from the likes of Alton Ellis, Hopeton Lewis and The Melodians, not to mention the Paragons' original version of "The Tide Is High." By all means, buy 'em both.