Toots & The Maytals: "Funky Kingston"

If ever you’re seeking an affirmation through the trials and tribulations of our everyday grind, look no further, as the Maytals will bring it all back home.  This is certainly not a rare record, and is in fact one of the cornerstones of early reggae history, yet that makes it no less essential to the music collection of anyone defining themselves as “human.”  I’ve been chillin’ out to the reggae joints a lot lately, just maxin’ relaxin’ as the weather gets warmer and the vibes get deeper, and this is simply one of THOSE albums that you could hear a thousand times, and still not be tired of it.  It also happens to contain what may be my all-time favorite reggae song—a bold identification, to be sure—the immortal “Pressure Drop,” which hits me where I live every time I hear it.  “Pressure drop, oh pressure, oh yeah pressure got the drop on you”…indeed it has, Maytals, yet all that stress melts away as those indescribable harmonies float out from the speakers.  Impossible to live without.