Garnet Silk Music is the Rod

• Words: Jesse Serwer
• Label: VP
• XLR8R Rating: /10

It wouldn‘t be a stretch to call Garnet Silk the reggae Jeff Buckley. Like the New York City avant-rock heartthrob, Silk possessed an indescribably beautiful and emotive voice and died a bizarre, tragic death at a young age, just as he appeared to be reaching a creative plateau. Beginning with the haunting, minimal "Splashing Dashing," VP‘s two-disc set accumulates a large chunk of Silk‘s recognizable output, culminating in a brief interview done just a few months before his death. The past year has seen a return to form for conscious dancehall singers, making it just the right time for a retrospective of an increasingly forgotten one-one who helped usher in the last revival more than a decade ago.